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OtR @ the Ark, another review
Hi,
What a fun show! I was amazed when Karin said they had only had two rehearsals
with the band prior to this gig, and that Kim and Karin hadn't ever practiced
the times they sang together. They sounded great. Sure, there were some rough
edges, and a couple of "who starts this song?" moments, but to me that only
adds to the charm of a live show. There was a lot of relaxed on-stage banter,
some of which got pretty personal (including one bit that just kept getting
more and more risque, until Linford announced that the next song was called
"Darlin', Christmas is coming", and the whole crowd just collapsed in laughter.
Karin said something like "and now I have to sing after that?". Linford claimed
he had never thought of the double entendre until that very moment.).
Mike, the sound mix guy (who OtR stole from Cowboy Junkies -- not like that's
ever happened before ;-)) was very very good, and the band sounded great. Kim
Taylor sang backup on a few songs, and the harmonies were very nice. Kim has a
deeper voice than Karin, and it really complements and fills out the sound of
the vocals. I was impressed at how well the drums were mixed in. They were
*extremely* loud when we were setting them up, but they were perfect during the
show. Clear without ever dominating. And Dale is an excellent drummer.
Sadly, he is no longer in both OtR and Sixpence. He's on Sixpence's infamous
next album, which is all finished, but in legal limbo because of the demise and
reshuffling of various record companies. Dale had no idea when or even if it
would ever see the light of day. Meanwhile, "Kiss Me" is in two *more* movies.
I think they're trying to find out how much milage you can get out of one song.
:-) But back to OtR.
Jack was in fine form on the guitar; very playful. In Jack's Valentine,
Linford encouraged him to play a solo, so he played the same note, over and
over and over, just modulating the rhythm. Very funny. Wade was subtle and
supportive on the bass; never drawing attention to himself, but never hitting a
wrong note, either. Linford was totally trapped in his keyboard setup. He had
keys on three sides of him (he joked during sound check about having a "spinal
tap" moment; playing opposing keyboards one with each hand at the same
time... which he then did do during the show!) and an amp and a monitor
blocking the third side. Getting in and out of there was a real challenge.
Especially when Karin played a solo piano number called "Ohio". It was very
elegant and evocative; an anthem to growing up in a small town in coal-mining
country. She joked about usually liking to write piano songs, but with Linford
around, "why bother?" I hope we see more of these.
I had a lot of fun being a part of the show. The Ark is a totally
volunteer-run non-profit club. Well, there are a handful of staff that manage
the place, but the mechanics of getting each show done every night are all
handled by volunteers. There are sound tech volunteers and house volunteers,
who work the concession stand, usher, and clean up. I've been volunteering
there as a sound tech about once a week since May, and it's a lot of fun. It
was particularly fun on this show, since I got to help my friends out. I snuck
out of work at about three to help load all that equipment in (and there was a
*lot* of it. That Hammond organ ain't a featherweight.), which we finished
about five-thirty. Luckily, Mike handled the sound check. I don't think I'm
good enough yet to have dealt with that kind of complexity in the time we had.
I think it's the most complex set up I've worked on yet. It was fun to figure
out how to wire it; like a puzzle. Despite having started at three, we were
still finishing Kim's sound check five minutes before the house opened at 7:30.
There was a bit of a crisis with Linford's Hammond, or rather with the Leslie
amplifier it was attached to. The amplifier actually spins its speakers around
to modulate the tones. At first, it would only spin at its fastest setting.
Michael Shelata (who is the other Ark sound techie who was working with me last
night) managed to track down in the phone book a guy named Herb in Livonia who
is some kind of professional Hammond organ fixer. He talked them through the
whole ciruitry system until they found a voltage modulater that had fallen out
when we were loading it into the elevator (we tipped it on its side). Put it
back in, and presto, problem solved. Way to go, Herb! So if you ever need
a Hammond organ fixed, I heartily recommend Herb in Livonia. :-)
So, I ran the sound board during Kim's set, and then Mike took over for OtR.
I also ran the lights for the whole show. It was great fun to do the lights
for a band I actually know well, because I could actually do a dynamic light
show. Usually I just set up some combination of lights and turn them on or
off as needed, but with OtR, I could play a bit, changing the color scheme
to match the mood of the song, shifting the focus of the light for solos
(like just lighting the piano area for "Ohio"), that sort of thing. I was
all ready and poised to hit Linford with a solo spotlight in "Jack's Valentine"
when the rest of the band drops out and he says "trip myself and fall upon
your fabulous sword"... but they didn't do it that way. Sigh. Linford said
it would have been a real "rock star moment". :-)
It took a lot less time to pack it all up than it did to load it in, but I still
didn't get home until 12:40 am. But it was a great night. Here's the set list:
If Nothing Else
When I Go
I Radio Heaven (kicked a$$! Karin was "screaming my damn fool head off", as she
put it afterwards)
Anything At All
Faithfully Dangerous
Darling, Christmas is Coming (new song; Kim on backing vox)
All I Ever Get for Christmas is Blue (new song)
Silent Night
Curse These Dreams (Jack's song, sung by Karin)
Holy Rain (Jack's song, sung by Jack w/ Karin on backing vox)
[at this point, everyone but K&L left the stage]
The World Can Wait (very spare version, with just keys and Karin. Very powerful.)
Ohio (Karin solo piano)
Green Clouded Swallowtail (Jack & Linford came back, and both played acoustic guitar to
accompany Karin's vox)
[full band came back]
Lucy
Miles
Helpless (new song; Kim on backing vox)
---
[Encores]
Jack's Valentine
Pilgrim (cover song; I didn't catch who wrote it. Kim on backing vox)
And that's it. It was a good crowd; very attentive. I got to meet a
couple new Listees (Hi Burrell! Or is it Burrill? Sorry.), but I think
there were more of you there that didn't come say hi. :-(
See y'all tomorrow!
--
Don Smith Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment
donaldas at umich_edu http://xte.mit.edu/~dasmith/
"I've been wondering... what does it cost you for me to be me?" - Ferron
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