Schizophrenic Gender Confusion over Jenny Lewis at Freebird Live
by Jon Bosworth

My dude side said: I didn't think there'd be so many guys here. But then a lesbian friend told me she skipped the womens room line by using the mens room, and my chick side was all "you go grrl." I realize my girl side is pretty dorky, but wait until my dude side has a few more whiskeys. Then everyone at the Jenny Lewis show will know who the real ass is. I didn't know much about Jenny. I know she often reminds me of Loretta Lynn. I also know she did some stuff with Postal Service (Ben Gibbard from Death Cab is Barsuk labelmates with her former band). And I've heard a couple of songs by some band called Riley Cairo or something (I love making up new misnomers for Rilo Kiley). The truth is: I've tried to avoid alt country ever since Jason Trachtenburg told me his then 13-year old daughter (and drummer for the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow) could do anything she put her mind to, except be in an alt country band.
"Let's hope we never have to have that conversation," he said, dreading it more than any birds and bees conversation.
But when you're at Freebird Live in Jacksonville and some girl flies, guitar and hair engaged, into a honky tonk jam, both my dude and chick sides were like "oh damn."
My dude side said we should've gotten there early enough to catch the opener and the highly celebrated Heartless Bastards, but my chick side said drinks would be cheaper at the new pizza place up the street. My chick side always wins the alcohol argument. I arrived just in time for Jenny's set.
Although it escaped my Loretta Lynn archetype almost immediately, it went on to sound like a young woman with an uncanny grasp of the fundamentals of blues-oriented southern rock. Could this be right? Could the child actor who starred opposite Fred Savage in the 80s video game movie The Wizard really be capable of authenticity in her music? Is it possible that a 30-year old woman that was born and raised out west could grasp the fundamentals of southern music? People thought my skepticism was unfounded, after all she has played with many of my favorites, including Cursive and the aforementioned Postal Service, but those were West Coast types of bands. And sure, she did some stuff with Conor Oberst, whose music often borders on brilliance and his country western efforts are especially compelling, but authenticity is hardly Conor's strong suit, so that gave me no reason to expect anything real. I mean this is Freebird Live. Charlie Daniels plays this stage. The Skynyrd family OWNS the damn stage, if you're fake on that stage, it shows. I've seen plenty of alt country and folk rock bands get up there and immediately their true colors showed. They may not have been ashamed, but I left embarrassed to tell people what I did that weekend. Mason Jennings? No, you didn't see me at that gay show, I'd never go to that hackneyed loser's city hippy jam? It must have been my dorky dorky doppleganger. Or my chick side without my dude side in tow.
But just like that Jenny turned from cheeseball alt country to something genuine. Right before my eyes. Did you see that happen, Trachtenburg? Take note: alt country can get you that quick. While my chick side was really starting to get into it, trying to hang my hair in my face and swing my hips, my dude side recuperated by remembering Allison Kraus and realizing: Jenny Lewis isn't really blazing new ground. She has plenty of precedent she could spend time studying until she was able to present a really compelling facsimile of authenticity. My chick side countered with: you're rocking your head (the dude version of dancing). Her music has an indie feel that you can't help but dig. It even makes me want to forgive the alt country aspects, because the ripping southern rock style guitar solos ring true at The Freebird, that hallowed hall of Jacksonville's rock legacy. My dude side did point out that it isn't really girl rock, her band is loaded with dudes. To which my chick side pointed out that the drummer was a girl. THE FUCKING DRUMMER! And I was sold. Jenny Lewis played with balls, and that made me respect all things ovarian. Mars and Venus were aligned at the close of Jenny Lewis' set.

GodDARTit!

Pop culture will not eat itself in Jacksonville, because there seem to be forces at work preventing there to be any culture left for the eating. In this strange and fearful era of business breakdowns and presidential quests, it is hard to pull the aperture back in and stay focused on local. But what we let happen here will only inflate into bigger intrusions and worse situations. That said, we cannot ignore the actions the city takes.

Granted, we all want to see crime reduced, but I am not the only one that sees the misdirection of the DART program causing more harm than healing to this problem. If you are not aware of the DART closings, please read Gwennod Stuart's great article in the last issue of Folio Weekly (if you can still find one laying around, unfortunately they don't publish online) or check out some of these very articulate reports:
http://theouterbox.com/2008/09/12/the-pearl-shut-down/
http://jaxscene.blogspot.com/2008/09/pearl-closed-till.html

These focus largely on the closing of The Pearl and a little about TSI (both clubs are focused on the 18 - 34 set - wildly reminiscent of the "scorched earth" closings by the Fire Marshal back in the 90s) but the agency claims to have closed nearly 20 clubs in the last 90 days.

Now whether or not minor permit violations should have such dire consequences is one question. Another is whether or not there ought to be a less police-oriented agency that can help small business owners jump through all of the required hoops to prevent being raided and closed by police. But there also seem to be personal rights being violated (since when can police raid a business and search everyone in the place, where is their probable cause?) as well as the rights of business owners.

