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Glad everyone enjoyed the review. In a mega change of plans, Tim and I are heading out to the Northampton show. We hope to meet the other website denizens there. If you are going to the show, look like you are a member of the website so that we will recognize you.
In case you thought all the craziness was in the crowd, there were a couple moments onstage that are noteworthy. Maybe it was just me, but towards the end of Right in Time, I think, as the songs is slowing down, Butch launches into full on Keith Moon mode as if he were playing a different song. On West, Doug had his Gretsch on and switched it out just as the song started. Lu started out playing acoustic guitar for Sweet Side, then about one verse into it, looks at her guitar and music sheet with a wtf? look, stops the song, walks back to the drum kit and puts her guitar down, says’ “start again”, and sings the song sans guitar. She looked a little overheated to me. I was sweating bullets just sitting there, my entire head of hair soaked like a mop. Oh dear. After Joy, when the band leaves the stage before the encores, Lu turns stage left and starts to walk off towards Doug. At this point Eric launches himself into sprint mode and comes flying out of stage right, grabs Lu from behind by the shoulders while Doug braces for impact, turns her around, and marches her off stage in the correct direction, the band following. At first I thought it was a deranged fan on the stage before I recognized Eric; it seemed possible considering the earlier events.
All in all a fun night and a fitting conclusion to my mini tour. Instead of attending the Northampton show, I will visit with my dear old mommy before heading back to La La Land on Sunday. Here’s hoping we get the scoop on each show going forward.
The State Theater is a smelly old dump, not unlike the Ventura Theater, with a balcony and a bar in the back. 2 couples were seated in the row in front of me who were blown away by sitting in the 3rd row and couldn’t contain their enthusiasm about it. They were also out of their minds on some kind of drug/alcohol mixture, laughing and screaming inappropriately at times. At first I thought they were on acid, then I thought maybe I was on acid, then I decided they were zonked out on Ecstacy. They were also the only non lesbian couples in sight; the place was packed with same sex couples of the female type, all charged up and ready to rock and roll.
Lu hit the stage at 9:10 pm. Everything was going smoothly. She looked and sounded fantastic. The couples in front of me were doing their best to get Lu’s attention, clapping hysterically in the middle of songs, talking in between, generally having the times of their lives, oblivious to all around them. In fact, even during Sweet Side, they were partying and gesturing wildly while Lu sang her sad song about her sad friend. Great.
Doug played an awesome pedal steel on Greenville. I was in ecstacy myself when Lu played West. Finally. Another funny Lu story when she talked about Blaze Foley; she said before he was a drunken angel he was just a drunk, then he became an angel. Awesome. The usual stories about Buttercup and Seeing Black.
During Out of Touch, the world’s most insane woman marched down to the stage and started to gyrate spasmodically, as if she were having a seizure, or were being electrocuted, and of course she conducted this exercise standing right next to me, almost hitting me with every wild flailing of her arms. Her face was contorted into a mask of pain, and she would occasionally look at me and shout various non words, as far as I could tell. Of course security pretended nothing was happening. She struck various weird poses, at once point jumping straight up and down in place while screaming “Jump” for about a minute, while I recoiled in horror. This was getting good. All of this with no musical rhythm and independent of normal body movement theory. She made it through the song and during Honey Bee she adopted a crouched pose, curled up in a ball with her hands cradling her head, for the entire song. Super.
During Joy some of my same sex neighbors took up positions in front of the stage near Doug and decided to cheer and scream at his every move. He was the greatest thing they had ever seen, fists in the air, arms covered with tatoos, designer baseball caps askew. I forgot to mention that while the lunatic woman was doing her interpretive dance to the demons in her head, Doug kept both eyes on her, just in case she decided to go full on commando crazy.
During Blessed, apparently inspired, another woman decided to come down and dance next to me, also with no dance skills to speak of. She was slamming her feet so hard into the floor that I thought she was going to break an ankle. At this point I am ready for anything and I thought “where the fuck is TnTracy when I need him”? Somehow we made it through the rest of the show. The band was soaked in sweat.
end part 1
Great show. Moments of true weirdness. The set list:
Right in Time
Pineola
I Lost It
Greenville (Doug on pedal steel)
West (!)
Sweet Side
Drunken Angel
Buttercup
Seeing Black
Come On
Essence
Band Intros
Unsuffer Me
Righteously
Out of Touch
Honey Bee
Joy (with David Garza)Blessed
I Live My Life (Fats Domino)
Get Right With God (with Amy and David)At this point neither Tim nor I will be at the Northampton show. We may have a lack of reportage.
Who knows what U.S. President was once Mayor of Northampton, MA? The winner gets my extra ticket for tonight’s show in Portland. HINT: Think of the theater for the show.
It was a late start. Lu and the band marched onto the stage at 8:38 pm, grim faced, heads down. Lu said “Sorry everybody. Technical problems. On the bus.”
The pedal steel was used twice, on Lake Charles and on I look at The World. Tremendous. Lu seemed to be keeping the fellers guessing as to what was going to be played; at one point Doug had the wrong guitar on. Looking at the stage set list later, there were only a couple changes. During the band intros, Lu said a benefit of playing with the fellers for so long was that “even when it’s loose it’s good, like Crazy Horse and Neil Young.” A benefit of my sitting in the band’s lap all night was hearing what they were saying every once in a while. Lu turned around and told Butch the next song was Not My Cross To Bear. Without missing a beat (irony intended Stoger), Butch said to Lu, “Do you want me to sing it?” Off the stage at 10:35 pm, making up for the late start.
After another explore America moment, I arrived at my seaside shanty at 12:30 am, for the second night in a row. I will rest up on the beach for tonight’s Portland show, my tour finale.
Great show. The setlist:
2 Kool to B 4-gotten
Lake Charles
Copenhagen
Bus To Baton Rouge
Over Time
I Look At the World
Blue
Jailhouse Tears
Well Well Well
Band Intros
Car Wheels On a Gravel Road
Are You Down?
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Righteously
Not My Cross To Bear
Changed The Locks
Honey Bee
JoyPassionate Kisses
Blessed
Get Right With GodI see now that I went in the wrong way on the dirt road. Had I gone it the correct end, it is about a block in. Oh well. 😮
This place was literally in the middle of nowhere. Despite leaving home in plenty of time to get there for 5 pm cocktails, I arrived at 6, after spending an hour driving around the wilds of Maine and through the woods trying to find the venue. It consists of a couple of old type farm/barn structures, 5 miles down a dirt road, off of another road that no one ever heard of. Dirt parking lots. One building housed the bar/cocktail lounge, merchandise area, and the other one was the performance space. Both rooms were tightly packed with with middle aged and older backwoods Maine folks, like a Pepperidge Farm commercial. We had a drink and then were seated based on order of arrival; luckily Tim arrived early and scored a good table. Very pretty setting. Lu hit the stage at 8:06 pm. Huge changes to the setlist. The usual stories about the familiar songs. Lu said it occured to her she might need to change the title of I Need Protection. Funny. There was a pedal steel guitar onstage, unused. There was a false start on Ain’t Got No Home, wrong key. Lu handled it with grace. All musicians killed it on all songs. Show over at 10 pm. I drove home for 2 hours in a pouring rainstorm, again getting lost. Fun stuff.
Back tonight for more fun in the woods.
Sorry Stoger, et al. I was at the beach all day. Yesterday was a full on rain day, overnight, morning, with slight clearing at mid-afternoon. Still, I wondered if the rain would hold off long enough for the show. The music was presented on an open stage, no roof, in front of a Willy Wonka set, which they are putting on every Sunday afternoon this summer. Despite reserving a table, we sat at the extreme back end, James’ sound tent partially obscuring the stage.
Amy Cook played a cute 30 minute set starting at 7:05 pm. I enjoyed her music. To our horror, her last song was called “It’s Going To Rain”, or something like that. The rain god was not listening.
Lu hit the stage at 8:10. She looked and sounded great. Lu was in great spirits and remarked off and on about the pleasant surroundings and the cute kids running around, holding up signs for her. Moments of note: Doug played a killer guitar solo on Jackson, Lu told the usual story about Blaze Foley before Drunken Angel but also called him a “comedian songwriter”, something I had not heard before. Before Something Wicked, Lu talked about her 2 minister grandfathers and said the fire and brimstone came from them. At the end of the song, she picked up her electric Trussart guitar and said “I hope I don’t get hit by lightning”. She next played Out Of Touch, wherein Doug went mental at the end with a blistering solo piece.
At this point the usual band intros are made. Lu talked about how lucky she is to have had the same band together for so long and said they are like Neil Young and Crazy Horse. On Joy, David Garza joined in and he and Doug went apeshit at the end. On Blessed, David Suttton played an excellent bass part that I hadn’t noticed before but enjoyed tremendously. The band really is fireing (sp?) on all cylinders. Maybe they are ready to take on “Wrap My Head Around That”? *Hint* Amy and David joined in on a rocking Get Right With God. The crowd was very happy with the show.
It was great to see Tim, which was easy as he was sitting next to me. If there were any other website creatures, I did not meet them but I look forward to their impressions of the show. Great to see Doug, Tom, Lu, Eric, Frank, James, David, and Butch as well.
On to Brownfield!
Great show. On at 8:10, ended at 9:56. The setlist:
People Talkin
Metal Firecracker
I lost It
Stowaway In Your Heart
Jackson
World Without Tears
Blue
Born To Be Loved
Trying To Get To Heaven
Drunken Angel
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Out Of Touch
Changed The Locks
Not My Cross To Bear
Righteously
Honey Bee
JoyPassionate KIsses (Lu Solo)
Blessed
Get Right With GodRemarks tomorrow. 😉
