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Belated concert review

Hey y'all...

I realize I'm rather late in sending this out, but I'd feel as if I'd violated
some sort of list regulation if I didn't post some sort of review, even if it
is a week after the fact.  The show being discussed took place Tuesday,
November 24, in Redondo Beach, CA at a place called Club Caprice.

I'd hoped that I'd finally get to meet listies Jeff and/or Lydia, but alas,
neither was able to attend.  Sadly, I wasn't able to convince any of my
friends to go either, so I wound up at the concert alone.  Believe me, there's
nothing quite so thrilling as attending a concert by yourself.  By the way, if
there are any other lurking listies besides Jeff and Lydia who live here in
southern California, please let me know.

When I bought my ticket from the ever-popular TicketMaster, I was told that
all seating at the concert would be general admission.  Unfortunately, upon
arriving at the venue, I discovered that only about 5% of seats were general
admission, and naturally these were the worst seats in the house.
Consequently, I was stuck at the back of the room with the bar sitting between
me and the stage, leaving me with an obstructed view about 25% of the time.

Everything I'd heard about this show had indicated that Karin & Linford would
be performing without the rest of the band, so I was hoping for something a
little different from the few other times I've seen OtR perform, even if they
were just opening for the Cowboy Junkies.  The show began with Karin walking
onstage alone and performing "The Seahorse" by herself.  Regrettably, the
sound at Club Caprice was some of the worst I've ever encountered.  Everything
was muted and muddled.  On top of this, most of the people there seemed to
regard Karin as an intrusion upon whatever conversation they happened to be
having at the moment, so instead of shutting up when she started playing, they
increased the volume at which they were speaking.  Needless to say, I was
rather frustrated.

After "The Seahorse", Linford joined Karin onstage, as did two other guys.
The one who picked up a guitar resembled Jack, but I was too far away to make
sure that that's indeed who he was.  The second guy was a mystery to me, but I
was intrigued as he sat down behind an upright bass.  "Bothered" and "Etcetera
Whatever" were played next, but I was rapidly losing interest due to my
inability to really hear what they were playing.  After "Etc. Whatever", Karin
introduced the bassist, but thanks to the wonderful audio, I had no clue what
she said.  Several songs later, she also introduced the guitarist, but once
again, she was totally incomprehensible.  It wasn't until after their set had
ended that I was able to find out who these two were by talking to the guy
working the merchandise table.  Indeed, the guitarist was Jack, who had just
flown out to join K&L for some of these west coast performances.  The bass
player was Jeff Bird, who usually plays a little bit of everything for the
Junkies.

Next up was "All I Need Is Everything".  About halfway through, the sound guys
finally got their act together somewhat and managed to coax some more volume
out of the speakers.  Unfortunately, the quality wasn't any better, it was
just louder.

"Poughkeepsie" and "Orphan Girl" followed.  This was my first chance to hear
OtR perform "Orphan Girl", which was nice, but I must say that I think Gillian
Welch does it better.  "Jack's Valentine" and "Latter Days" closed out the
set.  Karin did the vocals for "Jack's Valentine", which was an interesting
change.

Amazingly, when I stopped by the merch table after their set, quite a few
people were buying GDBD.  The sound quality must have been much, much better
wherever those folks were sitting, because I know that if this concert had
been my first taste of Over the Rhine, I wouldn't have wanted any more.

Although I enjoy the Junkies, I couldn't bring myself to sit through a couple
hours of them playing with the same sound problems, so I didn't bother hanging
around for their set.

So there you have it.  I wish I could have delivered a glowing report, but
sadly, a positive review simply wasn't warranted.

Steve
oncleboo at aol_com
==========
"I alternate between fantasy and the cold hard truth, I oscillate between the
cool and the uncouth; but I resonate to the piercing eyes of God I sought in
my youth." -- The 77's