I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: January 30, 2020] Aaron Lee Tasjan

I knew Aaron Lee Tasjan from a Tiny Desk Concert that I really enjoyed.  He was playing songs from his then new album Karma for Cheap which had a great psychedelic kind of sound to it.  I thought that he and his band played really well together and I was looking forward to seeing them.

So I was a little bummed to find out that he was playing solo (and acoustic!).

But it turns out that Tasjan is a great songwriter and while I definitely preferred the sound he got on the album, I enjoyed listening to his lyrics as he played acoustic guitar.

He started with the hilarious and pointed new song “I Love America Better Than You”

I love America better than you
her dirty water and her hot dogs too
illegal immigrants first black president
I love American better than you

He followed that with another new song which he said the full title of and which I can only recall as something to do with “My Sick Mind.”

There was a guy behind me who was a huge fan of “ALT” as he kept calling him.  ALT seemed to appreciate the shoutouts.  He had a great sense of humor even saying, I’m Aaron Lee Tasjan.  I hope I’m pronouncing that correctly.”

At one point someone even commented that he liked ALT’s sweater.  ALT said he got it in the women’s section of a thrift store.  He said it was really cozy and he liked getting stoned in the van and staring at it like a Magic Eye drawing.  But not while driving.

I enjoyed “Dime” which reminded me of Tom Petty a bit.

And everybody knows it
They tell me all the time
I’m worth at least a million
And I barely have a dime
That’s alright

“If Not Now, When” has some really cool chord changes and really shows off his guitar playing skills.

I liked the way he introduced songs like, “this song is about success.  It’s called ‘Success.'”  Lyrically, it follows a similar attitude to “Dime.”

Well success ain’t about being better than everyone else
It’s about being better than yourself

After “Success,” he switched to piano for “Little Movies” a song that I recognized immediately, although I’m not sure where from.  I just love the “look away” part–that little shift in melody gets me every time (and reminds me a bit of Michael Penn).  My daughter says it was in the movie Wonderstruck, but I can’t confirm that.

He played two more songs on the piano.  He told us that he and his band had been playing songs from Karma for Cheap, and they had changed so much from their original recordings, that he thought it would be fun to re-do the songs in their original bedroom style.  This became Karma for Cheap: Reincarnated (he admitted the title makes no actual sense).  In addition to redoing the songs, there was one new one, the pretty, if sad “My Whole Life Is Over (All Over Again).”

He stayed on Karma for the lovely “The Rest of Yet to Come.”

When he came back to our side and picked up his guitar again, a woman behind me shouted for “Florida Man.”  He was so genuinely pleased that someone requested this song–he said he was happy that someone even knew the song–that he eagerly played it. He also said that whenever you see an unbelievable story in the newspaper, as soon as you see that the story is about a “Florida Man” you know that however improbable, it is definitely true.

I’m not sure what he intended to play there.  I could see his “setlist” but it seemed to be a scribble of words and lyrics and all kinds of things (no picture).  He ended with one more song from Karma, “Heart Slows Down.”

I really enjoyed his set a lot.  I found him to be a charismatic performer and while the crowd at the bar was rally noisy during his set, those of us up front were rapt.

I still would have preferred if this set was with the full band, but he was still really good by himself.

SETLIST

1. I Love America Better Than You
2. My Sick Mind
3. Dime ♦
4. If Not Now When Φ
5. Success ♦
6. Little Movies ♦
7. My Whole Life Is Over (All Over Again) ®
8. The Rest Is Yet to Come Φ
9. Florida Man ≅
10. Heart Slows Down Φ

® Karma for Cheap: Reincarnated (2019)
Φ Karma for Cheap (2018)
♦ Silver Tears (2016)
≅ In the Blazes (2015)