In some ways my reactions to Kelly are similar to my reactions to Empire State: there are a few songs which she performs that I love -- so i spend most of her set going "Do this!" or "Do Papa Was A Rodeo!" or what have you. And I find that if she performs the one or two songs I want, I really like the set. It doesn't necessarily reflect that well, however, on the rest of her material....

Well i, on the other hand, am not overly impressed with Ms. Hogan. Although i found her rendition of Papa Was A Rodeo to be enjoyable, for the most part this set bored me to tears.

And set list variation? I swear she's been performing more or less the same set list for eternity.

Really? All of her songs sound the same to me, so i wouldn't notice. *yawn!*

I do like her voice and her singing though.

Yes, she has a powerful voice, but she doesn't use it. She sings second (or third) rate country material in a lifeless fashion and never pushes herself.

And as somebody who enjoyed her old band, The Jody Grind, i have to ask, what the heck happened? I think she needs to get away from this lifeless country crap and start singing the blues again. At least that pushed her vocal cords some....

Well i would like to see Kelly away from the "hometown" crowd that is so uncritical -- the crowd here would be happy if she sang the phonebook. I wonder if her work would be more interesting or challenging away from her diehard fans?

That is another thing that annoys me -- EVERYONE else there is hanging on every half-hearted note... It's disgusting. Yes, she did some great stuff once, but that was a while ago. Why don't people see the difference? Is it just me?

See i'm not as adament as you are, but i am forced to wonder why I'm not as impressed by Kelly Hogan's concerts as some of the other Minions are. And I come back to the fact that, in this case, people aren't able to admit that they're watching a less than perfect performance.

For instance, I truly love certain bands (can you say The Rock*a*Teens?), but i'm capable of saying that they sucked in concert (at times) or on album. I don't see that same sort of critique happening in the audience of this show.

Right. But i think that, perhaps, we over-analyze these things to some degree. But, dammit, that's what makes us critics! We can say "Well, it was okay, but man, not as good as earlier shows!"

I think that a lot of people are willing to accept the decline of an artist, while it pisses me off. I hate to see people squander away, and yet, i guess that you can't be an angry, hormone-driven 20-year old forever, and change necesarily happens...... So Kelly grew up, and in the end i am not happy with her "maturity".

Hmmm... this is a bigger issue than it appears.

But to get back to the conversaion, i agree with you -- does she put on these lacklustre shows in Chicago? How do the shows go over with the crowds there? Maybe they go over well -- those people never saw The Jody Grind live, and so they don't know what she is capable of, and therefore they don't know that she is slacking off.....

Who knows? But I'd like to see if some of my disenchantment comes from watching her coast.

I think that it might. How many of those "diehard fans" really were there to see The Jody Grind? Then again, maybe if i discovered her by listening to her albums, then just maybe these shows would be rewarding. Maybe...

However, i realize that this all seems harsh. Comparing "Kelly Hogan the solo artist" to "Kelly Hogan the singer of The Jody Grind" isn't fair. At least, it might not be. Maybe she sings differently now because of further training, or "personal growth" or what have you. But i don't care. The few times i saw The Jody Grind, Kelly was up there on stage belting out the songs with real passion and power. And now she just kind of stands there....

I think that my criticism is valid in the face of the rabid and uncritical fan-base she has here in ATL.

I continue to be disappointed in her squandering of her talent.

Again, I'm not as rabid about this as you are; i'm just somewhat more disillusioned.

But enough about the opener. Alejandro Escovedo rocked! He managed to do songs from a variety of different styles, but yet still make them his own.

Indeed. He played everything from hard rock to folk music, and it all sounded great and uniquely personal. I think some of this has to do with the fact that his voice is very distinctive. Kind of high, kind of nasally, just a hint of a lisp, but all Alejandro.

That, and he's a great guitarist.

But the set list: do you know if most of what he was doing were covers? Originals? Originals from his previous bands?

Lessee, he did Pale Blue Eyes and I Wanna Be Your Dog, which are covers. That song I Was Drunk is an original (it's off of Bourbonitis Blues, the one solo record i have by him). On the whole, i dunno. I think that the majority were original, but i also got the impression that the ranged all over his career -- from Rank And File to the solo stuff.

That was my impression as well. And I especially liked his anecdotes about the origins of certain of the songs.

Yeah, he is an "entertainer" not just a musician. He is there to make the crowd have a good time, and if that means standing there and telling silly stories, then okay.

Not a lot of "musicians" would do that. It makes him have a "folky" or "earthy" feel, despite the fact that a lot of the music is straight-ahead rock.

His band was great too. The cellist sounded simply amazing (props to Joel, the sound guy).

Indeed. That cellist was obviously talented, and he was mic-ed really well. It was one of the best cello performances i have seen in a while.

The drums weren't over-powering, and you could still here the keyboards. It was a great sound mix.

Yes, sound was great. And the musicians obviously all knew there stuff, played well together, and were mixed well.

One song in particular stood out. It started off with Alejandro strumming the guitar lightly and singing while the cellist made a deep bass sound on his instrument. Then the cello swelled up, the keyboardist joined them on stage, and the keyboardist and Alejandro stood back from the mics and sang, in perfect harmony, unamplified.

The entire Star Bar got absolutely quiet, every person there hanging on each perfect note. It was simply stunning. One of the greatest vocal displays i have seen in a long time....

I remember that! I remember just being awed by his prowess and his willingness to apparently take risks.

It was a remarkable display of skill and talent, but i would bet that he and the keyboardist re-hearsed that. Still, it was very impressive to see and hear. It is one of the most perfect moments that i have ever experienced. I feel that i owe Alejandro a debt of honor for allowing me to witness something so stunning....

Hey -- i just went and looked up Alejandro on AllMusic and found out a wierd fact -- he is Shiela E's cousin. Who knew?

Anyway, my verdict: Alejandro put on a perfect performance, but Kelly was perfectly mediocre. The sound was excellent, and on the whole it was a good evening.

I have to agree.