[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
symposium gig and spilt beers
hi.
spilt beers seems to be the running theme of the evening. i spilled two of
them myself. but we'll get to that later, because we'll try to put this
into chronological order so you can feel like you were there with us, for
so many of you who weren't. But in keeping with the spilt beer theme,
chronologically oughta go back to when the "official announcement" came
through that OtR was gonna play the symposium. I read this a couple/few
weeks ago and i sent a e-mail to the OtR office asking them if they could
book another venue, because this place was so awful, so disrespectful, so
noisy (crowd, like Heather was talking about), so small, so
lack-of-table-space-y, and just so lousy a place in general. ~anywhere ~
would be better than here.
I got a reply saying there was nothing they could do, that they had a
contract already signed and ~i think~ that they had a long-term
relationship with this particular venue. don't hold me to that last
sentence, whether that was expressed or implied i can't remember. but,
regardless, they were coming to the Symposium. Like it or lump it. (also
not in their e-mail, author's comment there.)
Next chrono event: Call Bonny from the Brady. She was a fun date last
time, wonder if she'd go with us again.
Next: Write Yummy Chick. A Cleveland OtR concert without the Yummy Chicks
is like coffee without ......uh, never mind, i hate coffee. Like a
morning without a 99 cent burger king croissant, yeah, that's better.
You know, just not quite right. Yummy Chick Alex indicates she'll be
there. Yummy Chick Nikki doesn't have an e-mail address that i know, and
i haven't seen her at a show since.....well, i don't know...i don't really
keep track, but it's been a while. i hold out hope.
DB's feeling a little concerted- out lately, so anticipating another pass
on the event from her, and no confirmation from bonny yet, i ask Albert
if he wants to go. I figured he'd say he had other plans, as it's now the
Friday morning before the show, but he takes me up on it. db like's
albert well enough, but he's not her favourite date, so she's a little
more resigned to stay home now when i tell her of Albert's coming. She's
straddling the fence at this point, but then Friday afternoon after a hard
day rowing the slaveship i come home, check my e-mails and there's a Bonny
letter saying that she and husband Andy wanna go! Yea! Monica jumps off
the fence on the side of "I'll go!"
We wait for Albert to show up at 6:30 or 7. no Albert. Maybe he forgot
where we live or just forgot in general. being brain damaged after an
accident years ago, he does tend to forget a lot of things.
(confirmation: next day i saw him, and he forgot.) So, 7:10 we pull out
of our driveway and drive into Kent to pick up Bonny and Andy at their
house. It's no big deal, but we already know there isn't gonna be any
tables open up near the stage, or likely anywhere at this point, but we're
planning on bum-rushing the stage anyway, so what the hell. table would
just be a convienience thing.
Bonny's eyes are looking better, and she's not wearing the Ray Charles
headgear like at the VoL show. These guys are fun, and once again, prove
to be a fun date. This is our first date with Andy, he's a trip. We had
a good time, AND he showed me a slightly new and much better way to hit 90
West, so he gets bonus points for that.
3 Motorcycles come up beside us on 480 West, 1 on the right and two on the
left. this was our pre-show warm up entertainment, it turns out.
Right-motorcycle looks over, revs up the bike and pops a wheelie for a few
hundred feet. we're already travelling 65 or so mph (that's about 103 +/-
kph for you out of towner's) so it was fun to watch. Andy and i were
impressed. Bonny stopped breathing. not in the medical -emergency, call
911 sense, but the i'm scared so i'll shut down respiration temporarily
until i know we're all fine sense.
Then lead bike on the left does the same thing. Were they all Yamaha's?
i forget. two of them were for certain. Wheeee! there he goes away on the
rear wheel. A little too much and he's gonna be on his ass, i kept
thinking. i remember going over several times on my old bike, more often
going over than actually pulling it off successfully, but that was on dirt.
these guys are on 480! it was impressive (maybe it's a guy thing).
Bike-on-left #2 now has his opportunity for the same thing. I'll call him
Robin Hood. He rode his wheelie up to the point where left-bike had
settled down and passed him, in the same left lane. Double impressive
because not only does he have the fore/aft balance thing down at 65 to
probably 90 mph, but he's got the steering-balance thing working too so he
can aim into his proper 1/2 lane. Woo~hoo, motorcycle boys, thanks for
the show! As they pull away Bonny breathes again. Andy tells of his
motorcycle stunts and Monica tells of her brother's also. I don't mention
that i usually fell off the ass -end of my Yamaha way back when i tried to
do that stuff. Too much throttle, not enough brains.
