Hope and Inspiration

Mr. Ether and I went to hear Steve Earle in concert last night. In these dark times when -- even yet -- people fail to speak out, Steve Earle is such a beacon. And he gets it. Not just about the war on Iraq, but on war in general, immigration, unions, globalization ... he totally gets it and speaks out. Sure, last night in Madison he was preaching to the choir, but the choir needs some hope and inspiration too.

He played for pretty much a solid 2 hours, and it was only in the second hour that he started talking politics. I thought the most radical thing he said was, "Wars aren't ended by listening to music. You gotta SING!" which some might find quaint, but is something that I passionately believe and preach to my kindergartners (only in different words.) [SOAPBOX ALERT] Think of Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, John Lennon, Joan Baez. The incredible harmonies of Sweet Honey in the Rock were honed in jails in the Jim Crow South and fueled the Civil Rights Movement. Music is a powerful force. In my opinion, one of the great blights of these times we're living in is the fact too many of us consider ourselves to be consumers. We have to be the makers, the creators, and that includes of music and art of all sorts. Do you fancy yourself a revolutionary? Making your own music is a revolutionary act. Got a limited amount of money and thinking of buying an iPod? Buy a guitar. Got it? Buy. a. guitar. [END SOAPBOX ]

Going to hear live music, on the other hand, is incredibly inspirational.

A few minor disappointments of the evening: Steve wasn't touring with a band this time, only his wife and a DJ who did all the back up music. I missed other instrumentalists and the give and take of a live band.

Then there were the two seemingly drunk women sitting near us who kept screaming things like, "You're hot Steve!" and "Do it to me, baby!" and other equally mature things. Thankfully they stumbled out partway through the show. Maybe that was when they realized he is married and on tour with his wife.

Finally, and perhaps this won't make sense to people in bigger cities with bigger city problems, but for some reason the theater hired an out of town security firm which appeared to be largely staffed by muscular bullies who roamed the theater during the show making rather than preventing problems. Mr. Ether had two run-ins with the same guy, who was just a thug. Now, this theater started out as a neighborhood operation, it wouldn't exist without the support of its neighbors (like us), it is in the heart of old hippie land, the average age of three quarters of the audience was over 40 ... c'mon! There was no need for such heavy-handed tactics.

But ... it was a good show anyway, and the new Steve Earle album is well worth a listen, and maybe a buy.