Jingle All The Way

Think of this as my personal add on to the wonderful Carbon Leaf review below.
Remember that ‘excited fan’ who obtained a set of sleigh bells during the show? Yeah…hi.

So I’m going to welcome you all on a journey here. One full of sleigh bells and principles, where the night doesn’t end when the band leaves the stage.

Lead vocals Barry Privett was doing a great job controlling the crowd. We watched in awe as he sang from his soul, and quieted down when he hollered, “Shut up!” before singing a beautiful rendition of “Learn to Fly.” I was enjoying his presence when an instrument appeared before me. Wanting to contribute, I took the bells and began shaking them along with the song.

I stopped. It didn’t feel right. There I was, with the lamest sense of rhythm in the building, holding a set of bells that my friend next to me was drooling over. I forced the bells into his hands, and continued my demented dancing.

The instrument, already coming apart at the seams, was suddenly ripped from one hand to the next as the crowd behind me fought over it.

Boys will be boys.

After the show, which was satisfying to say the least, I hurried over to talk to Barry Privett and Terry Clark (Vocals/Acoustic Guitar). I snapped a picture of Barry and a friend of mine before heading back to the friend’s dorm.

And that’s when it started.

The boy to whom I had given the instrument had brought it back to his dorm. One girl had stayed long after the show to talk to the band, and she called someone in the dorm to say that Carbon Leaf wanted their bells back. Please.

The question arose: had they wanted us to keep it?

Argument 1: They’re kidding! Of course they meant for us to keep them. The thing’s broken. They gave it to us. It’s just a set of bells. They don’t care.

Argument 2: Take it back to them. It’s the principle of the thing.

This dang instrument (which, by the way, would NOT STOP jingling) caused more trouble than anyone thought it would. Everyone started cussing. Someone tried to call the girl back to see if CL was serious. One guy ended up twisting someone’s arm to retrieve the sleigh bells.

The next thing I know, I’m practically ice skating toward Legends with slush flying in my face and a set of sleigh bells under my arms. My friend and I stumbled into the venue, holding the bells up to Barry as if presenting Excalibur to King Arthur.

With a laugh and a look of pity on his face, the singer said, “Look at you! You’re all wet. Oh, wow. Thank you for bringing it back. What can I get you for your troubles? A CD?”

Heck yea! We took the copy of Love Loss Hope Repeat and hurried to the warmth of my dorm, the sound of sleigh bells still echoing in our heads.

Thanks for joining me for this recollection. I hope you learned something. Maybe it’s that, if you follow your principles, they’ll lead you to a free CD. Or that Carbon Leaf puts on a dang good show. Or that boys can be catty, too.

“This is the goal: to get into your soul.”
–Carbon Leaf, “Life Less Ordinary”

Carbon Leaf Review

Okay, so last night I saw Carbon Leaf at Legends. Let me first of all say that, unlike some of my fellow reviewers here, I am not endowed with the magical ability to memorize complete set lists during a concert, particularly for bands with whom I’m not wholly familiar. Sorry! Secondly, this was actually my first experience with Carbon Leaf, although they said they were at Legends sometime last year. I knew one song by them (“Life Less Ordinary”), which I liked, so I thought I’d give them a shot.

That being said, those guys put on a fabulous show.

Carbon Leaf’s sound is a lot mellower than stuff I usually listen to, but variety is a good thing. I’d classify them as a happy mix of Train, Jars of Clay, and Better Than Ezra, with a little bit of Sister Hazel for garnish. (Feel free to contradict me.) The best part of this show was that these guys knew how to take advantage of the space. Some bands (and we’ll all think them in our heads) play small clubs the same way they do gigantic arenas–Very put off, no interaction with the audience except for the occassional “Make some noise,” etc., forgetting that people are actually standing less than 2 feet in front of them. Not so with these guys. Besides giving out an all-access wristband to the House of Blues in Ohio and their set of sleigh bells to two very excited fans in the front row, they were constantly joking and communicating with the crowd. The best way they utilized the space was during their encore, where they lined up at the edge of the stage and waited for the crowd to fall silent before singing a completely unplugged (no mics or anything) version of “Learn to Fly.” Definitely not something that can be done in a huge venue, and also a very good treat for fans and newcomers alike.

While I can’t provide a complete and chronological set list, my memory is good enough to remember most of what they sang. (I have a penchant for remembering lyrics; so, while I didn’t know their stuff really well before going, I Googled lyrics after words to find song titles.) This isn’t everything, and it’s definitely not in order, but it’s the best I can do.

• Comfort
• Changeless
• On Any Given Day
• What About Everything?
• Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat
• Life Less Ordinary
• Texas Stars
• Let Your Troubles Roll By
• Learn to Fly
• The Boxer [These last 2 were in the encore]

So, while I would only give their music alone a “pretty good” rating, I give their ability to put on a live show a “damn awesome” rating. Definitely check them out sometime!

What’s in my Polyethylene Bag?

The new White Stripes album is underway and now has a title. It will be released by Warner Bros. I suspect that this might be their last album, but that’s just speculation on my part.