Me, Tater, Citizen Cope, Chocolate Genius, and The Trocadero

Don't crowd the plate because the high heat is coming in whistling today! What an awesome rainy, overcast, gloomy day! Thank God I am alive to see another incredible day with all of the people I love and some of the ones I just put up with because I am not yet the man I should be!

So last night the Tater (kudos for knife smuggling) and I (no kudos for a confiscated water) flossed our coolest gear as we were headed out to a big show. We went and saw Citizen Cope with special guest Chocolate Genius at the Trocadero Theatre in Philly. All in all a great show, but we will examine it in full detail as a service to you.

First, the Trocadero is a solid venue. If I were a young artist, or for that matter an old artist, and I were coming to Philly, I would definitely book the Trocadero. It has an old world appeal that combines burlesque theater trappings and intimacy (down to the original velvety curtain) with small theater size (about 500 people). The architecture was that kind of ornate woodwork that makes you exclaim, no matter how cliche, "They don't make them like this anymore." No place is worth its salt unless it has a net attached to the ceiling to prevent the sound from causing aging plaster to crumble and fall on your head during the show, and the Trocadero is happy to oblige with aforementioned netting. It is unfortunate that there is a baracade five feet from the stage that limits the intimacy, but I hear that there are some punk shows that get rowdy there every now and then, so what are you gonna do? Most crucially, the public bathroom rating is an overall A- (concert scale). Basically, every little concert place has a public restroom that you in all good conscience would never use normally; however, given the fact that you know it is a graffiti-covered, poorly lit, crack-walled rat hole that bears the signs of booze-tempered aim you come in with low expectations. The Trocadero features a bathroom that while graffiti laced, has very good lighting, plenty of toilet paper and an altogether clean facility. It would be a C+ on the normal scale (the stall door has no latch), but on the concert scale it is a strong A-. Overall venue grade: A-.

Citizen Cope said a mouthful when he introduced (yeah you heard that right, he came out and introduced his own special guest opener...that's cool) his special guest and "close friend" Chocolate Genius. Let us establish firmly the power of the words "close friend." After this night, I can confidently say that these words mean, "even though I know that he is no good and will be a major let down for you, I still love the guy, so deal with it." Basically, Chocolate Genius is most assuredly Chocolate, but most assuredly lacks Genius. He is a performance driven artist as his songs lack any real connection to beauty, reality, or talent for that matter. He is attempting to capture the audience with a decent charisma, but loses them with ill-fated faux complexity of music and weakly written lyrics bent towards shock value and a way-too-cool-for-school facade. Chocolate Genius recordeded the song Julia on the I Am Sam sountrack, but they never played the one song that most people know by them live. This was undoubtedly a statement. And so is, "I will never watch another performance by Chocolate Genius." Overall Grade: F-.

Following his "close friend," Citizen Cope had his work cut out for him. Amazingly he pulled it off. While a definite influence on the album, in concert the reggae influence is prevalent. He achieves a masterful understatement with his guitar, often playing only one or two strings for the song, letting the bass, keyboards, and most importantly the Hammond Organ drive the sound, which there is plenty of. He had tremendous feel, but perhaps might have been hampered by a radio friendly crowd who cheered his songs closed long before it seemed he would have ended them if it were up to him. He seemed to enjoy the five-to-six minute smoke-em-if-you-got-em droning jam session at the end of each song. He loved to slow build and the power of the eventual tidal wave of sound that had crept up over you. For surprisingly little interaction with the crowd early in the show, he managed to find a closeness with us throughout the show, especially the encore--he was simply able to pull off that you-know-I'm-working-but-I-am-never-too-busy-for-you kind of smirk and a definite appreciation for the working man. Like he was our friend, he led us through most every song he has recorded. The only thing I have to criticize, and Tater disagreed with me on this, is that he played for like 50 minutes, said good night, and then came out and played a 30 minute, seven song encore. To me, the encore should not exceed half of your show's length. Still, as the music in the encore was masterfully done, this is small potatoes. He gets extra points for ending the show and immediately walking through the crowd to meet and greet at the merch table--everyone connects with a man-of-the-people approach like this. Overall grade: A. Go see him if he comes to your town. Go see him if he comes to your state--even those in Texas.

Until next time, stay safe and keep saying your prayers.