I keep forgetting to write about this concert and I'm afraid that if I don't write about it now, I'll forget everything that happened. So... Here's a writeup of when I saw The Milk Carton Kids last Tuesday! They're one of my favorite bands and I'm so fortunate to have seen them in my hometown (after traveling long distances to see them the first four times).
The last time that The Milk Carton Kids toured, I went to see them in another state, about three hours away from where I live. Funnily enough, some of the fans I met in line at that show were not only from my home state, but from my hometown as well. Even funnier, they lived in the exact county where I work- and they said they recognized me from seeing me at my job. And then, to make matters JUST that much funnier, they mentioned another couple from that very same county whom they had met at the last Milk Carton Kids show they saw- and those people turned out to be at this show. So, when The Milk Carton Kids announced that they were kicking off their tour in my hometown, I thought, "I bet those two couples are going to be there." And I was right. The first people I saw as I walked into the venue were the couple I had met and the other couple from my hometown, sitting across from each other at the table. And their table was right next to mine (which was right up at the front, close to the stage). What are the fucking odds... The only real bummer was that no one else was sitting at my table. I would have loved to converse with some fellow fans. But I did get to chat with those two couples by leaning over in my chair for a little bit, so that was nice.
The venue where the concert took place is a dinner-and-a-show type of deal, but I had already eaten before I left (not realizing how early doors opened). There was a $15 minimum, though, so I ordered an appetizer- grilled Brussels sprouts- and a dessert- peanut butter pie. And let me tell you, those dishes were both AMAZING. This venue has really upped their game since I last went there.
Before The Milk Carton Kids came out, we had an opener- Humbird. I had never heard her music before, and when she first walked out onstage, the thought crossed my mind: "Oh, she's like Madison Cunningham!" Yeah, Blue, because every blonde white lady with an electric guitar is like Madison Cunningham. I hadn't even heard her sing yet. From the very first note she sang, though... I was TRANSFIXED. (And she didn't sound like Madison Cunningham.) I loved her opening song so much that after the show, I asked for "whichever CD has the opening song on it" at the merch table, only to be told that it hadn't been recorded yet. Well, shit... (I also wanted to say hello to her at the merch table, but unfortunately she was being cornered by some old dude. I hope that conversation went okay...) Humbird talked about how she was from Minnesota and hadn't been expecting this state to look so much like her hometown (we had just had a snow day), to the point where she thought she had gotten on the wrong plane when she stepped off the flight. Later in the set, she sang a love song she had written for her radiator, which was incredibly relatable. I haven't yet gone looking to see if that song is on an album... Anyway, Humbird was fantastic and her CD Right On is very good and I highly recommend it.
After a short break... The Milk Carton Kids took the stage! When Joey walked out, he asked the audience if we had all been enjoying our "French dip," and then said that he had refrained from ordering the French dip because "When I asked if it was good, the server said 'It's an acquired taste.' That's not something you want to hear about French dip..." They opened with "Monterey," which I'm sure I've heard them play before, but I always forget if it's "Monterey" or "The Ash & Clay," given that both of them mention "the ash and clay" in the lyrics. Once again, I was pretty much transfixed from the first few notes. Their vocal blend is IMPECCABLE, and the harmonies were a strong, full sound that I could feel in my chest. This continued with the next song, "Hope of a Lifetime," which is one of my favorites by them, and which I definitely haven't heard them play before. What a treat!
While Kenneth was tuning his guitar between songs, Joey said the same thing that Humbird had said- that he and Kenneth had thought they had gotten on the wrong flight when they came over here and saw the snow. He asked if we had had a snow day, and several of us yelled yes. "I'm gonna tell my kids about snow days..." Joey cracked, and someone in the audience yelled "They'll never believe you!" Although this could have been taken as a jab at global warming, Joey explained that he lives in Los Angeles, therefore his kids already don't believe him. Someone in the audience called out that there was going to be a two-hour delay tomorrow, and Joey repeated "Two hour delay?" as if he'd never heard of such a thing. "A two hour work delay?" he asked. "For the schools!" someone clarified. This only baffled Joey further: "So you go in to school two hours later than usual? Why don't they just close the schools?" YEAH, REALLY. WHY DON'T THEY??? I'm glad it took a Californian to call us out like that... It was around that time that Kenneth had finished tuning, so he strummed a few notes for Joey, who said, "It sounds the same as it did before." Kenneth replied with: "That leads me to only one conclusion." "Which is?" "You're out of tune." "That's impossible." Although given what they said at the last Milk Carton Kids concert I saw, which was that they only had one tuner to spare, I didn't find it all that implausible... (I also saw Kenneth hand Joey the tuner at one point, which I'm only mentioning now because I don't remember what song he did that before, but that only reinforces my agreement with Joey's take on the whole situation, which he shared with us at that last concert: "We need two tuners.")
