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REVIEW: My Brightest Diamond @ W.O.W. Hall (Eugene, OR – – 11/21/08)
FYI… my PHOTOS of the SHOW are at the BOTTOM
Yay… I’ve been waiting for this show for a few months. I last saw Shara Worden (aka My Brightest Diamond) in April 2007 at the MusicNOW Fest in Cincinnati. It was at that show where she debuted many songs that ended up on A Thousand Shark’s Teeth. I was going to drive up to Portland on Thursday for the show, then they announced a Eugene show (yay!). It was sparsely attended, though not as sparse as a Glen Phillips’ WOW Hall show earlier this year. I don’t know… WOW Hall shows seem so hit or miss. Maybe the Blues Traveler show at McDonald Theatre on Friday hurt MBD’s crowd? Anyway, the artists were in good spirits and put on a great show nonetheless.
Openers, Clare and the Reasons, went on around 9pm and played 40 minutes of very cinematic-tinged, indie-pop fare. The band was made up of singer/guitarist Clare Muldaur Manchon, multi-instrumentalist Olivier Manchon, and string-players Hiroko Taguchi & Maria Jeffers – – all four dressed in all red costumes. (The MBD & Clare touring collaboration was also an efficient one, as Olivier, Hiroko & Maria were MBD’s backing band as well.) After their set, buying their studio CD The Movie for $10 seemed like a steal. I look forward to hearing it, as it’s littered with guest artists / studio collaborators such as Van Dyke Parks (!!!!!) and Sufjan Stevens.
(click for larger)
Clare & the Reasons’ Setlist:
- Pluto – a fave of the set, nice pizzicatto strings
- Better Without You
- Pluton / Rodi – a fave of the set, nice saw work, 1st song done in the dark with flashing lights
- Nowhere
- Can Your Car Do That? (I Don’t Think So)
- Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Tears for Fears cover)
- Cook for You
Next up was My Brightest Diamond, who has gotten a lot of dedication here on this blog – – for which I do not apologize. In fact, she’s been the most prolific (or at least most little web goodies) of the Asthmatic Kitty artists lately. I mean, come on, Sufjan! You’re overdue. :) Anyway, back to MBD…
(click for larger)
MBD’s performance was excellent, as usual. As mentioned above, Olivier Manchon, Hiroko Taguchi, and Maria Jeffers were her backing band as well – – this time dressed in black & white costumes. They played around an hour, which included a magic show, a shadow & puppet show, twirling & whistling hoses, and much storytelling.
MBD’s Setlist:
- Golden Star – a fave of mine
- If I Were Queen
- Apples – a fave of mine
- To Pluto’s Moon
- Olivier’s Magic Show
- Disappear – a fave of mine
- Dragonfly – a fave of mine
- From the Top of the World – started Shara’s At the Back of the North Wind storytime
- Black & Costaud – a fave, started with Olivier’s storytime
- The Ice & The Storm
- Inside a Boy – a fave of mine
- Je n’en connais pas la fin / Hymne à l’amour – with an excellent shadow and puppet show
- Encore: The Gentlest Gentleman – with Shara on mandolin
Check MBD‘s music out on iTunes, Amazon, or your local record shop…
My Brightest Diamond’s CDs:
(plus she’s got a ton of remixes and b-side whatnot on iTunes)
The Appropriate Linkage:
- http://www.myspace.com/mybrightestdiamond
- http://www.mybrightestdiamond.com/
- http://www.asthmatickitty.com/
- http://www.myspace.com/claremuldaur
- http://www.wowhall.org/
- Seattle’s Triple Door show (11/19/08) is Archived at Synclive.com
- MBD on Uncensored Interviews
The Next Tour Stops:
Nov 22 2008 – Swedish American Hall, San Francisco, CA
Nov 24 2008 – Rio Theatre, Santa Cruz, CA
Nov 25 2008 – Casbah, San Diego, CA
Nov 26 2008 – Hotel Café, Los Angeles, CA
Nov 29 2008 – Solar Culture, Tucson, AZ
Nov 30 2008 – The Cooperage, Albuquerque, NM
Dec 3 2008 – Granada Theater, Dallas, TX
Dec 4 2008 – Sticky Fingerz Chicken Shack, Little Rock, AR
Dec 5 2008 – The Bottletree, Birmingham, AL
Dec 6 2008 – Square Room, Knoxville, TN
Dec 7 2008 – The Earl, Altanta, GA
Dec 9 2008 – Orange Peel, Asheville, NC
Dec 10 2008 – Gravity Lounge, Charlottesville, VA
Dec 11 2008 – Rock n Roll Hotel, Washington, DC
Dec 12 2008 – First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA
Dec 13 2008 – (Le) Poisson Rouge, New York, NY
OK, that’s all for now from me…
~Dan – np: Mostly Other People Do the Killing – This is Our Moosic
CLARE & the REASONS -and- MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND CONCERT PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2008 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
REVIEW: Yael Naim @ Aladdin Theater (Portland, OR – – 10/15/08)
Mini-Review
Well, I heard about Yael Naim a week ago thanks to the NPR World Cafe podcast… she’s a Paris-born, Israeli singer-songwriter. She’s been described as “a touch of folk and a touch of jazz, with mysterious and evocative words sung with a delicate and intentionally husky voice.” After just hearing of her, I found out that she was playing the Aladdin Theater in Portland the very next week. I was just going to head up to the Aladdin if I was up for it, and buy a ticket if they had some available. Well, thanks to the power of the internets, I got an email Tuesday morning from the Aladdin, and they were giving away 50 tickets to the first people who responded to their email. And, woot, I got a free ticket. Natch.
The opener, Peter Von Poehl, was… well… absent. So the replacement opener was Grey Anne. And she was… RAD! Very quirky, indie rock girl with an electric guitar, drum, accordion, butterfly wings, echoplex, and a stuffed giraffe. Fun songs, off the wall, nice textures, strong voice, confident, quirky… She’s from Portland; so I hope she makes her way down to Eugene sometime soon.
Yael Naim and her band were really good, too. They played Britney Spears’ “Toxic” as well. That’d make my friend Bruth happy. :) I enjoyed her set a lot, but I think my favorites of hers were the ones in French. There’s something about French music that’s just… FUN. Yann Tiersen, Jeanne Cherhal, Paris Combo, and… well, Yael Naim.
Next Aladdin visit for me… Jonatha Brooke and Glen “I sat on a glass table and might not be playing guitar for a while” Phillips. Yikes. :) I hope Glen’s arm is better to be at this show, because otherwise, I don’t think I’ll go. At the end of the day, I hope he gets better more than me being able to see him.
The Appropriate Linkage:
- http://myspace.com/yaelnaim
- http://www.yaelweb.com/
- http://www.myspace.com/perse (Grey Anne’s page)
- http://www.aladdin-theater.com/
~Dan – np: Radiohead – In Rainbows
REVIEW: Nellie McKay @ Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR – – 8/15/08)
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
REVIEW: Bill Mallonee of the Vigilantes of Love @ Cozmic Pizza (Eugene, OR – – 7/14/08)
I showed up just as the opener, The Old Believers, was going on. Their first few songs were just a girl-n-guy folk thing. Later they added two friends (one on keys, one on bass). They branched out into a very fun, very catchy quirky folk ensemble. Great for fans of Sufjan Stevens or Daniel Smith (ie- Danielson Familie). They played right around 30-40 minutes. I gave all of my remaining cash to Bill Mallonee/Muriah Rose; otherwise I’d have picked up one of their CDs. Anyway, The Old Believers… GREAT STUFF. Formerly from Alaska, currently from Portland, OR. Check ’em out on MySpace… The Old Believers (not just Old Believers).
Bill Mallonee and his wife Muriah Rose came on around 10pm… and they played for about an hour (which was a good amount for a Monday night). This was my 9th time seeing Bill (sometimes with a band, Vigilantes of Love, sometimes solo, and sometimes as a solo artist with a band – not VOL). I’d primarily seen him in the Midwest (OH, KY, IL, IN). Probably my favorite time seeing him was on the 1999 Audible Sigh tour with Kenny Hutson on slide guitar and Jake Bradley on bass (and some fuzzy dude on drums, I’m forgetting his name). Anyway, last night’s show, while way stripped down, had a really good intimate feel. This is probably due to it being my first time seeing him with his wife play with him (she sang backing vocals and played keyboard). They had good chemistry, and they played a great mix of songs.
Oh, for any VOL-heads, there’s now a 4th version of Audible Sigh :) I didn’t pick it up, as I think I had everything from it (Room Despair -EP- plus demos from the AS sessions & maybe some live from the era). He sure knows how to milk that record, but at least it’s one of my fav Bill/VOL albums (along with Blister Soul, Welcome to Struggleville & Slow Dark Train). Heck, I have three different versions of the Audible Sigh album on my CD rack. :).
The setlist: (about an hour of tunes)
- Solar System (*great tune*)
- Goes Without Saying
- High and Lonesome
- Nothing Like a Train
- Bottoming Out
- Skin (**my fav of the night**)
- Bank (“unintentionally acoustic” after amp blew out unexpectedly… Bill came down into the crowd to finish the song off)
- Resplendent (*great tune*)
- Flowers
My only disappointment for the night? They didn’t play “Bearin’ the Load.” ;).