We get in get ID'd get stamped (not as nice as Miss Jen's stamps, btw)
and head 'round the corner to Diana's Deli for snackages. db and i shared
a Jalapeno Popper plate with a HUGE bowl of salsa, Andy got the chicken
enriched salad, and Bonny had the Ham-enhanced salad. Andy couldn't pass
up the yummy strawberry pie and got that to-go, and by the next streetside
trash can it was gone.
You feeling like you're there with us yet? you can always delete this one
and go with the express review. i won't mind. (just don't tell me you
did.)
Back into the dark, dark Symposium we (being broke) passed up our usual
Corona's for the ever-cheep Busch, but they don't have Busch, so we get
3 Rolling Rocks. Andy passes on the beer for now. We stand in the back of
the room near where the merchy-table is set, but Hazel (or anyone) isn't
there manning it. Wares are displayed, and i guess we're on our honour not
to have a free t-shirt or a free disc. i honour the honour system, and
pocket no free goodies. i didn't see anyone else steal either. nice
people, these OtR fans.
Jason Dennie comes out to play, and there's a man in the room over by the
mirrorred wall who's conversation is being inconvienienced by the playing.
His conversation is evidently more important though, because he begins to
shout to his companion in order to be heard. I'm sure the companion
appreciated that. I know i did!
i'm looking around for ppl i know. so far nobody. i was kinda hoping for
the brady crowd or Tracey Thomas or the Yummy Chicks. then Bonny says "
there's DM and Jen!" i look, but i don't see them. Sooner or later,
though, i get a hug and i turn to see DM, and there's Jen and there's
Alyssa (are you still on the list, Alyssa? haven't seen a post from you in
a long while.) and Heather. When i hug Heather i feel this nice buttery
soft leather, and i comment on her coat. she tells me it's her new coat,
and etc. Little did i know this is a portent to her evening, as you
already know 'cause she posted first and you've read it by now.
The shouting guy is not finished with his important conversation, so i turn
to Jen and mention the need for the tranquilizer gun. Another venue,
another tranquilizer dart required. why is this? I wish i could give
credit where credit is due here: was it Jen? was it Heather? but someone
said later this was a night for the tranquilizer machine gun. how true
that is! we needed an airborne toxin that night to take out lots of
people. in retrospect, the shouting guy wasn't all that bad. DM asked
if we were gonna jump in front of the stage and block the view of all these
ppl in the tables, and i said that that was my working plan, yes. I
thought he was gonna come, too, but they stayed in the back to get beer
spilled on them. (Note to Brady gang: you would have had beer spilled on
you up front as well. you didn't miss anything.)
Jason Dennie was the man who practically sat on our laps at the last show we
saw him play here (you can check the archives). He came down to watch OtR
play then, and he came down into the audience to see them play now, also.
I wondered if he'd remember us. (yes, he did. we spoke after the show.)
Fom stage Dennie said something hint-like, like "carry on with your
conversations. i'll just play for a while." to the remotely-sensitive,
that should have shut them up, but these ppl were just nasty. the din
continued.
Between sets, we made our way up to the stage, and plopped down on the
acrylic covered floor in front of the first row of tables. Other people
followed, including the gorgeous Japanese guy that i remember seeing at the
last Symposium OtR show. i think he was seated on the floor at the same
spot. or close. (at some point i tapped db on the shoulder to see if
she'd noticed the cute guy (she would do the same for me) and she said,
"oh, yes! i've been distracted all night!".
I had a stranger seated next to me. db, andy, bonny were to my right.
Right when OtR took the stage and i moved to sit up and clap, i knocked
over Stranger's beer. Being helpful, i tried to turn his beer back
upright, so he'd lose as little as possible, but remember how dark i said
it was? Turns out that when i couldn't quite get the beer to sit right on
the floor, i took a good hard look and saw that i was actually holding the
bottle upside-down! beer was running all over the place. Luckily i was
just wearing a little sweatsuit grey fleece jacket (not leather!) so it was
able to soak up some beer (no, i haven't laundered it yet. it's thrown in
the trunk, smelling yummy, i'm sure.) I got up to get him another beer but
he sat me down. said not to worry about it, enjoy the show. nice guy.
trouble is i couldn't enjoy the show because i had this
spilled-the-neighbour's- beer guilt trip hanging over me, so at the end of
the second song (all i need is everything) i bought him another beer and
grabbed a bar towel for more sopping. this was a pleasant accident, and
no fists entered walls.
