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OtR in Seattle
Hey everyone...
I had the opportunity this past weekend to travel up to the northwest to see
a few relatives and catch OtR's shows in Seattle while I was there.
I arrived on Friday, with just enough time to settle in and then run to the
Paradox Theater to meet up with listie Heather(Seattle). Naturally, since I
was in that particular city, I got lost on the way even though I had less
than a mile to drive. I don't know what it is about Seattle, but navigating
through its streets is maddening. Somehow though, I managed to eventually
find my way and reached the theater at our prearranged meeting time of 6:30.
As I was standing alone outside awaiting Heather's arrival, Linford, Karin,
and their "contributors", in this case, Jack, David and Don, stepped outside.
Linford greeted me with a handshake and said "You look like a familiar
ally." I think that means I've been seeing them too much lately, or
something... They were looking for a place to grab something to eat before
the show, but I wasn't able to give them much guidance since I'm about as
unfamiliar with the area as they are. I was at least able to point them in
the general direction of where I believed some restaurants to be. After they
strode off, Heather drove up. I hadn't seen her in a good year and a half or
so, so it was nice to be able to spend some time talking with her. Other
people started arriving eventually, and there was a small line by the time
the doors opened at 7:00. We grabbed two front-row seats and waited for the
8:00 showtime to arrive.
Given the white screen as a backdrop to the stage, the black curtains draping
the walls, and the arrangement and type of chairs within it, the Paradox
appeared to have once been a movie theater. Capacity is in the vicinity of
200. By the time Robert Deeble and his two compatriots took the stage on
Friday, the place was about half-full. Saturday appeared to be a capacity
crowd, even with the addition of some removable chairs up front.
Deeble played his acoustic, and was accompanied by a female backup vocalist
and a cellist. He seemed to be a bit looser at these shows than he was the
previous times I've seen him. Whereas when I've seen him before he's pretty
much stuck to just playing his moody songs without much interaction with the
audience, this time he talked a bit and injected a bit of humor into things
from time to time. A little levity can go a long way when you're singing
songs like "A Russian Murder Ballad In ¾ Time". All in all, he put on a
decent forty-five minute show. Certainly a better performance than I've seen
from him in the past.
Following a break of approximately 20 minutes, OtR took the stage. From the
audience's POV, Linford was on the left, at an upright piano that the theater
operators had secured for him. The piano's position up against the wall left
Linford with his back to the rest of the band. To his right was David
LaBruyere, who was seated thru the entirety of the shows, except when he left
the stage, IIRC. Karin was at centerstage, as was to be expected. Don
Heffington was directly behind her playing his bright green drums. What's up
with that hat he wears though? Jack was off to the right with his guitars.
Here's the playlist, with a few notes of mine interspersed.
"Go Down Easy" - On Friday, this was preceded by Linford briefly playing what
Heather and I agreed was a hymn. To my recollection though, neither of us
could recall the title of it. Karin's setlist, which I swiped following
Saturday's show actually had "Go Down Easy" listed in the encore section, but
they led off with it on both nights.
"All I Need Is Everything" - Here, I got a bit of a shock as Linford got up
from his bench and strapped on a guitar. The band then lit into a relatively
upbeat version of this song. Linford didn't look tremendously comfortable
playing guitar, but he wasn't completely incompetent either. What caught my
eye more than anything though was that Linford seemed to smile quite a bit
more while playing guitar than he seems to when he's at the piano. The
audience seemed to respond positively to the additional energy displayed on
this song.
"Poughkeepsie" - Why they chose to follow up an energetic version of AINiE
with such a somnolent rendition of "Poughkeepsie" makes no sense to me. It
sapped all the momentum that they'd just picked up. Linford was back on
piano for this one, btw.
"Little Blue River" - Sadly, this was the only song they played that's too be
on the upcoming record. Not that I was really expecting any different though…
"Orphan Girl" - Here came shock # 2. Once again, Linford stepped away from
the piano, but instead of grabbing the guitar again, he picked up an
accordion! OtR picked up the tempo on this one again, plus I love this
particular song (although I'm still partial to Gillian Welch's version), so
my spirits were lifted again at this point. Jack even took off on a little
solo.