Well, great show. I hope he can make it back to Oregon again (from his home of Georgia). I won’t hold it against him if he doesn’t. That’s a lot of gas money. I’ll be grateful if he does make it back, though.
The Appropriate Linkage:
- http://www.myspace.com/billmallonee
- http://www.billmallonee.net/
- http://www.myspace.com/oldbelievers
- http://www.oldbelieversmusic.com/
- http://www.cozmicpizza.com/
Taking dead aim at preachers…
~Dan – np: R.E.M. – Accelerate
REVIEW: EARTH & Jesse Sykes @ W.O.W. Hall (Eugene, OR – – 6/23/08)
Prior to the show, I stopped by Cozmic Pizza for a chai muffin… two wonderful singer-songwriters were playing, Breanna Paletta and Justin Bennett. I caught a few of their songs (3-4). Great stuff. They’re from Portland. Maybe when I have more time, I’ll check out one of their full sets. OK, now on to the main event…
After some much stupid hesitance, I went to go see Earth at W.O.W. Hall last night. Much stupid hesitance in that… I won’t hesitate to go see Earth again. Holy rusted metal, Batman… they’re a great live band!
I hadn’t heard of Earth, the band, until last month when I went to see Stebmo (Earth’s keyboardist) open for Skerik’s Maelstrom Trio (review of that show here). Anyway, a possibly inaccurate Wikistory on Earth, the band… signed a million years ago to Sub Pop Records, and Dylan Carson (founder and linchpin to Earth) was a friend of Kurt Cobain. Kurt Cobain wrote Burger King jingles (or maybe he sold bicycles), I think. Anyway, Kurt hated Burger King (or bicycles), shot himself, and later Dylan bought the shotgun.
Side step to 2008… Earth are now spawn to several tribute bands (in style, not content) – – Sunn 0))) and Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine (per Wiki). Their style is ambient, doom, drone, post-rock, or something of a mix of all of that. I’ve heard of Sunn 0))), dig ’em. Listened to some Earth, and didn’t like it with vocals, but loved it without vocals (clip below):
Then I decided to go to the show…
For a local club, I like W.O.W. Hall. I’ve seen a couple shows there this year. I hope to see more in the future. If anything, I like the fact that it’s a not-for-profit venture (they don’t seem to act like cacks like the clubs with bouncers and whatnot). The opener was Parade of Storms. I showed up a little late, but if they went on on-time, they played about 45 minutes. Fuzzy metal with keyboards. Pretty powerful wall-of-sound, and a very good group. The next to play was Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter. She also played around 45 minutes and was very good. Only a few songs were catchy/hooky, primarily she would fit into a dark americana rock meets singer-songwriter realm. The W.O.W. write-up called it country-noir. I suppose that fits.
Earth came on about 11:15. I stayed for the first hour (I don’t know how much beyond that they may have played. Here’s at least a partial set list:
- Omens and Portents II: Carrion Crow
- Hung from the Moon
- Engine of Ruin
- The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull (Stebmo played trombone at the beginning)
- Junkyard Priest
- …
After the first song, some wise-ass yelled out “slow it down.” I think most people got a good chuckle out of that. I did at least. :) Great hour of music… definitely drone rock / metal. Captivating, especially if you’re into ambient / drone instrumental music. As for the sound, I thought Earth had the best sound of the night. The drums (specifically) sounded pretty darn great. The band for last night’s show was Dylan Carlson on guitar, Steve Moore (Stebmo) on keyboards, Don McGreevy on bass, and Adrienne Davies on drums. Jazz guitarist Bill Frisell guests on three tracks of their 2008 release, The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull.
(photo from the band’s webpage)
GREAT SHOW!! Go see Earth, the band, if they come by your woods’ neck:
Jun 26 2008 Eagles Hall – Olympia, Washington
Jun 27 2008 Doug Fir – Portland, Oregon
Jun 28 2008 Tractor Tavern – Seattle, Washington
Jul 13 2008 Supersonic – Birmingham
Jul 14 2008 Whelans – Dublin
Jul 15 2008 Black Box – Belfast
Jul 16 2008 Stereo – Glasgow
Jul 17 2008 Scala – London
Jul 18 2008 Patronaat – Haarlem
Jul 19 2008 Cafe Glocksee – Hanover
Jul 20 2008 Dour Fest – Dour
The appropriate linkage:
- http://www.myspace.com/earthofficial
- http://www.thronesanddominions.com/ (Earth’s non-Rupert Murdoch webpage)
- http://www.myspace.com/stebmo
- http://www.stebmo.com/
- http://www.myspace.com/jessesykes
- http://www.myspace.com/yersiniapestismusic (Parade of Storms MySpace)
- http://www.myspace.com/wowhalleugene
- http://www.wowhall.org/
REVIEW: JUDE Christodal @ Aladdin Theater (Portland, OR – – 6/6/08)
FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
Before I begin… any tapers at the PDX show? If so, email me.
OK, well, I try to see Jude Christodal every time he comes by. Trouble is… the last time I saw him was at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN, around Memorial Day in 1999. That was, in fact, the first time I saw him, too. He was opening up for Ben Folds Five… and he blew me away (just as BFF did), and I went to Best Buy and bought his Maverick debut, No One Is Really Beautiful, the very next day.
Anyway, he’s now pretty much 100% independent in the U.S. (and on Naïve Records in France). Being from L.A. and on a French record label, he seems to either only tour the West Coast or France. He also writes for TV shows and whatnot… you, all, and everybody may have heard his song on LOST (the… um… pretty bad “poppy rock song” by the hobbit’s band) and his song on the City of Angels soundtrack (“I Do”)…
“You All Everybody” ain’t his normal fare, mind you. His normal fare is oft-dramatic, oft-comedic, oft-falsetto, oft-witty, oft-poetic singer-songwriter extraordinaire. He’s on the short list* of acoustic singer-songwriters who’ve broken through this metal heart… in short, Jude rocks. If you haven’t heard him, you’re doing yourself an injustice, IMO.
*-others on the singer-songwriter shortlist: Elliott Smith, Peter Mulvey, Glen Phillips, Sufjan Stevens,… and some Cincinnati locals like Ash, Ryan, Jason, Kim, Kelly…
Living in the Midwest up until last fall, I didn’t get a chance to see him again… until last night. I made the ~2 hour drive up to Portland from Eugene last night to the lovely Aladdin Theater (SE side of PDX). It’s a quaint old movie or play house… old, but still cute… not in total disrepair like many of these types of venues I’ve witnessed. Great concessions, too… goat cheese, mushroom & sundried tomato pizza and Fat Tire Amber, Deschutes Mirror Pond & Pyramid heff on tap (score!).
The opener, Ryan Andrew (from Castella), was good. He didn’t get warmed up himself until about the third song. Good voice and interesting songs. He played about 30 minutes, which consisted of:
- I Ain’t Comin’ Home Tonight
- It Hurts Like Hell
- The Only One (fav of set)
- When She’s Gone (guessing on name)
- Wonderwall (great version of Oasis tune… another fav of the set)
- The First Time
JUDE came on just after 9pm, and played with basically no break until about 11:15 and then came back out for a 4 song encore, wrapping up around 11:30… two and a half hours of quality Jude…
One of the funniest things (and there were many) was a girl named Molly brought up a sequined duck to the stage as a gift for Jude. “The prettiest thing a stripper ever owned,” gasped Jude. Then he quickly back-peddled, as to not seem unappreciative. “I mean at some point the dresses don’t fit anymore… I’m gonna sequin ducks.” He even serenaded it with a song later in the night (see pics below).
The crowd was very lively / rowdy / talkative / chatty / request-y. Jude fulfilled most of the requests. Some, though, he just couldn’t remember (his own “Charlie” and the chords to Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy“). He played over 30 songs, 2.5 hours, great concert all around. He also had many crowd interactive sing-a-longs. The best was the “drunk singing choir” for “Everything’s Alright.” It was hilarious… because it was true.
“The Minnesota people” were a bit too loud, but eh… it was all fun.
Oh, and Jude mentioned that the long-promised Cuba CD is on its way. Finally!! Apparently, it’s already done, in the can, what have you…
Here’s what he played:
- Out of L.A.
- I’m Sorry Now
- Mayfair Market
- Indian Lover (here’s where the duck was gifted)
- Break Up Song
- Run to My Room
- Rick James
- I Know (one of the best songs of the long night)
- In Between
- I Do
- Distance contest: Eastern Washington was the winner after a few disqualifications… namely Detroit (Oregon) and Minnesota (moved here from, not travel for show)
- Gay Cowboy (he wrote this before Brokeback Mountain… but check out this unofficial video)
- Prophet
- toying with “Crazy“
- Brad and Suzy
- Everything’s Alright (I Think It’s Time)
- Black Superman
- The Asshole Song
- Baby Ruth in Atlanta
- You Mama You
- Madonna (another one of the best songs of the long night)
- Love Letters / Ain’t No Sunshine (or maybe Love, Love, Love / Ain’t No Sunshine… or maybe all 3 songs…)
- Calling All Friends
- End of My Rainbow
- Cuba
- Fallen Angel (aka Fly Again)
- Money
- Your Eyes
- Encore: On the Dance Floor
- I Want a Duck (improv)
- Paper Towel
- Taking More and Giving Less
Note: I’ve got some pics from the show at the bottom of this blog post. Some of them are “artistic” (meaning: fuzzy).