Karin was in a medium dark blue patterned long skirt, ankle length ( a
good choice since she was seated for the whole concert and there we were on
the floor in front of her.), an off the shoulder very dark blue clingyknit
top, and her hair was deep deep rich coppery -auburn red. who remembers
Lynzi's hair at Moonlight? I think that's the colour of Karin's hair.
Looked nice, i approve. Dave had the extremely casual look going on, as
i've seen him sport everytime i've seen him including the Monk gig, but
this time he had a black winter knit cap pulled on. Ohio nights in
November, even warmish ones like this, are prolly chilly to a Louisiana
boy. Terri had on a black top with a black ~sweater~ (not the right word)
and the sweater was buttoned only at the top button, the rest opening up
further as it went lower. I forget the pants. i kept watching for
smiles, and she smiled several times. yay! Terri's happy again.
Linford: jeans, black boots, a t-shirt underneath a button down coloured
oxford shirt, i think a jacket.
Jack wore Levi's with about 4" (112mm) of cuff rolled up, a patterned
blue shirt (we all know what kinds of patterns he likes by now, so you have
that pictured in your minds, right?) and the gold chain thing. He also
played chewing a toothpick most of the night.
slightly funny bit #1: at Moonlight, dbas told db that Jack looks like
he's a kid with a new toy when he gets a-playing that guitar. at some point
db turned to me and then i saw it too. there's that look he gets....
slightly even more funny bit #2: Andy turns and says, "remember that TV
show Family Ties? Remember Nick, Mallory's boyfriend in that show? i
nod in the affirmative, and he slyly points up at Jack. Bingo!!! i
never saw it before, but it's unavoidable now. Jack = Nick. Nick =
Jack. take a look for yourself at the next gig. report your findings
here. i'll be waiting.
Percussion was provided by Cowboy Junkies Jeff Bird. he played shakers,
tambourine, cymbals, other things but my view of him was blocked by Karin
(not that i'd complain about that exchange). Whatever he was wearing i
remember struck me as "odd". Karin was the best dressed of the evening.
(IMO, of course)
The setlist, stolen after the show, in their own handwriting, as written,
on the back of a green WSL Rollerjam flyer at the CSU Convocation Center .
Come see the NY Enforcers vs. the California Quakes. (haha, not
"Quakers"). Remember watching Roller Derby on Saturday TV when you were a
kid? i do.
Anyway, the setlist:
"Go Down EZ
All I Need is E
Goodbye (i love this song. we didn't fall for the faux ending this time.
we're pro's now.)
Little Blue River (trailer park song)
It's Never Quite What it Seems
Moth
Poughkeepsie (Karin introduced this by saying the night's set has a rather
melancholy mood to it tonight, but at least this song is uplifting in the
end. When she was saying something about the melancholy, someone yelled
out "rhapsodie". Karin laughed and said, "no, not that one!" (or
something like that).) (Rhapsodie was on the setlist, however, as you'll
soon see. it was not played.)
Orphan Girl (to make db happy)
The Seahorse (Karin and Jeff)
Bothered (no bass) (bothered went over really well with my spilled beer
neighbour, who at some point, let's say now, got up to get another beer
and came back with another Rolling Rock for me. Nice guy! but i remember
that he cheered especially loudly for bothered.) (and the cute Japanese guy
was singing along most of the lyrics, too. Monica looked around and
spotted Yummy Chick Nikki. Yay! Nikki made it. we looked for Yummy Chick
Alex and db spotted her too. oops, sorry, back to the setlist:)
Anyway
June (June was good, it was kinda funked up and playful)
Faithfully Dangerous
Lucy
Jack's Valentine (Linford sang it. comment from db: It wasn't his best.
he seemed like he didn't want to do it. rush through it, get it over
with, move on)
Circle of Quiet (potty break for me. as i got up i spilled the newer
Rolling Rock. more sopping with the towel i had thrown over there by the
monitors. rats! when i got back, somebody else's beer had spilled and i
flopped the side of my foot and my lower pantleg down in a puddle of beer.
more sopping.) this was a beer soaked night!
Chris Emery's favourite:
Latter Days
________________________________________________
Encore :
Jack's Lust
Etc. Whatever
Rhapsodie"
evidently nobody was getting married that night.
