“40 Dogs” Set to Expand the Church of Bob

We’ve all heard the story about how a glass of red wine a day helps you live longer. Personally, I’m convinced the same is true about live music.

I’m certain a scientific study that took a group of people and exposed them to one live music event each month would prove that group would live longer than those who had not experienced as much live music over the same time period.

That’s part of the reason I make it a point to see at least one live show per month. This discipline has kept my rock & roll incisors sharp and allowed me to see firsthand the pageantry of everyone from Michael Jackson to Tim McGraw. I’m such a live music veteran now that I proudly wear the totally uncool neon earplugs. Go ahead and laugh, but next time you’re at First Avenue check the tall roadie dude covered in ink carrying away the empties – and you’ll see he’s wearing them too.

Over the years I’ve assembled a sacred group, which I refer to as my Live Top 5. It’s a group I can count on one hand who for various reasons have been enshrined in my personal live music hall of fame.

Most of the names you would expect.

The Boss is there because no one, absolutely no one works harder than Bruce Springsteen. The older he gets, the more he upholds the ethos of one of his tracks, “Prove it all Night.” Going to see Bruce Springsteen live is a bit masochistic, like signing up for a session with the personal trainer you heard was “psycho” to at the health club. Because make no mistake you (and the rest of his aging audience) will give up before Bruce does.

Prince makes the Live Top 5 and not just because he’s from Minnesota and can do the splits on top of a piano in heels. No Prince makes the list because of his medley style playlist when he’s in concert. When you see a Prince show it’s like he’s done a scientific study of the high points of every one of his songs and he’s put it all in a blender to serve you up only the best bits. It’s like he’s run a concert optimizer, and you’ll never come down.

Of course the Irish lads make the list. While U2 can be inconsistent live depending on how ready they were to tour or how many clove cigarettes Bono is smoking, when they’re on their game it’s something to witness. Bono isn’t my favorite singer in the world, but he is my favorite front man – and there’s a difference. And to see a U2 show is to understand the importance of that distinction. Edge’s wind chime guitars and Bono’s ideas are stadium sized indeed.

If anyone is ready to take U2’s live torch as they slowly move past the exit, it’s probably three punks from Oakland. If you haven’t seen Green Day live yet, you need to before they get knocked back down to size. Green Day’s current rock opera phrase has this trio transforming from the snot and bloody lip of their punk roots to the pyrotechnics and stadium spectacle of big time rock & roll. No one is having more fun out on tour right now, whether they’re mocking the King of Pop or starting their sets with a drunk guy in a pink bunny suit--Green Day are indeed in their prime.

But there is one surprising name that rounds out my Live Top 5. And that name is Bob Schneider, a singer songwriter from Austin, Texas.

The live music experience with Bob is difficult to describe. There are certain performers that when you see them it’s almost spiritual, like going to music church. Martin Sexton has that, Springsteen, etc. I remember the first time I went to a Bob show and saw the huge line snaking around the Fine Line Music Café in Minneapolis, I knew there was real credibility to Bob’s live reputation.

To put it in a sentence, the biggest compliment I can give Bob Schneider and perhaps the most accurate description of his live experience are the 6 words my wife said when I took her to see her first Bob show this summer at the Double Door in Chicago:

“This is weird. I like it” she said.

That about sums it up. The son of an opera singer who used to entertain at his parent parties, Bob has basically been marinating in Austin’s melting pot of a music scene for decades. Over this time Bob has morphed into a real version of someone Matt McConaughey would play in a movie. He’s a larger than life sloppy rock god that can put together a live show that’s equal parts Copacabana, G Love’s special sauce, romantic comedy, with a pirate’s eye patch tossed in for good measure.

Bob’s genre bending live spectacle is the stuff of legend. Like the city of Austin itself, Bob is indeed weird, but good. For a taste check this live link from YouTube:

Saxon Pub

This clip gives you a glimpse of the genuine love between artist and audience Bob evokes. Personally I think the first comment from KillMeNow1990 below the clip nails it, “Quite simply, the coolest fucker on Earth. And I would assume the universe.”

So if I’m carving Bob Schneider’s comic book hero jaw line into my live music Mt. Rushmore alongside The Boss, Bono, and Billy Joe – one has to wonder why most of you you’ve never heard of the man.

And that’s a good question, besides a cup of coffee of success more directly linked to Bob dating actress Sandra Bullock then his live music prowess, he does remain relatively under the radar. And while Bob followers range from 35-year old women to University of Texas co-eds, and David Wooderson wannabes – mainstream success has yet to arrive.

All of that may be about to change with the release of Bob’s latest studio album, Lovely Creatures.

Lovely Creatures is a different album for Bob fans. It’s a romantic record composed of ten pretty songs and two greatest hits. The closest thing from Bob’s back catalogue to resemble this record is probably “Flowerparts” linked here:

Flowerparts

Yes Bob has tucked in his shirt for this album. The result is a handsome little record, and one giant song.

“40 Dogs (Like Romeo and Juliet)” is the song that just might get Bob on a few more Live Top 5 lists. It’s also everything you should love about Bob rolled into four minutes and thirteen seconds of undeniable soft rock. To give it a listen and get a glimpse of a more recent live experience from Bob click here:

40 Dogs

And there it is. “40 Dogs” is a track romantic enough to bring to mind a young John Cusack. A song you, your buddy, your wife, and mom can agree on. And of course the brilliant lyric, including the following:

Come out tonight, come out with me baby
We’ll throw the careful into the crazy
Turn the sky black into a sky blue
Turn a closed shade into a Hoo Hoo!

At its core “40 Dogs” is pure Bob. From the sloppy combination of Shakespeare and malt liquor, to the naughtiness, and the grit. But it’s also a thing of beauty. If Bob’s intent was, as it seems to write and record a lovely record, then “40 Dogs” has emerged the super model track of the bunch. “40 Dogs” has all the excitement of the perfumed air at the beginning of a relationship; locking eyes at a bar, and the high cheekbones and ample lips only a songwriter of Bob’s pedigree could possibly deliver. “40 Dogs” is the song that should get more people to visit the church of Bob.

There are other gems on Lovely Creatures from the tortured soul of “Changing my Mind” with Patty Griffin which proves art loves heartbreak. “Changing my Mind” is an exceedingly sad song that still feels good to listen to. “Bicycle vs. Car” is a gorgeous gawker slowdown of a ballad as we pan across the lopsided collision of head vs. heart.

Lovely Creatures also includes two tracks that have been fan favorites at Bob’s live shows for years in “Bombonanza” and “Tarantula.” A musician marinated in the Austin, Texas music scene like Bob is bound to become the musical equivalent of a rink or gym rat. To reach tracks like “Tarantula” and “Bombonanza” requires the experience and flavor of a dirty barbecue grill. That’s been Austin’s gift to Bob, and he’s returned the favor to us with songs like these two live escapades. While less than four minutes here trust that both are much meatier in person. When Bob does “Bombonanza” it’s “Copacabana” only you’ve swapped Barry Manilow for Don Draper. And “Tarantula” features another ridiculous yet perfect Dr. Schneider sing-a-long chorus in “There she goes! There in the moonlight! Under the stars! Tarantula!”

As a whole Lovely Creatures offers a more tapered and romantic sound than Schneider fans may be used to hearing. But even though Bob may have added a spoonful of sugar on his latest record, the live favorites “Bombonanza” and “Tarantula” finally delivered to a studio record and the first kiss boom of “40 Dogs” should result in a few new faces at the church of Schneider on Sunday. And to that I say, “Amen.”