Go check out his music on iTunes, Amazon… or CDBaby (you can sample songs there, too). My fav albums of his (though all are good) are Sarah (4th album, blue cover) and No One Is Really Beautiful (2nd album, greenish cover).
The appropriate linkage:
- http://www.judemusic.com/
- http://www.myspace.com/judechristodal
- http://cdbaby.com/cd/jude2
- http://www.naive.fr/
- http://www.myspace.com/ryanandrewsmusic
- http://www.officialcastellaband.com/
- http://www.aladdin-theater.com/
I’m going to the Bill Frisell & Eyvind Kang show tonight in Eugene (I’m stoked)… that’s all for now…
professional teller machine user,
~Dan
np: Various Artists – You Gan’t Boar Like an Eabla When You Work With Turkrys
JUDE CONCERT PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2008 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click for larger on photos below)
OK, judefuzz04 isn’t my photo… ::blush::
Eugene’s Saturday Market Live Stage 2008
I usually head down early to Eugene’s Farmers’ Market / Saturday Market for good local veg… then sometimes, if there’s good music scheduled, I make my way back in the afternoon…
Here are my 2008‘s catches, in descending chronological order (updated as they happen -or- as I remember to write about them)…
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May 17th: Pojama People (http://www.myspace.com/glennleonard) Good thing they had a tagline on the poster at Saturday Market; otherwise, there’s no way I’d head back out in the heat (it was bloody hot today). The tagline was something along the lines of “the music of Frank Zappa.”
I found a spot in the shade (thankfully)… I bought an ice cream sandwich (which ended up being a totally messy pile of yum)… I sat down and took in some Zappa and Zappa-inspired tunes (a not as messy pile of yum). They are made up of Alli Bach on percussion, winds, vocals; Glenn Leonard on drums (and a 13-yo student, Spencer Ewing, very capably sat in a few tunes, too); Brian Casey on bass; Ted Clifford on keys; and B-Bo on guitar. Per some webpages, they also sometimes have Ike Willis sing with them sometimes, too… cool.
They played a lot of instrumental songs, and they also played some Zappa tunes with lyrics with “liberty taken to them” — almost all politically bent (which is fine with me… and likely Zappa). Here’s what they played (thanks to Glenn for the setlist corrections)…
- Zoot Allures
- Arrogant Dubya Son (new lyrics to FZ’s “Idiot Bastard Son“)
- Help, I’m Iraq (new lyrics to FZ’s “Help, I’m a Rock“)
- RDNZL
- Duke of Prunes
- Eat That Tin Kong (a mashup of “Eat That Question” & “King Kong“)
- Sofa
- If I Fell (Beatles)
- You Are What You Is / Dupree’s Paradise / Improv
- Alien Orifice / Tribute to American Idol (new lyrics to FZ’s “Tinsel Town Rebellion“)
- McCain (new lyrics to Clapton’s “Cocaine“)
- Let’s Make Blackwater Turn Back (new lyrics to FZ’s “Let’s Make the Water Turn Black“)
- Village of the Sun / Achidna’s Arf / Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? (with “13“)
They’re playing at Sam Bonds Garage on June 28th. If I’m free, I hope to see them again. They were good (ie- not your usual cover band).
▫◊○●◘◦◘●○◊▫◊○●◘◦◘●○◊▫◊○●◘◦◘●○◊▫◊○●◘◦◘●○◊▫◊○●◘◦◘●○◊▫◊○●◘◦◘●○◊▫◊○●◘◦◘●○◊▫
May 3rd: Big Roy and the Twigs (http://www.myspace.com/bigroyandthetwigs) I went to see Big Roy because I know him via the head of the accounting department at UofO, Steve Matsunaga (Roy is Steve’s son). I heard some of their tunes on MySpace, and figured, “what the hell.” I showed up, and they had already started their set. It was hot (not bloody hot), but I caught 4 or 5 songs. They had some decent chops, alas, all I really remember is that they seemed to play a lot of alt-rock covers (Red Hot Chili Peppers’ songs appeared at least twice). It would have been nice to hear some of their originals, too. I was melting; so I headed back to the car. Nice set, though. Hopefully I can catch ’em again sometime…
~Dan
REVIEW: Peter Mulvey & Patty Larkin @ W.O.W. Hall (Eugene, OR – – 5/1/08)
This was my fourteenth (14th) time seeing Peter Mulvey play… and I never get tired of his great guitar style, funny story-telling, and strong-yet-unassuming voice. Last night’s show was no exception to the “never get tired” statement. He’s a treat, and I’m glad he makes it to Eugene occasionally…
* If Love Is Not Enough (complete with Hall and Oates & KC and the Sunshine Band snippets)
* Black Rabbit (aka “The Milkmaid’s Buxom Nephew“ ;-) it’s a gorgeous solo guitar piece originally on his 1992 release Brother Rabbit Speaks… see YouTube video below…)
* The Knuckleball Suite (makes my wife & I want to kick back some Sandeman Port… delish…)
* Dynamite Bill *new* (nice guitarwork and classic Mulvey low-end)
* Shirt (a personal fav)
* Mailman *new* (written for Chris Pureka who sent him a book of poems)
* Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad (and Faraway from Home) (another personal fav)
The story leading up to “Sad, Sad…” was about his experience of playing inside of a cave in West Virginia for 100 high-school science geniuses (genii?). I’d never heard that story… wild stuff. I wonder how he got that gig?
After a short break, Patty Larkin came on. I hadn’t heard her before this show.. Peter was the main reason to get a ticket. Anyway, Patty didn’t disappoint either. She’s got a great guitar style… not the usual singer-songwriter style. She knows how to play “more than just a few chords.” I don’t know any of her songs, but they were interesting, usually storytelling pieces. She played a little over an hour, and she was thoroughly enjoying. She hails from Boston, MA; but actually went to the University of Oregon (here in Eugene) for her undergrad studies. Go Ducks!
Peter Mulvey came on a played backing guitars for one of her songs, too. Oh, and she “pulled a Jónsi” later in her set… playing her guitar with a bow…
Great stuff all around…
The Appropriate Linkage:
http://www.petermulvey.com/
http://www.myspace.com/pattylarkinofficial
http://www.pattylarkin.com/
http://www.wowhall.org/
The Trouble with Puppies… is they lick too much…
~Dan – np: Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey – Lil’ Tae Rides Again
I also found the video for “Shirt”
REVIEW: Ani DiFranco @ McDonald Theatre (Eugene, OR – – 4/16/08)
Wow… great show last night from Ani and her compadres…
The opener was poet Judy Grahn‘s spoken word to beats and such from Animal Prufrock (formerly of Bitch & Animal) and guitarist Anne Carol. They played about 35-40 minutes. The songs/poems they played are presumed to be something along the lines of…
- Bowls
- Emotional Boner
- Vampires
- Mental
- Love Me
- The Forest
- Bledsung
- (unknown)
- Walk & Taxi Back (my favorite of their set)
Ani DiFranco came around 9pm, played for just over an hour and a half. The background was really cool (but simple). It was a big curtain with different colored lights. McDonald Theatre didn’t seem to pull this out for That1Guy & Buckethead last month… alas, it was nice for Ani’s backdrop.
The last few times that I’d seen her, she only had bass accompaniment from Todd Sickafoose (who has not one but two nice jazz recordings). This time, she also had Allison Miller on drums and Mike Dylan (or Dillon) on xylophone (or was it a vibraphone?) and bongos.
Set list:
- Shy
- Half-Assed
- Not a Pretty Girl
- Swim
- Lag Time
- Decree
- Napoleon
- As Is (a favorite of the night)
- Subdivision (a favorite of the night)
- Here For Now
- Swan Dive (a favorite of the night)
- Fire Door
- Anticipate
- The Atom (new song, presumed title)
- Alla This / Bankroll (new song, two titles floating around the internets)
- In the Way
- Shameless (a favorite of the night)
- Encore: Gravel
- Hypnotized
Eight times in eight years… it’s a good annual (or so) tradition to see Ani at work. The new songs seemed familiar; so perhaps she played them last year on tour, too. I look forward to her next album, which is probably “due” in 55 days based on the scientifically syncronized Ani DiFranco album gestation calendar (currently 9.16 months per Ani release, and 6.46 months if the “official bootleg” live albums are brought into the mix)*.
~Dan – np: klezmer podcast no. 33 (here)
*- Go on, tell yourself that I’m making these numbers up. The sad truth. I’m not.
REVIEW: Glen Phillips & J.Kingham @ W.O.W. Hall (Eugene, OR – – 2/21/08)
All-in-all, it was a very enjoyable evening. The opener was great, and Glen played a great, long set as well. I’ll be brief in my review because I’ve got too much homework… so here goes…
Jonathan Kingham’s set:
I’ll Be the One (nice R&B tune)
All That’s Missing Is You
Every Little Step [Bobby Brown] (fantastic, long free-style rap)
Grace (with Glen on backing vocals)
/ 
Glen Phillips’ set:
Courage
Easier
Return to Me *new on EP* (he’s trying to corner the market on privatized space travel EPs)
Back On My Feet
I Could End This Now (?)
