Pictures of Matchstick Men

The concept of bands playing entire albums in concert has been around for long enough now that it's almost becoming a cliche. I first encountered it in 1997, when Cheap Trick did a three-night stint at the Paradise, each night playing one of their first three albums in its entirety. I saw them on the second night playing In Color and it was pretty great, although there was some grumbling because certain hits weren't played in the encore. Since then, countless acts have trotted out classic albums in concert, from the Pixies to Rush to Springsteen. Last night, David Lowery brought both his bands, Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker, to the Middle East downstairs in Cambridge to play full albums: For CVB, it was 1989's Key Lime Pie while Cracker played its biggest success, 1993's Kerosene Hat.

While Lowery is the driving force behind both bands, they're still strikingly different. CVB came of age in the mid-80s DIY punk scene, melding punk, ska, polka, country and anything else they could think of into a quirky and entertaining sound. Cracker came aboutin the early '90s after CVB split up and was more of a straightahead rock affair, finding success on MTV and with alternative and AOR rock radio. For the last five years, Lowery has been doing short winter tours with the reunited CVB and his ongoing Cracker concern.

Funny thing is, Key Lime Pie is the one CVB album I don't own. I always meant to pick it up but just never did. I knew a few songs from it, but was a tad disappointed they weren't doing Telephone Landslide Victory instead. The band came out and violinist Jonathan Segel said, "You know we're playing Key Lime Pie, right?" Bassist Victor Krummenacher added, "Actually, we're playing Topographic Oceans top to bottom."

Alas, there were no Yes covers, but the band launched into Key Lime Pie with vigor and little stage patter. Lowery had a laptop in front of him that he would look at between songs; not sure if he was boning up on lyrics or chord changes but at one point he noted that he had his Gmail up and someone was trying to chat with him. Immediately, songs like "Jack Ruby," (I Was Born in a) Laundromat" and "When I Win the Lottery" hit home with the near soldout club. The band mixed up the instrumentation, going with a Skynyrd-esque four-guitar attack on a few songs, incorporating pedal steel on a few others, and of course, Segel's violin. Lowery introduced a pre-recorded accordion part by noting, "This is the computer," and then launching into the song once it was over.

There were a few lulls in the middle of the set, but the cover of Status Quo's "Pictures of Matchstick Men" (which was a minor hit for CVB) got the older-skewing crowd jumping around again. After wrapping up the album, CVB played two of its better-known hits, 1988's "Eye of Fatima Parts 1 and 2" and "Take the Skinheads Bowling" from the band's debut.

Cracker came out as a five-piece, sharing drummer Frank Furnaro with CVB, and kicked into the band's biggest hit, "Low," the leadoff track from Kerosene Hat. Cracker is as much a showcase for Lowery's sarcastic lyrics and vocals as it is for guitarist Johnny Hickman's hot guitar licks, and the crowd noticeably picked up its enthusiasm. Uptempo rockers like "Get Off This" and "Let's Go for a Ride" resonated well, as did the cover of the Grateful Dead's "Loser," but it may have been the cowpunk "hidden track" "Euro Trash Girl" late in the set that had everyone singing along.

As the band wrapped up the album, CVBers Segel, Krummenacher and Greg Lisher came out and swapped instruments with their Cracker counterparts in mid-song to launch into an epic cover of Pink Floyd's space-rock jam "Interstellar Overdrive" (which CVB covered on a previous album) that swelled up to around 15 minutes. For the encore, CVB and Hickman returned to play "Sad Lover's Waltz" from CVB's II and III album.

It was a fun night that convinced me to pick up Key Lime Pie for once and for all. Lowery already has a new solo album about to be released, so that's something else to look forward to. And it distracted many in attendance from the disastrous Patriots loss to the Jets, so it was a therapeutic event as well.

Matchstick Men:



Eurotrash: