The show at the Local 506 last night was a bit rough - I still don't know where we were supposed to park to get in there. Apparently the band didn't realize that a membership was required to get into the venue, and they decided to delay the show while the uninformed slooowwwlllyyy filled out membership forms. By the time we'd waited for everyone to trickle into the doors (because, of course, coming BEFORE the show is supposed to start is beyond most people), it was a good half-hour delay before Over the Rhine could start.
Over the Rhine put on a great show. It was my first time seeing them and I was really impressed with how good this line-up of the band is. The drummer and bassist/guitarist for this tour really aren't given fair credit for how well they flesh out the sound here - most of the songs sounded much fuller and more nuanced than they did on the albums.
They opened with "Latter Days", and it had the same feel as it did when they played it on the Good Dog Bad Dog tours - drums in the background and some noticable guitar on it. Linford even played a little bit of an intro for it (although it wasn't as big of an intro as it used to be). Linford seemed to be having fun - moving his head to the beat Stevie Wonder-style.
I Want You To Be My Love was next, and Karin played the acoustic for it. The guitarist (I think his name's Rick) played a fretless bass on this one, and he played a decent solo on it towards the end of the song. Born gave us a chance to really see some nuance in the song - Karin played the acoustic, Rick played a guitar (bending the strings to get the "slidey" sounds and playing bass on it as well), Devon (the drummer, IIRC) added some texture with some brushes and cymbals. Linford was playing with his eyes shut during most of the songs, but he perked up a bit to sing during Born.
Lookin' Forward was done "rock-style", much the same way that it was on Live From Nowhere I. The two new songs were pretty upbeat as well - I'm On A Roll had a rhythm that reminded me of My Love Is A Fever (although it's not at all similar), and it had some slides and textures that sounded like most of the Ohio album. Entertaining Thoughts was in the same vein, but faster, and with the rhythm brought out by drums instead of the guitar.
Lifelong Fling sounded a bit more like the "Changes Come" cut of the song than I expected. It was amazing to hear how some of the quieter songs on Ohio really take flight in this setting. Also, Linford "sang" along a bit, Jack's Valentine-style. Trouble was next, and it didn't have any surprises to it - I think there's a recording of it up here somewhere that sounds the same as the way they played it. Show Me was a bit unusual - most of the song was played without the slide. I also was surprised that Linford played bass instead of organ during it. It rocked out a bit more this way, although to be honest, I'm not sure if the slide was skipped on purpose, or if it was just dropped in the middle of the song.
The set closed waaay too early with Drunkard's Prayer - which sounded a bit more like the album cut than it has recently. No accordian or anything this time around. The encore break was short, and then they played a heavier-feeling Cruel and Pretty. I'd have to check to see what they changed, but it sounded different than I was expecting. The last song of the set was "When I Go", which Linford played almost entirely on piano. The rest of the band kicked in and stepped back a few times, which made the song feel acoustic but still "rock out" for the guitar solo and some other parts.
Karin and Linford left right after they were done playing. From what I gather, they were feeling pretty wiped and the heat in the venue did them in.
Believe it or not, I plan on writing a more thorough review of this sometime. This will have to do for now though.
I managed to get Karin's setlist. Sorry about the size...also, the whitespace has been trimmed here.
karinssetlist06072007local506.jpg
(Edited because the size is just too much)
I'm not as familiar with Hem, but they played a few songs I recognized: The Fire Thief, Reservoir, Jackson, Half Acre... I'll have to post the full set list when I write up a more thorough review. The house sound guy was manning the board during Hem's performance - and he had a hard time handling the load. Frankly, I get the impression that this was simply a terrible choice of venue for this show, between the heat, the problems getting in, and the sound quality. At one point, Hem's keyboardist tried to talk between songs and sounded big, loud and echo-y. The vocalist tried to keep us entertained while they sorted out the sound issue by saying "Wow, I didn't know you were God". The contrast between the great job that Dave did for Over the Rhine and the poor sound during Hem's set was extremely noticable, even to the untrained ear. In spite of the sound issues though, Hem's songs still stuck out enough to get me to try out their CD. They hung around for a bit after the show, and I had Eveningland autographed by the six of them.
