That's a pretty nice set list... interesting that she ended with City Hall, though I can see that working as a closer. I really want to hear Recessional live...
Why is it that I'm only having these wonderful conversations now, when my time here is running out?
Seems like it's always that way, doesn't it.
I haven't had any time to meet with Luis (my advisor) all week, so I just sent him an email with your questions. I'll let you know as soon as I hear back (he was gone for a lot of the week, sitting on a thesis committee and going to meetings out in Amherst, etc.) I hope your deliberations aren't causing you too much consternation.
She closed with "Harbor" both times I've seen her, actually... and in the live recording from 2004 that I 'purchased' with my emusic free trial last year, she closed with "Harbor" there as well. From that I had actually gotten the sense that she almost always used it as her closer. Has she varied a lot when you've seen her?
If you ever want to listen to that recording, it's in unprotected mp3, so I'd be happy to share it with you sometime. The songs are pretty close to their album versions, so there aren't really any surprises, but the thing I like about it is that it includes her stories beforehand... I haven't listened to the album as a full unit in a while, but as I recall she introduces almost every song with the background story behind it.
(The set list for the album is Medea / Gravity / Enough / Shasta / Homecoming / Atheist / Tower / Hope / Momentum / Lullabye / Passage / Eric / Unwritten / Soon Love / Harbor.)
I find it funny how the background stories sometimes change and conflict over time. In case you haven't seen this, btw, a regular at Vienna's forums collects them here.
My favorite story this time was how "Whatever You Want" was partly inspired by Milton from Office Space:
"I used to be a software engineer and I worked in a cubicle. And I had a red stapler I didn't have a red stapler, but I wish that I did."
That explains the line "I'm the last one you'd ever suspect of setting the fire, of setting that fire..."
I think the "all my books" verses are among my favorites out of all the things she's written... probably because, like you, I can identify with them on some level.
And enquiring minds want to know: Lake Gravity or River Gravity or something else entirely?
Lake Gravity. I asked her after her set what brought it back, and she said that she'd been playing it for herself when Alex Wong (of The Animators, a New York-based band) started messing around with it with his delay pedals. And they liked the result.
I really like what Alex's percussion has done for the songs on this tour. Do you remember him drawing a bow across something that looked sort of like a birdcage? Vienna asked him to explain it to "this live studio audience" since people have been wondering what the hell it is on the "blogosphere." Turns out it's a waterphone.
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Why is it that I'm only having these wonderful conversations now, when my time here is running out?
Seems like it's always that way, doesn't it.
I haven't had any time to meet with Luis (my advisor) all week, so I just sent him an email with your questions. I'll let you know as soon as I hear back (he was gone for a lot of the week, sitting on a thesis committee and going to meetings out in Amherst, etc.) I hope your deliberations aren't causing you too much consternation.
Reply
The new arrangement of "Recessional" with strings and percussion seriously took my breath away. Good riddance to the brass and guitar version, IMO.
No worries about Luis. Thanks for e-mailing him.
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If you ever want to listen to that recording, it's in unprotected mp3, so I'd be happy to share it with you sometime. The songs are pretty close to their album versions, so there aren't really any surprises, but the thing I like about it is that it includes her stories beforehand... I haven't listened to the album as a full unit in a while, but as I recall she introduces almost every song with the background story behind it.
(The set list for the album is Medea / Gravity / Enough / Shasta / Homecoming / Atheist / Tower / Hope / Momentum / Lullabye / Passage / Eric / Unwritten / Soon Love / Harbor.)
Reply
I find it funny how the background stories sometimes change and conflict over time. In case you haven't seen this, btw, a regular at Vienna's forums collects them here.
My favorite story this time was how "Whatever You Want" was partly inspired by Milton from Office Space:
"I used to be a software engineer and I worked in a cubicle. And I had a red stapler I didn't have a red stapler, but I wish that I did."
That explains the line "I'm the last one you'd ever suspect of setting the fire, of setting that fire..."
Reply
And enquiring minds want to know: Lake Gravity or River Gravity or something else entirely?
Reply
I really like what Alex's percussion has done for the songs on this tour. Do you remember him drawing a bow across something that looked sort of like a birdcage? Vienna asked him to explain it to "this live studio audience" since people have been wondering what the hell it is on the "blogosphere." Turns out it's a waterphone.
Reply
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