So anyway...
Chris and I arrived in Lancaster about 2 PM. After checking into the Hotel Brunswick downtown (where an enthusiastic gospel revival was going on in a pavilion across the street), we set out to secure flowers and wine for Karin and Linford. Although I had researched the addresses of three local florists, I was horrified to learn none were open later than 2:00 on Saturdays. I did pick up a bottle of Medoc and we swung by the venue to see if we could find the band loading for sound check, but the place looked deserted from outside the main door, and after looking around we couldn't find a separate stage entrance (although someone later told us there is one on the other side of the block). So we walked around Lancaster for a while and then met up with Rhonda who drove in from Lewistown at the Lancaster Brewery for some beer and grub.
After waiting at the venue about an hour and a half near the front of the line (which eventually stretched to the end of the block and around the corner), they finally let us in the club. Rhonda had seen shows there before, and we staked out a spot upstairs on the balcony that afforded a nice view of the whole stage. The sound was good up there too, except for the occasional annoying
BANG! of the uninsulated steel door every time someone came through the upstairs entrance. I went downstairs before the show started to give the ladies tending the merch table the wine to bring back to K&L and also checked out the new t-shirts, which I like a lot. Unfortunately, there were no Mediums left to be had.
Opener Abigail Washburn never showed, and finally around 9:40 Over the Rhine took the stage and opened with a rousing rendition of
Long Lost Brother. The crowd was very enthusiastic throughout the show. Linford sang harmony on quite a few songs (Devon helped out on
Show Me and
Back Streets of Heaven), and while most of the time I think his voice complemented Karin's pretty well, I do have to say I really miss Kim's vocals, not to mention Kim herself. After the first few songs, Karin did her "Who came the farthest?" quiz, which was won by some fans from Atlanta. Then I heard "Keith? Are you here Keith?" and Karin thanked me for the "treat" I had sent backstage ("It's legal" she assured the audience) and dedicated
Anything At All to me.
Some fans up front had been cheering Linford's bass playing during
Lookin' Forward, so on the spur of the moment he decided to stay on bass for
Anything At All and asked Rick if he could play guitar instead, which of course he could and did amazingly well -- in fact, Rick was totally on fire the entire night, and Karin later mourned the fact that they only have him for three more shows.
I thought all three of the songs I hadn't heard before were terrific, and Chris and Rhonda were also very impressed. When they finished
On A Roll, Linford said he and Karin would be conducting a songwriting workshop in Santa Fe for the first timeand told an entertaining account of how they had developed the song together. Linford also related a story about a blind piano player in his father's congregation he had known as a child, and then played one of his own piano pieces. Karin later told an amusing story about their visit to and tour of the White House on Friday (they were invited there as guest artists) and mentioned they had also recorded a show for XM to be aired in July.
We got two encores, and Rick played scorching guitar solos on
My Love Is a Fever and
When I Go.
It was a wonderful and unusually lengthy set, and by the time the show was over it was after 11:30 and we had to get up early to catch a train back to NY this morning, so we didn't hang out to talk to Karin and Linford. I am hoping to say hello to them after the tour closer in Northampton Thursday night (I will be ordering flowers in advance).
