6 Degrees of Memphis: Half-A$$ed Review

It seems that in order to enjoy the big show Friday, one just had to stay late enough. Not to say that I am ungrateful for the passes at all. (In the interests of full disclosure, let me explain that I have a friend who works at the CVB, who sponosored the event, and she gave me 2 free tix. Which I was really pumped about, even after our friend only paid $5 to get in. Somehow there were 2 prices for the night floating around out there... my other friend paid $8 for the same show.)

What I meant about staying was that, although Holly Cole was enjoyable, it seemed to take a while for the bands to really get warmed up. Jump Back Jake I'd never seen before, but I thought they had some great tunes; it was just like they were phoning it in (or whatever the kids are saying these days). My friend disagreed & said they weren't doing anything very original; I think rehashing good stuff is sometimes better than creating new material that is just more noise in the atmosphere.

I always love Jamie Randolph (was quite pleased to see him at a friend's house party last Halloween) and was tickled that he simply skipped the lyrics to the chorus of Blue Dress. I wonder how other artists deal with getting sick of their own songs... I know a lot of people either quit playing them, no matter how much people beg, or totally revamp them a la Dylan.

Local darlings Snowglobe, though never a personal favorite of mine, really impressed me as having the sh!t together this time. I admit I don't exactly rush to see them every opportunity I have, so they could have been this great before, and I'd never have known.

We ran into a couple of people who said they were leaving to avoid the lung cancer they felt creeping up as they stood in the HiTone, but most everyone else seemed to have a good time. Anyway, props to those who put it together, and conceived of it, and worked hard to make it happen. I hope you raised a lot of cash for the guys going to Austin this year.