"God, I love you, but you trouble me," said Tristan to Iseult
I had a fantastic time at the concert last night. Although I just need to say that if you go to a concert, go to listen to the music, not to talk through the whole damn thing. Jesus.
The Showbox is one of my favorite venues in Seattle; there's parking nearby, and the floor space is roomy and well-ventilated. There's a bar in back on either side of a middle walkway, and while it can get loud at some points, you can also tune it out when the performer gets cranking. Unfortunately for the opening act, Laura Veirs, she never quite got the crowd going enough to overcome the bar noise.
She started out strong, although the amount she reminded me of someone that I couldn't place was distracting. And, omg, I just realized, she reminds me of this girl I used to know back in elementary school! Huh. Moving on.
She didn't talk much in between songs, just thanked us for being there and thanked Colin for having her there, the standard stuff. When she really got going in a song she'd swing back and forth in a sort of adorable way. Her music reminded me of Laura Cantrell, with more metaphor to the lyrics, and less country influence. The crowd on the floor was attentive during her songs, but the back of the room was annoyingly loud with chatter. I honestly can't remember any of the songs she sang except for one near the end that I really liked called "Shadowblues."
Colin Meloy came on about 15 minutes after her set ended. The crowd responded warmly to him, and he managed to get everyone more and more enthusiastic as he went on during the concert. He talked more than I'd heard him talk at a concert before, and he was charming, fun, and funny. This was the first date of his solo tour and he said he was "nervous." He actually did seem a little nervous at first but he quickly got over it during the first song, which was one I didn't recognize. The set list, not in this order, was:
- We Both Go Down Together
- Engine Driver
- Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect
- The Gymnast High Above The Ground
- An adorable song about his girlfriend's pregnancy that I hope shows up somewhere ("after," he says, "I swore never to write a song about an impending baby.")
- Tristan and Iseult (which will be on the upcoming release of the Tarkio album, "Omnibus")
- 2 songs written while in Ireland
- a new Decemberists song
- a Cowboy song that I really enjoyed; before this one he had us all close our eyes and imagine we were at a campfire in the Old West, with our burros at our back ("your burro is nudging your neck...don't open your eyes, that's your burro!"). I hope this one turns up somewhere, too.
- a Decemberists B Side that I, am ashamed to admit, did not recognize I figured out it was "Everything I Try To Do, Nothing Seems To Turn Out Right"
- Barbara Allen (from the solo EP he was selling at the concert)
- Jessie's Girl (or a good take on the chorus of Jessie's Girl, at least)
- California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade
- Red Right Ankle
- Leslie Ann Levine
All of the songs were good, I was unbelievably thrilled to hear "The Gymnast" as that's the Decemberists song I've been listening to the most lately (last time I went to see the Decemberists it had been "Billy Liar," and they played that song then, too - they do a good job of hitting the songs I want to hear). Red Right Ankle is lovely on the solo twelve-string, and I always end up preferring the live rendition of it to the CD; not that the CD is bad, but the live version has an innate vulnerability that the CD can't quite match.
He had a small table on the stage with him, which he said he had brought a skull from Portland to put on there, but he'd left it backstage because the set-up crew kept asking him if he was going to do a skit. He went backstage towards the end of the show and brought it out with him during the encore. As I said, there was a lot of audience involvement, we did "mid-show calisthenics" where he had us all bending at the knees and shaking our legs out (honestly? it was a good break - heh), and then he had us turn to the people next to us and shake hands. And it's to his credit that the audience all did what he told us to do.
He was selling solo EPs at the concert of covers of Shirley Collins songs (she's a British folk singer, apparently; I admit to not having recognized her). Because I love you, here are two of my favorite tracks from the ep. Right-click and save target as, please!
Dance To Your Daddy
Barbara Allen
Oh flist, if you still haven't even given the Decemberists a try, what are you waiting for? Colin Meloy is hitting the big cities in his solo tour, so some of you should have a chance to see him. I'm clearly going to have to do a Big Damn Decemberists Pimp Post soon, aren't I? Especially since I have a Farscape vid idea for about 90% of their songs and I need to acclimate you all. Heh.
And I totally did not go and blow almost all of my Amazon gift certificate from Christmas on the Tarkio album coming out next week, in addition to the 5-Song EP I didn't have. No I did not. *cough* (At least I added them to my cart, since Amazon is acting freaky and not letting me do anything. WTF Amazon?)