Walk On the Ocean
Drive By
I Still See You As You Are *new band -tbd-*
Rise Up *new band -tbd-* (on Concert to End Slavery compilation)
Brother
(The rest of the songs also had JK on guitar & backing vocals)
Duck and Cover
I Want a New Drug [Huey Lewis]
Solar Flare *new on EP* (the world’s 1st childrens’ song about radiation sickness)
True
Train Wreck (I had no idea this was about a friend on meth… yikes)
Waiting
Released
Last Sunset
Dam Would Break
All I Want
Everything But You
Click on the picture to get Glen’s new CD, Secrets of the New Explorers:
It was a GREAT show all around. If only more people showed up… hrmph… well, there’s always next time he swings through Eugene. Otherwise, we’ll make the trek up to PDX to see him… as we need our occassional Glen fix.
~Dan – np: Estradasphere – The Pegasus Vault -EP-
REVIEW: Eric John Kaiser @ Cozmic Pizza (Eugene, OR – – 1/17/08)
Well, this was my first show of 2008…
Eric John Kaiser played tonight at Cozmic Pizza. One of the best things about living in a small town is that we can catch an early show (7pm), have a wonderful meal (pesto, artichoke, garlic, vegan-cheese & kalamata pizza with a wonderful pint of local Ninkasi stout), and still be home by 9pm. Fuck yeah.
Anyway, I literally first heard of Eric John Kaiser {heretofore known as “EJK”} about a week ago. He sent me a potentially (but ultimately not) dreaded “friend request.” You know, those friend requests “from bands” you might like. Well, I usually give them a 4 second listen then mark them “DELTEATED.” Well, EJK’s music ended up being quite good… I’ve got a soft spot for French music (Jeanne Cherhal, Yann Tiersen… um… yeah, those two). And, whoa… he (EJK) is from Portland-OR (though born and raised in Paris-FR). And he was playing Cozmic Pizza in literally a week.
Well, I literally went to the show. And it was literally good. Literally.
We left at the first break (8:30pm or so), but got a good hour+ of music. he played some tunes from his CD (L’ODyssée) that I recognized… “L’animal blessé” and “Le Puzzle” (a least). He also played a french version of “Sweet Home Alabama” and a took-us-almost-all-song-to-figure-out-what-it-was version of André3000‘s “Hey Ya!” :-)
Overall a great show, great performer, and great CD (I heart CDBaby).
Next show(s): maybe UO/LCC Jazz Fest tomorrow or Saturday (if any of the artists strike my fancy)… maybe 3 Leg Torso the following Saturday… or maybe next monf’s PDX Jazz Fest (Ornette Coleman, Dave Douglas/SFJAZZ Collective, and Belà Fleck/Flecktones/Oregon Symphony Orchestra… all of which I’m mucho excitedo).
Upcoming CD(s): ah geez… the first of the 2008 Tzadik‘s have been physically conjured by the best non-for-profit (by design) record company ever… new John Zorn (Filmworks XIX: Dimitri Geller’s The Rain Horse) and Sex Mob frontman/trumpet-feasin’ Steven Bernstein‘s Diaspora Suite…
~Dan – np: The Geologic Podcast 49
REVIEW: David Bazan [Pedro the Lion] @ Indigo District (Eugene, OR – – 12/13/07)
Ah… the out-of-place statues, randomly sticky floors, quite decent beer selection and open room with a stage right by the kitchen makes the Indigo District a perplexing place. It’s got great things, weird things, bad things, and ambivalence on top of great music. I’d only been here once before, and that was for the 25th anniversary shindig for Eugene Weekly to which my wife’s boss invited us. First time for a concert… I’m sure it won’t be the last if they get artists like David Bazan coming through more often. But it is an odd place… I just can’t put my finger on why. Eh… it’s gotta be the statues.
I showed up at 8:15 or so. I thought I was going to be late (ie- halfway into the opener’s set). Apparently the artists were late getting out of San Francisco from the night before; so they weren’t on schedule. I had a pint of Deschutes’ Black Butte Porter (sidenote: “butte” is pronounced like the beginning of “beautiful”). It’s fantastic, and it travelled only 2 hours away from Bend, Oregon to get to my mouf. Anyway, as I was sipping my beer, I hear a familiar voice… it was David Bazan ordering a pitcher of Blue Moon for he and his tour mates. The bartender was doing too many things at once and started pouring a pitcher of Blue Moon, then stopped, did something else, then started filling the rest of the pitcher with Pabst Blue Ribbon. Oy! Luckily David and Co. didn’t end up with that concoction. Blech.
Before the music started, I ran into David again in the facilities. After handwashing pleasantries, I asked him if he came through Eugene often, as I just moved here from Cincinnati. To which he said that he liked to stop by here, but it was the first time at this venue. Then we had a small exchange about the Southgate House (a quaint indie rock venue in the Cincinnati area).
By this time, the opener J.Tillman was playing. He played about 45 minutes. He was quite pleasant. His voice was what I’d call smooth, yet right on the edge of raspy… but not raspy. I don’t know. I was trying to characterize it last night, but just couldn’t. I enjoyed his set… check him out on MySpace sometime…
Next up came David Bazan… who has also recorded under the monikers of Pedro the Lion (indie rock) and Headphones (electronic). Perhaps his music can be described as indie rock or electric-fuzzy singer-songwriter fare. I dig him mainly for his poignant lyrics. His lyrics are witty, against the grain, many times religious in a somewhat skeptic slant, and usually full of sarcasm or what people want to say but never do. I also love David’s down-to-earth persona. His banter via the “Q&A” breaks in the set really connect the audience to the performance… and the answers are usually funny.
He only played about an hour, as the venue had a time limit (they had dance time after the show) and David and J got off to a later start than planned. It was just David, an electric guitar and a microphone. Oh, and an amp.
Here’s the setlist:
Cigarettes and Beer
When They Really Get to Know You They Will Run
(No Name) per David [new]
Please Baby Please [new]
Transcontinental
Of Minor Prophets and Their Prostitute Wives
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (with add’l Bazan lyrics)
Harmless Sparks / Fewer Moving Parts
Foregone Conclusions
Curse Your Branches [new]
(something with “look the other way” in the lyrics) I didn’t recka’nize it
Hallelujah [L.Cohen]
Great show. Short, but good nonetheless. I’m glad he still plays “Foregone Conclusions.” The 2nd verse has some of my favorite lyrics of his ever.
If’n y’all want to hear some music from this tour… the show in Asheville-NC is posted here for free download >> hardtofindafriend.blogspot.com <<
Well, that’s all for now…
~Dan – np: Rob Price Quartet – I Really Do Not See the Signal
REVIEW: Nellie McKay @ The Shedd (Eugene, OR – – 10/5/07)
Nellie McKay at the John G. Shedd Institute in downtown Eugene, OR – Fri, Oct 5th
We got to the venue right at 7:30. It’s a quaint music hall that was obviously converted from a church back in the day. There are hymnal racks and communion “empty” holders on the back of each pew. Anyway, Nellie ended up showing up late, as she was flying in from San Fran that afternoon. They pushed back the show only 30 minutes. There was no opener; so we wandered around the Institute for a bit. There’s a place to have dinner before the show… so that’s something to keep in mind for next time. There was also a nice “living room” where they had the concessions and merch. Amongst the concessions was a bottle of wine with Nellie’s picture pasted over the label. A local winery was one of the hosts/sponsors of the concert, and I suppose they were having fun.
We got to our seats and didn’t really like their location (quite right of center with Nellie’s piano blocking any chance of us seeing Nellie sing). The audience seemed to be showing up late; so we moved over to the (better) left side… only had to move over for people with tickets for our seats once (not bad).