"It's Never Quite What It Seems" - Preceded by Karin announcing the new
record deal and an appeal for people to pick up a copy at the merch. table.
Linford was back on piano.
"Thank You My Angel" - I suppose I could classify the playing of this song in
mid-February as shock #3. It seemed to be a bit of a shock to Karin too, as
she wound up forgetting some of the lyrics on night #1. Linford on guitar
yet again.
"Faithfully Dangerous" - L remained on guitar, while K removed hers. Ya
know, Karin should leave the guitar alone. That's not to say I dislike her
playing, she's passable in that regard, but she's so much more expressive
when her hands are free. Her entire body seems to emote so much more and
she's so much more enjoyable to watch when she's not playing that guitar.
"The Seahorse" - Jack, David and Don left the stage. Karin told the usual
story about being inspired to write the song during their stay in the UK. L
& K were both on guitar for this and the next song.
"I Painted My Name" - Listed on the setlist as simply "I Painted". My first
time to hear this song live, so I enjoyed it from that perspective, but
unfortunately, it paled in comparison to the recorded version. The song
needs more energy than they were giving it. Linford described it as their
""living room version" of the song, i.e. they supposedly had it sounding the
way it did when they first played it in the living room all those years ago.
Vocally, Karin reminded me quite a bit of Shawn Colvin on this song, for some
reason.
"Lucy" - The band returns to the stage and L returns to the piano.
"Jack's Valentine" - I never cared much for this song on GDBD, but it always
seems to be a highlight to a show. Prior to beginning, L mentioned that this
"experiment" took just 15 minutes to write, and he's been regretting it ever
since. Jack then quipped, "Seven and a half minutes per chord," which
provoked Karin into a bit of laughter. This song has, in the past, been
Linford's showcase since it's his lone vocal outing, but Jack took this song
over on both nights.
"Cast Me Away" (extended version) - Only played on night #2. An audience
member called out to them to play something from TWHF, so they obliged her
with this. Too bad I couldn't get them to respond to my request for
something from "Eve". L & K only on this song. The others indicated that
they didn't know it.
"Circle of Quiet" - L on accordion again. Karin described how he's become a
multi-instrumentalist this year since they've been doing some in-stores and
radio appearances as a duo.
"Latter Days" - L on piano, obviously. "This is a sad song, but to me the
sad ones are the happiest" - Linford
The band left the stage at this point. Both nights they received a standing
ovation, which I wasn't quite anticipating, but I guess they're not quite as
jaded as some of us on this list…
Encore # 1 - "Etc. Whatever" - For me, the best part of this song is that
Karin clearly enunciates the difference between the two "s" sounds in
"fists". Karin and Linford only, L on piano.
Encore # 2 - "Bothered" - Standard "Besides"-era rendition, with just Karin,
Linford and Jack.
Encore # 3 - "My Love Is A Fever" - The rest of the band was back for this
one. Although I know this has been played at many of their concerts, even in
recent days, it had not been played at any of the OtR shows I've been to.
Linford was back on guitar for what Karin described as an arrangement that
Linford dreamt up at 4 AM while watching the Mickey Mouse Club. It was a
bouncy, jazzy thing. Not sure how else to describe it. They seemed to be
having fun while playing it, at least.
"Rhapsodie" was also on the setlist, but went unplayed both nights.
I had a good time, though I would have liked to have been able to meet more
than one listie whom I already knew. It was well worth the trip though. The
weather in Seattle was wonderful. A little chilly, but clear. It's rather
strange to have such clear skies up there, only to return to SoCal to rain.
That's just not right…
That's enough for now. I'm sure most of you gave up long ago anyway.
Oh, I'm sorry, there is one more thing. Why haven't there been any posts
about the AmyRomania/bink thing in Kent this past weekend? Stop being so
quiet, y'all!
Steve
oncleboo at aol_com
np: OtR - TWHF
"Talking nonsense is man's only privilege that distinguishes him from all
other organisms." -- Fyodor Dostoyevsky
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