The issues with the house sound guy and board trying to deal with the two bands and the amount of instruments/monitors required kept me from being able to hook into the soundboard, but I tried to use a mic to record anyway. With any luck, I'll have this vine-ready before the new songs are released on CD...
Full Version: 06-07-2006 Local 506, Chapel Hill, NC
double post
I watched the Chapel Hill leg of the spring tour of two of my favorite bands -- Over The Rhine and Hem -- last night in this dark, standing-only dungeon-like place called Local 506 in West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, North Carolina . I thought it was odd that Hem and OTR would choose a venue such as this, but then Aqualung performed in the same venue last year. For some reason I thought that Hem and OTR are best heard in the Cat's Cradle or Arts Venue where Rickie Lee Jones performed last January. But turned out the subterranean-like place where both bands played last night was also very good because it is an intimate place where you can interact with the musicians. No cigarettes allowed as requested by the musicians.
Anyway, there was an unusually long line for the tickets before the show began so it was not after 40 minutes when Over The Rhine came on stage and performed. Karin Bergquist's distinctive vocals opened the evening with (was it?) "Latter Days" and she is such a beguiling presence. She sometimes resembles Lisa Kudrow with the hair of "Essence"-era Emmylou Harris and she has this cute facial mannerism when she hits a high note. Like an extra movement in the lower mouth to add an attractive melisma to a well-phrased melodic line. She said that she is glad people were in the show tonight despite having to line up and pay the membership fee of Local 506. Then she added with an elfin smile: "because if you weren't here, you suck!" She was in excellent voice last night and she interacted well with her three musicians, especially OTR co-founder Linford Detweiler.
Karin Bergquist radiates a funny vibe similar to Feist even if Leslie Feist's voice sounds closer to Hem's Sally Ellyson. The songs -- 7 all in all + 2 encores -- were culled from "Drunkard's Prayer" with detours from "Ohio" and previous albums. The one scene stealer of the night is the guitarist whose last name is Plant and who recorded a children's album under the name The Mudcakes with "Music for Little Monkeys" as title. Karin says the album is a must-have for its overall excellence. And you don't question Karin's integrity when she recommends anything to you. Plant was so intense when he soloes and would shyly smile and bow modestly after an applause. Sometimes I wonder how the late Jaco Pastorius looked like when he was onstage. I read several accounts how Patorius can almost be maniacal onstage as though lost in his own music when he soloes. Plant has that quality too of being daring onstage when the spotlight is on him as though possessed and then he would bow his head after an intense solo as though he suddenly realized he was in front of an audience. Karin herself played two different guitars alternating one for each song, so that the stagehand/manager had to come to the stage every song and change guitars. Linford shows his Art Tatum chops in some musical interludes and has this subtle yet distinctively swinging pianistic style when doing an obbligato. As though he is Fred Hersch or Ahmad Jamal or even Bill Evans. Best of all he has an album of piano solos which I am going to get as soon as finances improve.
The audience were wildly enthusiastic and very supportive. This me-to-you setting works best because the audience seems to drive the performers to joke and even give in to requests. OTR exceeded my expectations.
Then Hem came. More than OTR, I really really wanted to see how vocalist Sally Ellyson sings the songs she sublimely brought to life in the band's three band albums and one ep called "Bees, Birds and Beasts" with Autumn Defense. Sally started the set with a tune from their sophomore album "Eveningland" and I marveled how her voice sounds very much like the one on a studio recording -- excellent way of phrasing and a contralto that can soar to a B natural the next. She has this very relaxed countenance even if the five back up musicians looked a tad crammed in the stage. She was also uber cool especially when the sound technicians fouled up the sounds in the first three songs. While the sound was being tinkered onstage by technicians, she told the audience she is pregnant and proceeded to sing a lullaby a capella so beautiful and so hair-raisingly fragile, the room became quiet in those 45 seconds she sang with eyes closed. For a moment she reminded me of Rickie Lee Jones's otherwordly rendition of "Something Cool" last January in the Arts Center, only RLJ elicited tears while Ellyson, while singing and doubling as sound checks is something close to ethereal in the most beautiful sense. Her closed eyes, still-beauty voice galvanized everyone. You know that feeling when you are one with the audience, frozen by a voice so out of this world that it is like listening to a moment that will never repeat itself again.