Anyway, she played a great mix of songs from all three of her albums, as well as many standards, and some possibly not-so-standards. Here’s what I jotted down as the setlist (forgive the few that I had no clue on and couldn’t find info on from The Internets):
SET
Change the World
Clonie (start/stop… she complained that she needed to do it “punchier” and restarted it)
In a Sentimental Mood [Duke Ellington]
Oversure
Gin Rummy
The Dog Song
Toto Dies
Won’t U Please B Nice
Yodel
Cupcake
The Down Low (start/stop…. she messed up near the beginning of the song… then said how famous people either have “drugs or a teleprompter” and this show’s too cheap for either of those… then she restarted it…)
Columbia is Bleeding
http://www.columbiacruelty.com
http://www.stopcolumbia.org
Prisoner of Love (beautiful & haunting…) [Kitty Wells version]
Pounce (we sing this to our puppy a lot… a lot…)
Politan
Mother of Pearl
(switched to electric Ukelele)
If I Were a Bell [from “Guys and Dolls”]
Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter [Herman’s Hermits]
(back to piano)
I Wanna Get Married
A-Tisket, A-Tasket [Ella Fitzgerald]
There You Are In Me
Lali Est Paresseux
Mein Auto Zoom (thx for the title, nightlight)
Me Gusta Mañana (thx for the title, nightlight)
(back to front mic… singing to CD)
ZOMBIE!! (she went all out… and it was hilarious…)
Encore:
“Oh Freddie, I’m sorry…” (I don’t know what song this was)
…some song with something about “Jesus on toast” in it
Sari
Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans [Louis Armstrong]
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
It was a fantastic, hour and 45 minute set (or so) from this energetic songstress. She truly seemed to be having a fun time up on stage, and the audience also had a blast. She had a signing session in the living room after the show. Had we known that was gonna happen, I would’a pulled out my VegNews issue with her big article… alas, we didn’t know. Nor did we want to fight the crowd to talk to her… Margarita was tired from working all day, and I was tired from doing geometric average annual returns and stock correlation homework all day. So we called it a night…
Check out some of Nellie’s tunes:
Or check out VegNews:
Anyway… I hope to see Nellie again sometime. I’m glad we finally got to see her yesterday after being a fan of her music for going on 5 years… :-)
~Dan
now playing: groundtruther (charlie hunter & bobby previte) with john medeski – altitude
mini-REVIEW: Over the Rhine @ Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR – – 9/15/07)
Great show last night (my 50th). Set not-unlike Seattle. “And Can it Ever Be” was great (don’t know how I missed that when glancing at the Seattle setlist). “Don’t Wait for Tom” also excellent (my fav of the night). “Ohio” was actually quite a good version, and I don’t really prefer that song… so something was up. Linford’s very walking/bouncy bass on “Orphan Girl” was cool… and he seemed to be having fun playing while standing up. 
The venue (Doug Fir) is also neato. I was bummed because I missed The Album Leaf & Under Byen there in July, but it’s nice to know a great venue like that is only 1.5 to 2 hours away.
~Dan
REVIEW: Ric Hordinski & Leigh Nash @ the Monastery (Cincinnati – – 6/26/07)
great show last night. Ric‘s set was loud and buzzy, but good songs nonetheless. he didn’t play anything from his new record, The Silence of Everything Yearned For, which was odd… but it was a good set anyway. and his new record is great. listening to it now… perhaps more similar to Hush but more straight-forward guitar rather than ambient guitar. Josh Seurkamp joined him on drums, and Mark Lukie (sp?) on bass (aka “Shaggy” per Bruce).
Leigh Nash‘s set was great as well. She played roughly an hour, containing songs from her solo album (last year’s Blue on Blue) as well as “Breathe Your Name” and “Kiss Me” from the 6p catalog. Cute persona and beautiful voice. We stayed for her whole set, even though I’m known for liking sleep on a weekday. It was a highly enjoyable evening.
~Dan
np: ric hordinski – the silence of everything yearned for
REVIEW: Ellery, CSO, Antibalas (Cincinnati – – late April 2007)
Great three-concert weekend… Ellery/Over the Rhine on Friday, Paavi Järvi’s CSO with Alison Balsom on Saturday, and freakin’ ANTIBALAS on Sunday. Wow… I don’t mean to sound bitchy, but Over the Rhine was the lowlight of the weekend. I think I’m done seeing them live for a long time. So, yeah, you won’t hear me bitching about how bored I was anymore. I think I’ll set my self-imposed boycott at 4 years, and see how I do. 
I might sneak a Taft show in or a Portland show in… but I’m definitely/officially on the bubble these days for their live shows. Eh. It was a good run.
Anyway, Ellery… great stuff. Can’t wait for a follow-up album… Tasha’s got a great voice. This was my 9th time seeing them… and it doesn’t drag. Great songs, great music. I’ll miss them when we move to Oregon. Maybe they’ll have to come out and do some label showcase shows for their Seattle-based Virt Records. As for Over the Rhine, I liked some of their newer songs… but left after/during “Ohio.”
M & I saw the CSO with guest pianist Hélène Grimaud in the spring. I enjoyed it, but the piano didn’t seem to work as well (and Margarita was bored, to say the least). This show with solo trumpet, though… it was fantastic. The Paavi Järvi-led Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra played SIBELIUS’s Night Ride and Sunrise, then solo trumpeter from the UK Alison Balsom came out for HAYDN’s Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major. It popped, and the symphony and solo trumpet really meshed. Also impressive was the way she was belting out the notes while wearing a quite elegant and long evening gown. After the intermission, Paavo led the CSO through SIBELIUS’s The Bard and SCHUMANN’s Symphony No. 4 in D Minor. Fantastic evening… including dark chocolate pretzels from Divine’s at the show… mmm…. oh, and a veggie phillycheese from Northside’s Melt to start the evening off anyway…. mmm… Hail Seitan!
Last night was Antibalas (aka Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra). Wow. They’re an 11-piece band from NYC… maybe like an east-coast Ozomatli, but instead of the Latin feel, they’ve got the Nigerian thing going on. They’re similar to Ozo in that they’re also very funky, dancable, and political-infused. They went on around 10:15 and M & I ended up bouncing and dancing with some friends until we had to call it quits around 12:15am while they were wrapping up their last pre-encore song. Of the 2 hours, they probably played 6-8 songs… Very groove oriented and some fantastic solos by all members… they had a keyboardist, congo-player/singer, 2 guitarists, a bassist, a gourd/percussionist, a drummer, 2 trumpeters, and 2 saxaphonists (1 alto, 1 baritone). Fun evening… the main singer’s shirt was also quite spiffy.
~Dan
REVIEW: MusicNOW Fest (Sufjan Stevens, Amiina, My Brightest Diamond…) Cincinnati, April 2007
I’ll start this 1st review by saying that I truly feel fortunate to live in the city that is hosting this truly wonderful MusicNow Festival. It is elegantly and professionally put together and a trove of new and exciting music (many of the pieces from last night were world premieres).
Music Now Festival – April 5, 2007 (Day 1)
Memorial Hall, Cincinnati, OH
http://musicnowfestival.org/
Pedro Soler:
selected works for solo guitar
We showed up a little late (maybe only 10 minutes), but luckily there were some fabulous seats up near the front left. Pedro plays an amazing flamenco guitar. Very much a virtuoso. I’d say the music was not quite noodling, but also not quite all that melodic either — sort of a cross-between. His technique was fascinating to watch, and it was oft stunning. He played probably 50 minutes or so, ended with a standing ovation. He’s 68 or 69 years old and a world renowned flamenco guitarist, but this is apparently his first tour of the U.S. — with Cincinnati being one of the first dates. Bizarre choice in city to start.
Bryce Dessner’s “Memorial” (2006):
Bryce Dessner (guitar), David Cossin (percussion), Padma Newsome (viola)
This piece for trio showed off some great playing and composition. It was originally composed for the New York Guitar Festival to show off Bryce’s Spanish guitar playing. I’d say it was probably 10-15 minutes (no idea really) with some flair and highlights from Padma and David as well. David’s percussion on this piece made us excited for the next piece…
Tan Dun’s “Water Music” for solo percussion (2007):
David Cossin (percussion)
This was a third arrangement of Dun’s “Water Music.” The initial being for percussion and orchestra and the 2nd being for a percussion quartet. The solo percussion from David Cossin was brilliant and subtley played. Not brilliant in the Alanis “My Humps” way, but brilliant in the soundscapes and avant-garde asthetic kinda way. :P His main “drums” were two big plastic bowls… BIG bowls (10 gallons each is my guess). The opening was a rainfall from a colander. Next up was an odd-looking bulb with water in it, and a stem with strings (or spokes) that David played with a cello bow. It made primarily shreeking, dissonant noises; but then he warbled it around near the mic and the water in the bulb at the base ossilated the sound. Quite neato. He then went on to play different cymbals over (and in) the water and different depths with different mallets, sticks, et cetera. Two of the cooler parts of the set — 1) the wooden bowls of different sizes placed upside-down over the water… think “water tom” drums. Nice, full sounds… he played these with bigger tympani-like sticks, as well as with his hands. And 2) the water trombone… it was a clear boxy basin of water with a clear, slender tube in it. He hit it with something that resembled a Croc shoe (but wasn’t), and he raised the tube up and down. Again, “water trombone” is the best description.
Anyway, I’m a fan of one-man musical freak-shows (That1Guy, Buckethead) and a fan of composed and avant-garde music (Zorn, Zappa, et al). This was a pleasant combination of all three of those aspects of experimental music. David Cossin’s performance wins my “surprise enjoyment” award for the evening. Surpise in that I didn’t know so many artists were playing Thursday night, but I’m glad he did. The other musicians that evening were also probably glad that their gear wasn’t set up too near his 20 gallons or so of water… as some of it made its way on to the stage.
