pacificlectic : concert reviews & eclectic music news

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW are at the BOTTOM

Early shows are problematic, especially if you have to drive 2 hours to get to them. Oh, and also if the artist thought they started later. Blame for this goes squarely to the Doug Fir Lounge, in my opinion. Double-booking a night is horrible. Horrible. Nellie McKay* would have likely played much longer, had she been allowed to… argh.

*– for the newbies, her last name rhymes with “McPie”

Anyway, the opener Amorèe Lovell started right at 7pm, and played a stellar 40 minutes. She is from Portland, and plays a mean piano with quirky lyrics and fun banter. I’d say she fits in with the likes of Regina Spektor & Nellie McKay with a touch of Tori Amos. She also brings her own charm & style. She was very entertaining. She played mainly originals, but also threw in some Tom Waits, Johnny Cash & David Bowie. On to Nellie…

Nellie‘s start time was supposed to be 8pm. She didn’t hit the stage until nearly 8:30, due to a mix-up with her start time. Most of the crowd was getting antsy (myself included), as the late show had a “doors open” time of 9:30. Yikes. With that being said, Nellie came on and put on a great just shy of an hour show. She seemed more comfortable and confident, and she was as funny / spunky as usual.

Nellie’s Setlist:

• Toto Dies
• Old Enough
• Mother of Pearl [on uke]
• story about prince chunky, the 44 pound cat
• The Dog Song (a fav of the set)
• Real Life
• Tipperary
• Don’t Fence Me In [on uke]
• Vote for Mr. Rhythm [with Obama tag at the end]
• Sari (a fav of the set… with Dylan impression at the end)
• Feed the Birds
  
• Politan
• Don’t Fence Me In [false start… she remembered she already did it] :)
• Me Gusta Mañana [on uke.. a silly spanish song]
• explanation about her NPR song “Cavendish”… she didn’t have time to brush up on it, but sometime soon
• Zombie (a fav of the set)
• Encore 1: Really
• Encore 2: Ding Dong

The Appropriate Linkage:

• http://www.myspace.com/prettylittlehead
• http://www.nelliemckay.com/ (official)
• http://www.nelliemckay.org/ (fan site)
• http://www.myspace.com/amoreelovell
  
• http://www.amoreelovell.com/
  
• http://www.dougfirlounge.com/
• My blog reviewing Nellie in Eugene, OR 10/5/07
• My blog about Nellie @ TEDtalks
• My blog about Nellie’s Project Song on NPR (where she wrote “Cavendish” in 48 hours)

Next show for me?  Radiohead next Wednesday at White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, WA (up near Seattle).  Woot!!

I was a pageant gone bad…
~Dan – np: Thelonious Monk & Sonny Rollins – Thelonious Monk & Sonny Rollins

NELLIE MCKAY CONCERT PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2008 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution