for he was afraid of spelunking down in those caves
I saw Joanna Newsom last night at Webster Hall. P.G. Six opened. At 9:30. Which meant Joanna wasn't done until 12:30-ish and I had to walk five avenues home in the drizzle because the stupid L train doesn't run on weekdays after midnight. I hate you, MTA, for your constant construction.
Setlist?
Bridges and Balloons
The Book of Right-On
Ca' the Yowes to the Knowes [trad. Scottish ballad]
Emily
Monkey & Bear
Sawdust & Diamonds
Only Skin
Cosmia
ENCORE:
Sadie
Peach, Plum, Pear
She is absolutely adorable, with dirty-blonde hair down to her bum. And suspenders! All the guys in the audience were absolutely in love with her, and I think half of the girls were too. She came out by herself and played the first three, and afterwards her band joined her to play all of Ys. There was a guy on accordion/saw/jar, a guy on drums, a girl doing backup vocals/glockenspiel, a guy on banjo/guitar, and a guy on some Bulgarian stringed instrument/guitar. They had all transcribed their own parts from the orchestral arrangements that Van Dyke Parks did. I had been kinda disappointed that she wasn't going to be joined by a big fuck-off orchestra, but the band totally made up for it. Monkey & Bear, especially, took on this new funky Middle-Eastern sound, and the drums in Only Skin were breathtaking. Cosmia had an extended outro with just the saw and Joanna on her harp. When she came back for the encore, it was just her, and it was actually very cool to hear Peach, Plum, Pear on harp, instead of the harpsichord from The Milk-Eyed Mender. And for the absolute first time ever, I noticed Sadie's perfect final lyrics: So dig up your bone/Exhume your pinecone, Sadie. Go out and buy Ys! It came out today!
I also had the pleasure of hostile17girl's company, as she saw John Oliver [of Green Wing, The Daily Show fame] do stand-up at Upright Citizens Brigade, and needed somewhere to crash until her 3:30 AM [crazy!] bus back to Boston. For some reason I thought that A)The stand-up would be done later, B)Joanna would be done earlier, and C)There were more places that stay open late on weekdays around my apartment, but in any case poor Liezl ended up waiting out in the drizzle for me to get back. That whole L train debacle didn't help either.
All in all, an excellent evening. And tonight I am seeing a screening of Tenacious D in 'The Pick of Destiny', which I have been waiting to see, I believe, since I've had this damn LiveJournal. ROCK!
Setlist?
Bridges and Balloons
The Book of Right-On
Ca' the Yowes to the Knowes [trad. Scottish ballad]
Emily
Monkey & Bear
Sawdust & Diamonds
Only Skin
Cosmia
ENCORE:
Sadie
Peach, Plum, Pear
She is absolutely adorable, with dirty-blonde hair down to her bum. And suspenders! All the guys in the audience were absolutely in love with her, and I think half of the girls were too. She came out by herself and played the first three, and afterwards her band joined her to play all of Ys. There was a guy on accordion/saw/jar, a guy on drums, a girl doing backup vocals/glockenspiel, a guy on banjo/guitar, and a guy on some Bulgarian stringed instrument/guitar. They had all transcribed their own parts from the orchestral arrangements that Van Dyke Parks did. I had been kinda disappointed that she wasn't going to be joined by a big fuck-off orchestra, but the band totally made up for it. Monkey & Bear, especially, took on this new funky Middle-Eastern sound, and the drums in Only Skin were breathtaking. Cosmia had an extended outro with just the saw and Joanna on her harp. When she came back for the encore, it was just her, and it was actually very cool to hear Peach, Plum, Pear on harp, instead of the harpsichord from The Milk-Eyed Mender. And for the absolute first time ever, I noticed Sadie's perfect final lyrics: So dig up your bone/Exhume your pinecone, Sadie. Go out and buy Ys! It came out today!
I also had the pleasure of hostile17girl's company, as she saw John Oliver [of Green Wing, The Daily Show fame] do stand-up at Upright Citizens Brigade, and needed somewhere to crash until her 3:30 AM [crazy!] bus back to Boston. For some reason I thought that A)The stand-up would be done later, B)Joanna would be done earlier, and C)There were more places that stay open late on weekdays around my apartment, but in any case poor Liezl ended up waiting out in the drizzle for me to get back. That whole L train debacle didn't help either.
All in all, an excellent evening. And tonight I am seeing a screening of Tenacious D in 'The Pick of Destiny', which I have been waiting to see, I believe, since I've had this damn LiveJournal. ROCK!