Maria Huld Markan’s “Thorri” (2007):
Hildur Ársælsdóttir (saw), David Cossin (marimba), Osso Quartet: Maria Jeffers (cello), Marla Hansen (viola), Oliver Manchon (violin), Rob Moose (violin)
Written by Markan of Amiina and performed here for the first time in public… it had a good vibe. Very much like most chamber music I’ve heard, but with a slight world feel (marimba) and oddities from the saw. It wasn’t as captivating/electronic as Amiina’s music, but I enjoyed it. Maria’s intro to it was funny. The title of the piece (Thorri) is all about what Icelanders call the Jan/Feb period in winter. They have a festival where they eat traditional, yet disgusting foods… “rotten shark” and “sour ram testicles” were uttered in an accent that was not-unlike that of Björk. Quaint. Anyway, she wrote the piece in London because she missed the bright, crisp winters she had in Iceland while suffering through a grey, rainy London winter. Great music, too…
Sufjan Stevens’ selections from Enjoy Your Rabbit arranged for string quartet (2007):
Michael Atkinson (arrangements), Osso Quartet: Maria Jeffers (cello), Marla Hansen (viola), Oliver Manchon (violin), Rob Moose (violin)
Enjoy Your Rabbit is Sufjan’s experimental, instrumental electronic album. When I first got in to Sufjan, I actually liked this album the best (it’s fucking weird as was what I was craving musically at the time). Anyway, “selections from Enjoy Your Rabbit arranged for string quartet” was actually one of the biggest draws for me for this festival in the first place. I heart Enjoy Your Rabbit; and, bonus, I heart string quartets. The formerly unnamed string quartet (named themselves “Osso” {aw-so} from the stage last night) played the selections in a very chamber music way, but paying attention to the electronic blips-and-beeps from the original by vocally “shushing,” playing pizzicato, and plucking or beating on their instruments to translate the electronic structure for their organic instruments. They played what I figured they would… the more melodic tunes from the album: Year of the Ox, Enjoy Your Rabbit, Year of the Lord, and Year of the Boar. Great stuff, and I was thrilled to be part of this world premiere.
Padma Newsome / Clogs Songs (2007):
Shara Worden (vocals), Sufjan Stevens (vocals, banjo, celeste), Padma Newsome (vocals, viola, harmonium, celeste), Rachel Elliott (bassoon, celeste), Thomas Kozumplik (percussion), David Cossin (percussion), Aaron Dessner (bass, guitar), Bryce Dessner (mandola, ukelele, guitar), Maria Jeffers (cello), Marla Hansen (viola), Oliver Manchon (violin), Rob Moose (violin), Michael Atkinson (horn), Irena & Vojt–ch Havel (cellos)
Another world premiere… the Clogs had heretofore been primarily an instrumental band. This collaborative Clogs (fronted by Padma Newsome and Bryce Dessner) featured more “traditional” song structures and *gasp* vocals. Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) lended her operatic voice to the first three songs (“On the Edge,” “The Owl of Love,” and “The Adages of Cleansing”). She’s got a beautiful voice, but I don’t think it matched well with the songs. Viola-playing Padma switched to vocals and harmonium for the 4th song (“Red Seas”). Sufjan joined the percussionist to play the celeste (like a super-sized toy piano). The Osso string quartet also joined the band for some songs (I forget which ones). The last song (“We Were Here”) featured Sufjan on vocals and banjo and Shara Worden came out and sang with Sufjan. All in all, a great set…
I’m looking forward to Day 2 (Amiina & My Brightest Diamond) and 3 (The Havels & Sufjan).
Music Now Festival – April 6, 2007 (Day 2)
Memorial Hall, Cincinnati, OH
http://musicnowfestival.org/
Amiina:
Maria Huld Markan Sugjusdóttir, Hildur Ársælsdóttir, Edda Rún Ólafsdóttir, Sólrún Sumarliadóttir
I like Amiina a lot, having seen them open for Sigur Rós several times, and this show didn’t disappoint. It was good to pick up their debut LP (Kurr) without having to pay tons in shipping. Their sound also featured some gentle vocals in several tracks, which is a new direction for them. It almost seemed to Enya-y for me, but that’s OK. Maybe it’ll replace Bob Johnson‘s Musings as our house’s 1 massage CD (“oh no, not Bob Johnson!“). I dug their hour long set — it was a good mix of the string/organic sound and electronics. It was a very similar set-up as previous shows… instruments everywhere and the girls roaming about and playing just about everything. The saw song (“Seoul”) was played. They also had a short last song where all four girls played saws of various lengths. I can’t say I saw that coming… :D
My Brightest Diamond:
Shara worden (vocals, guitar, piano), Osso Quartet: Maria Jeffers (cello), Marla Hansen (viola), Oliver Manchon (violin), Rob Moose (violin)
Shara Worden’s been a favorite vocalist of mine since I first heard her on MySpace. Bring Me the Workhorse, her debut album under the My Brightest Diamond moniker (she has three discs as AwRy), was one of my favorite CDs in 2006. Anyway, I knew what to expect going in, but she still blew me away. Her vocals are quite possibly the richest, most beautiful in indie rock. She’s got the delicate, quirky pixie side and the grandiose, powerful operatic side. It’s compelling to see her sing. The last time I saw her, she had more of a rock-meets-strings setup. This time around, her backing band was solely the Osso string quartet (no drums/bass). I scribbled down the song titles, but I know I’m guessing on some in the italics (she didn’t give the name, or I forgot it/couldn’t hear her totally)… Apples (a very cute song), Dragonfly (from Workhorse), If I Were Queen, Bass Player (a new song), Disappear (from Workhorse), Goodbye Forever (which had the lyrics “A Thousand Shark’s Teeth” which will be her new album title), Clean Through, Gone Away (from Workhorse), Riding Horses (from her AwRy Quiet B-Sides disc), New Dawn/Day/Life (Nina Simone standard), Golden Star (from Workhorse), Black and Gusteaux (the French Sherlock Holmes), Youkali (gorgeous French lyrics, a cover from her AwRy Quiet B-Sides disc). A fantastic performance.
Sufjan is tonight… Shara and the Osso quartet will be backing him. yay!
Music Now Festival – April 7, 2007 (Day 3)
Memorial Hall, Cincinnati, OH
http://musicnowfestival.org/
Irena & Vojtech Havel:
cellos, piano strings, piano
The sister of festival curator Bryce Dessner went to Prague in the mid-80’s and bought a CD by the Havels and brought it home. That CD would shape Bryce’s musical interests as he progressed into songwriting. He essentially went on a 15-20 year hunt for this band from Prague, but finally made contact last year in order to bring them to Cincinnati to play at this festival (made possible by a grant from the Ohio Arts Council). Some people in the audience might not have liked the Havels, but I thought they were quite compelling to watch – – except for perhaps when Irena was singing (I liked it more when they were both cello-ing). They played for about an hour, 10 minutes of which was vocal and the rest was all instrumental – – chiefly avant-garde, but more composed in nature than noodling, IMO. There was some bird chirping and kittie meowing cello lines, but there were also some more standard scales. Their dual cello work was all over the place, but still structured, sort of. I loved it when they were complimenting each other (one upbeat, one downbeat). I also liked some of the more adventurous plucking below the bridge and almost strumming the cello like a guitar (rather than pizzicato). Their second to last bit was of both of them playing the piano, Irena sitting and after Vojt–ch finished on the cello he came around and played on her right, then, while standing started playing on both her right and left. It was sweet and romantic.
Sufjan Stevens:
Sufjan Stevens (vocals, guitar, banjo, piano, harmonium, celeste), Shara Worden (vocals, celeste, piano), Bryce Dessner (guitar), Michael Atkinson (horn), Rachael Elliott (bassoon), Padma Newsome (viola), Osso Quartet: Maria Jeffers (cello), Marla Hansen (viola), Oliver Manchon (violin), Rob Moose (violin)
The first time I saw Sufjan live, he and his band dressed up as cheerleaders. The second time I saw him live, he had on huge bird wings, and his band had on butterfly wings. This time, it was all about the music… no costume gimmicks. He and his lovely string-based band put on a great show. Probably my only regret in setlist was that they didn’t play “They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhhh!” (my favorite from Illinoise), but all-in-all, it was a great-sounding, moving set… hour and a half, I think.
Here are the songs that they played (I’m not claiming 100% accuracy)…
- “Jupiter to June” (titled guess… song from way back in his unreleased conceptual songbook about the planets)
- “Dad’s Girlfriend” (titled guess… Sufjan on solo banjo… song about one of his dad’s crazy girlfriends)
- Three Stars (new one?)
- The Avalanche (from the vinyl & iTunes version of Come on Feel the Illinoise and the CD version of The Avalanche)
- All the Trees of the Fields Will Clap Their Hands (from Seven Swans)
- The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us! (from Illinoise)
- Casimir Pulaski Day (from Illinoise)
- John Wayne Gacy, Jr. (from Illinoise)
- Come On! Feel The Illinoise! (Part 1: The World’s Columbian Exposition; Part 2: Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream) (from Illinoise)
- “???” (a new one… I think I zoned out)
- The Transfiguration (from Seven Swans)
- Year of the Boar (played by the string quartet, Osso… from Enjoy Your Rabbit)
- Seven Swans (from Seven Swans)
- ENCORE: To Be Alone With You (Sufjan solo guitar… from Seven Swans)
It seemed heavy on the Seven Swans/Jebus-y stuff, but seeing as it was “Zombie Carpenter Eve” this night, I understand why… there also may have been an instrumental or two from Michigan and/or Illinoise that I didn’t know the name — thus it didn’t make it in my notes…
Fantastic festival. Day 2 was probably the most favorite, but all three days were utterly enjoyable.
