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 FYI… PHOTOS of both SHOWS at the BOTTOM

I’ve been into Peter Mulvey for the past 10 years, right around when The Trouble With Poets came out.  I used to be able to see him at least twice a year in Southwest Ohio (Canal Street Tavern, Southgate House, etc).  Since moving to Eugene, Oregon, I’ve only had one opportunity.  It was a great show, but I needed more… hence the need to drive up to Portland to see him before he hit my hometown the next day. :)

Alberta Street Pub (Saturday in Portland) was packed when I got there.  I didn’t know it was an early show and I showed up right when Krista was going on.  The venue was long and narrow… most of the seating was church pews (a la Dayton’s Canal Street Tavern).  Given that fact, I gladly stood in back (church pews are horrid on my back).  The acoustics in the room were good.  The light wasn’t all that great… but I still got a few shots that ended up being decent (see below).

Sam Bond’s Garage (Sunday in Eugene) is a place I’ve been to many times.  It is also dark; so I usually don’t bring my camera for shows.  I was able to get a few shots, though.  The plus of SBG for the Peter Mulvey weekend is that it seems more spread out compared to Alberta Street Pub… plus their beer selection is tops (Alberta seemed to have half of theirs socked up/out of stock).  So, as far as venue winner… Sam Bond’s.  But I’ll definitely hit Alberta again if a show suits me.

Krista Detor played about a 20-30minute set on both nights.  She mainly played piano, but also pulled out the accordion for a song of her own (and one of Peter’s).  Her songs that I caught in Portland… “Steal Me A Car”, “100 Years More,” “Mudshow,” “Early Grave,” and “Waterline.”

In Eugene, Krista played the same songs except she threw in “All to Do with the Moon” in between “Mudshow” and “Early Grave.” 

Peter Mulvey was in a great mood in Portland.  He had a shorter set due to a different show going on after him, but he was a graceful and funny as usual.  Some of the best parts of the set were his banter in between songs… his bit on Sean Connery had me cracking up.  How can someone with a speech impediment be so well known for his speaking roles?  It was schplendid.   Peter also went off on a riff about Sting that was also pretty funny, surrounding a “wet t-shirt” promo for a recent Saturday Night Live appearance.  I think if Peter’s guitar and voice weren’t so grand, he could be a stand-up comedian. :)

He played a lot from his new album, but also a few older tunes and covers.  He had some limited edition The Bicycle EPs for sale, and I snagged one for me and a couple friends.  He also mentioned that next September (2010) he might bring his bike tour out to Oregon.  Yippie!  Anyway, here’s what he played on Saturday night…

Setlist (Portland 11/7): about 80 minutes

• If Love Is Not Enough
• Some People
• Kids In The Square
• Here In The Going Going Gone [Greg Brown cover]
• Letter From A Flying Machine
• “Sean Connery”
• Windshield
• The Knuckleball Suite (with Krista Detor)
• Shirt (with KD)
• “Sting SNL”
• Shoulderbirds (You Know Me) (with KD)
• Bears
• Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad (And Far Away From Home)
• (I Don’t Know Why) But I Do [Bobby Charles cover]
• Mailman
• Vlad The Astrophysicist
• On A Wing And A Prayer
• Encore: Our Love Is Here To Stay [Nat King Cole cover]

One food-related add-on… close to the Alberta Street Pub was a place called Grilled Cheese Grill.  Holy cow… excellent stuff.  It does for grilled cheese what Eugene’s Off the Waffle does for waffles.  Yummy!

~*~*~*~

Eugene’s set was similar – Peter seemed to be in a pretty great mood.  The crowd was much smaller than Portland, but I figured smaller market to pull from and Sunday night were a factor in that.  I will say that I’m disappointed in Eugene a lot for not coming out to some great shows (I made my best attempt for last night).  We did conjure up a trio of friends to join us, and there were some other definitely Peter Mulvey fans in the crowd – including a couple of teddy bear loving peeps (that was interesting, to say the least).  My friendJenny asked me if teddy bears were a theme with Peter’s fans, to which I blurted out, “noooooo.”  And then Peter announced the spoken word piece “Bears.”  :)

Setlist (Eugene 11/8): about 90 minutes

• I’m Beginning To See The Light [Duke Ellington cover]
• Kids In The Square
• “Time Machine”
• Some People
• Letter From A Flying Machine
• Abilene (The Eisenhower Waltz)
• The Knuckleball Suite (with Krista Detor)
• Shirt (with KD)
• Shoulderbirds (You Know Me) (with KD)
• …Plus The Many Inevitable Fragments / Dynamite Bill
• Bears
• Moonshiner [Uncle Tupelo cover]
• Vlad The Astrophysicist
• On A Wing And A Prayer
• Encore: Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad (And Far Away From Home)

(We also caught a snippet of “Brand New ’64 Dodge” and “A Better Way to Go” in soundcheck.)

All in all, I think the Alberta show was my fave of the two, but both were fantastic.  I hope Peter ventures out this way more often.  He promised again to head out this way next year – and possibly via bike.  It’ll be earlier in the year (September vs November).  If you want to check out some of his stuff… his latest record, Letters From a Flying Machine, is excellent.  I think it’s his strongest since 2000’s The Trouble with Poets.  You can listen to some samples at Petermulvey.com (one free download) or Amazon (samples of all songs):

The Appropriate Linkage:

• Peter Mulvey’s Site
• Peter Mulvey on MySpace
• Krista Detor’s Site
• Krista Detor on MySpace
• Alberta Street Pub
• Shining City Music (promoter for the PDX show, she’s rad!)
• Sam Bond’s Garage

Check out more tour dates below.

~Dan – np: Galactic Cowboys – Space In Your Face

PETER MULVEY & KRISTA DETOR PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2009 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution

(click for larger)

Fall 2009 U.S. Tour Dates

• 11/7     PORTLAND, OR     The Alberta Pub
• 11/8     EUGENE, OR     Sam Bond’s Garage
• 11/10     ARCATA, CA     Arcata Playhouse
• 11/11     BERKELEY, CA     Freight & Salvage
• 11/12     FELTON, CA     Don Quixote’s
• 11/13     SANTA MONICA, CA     McCabe’s
• 11/14     SAN DIEGO, CA     AcousticMusicSanDiego
• 11/20     BURLINGTON, VT     UVM Recital Hall
• 11/21     FRAMINGHAM, MA     Amazing Things Arts Center
• 12/1-2     FAIRBANKS, AK     College Coffeehouse
• 12/3     TOK, AK     Fast Eddy’s
• 12/4     TALKEEKTNA, AK     Whole Wheat Radio
• 12/5     ANCHORAGE, AK     Snow Goose Theatre
• 12/6     PALMER, AK     Vagabond Blues
• 12/8     KODIAK, AK     The Golden Anchor
• 12/10     CARBONDALE, CO     Steve’s Guitars
• 12/11     DENVER, CO     Swallow Hill
• 12/12     COLORADO SPRINGS, CO     Friends House Concert
• 12/13     FORT COLLINS, CO     Avogadro’s Number
• 12/15-19 FORT ATKINSON, WI     Cafe Carpe