At one of my potty breaks, DM said "this has to be the worst sounding
concert i've seen. I'm standing right by the soundboard, and i'm
thinking, C'mon guy, adjust the mix! make it sound good!" (i put that in
quotes, but i'm sure it's a paraphrase. something like that anyway.) we
had nice enough sound up front. DM, sorry you didn't go up with us. you
prolly should have. next time!
I spent some time hugging Yummy Chick Alex. she's a sweetheart. i'm glad
she came to the gig. She had to leave for another event at 12:30 she said,
but she stayed over by about 10 minutes, so i hope her carriage didn't turn
into a pumpkin. She made it through almost the entire set by 12:40 anyway.
Heather came and found us while they were leaving and told us of the
horrible time they had at the other end of the room. So i got a preview of
that post i read this morning. Sorry, Heather. We didn't have it much
better than you, but there was no bitchy people on our end, which i
suppose is a point in the positive direction. I agree that the Symposium
sucks, and IIRC i mentioned this in the last Symposium review. It truly
is horrible there.
I was shy and i knew there was nobody there to accompany my "I love you,
Terri" shout with an "I love you ______" shout, so i kept my mouth shut
until after the gig was over, during the load-out. Monica prompted me to
shout it up then, and then Terri beckoned me over to the stage, and we
talked about stuff. she said she saw us there on the floor. i asked her
about the record company thing. she said that a subsidiary of Virgin
Records is talking with them, ( she mentioned them by name but i forgot) .
They want to re-release GDBD with an additional track and some different
artwork. (completists take note of that last sentence). db asked her if
she was gonna be on that album, but Terri said no, "she's just on the live
performance" end of things. i told her i'd start a petition, she said
thanks. i forget what else we talked about. she's a sweetie too.
We talked with Linford. he said he's insisting that GDBD be re-released as
part of the contract with (whatever interested) record company, as he feels
it is his due with Brian and Ric, as that album never had a national push
behind it, and it should have that for them. So that's a bargaining
factor, but it looks good with this new record company, and it also looks
that they are willing to re-release __Eve__ and __Patience__ (hi,
Jessyka.... you still awake to read that?).
we talked for awhile with Jason Dennie. he remembered us from last time and
he remembered us from the Ark gig too. That was better than i remembered.
i forgot we saw him at the Ark. He loves that place. (we do too). In
fact, he moved there! well, Yspsilanti, but that's close enough. He
teaches guitar lessons in Ann Arbor somewhere downtown. hey kids, grab
your checkbooks! this guy can play guitar! he didn't sit on our laps
this night however. he sat on the beery floor, with some hottie chicks
against the mirror wall. nice choice, Jason! they were cute!
On the way out Karin was sitting on stage right talking with Yummy Chick
Nikki and we had a few meaningless small-talk words with them, too. I told
her (Karin) i liked her new hair. (and i did. it looks nice.) Nikki
had never been to the Ark for a gig. I told her she simply ~must~ go
there, i'll even drive her up there. I doubt she'll take me up on that
offer.
We made our goodnights and that was that, until the wind blew the car door
in Bonny's face, and she had to go back in for an ice bag. Bonny, hope
you're o.k.!!!
(note to Bonny: yes, you did leave your Jason Dennie disc in the car and
no, i'm not gonna steal it. i'll return it to you very soon, maybe even
today i won't even open it and play it on the way there. Thanks for
going out with us again, you guys are great fun! Love!)
(another note to Bonny: Bonny, call Tracey!! do it soon, so it won't be
like that missed OtR opportunity at the Brady you could have had, or the
Chai thing. You wouldn't want Tracey to have to play the Symposium, would
you!?? :-) ).
If Over the Rhine ever changes their name, they've decided on "Pissing
Razors" from the graffiti-strewn bathroom at the place. On my potty
break, i looked and yeah, there it was (in two places). Karin said
that's hard to imagine pissing razors.
on the way home, there's a sweeping curve on that new road that Andy told
me about, and on the way up he warned me about the curve, so i took it
cautiously. On the way back, i was again cautious but someones else was
not, and they spun and slammed headfirst into the wall at the median.
crunched front clips and steamy radiators and police cars. Andy was
right. I didn't see any Over The Rhine bumperstickers on the car, and i
hope it wasn't one of us.
i think that's our evening, kids. thanks for coming along for the ride.
At 3:30 in the morning we turned into bed. Gotta be at work at 7:30 to row
that ship. Joy!!
jg
np: Bruce Springsteen __born to run__
---------------
Unsubscribe by going to http://www.actwin.com/MediaNation/OtR/