~Dan
REVIEW: my crazy music-filled NYC trip in March 2007
Wow… today is my “first day off” from a show since last Friday (2/9)…
Here’s how NYC “for business” played out on the “for enjoyment” sense of it…
SATURDAY 3/10 I arrived in town at 11:30am. Checked in, and then headed up to “scout out” the Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater as that’s where MASADA was playing that night. While I was there, I got word that there were two free jazz shows going on that afternoon that were sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of U.S. Department of State. It was apparently spreading jazz music to 3rd world countries, and this was the coming home show. I love jazz, and I love how sometimes governmental bodies put good money to use for the arts. It seems weird how we seem to only export bombs lately. Jazz is better than bombs, but less than food and medical aid. I guess I should just be glad that is wasn’t bombs or Christina Aguilera instead of jazz.
Anyway, the Ari Roland Quartet was the free 1pm show. Great quartet, not unlike some quartets that I like… more straight jazz, flashy but not experimental (IMO). Enjoyable, but not mind blowing. “Safe jazz,” if you ask me. Their drummer was pretty good. My favorite song was the one penned by their piano-player. The Cultures of Rhythm was the free 3pm show (both of these free shows were at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at Lincoln Center). COR were a bit more interesting. It was a jazz quartet, but “bouncier.” And it featured djembe, drums, hammond organ and a trumpeter. Trumpet usually excites me more than safe saxaphone jazz. Anyway, this band (Culture of Rhythm) had a great vibe. Very enjoyable…
After these free shows, I was pooped… and headed back to my hotel in Chelsea for a nap. The evening show was Masada and Cecil Taylor at Lincoln Jazz Center’s Rose Theater. This was Masada’s last show ever. I drove down to Raleigh, NC, last fall to see tham at Duke. This show, they amazed even more. Masada has many incarnations (as do many of John Zorn’s projects), but the standard acoustic quartet of John Zorn on alto sax, Dave Douglas on trumpet, Greg Cohen on bass, and Joey Baron on drums is the true Masada band. Masada tunes are all written by John Zorn… he’s written upwards of 300 one-page melodic tunes. These one-page 16-bar songs become the framework for jazz improvization. While some of it becomes quite adventurous and “avant-garde,” it still remains very melodic — which can be scarce for John Zorn material. Anyway, the four members of Masada were ON that night. It was truly a beautiful hour+ of music. I’m sad that it’s their last show as this original quartet, but I’m glad that I got to see them twice. I didn’t stick around for Cecil… I had other shows I wanted to fit in…
I took the subway from Columbus Circle (near Central Park) all the way down to the Bowery… walked about a mile to get to the Stone (an avant-garde music space) and made it just in time to see the Joe Morris Trio. It was basically a guy (Joe Morris) noodling on a guitar while another guy (Daniel Levin) was noodling on a cello and another guy (Michael Evans) was noodling on a drumkit. Udon!
I was toying with the idea of heading way the fuck back uptown to Lincoln Center for the 11:30pm show for Kenny Werner‘s Lawn Chair Society. I dig the CD (and it features trumpeter Dave Douglas and saxaphonist Chris Potter), but I didn’t have tickets and thought it’d be sold out, and I knew Dave Douglas wasn’t playing in the band that night (and I had just seen Chris Potter play a few weeks earlier in Cincinnati). It was rainy and I didn’t find the subway stop where I left it last; so I walked about 2 miles to Union Center (my pedometer was upwards of 11 miles walked that 1st day — it got about half that every day afterwards). My sleepy head won out and I crashed back to my hotel in Chelsea eventually…
Oh, speaking of crashing… they had 7th Ave closed from 27th St to 23rd St most of the day on the Saturday and Sunday that I showed up because they were filming chase scenes for the upcoming Borne Ultimatum. I didn’t catch a peek at anyone famous (Matt Damon or anyone), but it was interesting to see how they blocked a major road off for the better part of the weekend. The secondary chase seemed to happen right outside my window (on 25th St)… it’ll be weird to see when that movie comes out if I recognize any of the street stuff…
SUNDAY 3/11 I had a lazy and cheap Sunday… went to the Downtown Music Gallery’s free shows (they do them every Sunday). I spend a lot of coin at DMG for avant-garde jazz; so I figured I’d take in some free stuff. At 6pm, I saw Jason Stein (sax from Chicago) and Mike Pride (percussion from Brooklyn) toy around with some sounds. It was pretty intense, and very much avant-garde. I dug it. Next up (7pm) was Susan Alcorn on lap-steel. It was mesmerizing, entrancing, but uninviting. It really zoned me out for a good 45 minutes. Very much avant-garde lapsteel. At least it wasn’t country, eh? 
I was gonna catch two shows at the Stone after these free DMG shows, but I was worn out. Susan Alcorn fried my brain, or perhaps it was watching Jesus Camp that afternoon. Scary shit, that movie was…
MONDAY 3/12 Lazy Monday… I think I walked down to WTC and Statue of Liberty this morning, but I forget. That may have been Sunday morning (and then after got a shot of Johnny Walker Red at Elliott Smith‘s XO hangout). I didn’t pay for the ferry to Ellis Island… eh. Monday dinner was delightful. I caught some good thai grub with who law enforcement officers refer to as the “great-hatted bootlegger.” Keith was catching a Steve Earle show with a friend and we met up prior. Good food and conversation. Afterwards, I hussled out to the Jazz Standard (I forget what part of town). Brian Bromberg’s Downright Upright All-Stars were about 20 minutes in to their sold-out show, but the gate keeper let me sneak in to the standing-room-only part of the club. The club wreaked of pork and bbq sauce, but I guess that’s better than pork and bbq sauce and smoke… gotta love the smokin’ bans. Dave Weckl played dums for this band, and I had heard of his name before. Anyway, they played more accessible jazz (not safe, but not avant-garde). Very enjoyable stuff… I picked up their CD on the way out. I then headed to the Village Vanguard, and was gonna try to see the Village Vanguard Orchestra (a big band). They didn’t take credit cards at the door and I didn’t wanna shell out a lot of cash; so I quietly left and went back to my hotel. I was tired anyway…
TUESDAY 3/13 This was a Tonic night. I’m a big Ikue Mori fan… she is a laptop soundscape musician. Very avant-garde (‘cept her Painted Dessert is my favorite and it’s more traditional song structured). Anyway, Ikue Mori was playing a show with Briggan Krauss (on sax) and Jim Black (on percussion). It was quite avant-garde and was led by Briggan mostly. Ikue could have been there or not for all I know/care. Eh. Jim Black’s drumming was fantastic, but not drumming in the stricted sense. He played a lot of scraping movements along the cymbals… he also used a cello bow on the cymbals… he also covered his toms and snare with literally t-shirts to get a really muffled sound. It was weird, but good. The 10pm Tonic show was Ellery Eskelin (on sax), Lisle Ellis (on laptop and upright bass) and Erik Deutsch (on piano). I’ve enjoyed Ellery Eskelin’s guest spots on various jazz CDs I own. The show was good, but too dissonant for me at that point of the night; so I only stuck around for half of their set before heading back to the hotel.
WEDNESDAY 3/14 I opted out of the ambient-metal band ISIS. I love their sound, but just saw ’em a few months ago opening for Tool. I went back to Tonic instead for two bands that became the better choice. I saw Inlets and Edison Woods. Inlets was fantastic. It is fronted by Sebastian Kruger (who has played on My Brightest Diamond CDs). He is a multi-instrumentalist and has some great songs. He also has a dandy falsetto. Both his physical appearance and music sound bring to mind Jude and Sufjan having hot-n-nasty sex in your living room and popping out Sebastian as their “love-child.” So, yeah, in short, Inlets sounds like a man-on-man love-child. He washed up before getting on stage, mind you. Oh, and his EP is available FOR FREE at http://luvsound.org/. For Free. Next up was Edison Woods, which was a band much like Elysian Fields, yet maybe not as sultry. Their main vocalist/pianist didn’t have the best vocals ever, but their background vocalist had some operatic amazingness going. She should have been the lead vocalist. Oh well… the band also had cello and some brass and drums. I dug ’em… not as much as Elysian Fields, though. I’m bummed… Elysian Fields is playing at Joe’s this coming weekend. Keith, you should check Elysian Fields out. They’re Over the Rhine-y-ish…
THURSDAY 3/15 Thursday was one of the shows I was looking forward to the most (outside of the Masada show). Secret Chiefs 3 and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum at the Bowery Ballroom. I got there early enough, as I knew that SC3 was going on first, and they also had some limited edition vinyl singles that were rumored to be going quick on the SC3 board. I snagged my vinyl sets and a t-shirt. Trey Spruance (mastermind behind SC3 and Mr Bungle) was manning the table along with bassist and multi-instrumentalist Jason Schimmel (of SC3, but also in Estradasphere). My vinyl & t-shirt order total came up to a “magical number” per Trey. I just nodded in agreement and said “yeah.” I had no fucking idea what he was talking about… maybe because it was divisible by 9 or something. or maybe his brain is fried. Anyway, the artwork for the SC3 vinyl singles is kewl.
