Ken Andrews at the Troubadour

My mini tour of Ken Andrews concluded as the "Never Say Never" tour sadly came to a close in dynamic fashion at the Troubadour. I was still in disbelief that Tim Dow from Year of The Rabbit came out to drum during "Lie Down" and was thinking that it would be hard to recreate that magic for this show. I am so glad I was wrong.



First Wave Hello opened with another solid set that features songs of their upcoming EP release and latest album "The Lord & It's Penguin". I noticed Jacob Turnbloom (Guitars/Vocals) had ditched his pedals and had a shiny new Boss GT-8 that is similar to Ken Andrews Boss GT-3. I didn't notice any tonal differences but I imagine it would be difficult for him to tweak his tone on the fly. They played another lightening quick set but I will keep checking their concert calendar to see a full set from them.
 


Charlotte Martin gave a spirited performance in San Diego, but I was slightly annoyed with some of the talkers in the back of the Belly Up. At the Troubadour show, the crowd was very respectful and Charlotte had a very strong contingent of fans in front of her keyboard setup. I was intrigued when I saw that Charlotte had a Ground Control Pro Midi switcher for all her Keyboard patches. I have seen the Ground Control used for guitar setups but never for keyboards. She played selections from her latest offering "Reproductions" and knocked "Civilized" out of the park with an assist from Ken Andrews and First Wave Hello. She had another surprise for the crowd as she brought out her friend Beth Katte for additional vocals on "Veins".
 
Charlotte Martin setlist for the Troubadour (10/21/07)
"Angel"
"Limits Of Our Love" 
"Cut The Cord"
"I Am Stretched On Your Grave"
"Civilized"
"Something Like A Hero"
"Cherry-Coloured Funk"
"Revival"
"Keep Me In Your Pocket"
"Veins"
"Obstacle 1"







Kellii Scott from Failure

The Troubadour was a perfect setting for the finale of the Ken Andrews and Charlotte Martin "Never Say Never" Tour. The Troubadour felt extra cozy on this particular night as if it was a family reunion. Ken Andrews played another solid set that had a few surprises. During the Year of the Rabbit portion in his set, Ken added the cover of the Stone Roses "I Wanna Be Adored" that was originally on the Hunted EP by Year of The Rabbit. The opening bass line of "I Wanna Be Adored" is classic and can haunt your memory for days. During the Failure portion of the set, I think Ken and Jacob tuned their guitars down by 1 and 1/2 steps to C sharp to get the low sharp riffs on "Sergeat Politeness" and "Dirty Blue Balloons". The encore is when things went from amazing to mind blowing when they played an ear splitting version of "Stuck On You". This was topped by a spine tingling version of "The Nurse Who Loved Me" that had Ken bring out Kellii Scott who used to be the drummer for Failure. Kellii and Adam both pounded the drums on seperate kits and you could feel the electricity in the air. I still am shaking my head thinking I have been fortunate enough to catch four Ken Andrews shows this year. I hope he tours again soon.


Ken Andrews Setlist for the Troubadour (10/21/07)
"Allergic"
"Does Anybody Know"
"Secret Things"
"Up Or Down"
"In Your Way"
"Lie Down"
"I Wanna Be Adored"
"Absent Stars"
"Soluble Words"
"Something"
"Magnified"
"Sergeant Politeness"
"Dirty Blue Balloons"
"Stuck On You"
"The Nurse Who Loved Me" with Charlotte Martin and Kellii Scott from Failure on Drums!

Ken Andrews at the Belly Up

I think everyone knows that the Belly Up in Solana Beach is one of my favorite venues. I also think everyone knows that Ken Andrews is one of my favorite artists. The combination of both were outstanding as Ken Andrews performed for a FM 94.9 sponsored "About The Music series". I missed most of Buckfast Superbee who happen to be a local San Diego band that plays quite a bit in the area. It sounded like a power pop punk band when I was at the bar.




First Wave Hello came up next and delievered a fine set. I have been listening to their album "The Lord & It's Penguin" in between a lot of Ken Andrews and the Failure Essentials double disc CD. As I described before, they play an excellent blend of space rock that is reminiscent of Failure, Hum, and the angular guitar work of Burning Airlines. I particularly like the duel keyboard players that would add ambient effects and synth basslines to the dueling guitar work. Some tracks I would recommend are "Everything Automatic", "Falling Apart" and "Lay Down".








One of the cool things on Ken Andrews website is that it lists his recording policy. He allows the audiotaping of his shows. I decided to invest in a Zoom H4 digital recorder. This show was tape worthy as I captured 94% of the show on a 2gb SD card in 96kHz. Ken was a man of his word as he had the Mu-Tron Octave Divider pedal on stage coupled with his Boss GT-3 multi effect pedal. The show started with a blistering version of "Undone". The first surprise of the night was when Ken mentioned that he forced the members of First Wave Hello(the backing band) to learn "Something" off of the first Failure album. The second surprise was when Ken debuted "Revolution" off of his On album "Make Believe". The setlist was a veritable career greatest hits as Ken covered a lot of albums. The band and Ken sounded great which was verified upon multiple playbacks of my recordings. I strongly recommend you pick up "Secrets of the Lost Satellite". I have problems picking a favorite song because every song sounds great. I also strongly recommend you email amchemistcontest(at)gmail.com for your chance to win a Ken Andrews autographed lithograph. One grand prize winner will receive a special "Secret" bonus prize. Don't delay, enter today!

Ken Andrews setlist for the Belly Up (5/17/2007)
"Undone"
"Secret Things"
"Up or Down"
"Write Your Story"
"C'mon Collapse"
"Soluble Words"
"Magnified"
"Something"
"Sergeant Politeness"
"Absent Stars"
"Revoultion"
"In Your Way"
"Stuck On You"
"The Nurse Who Loved Me"