Ellyson radiates an un-diva attitude. More like someone's talented beautiful sister who happens to sound like a nightingale. She sang "Rainy Night in Georgia" and I don't know about you but chills ran up my spine listening to her slow and gently sad voice caress that song. It still does while I am remembering it now. And she sang of sailors, of stars, and of loneliness in the Pacific street, of not catching the train in Pittsburgh -- I swear she is the only one who can sing Marilynne Robinson's prose in "Housekeeping" and "Gilead". Mesmerising and quitely affecting that stays with you long after the song ended.
In the second part of the show, the band loosened up considerably because of better sound and they even performed a song that everyone in the audience seems to know -- one with a cuckoo (can anyone help me know the song's title -- I swear I was the only one in the room not singing along even if I was moving along with thesong's catchy cadence). Then the guy who plays mandolin soloed to great applause. Ellyson said that this being North Carolina, mandolins rule. Someone shouted that they do "Free bird".
Later they signed autographs. Sally and the band were all nice. I look forward to their fourth album. The songs she sang that night from that forthcoming album sounded top quality hymnlike and Hem-like. Can't wait.
Anyway, there was an unusually long line for the tickets before the show began so it was not after 40 minutes when Over The Rhine came on stage and performed. Karin Bergquist's distinctive vocals opened the evening with (was it?) "Latter Days" and she is such a beguiling presence. She sometimes resembles Lisa Kudrow with the hair of "Essence"-era Emmylou Harris and she has this cute facial mannerism when she hits a high note. Like an extra movement in the lower mouth to add an attractive melisma to a well-phrased melodic line. She said that she is glad people were in the show tonight despite having to line up and pay the membership fee of Local 506. Then she added with an elfin smile: "because if you weren't here, you suck!" She was in excellent voice last night and she interacted well with her three musicians, especially OTR co-founder Linford Detweiler.
Karin Bergquist radiates a funny vibe similar to Feist even if Leslie Feist's voice sounds closer to Hem's Sally Ellyson. The songs -- 7 all in all + 2 encores -- were culled from "Drunkard's Prayer" with detours from "Ohio" and previous albums. The one scene stealer of the night is the guitarist whose last name is Plant and who recorded a children's album under the name The Mudcakes with "Music for Little Monkeys" as title. Karin says the album is a must-have for its overall excellence. And you don't question Karin's integrity when she recommends anything to you. Plant was so intense when he soloes and would shyly smile and bow modestly after an applause. Sometimes I wonder how the late Jaco Pastorius looked like when he was onstage. I read several accounts how Patorius can almost be maniacal onstage as though lost in his own music when he soloes. Plant has that quality too of being daring onstage when the spotlight is on him as though possessed and then he would bow his head after an intense solo as though he suddenly realized he was in front of an audience. Karin herself played two different guitars alternating one for each song, so that the stagehand/manager had to come to the stage every song and change guitars. Linford shows his Art Tatum chops in some musical interludes and has this subtle yet distinctively swinging pianistic style when doing an obbligato. As though he is Fred Hersch or Ahmad Jamal or even Bill Evans. Best of all he has an album of piano solos which I am going to get as soon as finances improve.
The audience were wildly enthusiastic and very supportive. This me-to-you setting works best because the audience seems to drive the performers to joke and even give in to requests. OTR exceeded my expectations.