The next song in the set was "Snake Eyes," which I always love hearing in concert, given that it was the first Milk Carton Kids song I ever heard. Then Joey decided to chat with us a little bit more. "The last time we were here, we played at this park... What was it called? It began with an M..." Several of us shouted the name of the park, leading Kenneth to reprimand us- "Of course you know it! You're from here!"- but Joey still seemed stumped: "Merrymount Park...?" Naturally, Kenneth couldn't resist pointing out, "You still don't know what it was after, like, a million people said it?" Joey didn't try to defend himself, but he did point out that at least he's not as bad as his wife, who forgets EVERYTHING, as if her mind is a sieve. At the very least, he DID remember who they opened for on that tour: Old Crow Medicine Show. "Who saw us play on that tour?" he asked. There was a scattering of applause. "Okay, one guy... Two guys..." Suddenly he seemed to notice that the applause was coming from the same part of the room. "Oh, they went together!" A person closer to the stage then decided to engage in what I find to be one of the most obnoxious aspects of a Milk Carton Kids show- how the fans seem to think they can say whatever they want in a weird bid for attention. What this person said was: "I didn't see you guys until Georgia, so..." How was that relevant?? Fortunately, Joey seemed to recognize the randomness of this statement by replying with, "Okay... We're in [my home state]."
According to Joey, the Old Crow Medicine Show tour didn't go very well for the Milk Carton Kids, because this was back when they were trying to be as "authentic" as possible- thus crowding around a single microphone and playing unamplified. (Honestly, from what I saw of the stage setup, that wasn't very different from what they were currently doing... But I digress.) This led to them playing a barely-audible set for an audience who was just sitting there, waiting to hear "Wagon Wheel." Still, they probably fared better than the other opening act on the tour... "Does anyone remember who was the other opening act on the Old Crow Medicine Show Tour?" Someone yelled that it was The Lumineers, and Joey said, "Oh, we all know The Lumineers... I'm sure they're across town, playing a comparable venue." (We started cracking up at this point, because the venue where The Milk Carton Kids were playing was REALLY tiny.) "Our careers had similar trajectories after that tour... Well, they've probably got people sitting there, just waiting to hear 'Ho Hey.' Or is it 'Hey Ho?'"
Following this lengthy interlude was my favorite song from The Milk Carton Kids' most recent album, "North Country Ride." I was so happy to see that they'd kept it in the set following their last tour. <3 I first heard the song when they played it on their holiday livestream in 2022, and that was so very special for me. After that, Joey went to put down his guitar and trade it for a banjo. As with the last tour, he introduced the new instrument by talking about how it's popular with the younger crowd- although instead of claiming that it's popular on TikTok, as he did last tour, he instead said, "We wanted to attract a younger audience, and the easiest way to do that was to add a banjo." This made everyone laugh, because let me put it this way- audiences at folk music shows are RARELY "young," and this concert was no exception. "And it worked!" Joey claimed. "Our audience's age range plummeted to the 40's!" I was wondering if they were going to end up playing "One True Love" or if it would be the special banjo version of "All of the Time In the World to Kill." It ended up being "One True Love," which was nice... but I would have loved AOTTITWTK even more, just sayin'. More people need to be aware of the power of the banjo on that song!
What followed "One True Love" was a REAL treat. Kenneth announced, while Joey was putting away his banjo, that the next few songs would be BRAND NEW SONGS from their UPCOMING ALBUM which they had JUST FINISHED RECORDING!!!!! I can't confirm if they've played these songs live before or not, but since this was the opening night of the tour, it's very possible that I got to see THREE LIVE DEBUTS that night!!! While talking about the album, Kenneth said that he'd been sending the link to a lot of people for them to hear it, and then told Joey, "I sent it to your mom. That's not a mom joke! Joey's mom is a bigger Milk Carton Kids fan than he is!" "It's true," Joey conceded. He then asked Kenneth if he could send the link to him, because he hadn't heard the album yet. I'm guessing he was joking, but who knows with these two. The new songs were all great! I only remember a few standout lyrics: "blue water" from the first song, "long-lost lover-fool" from the second one, and... something about a friend for the last one. The "blue water" song was my favorite, but I'm really looking forward to when the whole album comes out so I can hear all three songs again.
It was somewhere in the middle of those three songs that Joey began a standard "thank you for being here, we love playing here" comment to the audience, which prompted someone to shout from stage left: "Come back here!" Kenneth didn't hear what she had said, so he asked Joey to repeat it, and Joey cracked that, "This person wants us to come back when the show isn't over. It's not even halfway over." "Very Eckhardt Tolle," Kenneth replied, to which Joey said: "I don't know what that is. What's Eckhardt Tolle?" Having pointed out earlier in the show that they were on a timer and worrying that the curfew at this venue might be strict, Kenneth pointed out the timer again, only for Joey to insist that Kenneth explain Eckhardt Tolle to him "in, like, five seconds." All Kenneth said was, "The Power of Now." This didn't seem to sit well with Joey: "That sounds New Age-y. And it's the opposite of what she said. I'm more of a Ram Dass guy." This led to my favorite moment of the entire show:
Kenneth: "Eat shit."
