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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic live album-- the next best thing to being there, June 10, 2000
Of the hundreds of concerts I've attended, I would rate Joe Ely in the top ten, right up there with B.B. King, Emmylou Harris and Spyboy, Hamell on Trial, Steve Earle,The Holmes Brothers, Ted Hawkins, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Dave Alvin. I mention all of these performers because I think if you're a fan of any of them that you will be very much interested in the man and his live album. I caught him last summer with just an acoustic trio and it was a true epiphany. After the show Joe told me to watch for this live album. Well here it is, and man this album is dynamite.LIVE AT ANTONE'S is the third Joe Ely live album, following essential recordings LIVE SHOTS (from 1980 recorded while touring with The Clash) and LIVE AT LIBERTY LUNCH (a marvelous glimpse of three nights in 1989). His latest only repeats 2 songs from those previous sets, the all-time great city pictorial "Dallas" and the surreal acoustic raver, "Me and Billy the Kid" that always gets the crowd revved up.What will impress long-time Ely fans and newcomers alike is the man's conviction, showmanship, vivid songs, and amazing band which features flamenco wizard Teye, roadhouse ax-slinger Jesse Jake Taylor, and steel ace Lloyd Maines (yes that Dixie Chick's father). Most of the songs are drawn from the string of great albums he's released in the past decade, DIG ALL NIGHT,LOVE AND DANGER, LETTER TO LAREDO, and TWISTIN' IN THE WIND. Kicking off with a definitive rendition of Robert Earl Keen's tale of transient lovers, "The Road Goes on Forever", Ely and company journey through the realm in which blues, ranchera, country, rockabilly, and rock and roll meet and mingle, much like the people who love and lose in the most intense ways as the lyrics can attest. There's humor and heartache and sublime energy in every cut. Plus, the Lubbock-born Ely closes with Flat City's other famous native son, Buddy Holly-- "Oh Boy!" takes a fever-pitched Austin crowd to Dionysian levels.Joe Ely is simply awesome live, and if you want to know why people like Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle, Marcia Ball, Emmylou Harris and Joe Strummer go out of their own way to catch his show, start here and then get all of the great albums in his catalog. (And, check out his cool website, too!). You'll be a fan for life.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Americana CD of the Year, August 30, 2000
Artists identified with the Americana music movement draw inspiration from a variety of musical genres including country, blues, cajun/zydeco, and Tex-Mex border music, to name a few. Joe Ely probably exemplifies the results of this kind of creative creolization: his critical success and relative obscurity now spans three decades. He has released three live recordings over the years - each one reflecting the intensity, originality, and sincerity of his career at that particular point in time. "Live Shots" (1980) introduced the original Ely band that opened for the Clash (featuring, among others, Lloyd Maines - dad of Dixie Chick, Natalie); "Live at Liberty Lunch" (1990) showcased the tasteful Texas guitar stylings of David Grissom wrapped around the Ely voice and verve. The latest, "Live @ Antone's," comes in the wake of Ely's best studio work ever ("Letter to Laredo," "Twistin' in the Wind"), a Grammy for his work with the Los Super Seven, and after being dropped yet again from MCA. The recent live offering blends the old with the new: Lloyd Maines and Jesse Taylor - lifelong buddies from the early years in Lubbock - are back, and are joined by the flamencobilly guitarist Teye and squeezebox master Joel Guzman. Ely has always excelled at selecting songs a step ahead of the curve from up-and-coming songwriters (e.g., Robert Earl Keen's "The Road Goes on Forever" kicks off the set) and at giving new musicians their first shot at national audiences (e.g., Grissom, Teye). Ely is a quintessential bandleader and on this live recording he moves the group from tasteful ballads complimented by sweet licks from accordian and flamenco guitar ("Ranches and Rivers") to edgy, moody pieces from his own catalogue that juxtapose angry rockabilly electric guitar with a mournful steel ("Workin' for the Man"). There is also the customary Buddy Holly number you expect from any Ely gig ("Oh Boy") and some numbers from his Flatlander brothers ("Dallas" from Jimmie Dale Gilmore and "Road Hawg" from Butch Hancock). But the full Ely experience explodes on the theme from the some-yet-to-be-filmed Western, "Up on the Ridge," in which everyone gets to drive home a mood. Teye flirts with a melancholy sentiment in the verses, and Maines takes a supporting role with some fairly standard steel sweeps here and there. But hell soon breaks loose and the novice listener will be cut to shreds by the soaring, almost-out-of-control leads from Maines's steel guitar, countered by Taylor's biting electric licks. Ely's plaintive voice and story-telling sensibility remains the centerpiece. In the early "Live Shots" his voice seemed at times to quiver with youthful exuberance and excited tension. That nervous vibrato is replaced on this recording by a older lust for life tempered by reflection and wistfulness, clearly evident in his cover of the bluegrass standard, "Rock Salt and Nails" and in ballads like "Gallo Del Cielo" and "Thousand Miles from Home" (both of which surpass the studio versions). Few vocalists exude such sincerity, whether in beleaguered heartache, world weariness, or outright party-animal attitude (and how he keeps those pipes intact over all these years is a complete mystery - must be something in that Lubbock dust). We have another essential Joe Ely recording on our hands, and count yourself lucky if you are among the few who know it.
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ely Delivers A Powerful Live Set, June 14, 2000
The Nineties were not the most productive decade for Texas singer-songwriter Joe Ely. He released only three albums, including 1995's critically acclaimed Letter To Loreda and 1998's equally excellent Twistin' In The Wind. Although Ely has been a critics' darling since his self-titled debut in 1977, it would appear that almost a quarter of a century later Ely is unlikely to break out of his cult status. And that's a crying shame. Ely's current band is making some of the best music of his career and this live recording is highly enjoyable.The album kicks off with a rollicking version of "The Road Goes On Forever" from 1992's Love And Danger. Next is a trio of songs from Letter To Loredo. The highlight is the story song "Galla Del Cielo" with Teye providing the flamenco guitar. {Ely's webpage refers to the music as flamencobilly.] Another favorite is "Me And Billy The Kid," which also appeared on 1990's Live At Liberty Lunch." And it wouldn't be complete without including at least a couple songs from his former Flatlanders' bandmates. He does rousing versions of Jimmie Dale Gilmore's "Dallas" and Butch Hancock's "Road Hawg." And in a tribute to another native Texan, Ely closes the set with Buddy Holly's "Oh Boy!" Much of this band appeared on Ely's last studio album, including Jesse Taylor (lead guitar), Lloyd Maines (steel guitar), Teye (flamenco guitar) and Joel Guzman (accordian). [In fact, Taylor and Maines were cornerstones of Ely's original band which recorded four classic albums for MCA now available from Edsel.] While each of the studio albums these songs come from deserve to be part of your collection, Ely shines in a live setting and I would recommended his other two live recordings as well. RECOMMENDED
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by Joe Ely 