The Showbox is one of my favorite venues in Seattle; there's parking nearby, and the floor space is roomy and well-ventilated. There's a bar in back on either side of a middle walkway, and while it can get loud at some points, you can also tune it out when the performer gets cranking. Unfortunately for the opening act, Laura Veirs, she never quite got the crowd going enough to overcome the bar noise.
She started out strong, although the amount she reminded me of someone that I couldn't place was distracting. And, omg, I just realized, she reminds me of this girl I used to know back in elementary school! Huh. Moving on.
She didn't talk much in between songs, just thanked us for being there and thanked Colin for having her there, the standard stuff. When she really got going in a song she'd swing back and forth in a sort of adorable way. Her music reminded me of Laura Cantrell, with more metaphor to the lyrics, and less country influence. The crowd on the floor was attentive during her songs, but the back of the room was annoyingly loud with chatter. I honestly can't remember any of the songs she sang except for one near the end that I really liked called "Shadowblues."
Colin Meloy came on about 15 minutes after her set ended. The crowd responded warmly to him, and he managed to get everyone more and more enthusiastic as he went on during the concert. He talked more than I'd heard him talk at a concert before, and he was charming, fun, and funny. This was the first date of his solo tour and he said he was "nervous." He actually did seem a little nervous at first but he quickly got over it during the first song, which was one I didn't recognize. The set list, not in this order, was:
- We Both Go Down Together
- Engine Driver
- Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect
- The Gymnast High Above The Ground
- An adorable song about his girlfriend's pregnancy that I hope shows up somewhere ("after," he says, "I swore never to write a song about an impending baby.")
- Tristan and Iseult (which will be on the upcoming release of the Tarkio album, "Omnibus")
- 2 songs written while in Ireland
- a new Decemberists song
- a Cowboy song that I really enjoyed; before this one he had us all close our eyes and imagine we were at a campfire in the Old West, with our burros at our back ("your burro is nudging your neck...don't open your eyes, that's your burro!"). I hope this one turns up somewhere, too.
- a Decemberists B Side that I, am ashamed to admit, did not recognize I figured out it was "Everything I Try To Do, Nothing Seems To Turn Out Right"
- Barbara Allen (from the solo EP he was selling at the concert)
- Jessie's Girl (or a good take on the chorus of Jessie's Girl, at least)
- California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade
- Red Right Ankle
- Leslie Ann Levine
All of the songs were good, I was unbelievably thrilled to hear "The Gymnast" as that's the Decemberists song I've been listening to the most lately (last time I went to see the Decemberists it had been "Billy Liar," and they played that song then, too - they do a good job of hitting the songs I want to hear). Red Right Ankle is lovely on the solo twelve-string, and I always end up preferring the live rendition of it to the CD; not that the CD is bad, but the live version has an innate vulnerability that the CD can't quite match.
He had a small table on the stage with him, which he said he had brought a skull from Portland to put on there, but he'd left it backstage because the set-up crew kept asking him if he was going to do a skit. He went backstage towards the end of the show and brought it out with him during the encore. As I said, there was a lot of audience involvement, we did "mid-show calisthenics" where he had us all bending at the knees and shaking our legs out (honestly? it was a good break - heh), and then he had us turn to the people next to us and shake hands. And it's to his credit that the audience all did what he told us to do.
He was selling solo EPs at the concert of covers of Shirley Collins songs (she's a British folk singer, apparently; I admit to not having recognized her). Because I love you, here are two of my favorite tracks from the ep. Right-click and save target as, please!
Dance To Your Daddy
Barbara Allen
Oh flist, if you still haven't even given the Decemberists a try, what are you waiting for? Colin Meloy is hitting the big cities in his solo tour, so some of you should have a chance to see him. I'm clearly going to have to do a Big Damn Decemberists Pimp Post soon, aren't I? Especially since I have a Farscape vid idea for about 90% of their songs and I need to acclimate you all. Heh.
And I totally did not go and blow almost all of my Amazon gift certificate from Christmas on the Tarkio album coming out next week, in addition to the 5-Song EP I didn't have. No I did not. *cough* (At least I added them to my cart, since Amazon is acting freaky and not letting me do anything. WTF Amazon?)