The show was anti-climatic. I mean, when I saw Estradaphere (a brother band of SC3’s) last year in Bloomington, they blew me away. Secret Chiefs 3 should have blown me away. The first three songs were utterly sloppy, though. By the 4th song, they started venturing into “known” territory and it sounded great. By the end, they had it going pretty good, but again, it was weird that it just wasn’t up to the level of tightness and musicianship that Estradasphere showed. I think Trey’s been off the road for too long… he hasn’t toured consistently since the Mr Bungle days. I think it showed. Also, they had two violinists (Anonymous 13 and Timb Harris)… I never knew A13 was a girl… but both she and Timb were good, but not as good as Timb was on the last Estradasphere tour. Other than the drums and basses, SC3 also busted out the Oud, Sas, Sarangi, Esraj, and probably even a Jalebi or two… and Trey doesn’t play any normal guitars… they’re all butchered and tuned oddly to some middle-eastern scale or something. It’s quaint.
Regardless of the seeming sloppiness at the beginning, it was still a fun evening… it was good to see SC3 play some great tunes like “Dolores Strike,” “Personnae: Halloween,” “Bereshith,” “Assassin’s Blade,” “Ship of Fools (Stone of Exile),” and definitely “Renunciation.” I only stuck around for a bit of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum’s set. They don’t do much for me on record (or live). I’d say the “Renunciation” encore and the vinyl singles (money directly into Trey’s hand) were the highlights.
FRIDAY 3/16 I saw a wonderful show at the Bowery Ballroom by Blackfield (Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson and Israeli popstar Aviv Geffen). I’ve posted a review in the blog as well. The opener was Jordan Rudess (of Dream Theater). I feel truly outraged at any elephant that lost its life to make pianos used by Jordan.
I think of any of the bands I saw… my wife (and others who aren’t into the avant-garde stuff) would have liked Masada, the Downright Upright All-Stars, Inlets, and Blackfield. SC3 was a bit too strange, even though she likes some of their recorded stuff.
Time for bed… 
~Dan
TRIPLE-REVIEW: Tori Amos, Radiohead, Over the Rhine (3 cities in Ohio – – Aug 2003)
(originally posted to the old Over the Rhine Actwin list)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ohio is great for concerts… triple show review (8/24/2003)
Not every week do you get to see 3 of your Top 5 Artists. This was one of those weeks for me…
Tori Amos, Radiohead, and Over the Rhine.
Here’s a triple review of OHIO shows this past week…
I. Tori Amos
II. Radiohead
III. Over the Rhine (bookstore show)
I. TORI AMOS & Marc Broussard
PromoWest Pavilion, Columbus, OH (just barely outside of downtown)
Wednesday, August 20th, 2003
HIGHLIGHTS: The opener was good. Strong voice. Tori was great… there were some technical problems partway through the set, but she handled it well. Her dress ripped, too… the resulting song that came out of that one was great. :) Song highlights were: Sweet Dreams (a Winter b-side), Mr Zebra, Caught a Lite Sneeze, Mary (another b-side), I Can’t See New York, Hey Jupiter, Bliss, A Sorta Fairytale, China, Liquid Diamonds, Girl, Precious Things, Space Dog, and Cornflake Girl… a lot of great tunes. Plus a birthday number was fun, too… apparently this was her last show before turning 40. She seems to be cool with that. :) Hanging out in Columbus’ Short North was great the next day, too. Magnolia Thunderpussy (awesome music selection), Monkeys Retreat (cool Simpsons collector stuff), and coffee for me; jewelry and art shops for Margarita… lots of glass in the Cow Town. Seemed like the shops fancied it. We some some excellent Chihuly pieces… my credit card wouldn’t handle purchasing them ($32k to start). Oh, maybe next time.
BUMMER: Ben Folds not being there was the biggest bummer. This was one of the two shows that he wasn’t going to co-headline. I didn’t find that out until *after* I bought my tickets and booked the hotel. Another bummer… she seemed to play too much from To Venus and Back (4-5 songs, ugh). Oh well, she played enough other material to make up for it… :)
OVERALL: Great show… my 8th time seeing Tori, and the setlist was been vastly different every time. That’s what I love about her touring… from day-to-day, it’s a different show.
II. RADIOHEAD & Steve Malkmus and the Jicks
Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH (just outside of Akron)
Thursday, August 21st, 2003
HIGHLIGHTS: There There (with Ed on mini-drums and Jonny on mini-drums, keys, and guitar), Paranoid Android, Exit Music (For a Film), Lucky, Idioteque, Morning Bell, 2+2=5, Punchup at a Wedding, Wolf at the Door. They seemed to stick with the newer stuff, which is fine. But it seemed when they played any older stuff (Paranoid or Exit Music), that they were phenomenally tighter, and/or those songs lent themselves better to the live show. The Kid A stuff didn’t seem to lend itself as well (it did last time – 2 years ago). My favorite played was probably Paranoid Android. We moved up to the right side of the lawn, away from the crowd, after about 5 songs. We could see and hear (and breathe) way better. A nice breeze cooling us off, comfy grass to sit on, a beauty on my arm, and a great band flaoting through the air… ’twas a good time. Oh, and finally finding the only Indian restaurant in the Akron/Cuyahoga phone book was a blessing.
Different korma than our usual haunts (yummy as hell), and Strawberry Lassi (yum).
BUMMER: No My Iron Lung, Fake Plastic Trees, or Street Spirit (unless they had a 2nd encore that we missed)… also, the song “Kid A” was icky in the live performance (with a side of ICK sauce). Steve Malkmus & the Jicks were quite boring and lame. There were 2 or 3 Jicks’ songs near the middle-end that were *decent*. That’s about it. Oh, another bummer… Blossom’s parking is, like, miles and miles and miles from the venue. A 30 minute walk post-show is a drain. Oh, plus when we tried to check-in to our B&B at 3pm *no one* was there. We walked in, and *no one*. We eventually found a room with an A/C and napped until 5:30 until the proprietor finally showed up. It was surreal, at best. Quite disorganized B&B, but a KILLER house (O’Neill House in Akron) and a killer breakfast… yum.
OVERALL: Great lights, Thom’s a spaz, Jonny hates his guitar, Radiohead put on a great show again.
III. OVER THE RHINE and tons of books
Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Cincinnati, OH (just outside of Kentucky)
Saturday, August 23rd, 2003
HIGHLIGHTS: Hometown (Norwood) Boy, Suitcase, Anything At All, Show Me, Fever, Ohio, trivia break (Drew Vogel, aka D.V., won a framed poster), The Seahorse, and Summertime. They also had What I’ll Remember Most, Changes Come, and Bothered on the setlist, but didn’t play them. Suitcase was great.
Show Me was better than what I’d heard prior, and Fever was stunningly sexy (as usual).
BUMMER: I didn’t have my OHIO CDs from Paste yet. I didn’t even have them by the time I got home late Saturday night. I had K&L sign my Paste Order Confirmation email instead. I crack myself up sometimes.
OVERALL: Great set, sound was a bit off, but it was a really fun time. Song highlights were… all of ’em. It was good to see them in a nice intimate bookstore venue.
My wife (Margarita) somehow puts up with all of the driving to concerts… yay, I picked a winner! :)
Ohio traveller,
Dan
written in parts throughout the day, so…
pp: bela fleck & the flecktones – ten from little
worlds
pp: living sacrifice – reborn
pp: madonna – ray of light
pp: the magnolia soundtrack
np: sarah masen – carry us through
REVIEW: Over the Rhine @ Southgate House (Newport, KY – – 8/26/01)
(originally posted to the old Actwin list)
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BERL wrote:
> The show last night at Southgate was really
> fun, great sound.
yes, indeedy, petey. it sounded better up top, much
to the opposite recommendation from some folks here
(ahem… ahem)…
> Kim Taylor opened… she did great. Much looking
> forward to her CD.
eh… she was ok. better than girheuB ikkiN, nice
voice… and she didn’t smoke and scratch her head
incessantly. :P
j/k, she was pretty good. does she have a CD coming
out? i was out running my camera back to my car
during her last song.
> Bothered
> Lucy
i liked what karin did vocally at the end of these
songs… nice stuff…
> Miles
nice rendition. have they done that lately? i don’t
think so. that might have been my fav song of the
night.
> I Radio Heaven to her naked pot-farming
> TV buddy. It was a groovy version, just two
> acoustic guitars, kinda strumming along. It was
> one of the few songs of the night that wasn’t
> shifted downtempo of it’s original version.
jack was also playing lap steel along with this.
and unless you were at a different show than i…
this was not nearly the same as the album version.
dude, it was a freakin’ DIRGE. slow and moving and
droning. i liked it a lot, but i just had to really
disagree with you, though.
DIRGE was what it was. a freakin’ DIRGE.
you could see them all moping while playing it… ;)
> “Orphan Girl” is that same Gillian Welch song
> they’ve been playing for years. (Yawn) Pretty
> and all, but (yawn).
mmm… better than some other songs. i kinda liked
it.
> this all leads to “Hello Ohio”. It pretty
> much was a song about the things she just
> talked about…
she gave away half the lyrics in her talking.
where’s the surprise? i hate it when performers
do that.
overall a good show… i was sleepy after a long
weekend, but it was enjoyable.
i ate the crumbs- spilled the wine,
Dan
np: king’s x – KX4
The dirge comments prompted a discussion of Poughkeepsie, which prompted a post from a bandmember (Karin Bergquist)… It prompted this on the otr.com splashpage:
:sigh:
-Eyvind Kang
-Frank Zappa
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