Tonight I'll Be With You
Concrete Blonde
Bumbershoot, Key Arena, Seattle
8 p.m.
August 31, 2002
Concrete Blonde played a harder-edged, less intimate set this time, which probably better fits an arena audience. Great show this way too. Johnette was blonder this time and still wearing something Chinese flavored but a dress with pants instead of pajamas this time. Still barefoot, still breaking out the bizarre stage patter I love her for. And, this time I could make out the name of their drummer: Gabriel Ramirez, who does an incredible job. Standing in the pit, my view of the stage varied depending on the movement of people ahead of me and how many people left to see Lou Reed at 9 p.m. (And the pre-show music was Bowie. Again.)
The playlist (in almost the right order):
"God Is a Bullet" (The crowd exploded.)
"Valentine" (a more together version than the one I heard last time)
"Tonight" (She intros this by talking about seeing people in the sky, aliens, who told her that it's now necessary for them to intervene with us. They have intervened. But, she says, Seattle is more together than most places, a great place for the arts. "And you get your asses kicked for the right reasons!")
"Everybody Knows" ("A song I wish I could write. Wish I could have written. I wish I could write. This song is by Leonard Cohen, who's a fucking genius." The audience was with her for every line, so I guess there were a lot of Cohen fans here.)
a Lou Reed song
"Angel" (The same mime who was the opening act during the last show I saw came out during it, understandable I guess since the song is about eight minutes of slow bass and piano and you need something going on.)
"Joey" ("This is for Mark. No, it can't be for Mark, because he's dead. If he were alive, he'd be in Paris, not Hollywood. This is for Mark. Wherever he is, I hope he's laughing." What any of that had to do with "Joey," I don't know.)
"Days and Days"
"Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)"
"Tomorrow, Wendy" ("Something cool? You want me to play something cool? As opposed to everything else so far, which wasn't cool." During the song, she does a half-sung, half preached interlude "As you know, this is a true story. And if you don't know, this is a true story" about a friend with AIDS who decided to take her life into her own hands. Not that Johnette doesn't believe in God, and she does think that you shouldn't take your own life because it's a gift and tomorrow could be a great day and a miracle, but she doesn't fault her friend for choosing to kill herself. She ends by thanking her friend for writing this song and for living it.)
"Violent"
"When I Was a Fool" ("This about my midlife crisis. I hope you can share and care. Wait, this isn't California, so you don't have to share and care. I'll shut up and sing.")
"Your Haunted Head" (The original song is about two to three minutes long. With their jamming, it turned into eight to nine. Playing hard and fast, they exhausted the pogo-ers.)
encore:
"Someday?"
"Still in Hollywood" (Damned frat boy mosh pit of two started during this song, but it didn't go too out of control.)
Major thanks to Kasha for scoring the tickets! Then we wandered around searching for a way to get out of the Bumbershoot grounds, had an exhilerating run for a bus, and stood perched in the stairwell on the really overpacked bus as we rode to our stop.
Dumbest Quote of the Evening:
"Is the guitarist a girl or a guy?"
-- frat boy who probably wandered in to score drugs or chicks
Bumbershoot, Key Arena, Seattle
8 p.m.
August 31, 2002
Concrete Blonde played a harder-edged, less intimate set this time, which probably better fits an arena audience. Great show this way too. Johnette was blonder this time and still wearing something Chinese flavored but a dress with pants instead of pajamas this time. Still barefoot, still breaking out the bizarre stage patter I love her for. And, this time I could make out the name of their drummer: Gabriel Ramirez, who does an incredible job. Standing in the pit, my view of the stage varied depending on the movement of people ahead of me and how many people left to see Lou Reed at 9 p.m. (And the pre-show music was Bowie. Again.)
The playlist (in almost the right order):
"God Is a Bullet" (The crowd exploded.)
"Valentine" (a more together version than the one I heard last time)
"Tonight" (She intros this by talking about seeing people in the sky, aliens, who told her that it's now necessary for them to intervene with us. They have intervened. But, she says, Seattle is more together than most places, a great place for the arts. "And you get your asses kicked for the right reasons!")
"Everybody Knows" ("A song I wish I could write. Wish I could have written. I wish I could write. This song is by Leonard Cohen, who's a fucking genius." The audience was with her for every line, so I guess there were a lot of Cohen fans here.)
a Lou Reed song
"Angel" (The same mime who was the opening act during the last show I saw came out during it, understandable I guess since the song is about eight minutes of slow bass and piano and you need something going on.)
"Joey" ("This is for Mark. No, it can't be for Mark, because he's dead. If he were alive, he'd be in Paris, not Hollywood. This is for Mark. Wherever he is, I hope he's laughing." What any of that had to do with "Joey," I don't know.)
"Days and Days"
"Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)"
"Tomorrow, Wendy" ("Something cool? You want me to play something cool? As opposed to everything else so far, which wasn't cool." During the song, she does a half-sung, half preached interlude "As you know, this is a true story. And if you don't know, this is a true story" about a friend with AIDS who decided to take her life into her own hands. Not that Johnette doesn't believe in God, and she does think that you shouldn't take your own life because it's a gift and tomorrow could be a great day and a miracle, but she doesn't fault her friend for choosing to kill herself. She ends by thanking her friend for writing this song and for living it.)
"Violent"
"When I Was a Fool" ("This about my midlife crisis. I hope you can share and care. Wait, this isn't California, so you don't have to share and care. I'll shut up and sing.")
"Your Haunted Head" (The original song is about two to three minutes long. With their jamming, it turned into eight to nine. Playing hard and fast, they exhausted the pogo-ers.)
encore:
"Someday?"
"Still in Hollywood" (Damned frat boy mosh pit of two started during this song, but it didn't go too out of control.)
Major thanks to Kasha for scoring the tickets! Then we wandered around searching for a way to get out of the Bumbershoot grounds, had an exhilerating run for a bus, and stood perched in the stairwell on the really overpacked bus as we rode to our stop.
Dumbest Quote of the Evening:
"Is the guitarist a girl or a guy?"
-- frat boy who probably wandered in to score drugs or chicks