Joey: "Is that how this song starts? You tell me to eat shit and then we go?"
Kenneth: "Actually, I have it here that I start this song."
Joey: "Okay." *starts playing the intro to the song*
Kenneth: "That sounds like you're starting the song!"
Joey: "Sure. And that's the power of now."
God. When I tell you I laughed... This band is so hilarious, I swear. I love them so much!!
Anyway. After that, they played "Michigan," their biggest "hit," which got some surprisingly scattered recognition applause (it usually gets a lot more- in fact, I even heard a few people chuckling at the people who were clapping, as if that wasn't an appropriate thing to do!). There's nothing I can say about that song that hasn't been said before. It's beautiful, and it's the song that hooked me as a Milk Carton Kids fan for life. I was, however, surprised that they were playing the song so early in the set, as it's usually their main set closer... Well, it turned out that this WAS the main set closer, because the next set consisted entirely of Christmas music! (I had been expecting that, since the show was billed as a holiday show, but I was very relieved that they didn't just straight up play an all-Christmas set.) "You can sing along," Joey cautioned, "just have some self-awareness." I don't really have much to say about the Christmas set, except to recount the story that Joey told before one song. According to him, his Jewish mother's only redeeming factor of the Milk Carton Kids' Christmas album, full of the most Christ-like Christmas songs, was that Joey played clarinet on it, thus proving that the lessons she paid for when he was a kid didn't go to waste. When he had finished telling this story, Kenneth said, "You also don't play clarinet on this song." All Joey could do was wait a beat, say "dammit," and then go to put the clarinet away. But he did bring the clarinet back out to play a solo on "O Come All Ye Faithful," which was absolutely beautiful (and one of my favorite Christmas carols, to boot)!
The very last song was performed with Humbird, thus continuing the tradition from last tour of performing a song with the opening act during the encore, and Joey said that this time, we could sing along with the song if we knew the words. That being said, he had to point out that "our friend here," Humbird, had ruined the song for him earlier that day. "So the song is 'Silent Night...'" Cue Kenneth going "Don't tell them what song it is!!!" Undeterred, Joey asked Humbird to explain what it was she had said that had ruined the song, and she said, "There's no way it was that silent." If she had stopped there, it would have been comedy gold, but as she went on to explain how it was most definitely NOT a silent night in Bethlehem when Jesus was born, and how he was born in a manger of all places, which HAD to have been noisy with all the animals surrounding him... I began to realize that she and Joey had the exact same dry sense of humor, and they should start a comedy act together, maybe. Anyway... We sang along with "Silent Night" and it was so nice (although very hard to sing along to, thanks to the way they harmonized it). And... that was the concert!! I'm SO glad that I finally got to see The Milk Carton Kids in my hometown after six years, and I'm so glad it was such a good show!! I swear to god, I would follow them anywhere!!!
December is probably my favorite time of the year. Winter really starts to set in, which brings the snow and cold weather, making everything beautiful. Christmas festivities, movies and music are everywhere, and it also gives you a chance to look back at the past year. Looking back on this year in terms of music, I listened to 294 albums released in 2021, and have narrowed it down to my top 20. This was a very deep year for music, the top 3 on my list stood above all the others as being great and deserving of a top 3 listing. After that though, I could make an argument to change the order of any of these albums, they were all very good in their own ways. Some of these I've seen on other people's "best of" lists, but some I haven't seen anywhere except here. Hopefully you can discover something new here, my goal is always to introduce people to new music.
20. Lana Del Rey- Chemtrails Over The Country Club
19. Kacey Musgrave- Star Crossed
18. Justin Bieber- Justice
17. Pearl Charles- Magic Mirror
16. Durand Jones & The Indications- Private Space
15. Pokey LaFarge - In the Blossom of Their Shade
14. John Mayer- Sob Rock
13. Hayes Carll- You Get It All
12. Daniel Romano's Outfit- Fully Plugged In
11. Charley Crockett- Music City USA
10. Alan Jackson- Where Have You Gone
9. Ben Howard- Collections From The Whiteout
8. Humbird- Still Life
7. Charley Crockett- 10 For Slim: Charley Crockett Sings James Hand
6. Anthony da Costa- What Plans?
5. Cat Clyde & Jeremie Albino- Blue Blue Blue
4. Aly & AJ - A Touch of the Beat Gets You Up on Your Feet Gets You Out and Then Into the Sun
“On the Day We Are Together Again” features an intimate performance from Humbird. Lyrics about the pain of distance from loved ones are sung in the style of a sort of hymn for a song that both raw and timely.
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