So, how was last week's worth of concerts?

Alejandro Escovedo was really good. I gave a short review already so I won't repeat myself.

MMJ was ok. I hadn't seen them since the small club days on the At Dawn tour and they just weren't as good in large outdoor ampitheatre setting as in a small club. They played more competent, straightforward renditions of their songs rather than taking them to another level like I remember. It was a decent show but I don't think I'd pay $50 to see them again in that type of setting unless I was just really jonesing to see a live show.

Rebirth Brass Band put on the best of the shows. I think they are the best New Orleans Brass Band and its really hard to not have a good time at their shows. There's something about a big brass section that just puts me in a great mood.

Seu Jorge was very disappointing, the only real dud of the shows. I don't like the new album much at all so I guess I shouldn't be that surprised. I just figured that I would at least enjoy some of the older material. He seemed bent on putting on a rock show. There was no Cavaquinha, Cuicha or much brazilian instrumentation. It just didn't really play to his strengths. It wasn't terrible but just really disappointing. To make matters worse, I learned this morning that I'd won free tickets to the show but the notice got hung up in my spam filter so I unnecessarily paid $100 for tickets.

Levon Helm was a great show. His voice is pretty shot and he did very little singing, letting others in the band take most of the leads but he was great on the drums and its just nice to see that he was up to playing at all. Steve Earle played with the band for 4 or 5 songs including a great cover of Sweet Virginia and their last song, The Weight. Jim Keltner sat in on drums for one song in which Levon played a guitar. It would have been great to see him in better shape but I'll take what I can get.

I saw both Rebirth and Dirty Dozen countless times during college. I could go the rest of my life never seeing them again and be ok with it. Glad you got enjoyment out of it though.

I saw MMJ at our old-as-hell coliseum/Municipal Auditorium early this year. They're still a great live band, but after 10+ times seeing them, I definitely yearn for their long-hair days of the early Aughts. Little more balls-to-the-walls back then.

I would be so pissed if this happened to me, I would probably destroy my office.

I can top that.

Rebirth played my college graduation party. It was pretty awesome. I still go see them live and enjoy the hell out of it. They're great live.

I'm not as high on Dirty Dozen. And I don't think Dirty Dozen has ever been as big as Rebirth locally, but they've enjoyed a more national success. That said, "Funeral for a Friend" is one of the best brass albums ever.

My only exposure to the Dirty Dozen is an album that i bought and traded back a few years ago. Complete mehfest. I'd probably go see them though if they were playing a small venue because I do enjoy brass bands in general.

I don't own any Rebirth albums but they have never disappointed live. I throw them into an entirely different category than MMJ though. MMJ, its all about the music. Rebirth its about the music and the party going on around it.