Then Hem came. More than OTR, I really really wanted to see how vocalist Sally Ellyson sings the songs she sublimely brought to life in the band's three band albums and one ep called "Bees, Birds and Beasts" with Autumn Defense. Sally started the set with a tune from their sophomore album "Eveningland" and I marveled how her voice sounds very much like the one on a studio recording -- excellent way of phrasing and a contralto that can soar to a B natural the next. She has this very relaxed countenance even if the five back up musicians looked a tad crammed in the stage. She was also uber cool especially when the sound technicians fouled up the sounds in the first three songs. While the sound was being tinkered onstage by technicians, she told the audience she is pregnant and proceeded to sing a lullaby a capella so beautiful and so hair-raisingly fragile, the room became quiet in those 45 seconds she sang with eyes closed. For a moment she reminded me of Rickie Lee Jones's otherwordly rendition of "Something Cool" last January in the Arts Center, only RLJ elicited tears while Ellyson, while singing and doubling as sound checks is something close to ethereal in the most beautiful sense. Her closed eyes, still-beauty voice galvanized everyone. You know that feeling when you are one with the audience, frozen by a voice so out of this world that it is like listening to a moment that will never repeat itself again.
Ellyson radiates an un-diva attitude. More like someone's talented beautiful sister who happens to sound like a nightingale. She sang "Rainy Night in Georgia" and I don't know about you but chills ran up my spine listening to her slow and gently sad voice caress that song. It still does while I am remembering it now. And she sang of sailors, of stars, and of loneliness in the Pacific street, of not catching the train in Pittsburgh -- I swear she is the only one who can sing Marilynne Robinson's prose in "Housekeeping" and "Gilead". Mesmerising and quitely affecting that stays with you long after the song ended.
In the second part of the show, the band loosened up considerably because of better sound and they even performed a song that everyone in the audience seems to know -- one with a cuckoo (can anyone help me know the song's title -- I swear I was the only one in the room not singing along even if I was moving along with thesong's catchy cadence). Then the guy who plays mandolin soloed to great applause. Ellyson said that this being North Carolina, mandolins rule. Someone shouted that they do "Free bird".
Later they signed autographs. Sally and the band were all nice. I look forward to their fourth album. The songs she sang that night from that forthcoming album sounded top quality hymnlike and Hem-like. Can't wait.
triple post, sorry
QUOTE(Groucho @ Jun 8 2006, 07:55 PM) 
The songs -- 7 all in all + 2 encores -- were culled from "Drunkard's Prayer" with detours from "Ohio" and previous albums.
No, there were definitely 12 songs - in spite of the delay, they played the whole set list. Also, the songs were all pretty recent - the oldest one was "Latter Days", which was only from Good Dog Bad Dog. "When I Go" was the only song from Films for Radio. After that, there were four songs from Drunkard's Prayer, three songs from Ohio, and three songs that haven't been released yet.
QUOTE
he one scene stealer of the night is the guitarist whose last name is Plant and who recorded a children's album under the name The Mudcakes with "Music for Little Monkeys" as title.
He was impressive, but so was everybody else on stage! I was surprised that nobody seemed to steal the show - they really gel together well in a live setting.
QUOTE(Groucho @ Jun 8 2006, 07:55 PM)
In the second part of the show, the band loosened up considerably because of better sound and they even performed a song that everyone in the audience seems to know -- one with a cuckoo (can anyone help me know the song's title -- I swear I was the only one in the room not singing along even if I was moving along with thesong's catchy cadence).
Oh, that fun bluegrassy one. A lyrics search on Google turned this up: http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:8NlV9...lient=firefox-a
So apparently it's a traditional song they did on the Rabbit Songs CD.
[quote name='danny316' post='182484' date='Jun 8 2006, 08:36 PM']In the second part of the show, the band loosened up considerably because of better sound and they even performed a song that everyone in the audience seems to know -- one with a cuckoo (can anyone help me know the song's title -- I swear I was the only one in the room not singing along even if I was moving along with thesong's catchy cadence).[/quote]
Oh, that fun bluegrassy one. A lyrics search on Google turned this up: http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:8NlV9...lient=firefox-a
So apparently it's a traditional song they did on the Rabbit Songs CD.
[/quote]
Wow thanks. I forgot about that song as being in "Rabbit Songs" but it was a great and riotous performance.
Oh, that fun bluegrassy one. A lyrics search on Google turned this up: http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:8NlV9...lient=firefox-a
So apparently it's a traditional song they did on the Rabbit Songs CD.
[/quote]
Wow thanks. I forgot about that song as being in "Rabbit Songs" but it was a great and riotous performance.
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