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Flyin' High - OtR Concert Review (long)
Hey boys and girls...
I've been a die hard fan since _Patience_ and FINALLY I got to *see*
them, last night, West End Cultural Centre, Winnipeg Manitoba Canada.
And now, here I am to tell you all about it. This is a very extensive
detailed review so if you're not up for it, I'm warning you now.
West End is a really funky, artsy place and suited them very much.
Unfortunately, it's not very big so there was limited seating. They
usually have little lounge tables and chairs throughout, but last night
they cleared everything out and only had tables and chairs along the
sides, so most everyone sat on the floor (except those who got there an
hour early and snagged a table...like me and my friends for example).
We were there at 7:45pm, the doors opened at 9:00pm and the show didn't
start until 9:30pm, so by then, we were pretty much pumped and ready to
see them already.
Out they come...Linford wearing the suit he wore on Letterman, Karin
with a loose black skirt and sleeveless light blue top with a navy blue
stripe in the middle, Terri with a long black dress (hair up for you
jg), Jack wearing jeans and a hippie shirt with the top two buttons
undone. Linford on keyboards (of course) at the far right, then Terri,
then Karin a little left of centre stage (this is an insignificant point
for most but when I did a little gig at West End 2yrs ago, I was
standing in the exact spot Karin was...I now have an insignificantly
imaginary connection with her...), and then Jack standing on her right.
By now you're probably wondering, "what about Wade and Brian?", well,
that's what I was thinking. After the first song, Karin informed us
that Brian was still in the States because they didn't have enough money
to bring him along (I'm pretty sure that was the reason she gave). She
didn't mention anything about Wade but she did say that without any
percussion, "we will be doing odd arrangements of what we normally do".
Although there was some initial dissappointment, I think because of
that, it was a very uniquely intimate concert and Karin was definitely
in her prime.
So...the set list - side note - thanks for the inspiration jg! I
snagged my very own set list...in Linford's writing...unfortunately they
just photocopied a bunch of them for themselves so it wasn't in ink or
anything but it's an original none the less! Here it is:
1. Seahorse - WOW. They did amazing stuff with this one. Normally
Karin would do a long "oohhh" in the middle, but instead, Terri joined
her and they did this short "oh" and Jack & Linford filled in with this
minor, ethereal quality sound. Very cool.
2. Bothered - always beautiful. Linford carried on with rolling piano
at the end and Jack complemented the chording with some cool high end
effects.
3. Needle and the Bruise - this was a new song Jack wrote that they had
done for the first time the night before. It was in the jazz/blues
category in 4/4 time with a walking, descending chord pattern on beats 1
and 3 (typical first three chords progressively descending and then up
for the fourth - I apologize to those that don't want to or care to know
this much). Good song if you like the typical old soothing jazz/blues
arrangements (which I do). Karin's vocals were amazing as usual, nothing
struck me lyrically wise but then again, I wasn't listening closely
enough - still shocked in amazement that I was actually there.
4. Etc. Whatever - Beautiful, simply beautiful. It was at this point
that I realized how quiet and attentive the audience was. I think they
were all liking this band they had never heard of before.
5. Poughkeepsie - Karin introduced this song as one which is on one of
the CD's they're selling at the back - "These CD's pay for the gas for
the bus...and that's not a joke (at which time the statement then became
kind of a joke and everyone laughed). Karin didn't tell the usual story,
instead she said that the story "tells itself". Linford added some
keyboard to this and Jack did some complementary high soothing effects.
Terri did some low end harmonies. Karin sang *very* passionately. I
could listen to her forever.
6. Orphan Girl - This song was pretty much the only one besides
Seahorse that rocked a little. They brought Jeff Bird from the Junkies
out for this one and he played Mandolin. The harmonies on this were
amazing (nice and close) and Jack did a really short basic guitar solo
(nothing special).
7. Go Down Easy - Karin told a cool story before this one. She said
that she was walking in Winnipeg last night down Osborne St. (oh how I
wish I would've gone for a walk last night) watching the Northern
Lights. Then this guy drove buy and threw this rose at her feet and
said "there you go". She didn't know "whether she should touch it or
thank him" figuring that it was a "symbol of unrequited love". But she
"picked up this rose which was a symbol of a strangers broken heart" and
then she dedicated Go Down Easy to him. Jack did the bass line and Jeff
Bird stuck around for this song to play harmonica. The harmony on the
Bridge was absolutely incredible which created quite the climax. Karin
was just givin' it on the "oh"s and Linford had this huge smile on his
face.
8. Latter Days - this is what they closed with, and as I've heard, this
is the usual closer. Jack was a little more outward (not as subtle) on
this song than Ric was but it sounded pretty good. They drew it out at
the end... thankfully.
I think this may have been the first time OtR has performed in Canada (I
could easily be wrong) so I wasn't expecting much of a following
(especially since there was no advertising) however, even though we were
cheering REALLY loud, I think I heard a few others (Derrick?). Karin
said that they really liked it here and would like to come back. This
was followed by quite a large applause which led me to believe they have
gained some new fans (yeh!).
I still miss Ric, but I know that the chapter is over and they've opened
up a new book. Jack is good...yet, the right word to describe him in
this concert was...complementary. I've got to get some Monk.
As far as the Junkies are concerned, they put on a really good show. I
haven't been a dedicated Junkies fan, but I think I may be now. If you
want info on their show, email me personally because this is an *OtR*
list and I've gone on long enough already. I will say that Linford only
sat out for 3 songs out of the 17, and Karin and Terri joined in for
about 75% of them (however they did very little harmony - mostly sang
unison with Margo which I thought was a little odd) and Jack sat in for
2. There were times when 10 people on stage became a little much, but
OtR fit in well with the Junkies. Linford played Hammond Organ on
keyboard pretty much all the way through and did some really great work.
Terri looked especially bored during the Junkies, however I think I only
saw her smile twice throughout their own set and the Junkies combined.
Is she normally like this? Maybe she had PMS or something. She
definately had lots to smile about if she were to choose to smile.
Karin and Margo seem to be getting along well. I think this has been a
good experience for both bands.
Anyway, I think it's time that I shut up now. The list has had very few
reviews as of late so I thought I may as well throw in all the detail I
could.
Besides...I still think they're the best.
Candace
PS I got DNotY finally...haven't listened to it yet though.
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