The stated mission according to the city's website is:
"The Jacksonville Drug Abatement Response Team (DART) was established in January 1996 to combat illegal drugs in Jacksonville by focusing on the property where drug activity flourishes. Working with landlords/property owners, the team develops strategies and marshals resources to reduce drug activity."

Well they were not working with the owners of Pearl or TSI when they raided their businesses and shut them down. I know the owners of these clubs and they would have gladly allowed any inspector to enter their premises and inspect it. They would also comply with whatever recommendations the inspectors made. None of the citations were for major incidents (an extension chord and some christmas lights) and no drug arrests were made, as far as anyone seems to be able to tell - so what is the real and present threat?

Even more important - how do these reduce crime and promote business, two things that should be at the front end of every city effort in these hard times. As the economy gets worse, crime will increase. How does discouraging poeple from going downtown help reduce crime downtown? Any business owner in the core will tell you that more good people downtown means less crime. It is simply a matter of more witnesses and less dark, empty streets.

So when Charlie Crist sent down the budget cuts that have and will continue to reduce the quality of life in a city already being soffocated in crime and poverty, we didn't raise enough of a stink to do anything about it. Hell - we're all working really hard to make ends meet, who has time for voluntary political action, I understand that. But this is a Duval-centric problem that needs to be addressed by Duvalites like us.

Who changed the direction of this agency from shutting down and condemning crack houses (good idea) to shutting down and condemning legitimate businesses (bad idea). Add this misguided effort to the new rule that drinking in the usually barren streets of downtown during Art Walk is now officially against the rules, it just seems like someone is either trying to start up a new prohibition or they are simply afraid of Jacksonville growing into a town with any real indigenous culture.

What You Can Do
I don't know what sort of political action makes sense. I don't know who you should write to. We keep voting assholes into the offices they either have failed in or are very likely to proceed to fail in in the near future. So I'm putting the political stick down and picking up my performance art stick.

I suggest that we make some official looking uniforms that have the DART logo on them and raid bars that don't fit the usual hit list criteria and videotape the responses, the reactions, and the effects of the raid. We'll hit Twisted Martini and Mavericks, Mark's, Dive Bar, and then head to San Marco and Riverside. We will raid and evacuate the most upstanding of clubs until every bar owner understands how frustrating it is to work against a China-like police force with arbitrary direction and secret agendas. Perhaps if we harness enough people with money toward this problem, something effective can actually be done.

If someone has a more reasonable solution, please advise, because I'm pretty sure my Ghetto DART Impersonation Posse will eventually be arrested and we'll have no friends left to bail us out.

Kuwait and Drop Sonic at Burrito Gallery on August 14th

If you know me, you know that I love a good live rock show. I miss playing in local bands, but watching local bands almost makes up for it.

I like the bands that are still full of piss and vinegar. The ones that haven't burned out or faded away. But nothing compares to an articulate and ferocious band playing in a downtown courtyard.

There aren't many local bands lately that have been worth getting all excited about. Don't get me wrong, Antartic is phenomenal. Buffalo Tears are wicked cool. Black Kids are fucking famous. There are plenty of bands I dig. But have you seen Kuwait?

Kuwait's first show at Eclipse, not long ago, was anticipated by the local rockers to be a pretty good grouping. Scott Madgett of Goalie on drums, Paul Paxton of Crash the Satellites on bass and computer (yes - computer) and Richard Dudley, former bass player for Tracy Shedd and a tertiary guitarist with Crash a few years ago, on guitar. This trio was pretty much a guarantee, but at their freshman performance they proved their consummate musicianship was matched by their ability to compose songs that rock. Songs that are alternately filled with agression and serenity. Songs that have no vocals, and yet manage to never feel absent of them. This is post rock at its best.

Drop Sonic has been playing Jacksonville fairly regularly over the past eight or nine years. Their riff rock is a little bit of led zeppelin and a little bit of blues explosion, but they do it like they're mad at you. In fact, I would describe their set like that person you meet at a bar that you think is trying to start a fight with you, and right when you think the fight is going to break out, they burst into smile and tell you they were just fucking with you all along. Then you start to like them, and not just because they seem really nice after that, but also because they told you they were kidding before you threw a punch and made an ass of yourself. I realize that is an obtuse example, but they rock in some really gutteral, almost unsettling way.

These two bands are nothing alike in many ways, but in creating articulate and intoxicating rock songs that will carry on in your head most of the night, they are the same. And there is a rumor that Locust Grove may even get things started for people that show up early. If you want to see a good rock show in an unusual setting, watching rock bands at Burrito Gallery is always an incredible experience.

This has been a convoluted post, I know, but this show will kill and it will be effin' worth the scratch to see it. There's gonna be some cheap beer and other drink specials. But if yer totally broke, still come downtown and listen to the rock from outside of the gate. It won't be as fun and you can't drink, but the music will still be worth your while for sure. If you're looking for a great time on Thursday, come to the show. I think you need this.