LOCATION: Canal Street Tavern, Dayton, OH
LINEUP: Brian, Karin, Linford, Mike, Terri, Jack
REVIEW BY: Chris Emery (edited for the kids ;-))
The setup: small stage, all directions are stage POV. Brian: back right Mike: in the cramped front right corner in front of Brian Terri: in the cramped front right corner with Mike Karin: front, center, maybe slightly left. Linford: way left with his keyboards practically overhanging the front row tables. Jack - the only one standing most of the time, he sorta hung out in the middle. the setlist: The Seahorse Faithfully Dangerous Bothered All I Need Is Everything Etcetera Whatever June Orphan Girl Poughkeepsie Miles ---intermission--- *Tumbleweeds *Anyway *Whatever You Say And It Can Be Paul And Virginia Lucy Jack's Valentine Little Blue River Goodbye ---encore--- Latter Days Go Down Easy *new songs - names wrenched from Mike after the show interpretations and comments: *The Seahorse* Sounded pretty good - but then again, it should, since it's the 5,435th time they've played it in the last year. ;-) A decent warm-up. jg: "Good start - They didn't open with 'Latter Days'" dug: "But they've opened the last four shows with this" *Faithfully Dangerous* This is where the band started getting into it. I also got my first hints that Jack has been practicing a little, along with doing whatever else it is people do over there. (Ed?) ;-) Seriously, though, throughout the night, Jack was a little tighter than he has been in the past - a little more on the same page with the rest of them. He even threw in some extra lead parts. dug: "Jack's head looks like one of those baseball heads with the spring on them that I had once when I was about 5 years old." *Bothered* The obligatory orchestrated version of this one. Not much to say except I realized what a great line "...more out of duty than pleasure, but out of pleasure none the less" is. I still prefer the intensity and power contained in the _Eve_ version. michelle: "There are no dangling participles in their songs!" dug: "Arriba! Yip Yip Yip Ay Ay Ay!" jg: "Probably the English major thing coming into play" michelle: "I am not an english major lesbian, but my mom was!" chris: "Mine too" *All I Need Is Everything* *Etcetera Whatever* *Everyman's Daughter* Faithful renditions of GDBD songs. Nothing spectacular, still good, though. Karin dropped her acoustic guitar before 'Everyman's Daughter', and said "Shhhhhhhi". :-) dug:"Karin's speech impediment continues - starts off AINIE with 'Shlow down, hold shtill'" jg: "I'm particularly fond of Karin's speech 'impediment'. My fave songs are the ones she 'messes up' 'bone dry' [sic] for example" dug: "Yeah, but 'Schlow down hold schtill' makes her sound like she belongs in the movie _Deliverance_ with some of them there redneck boys. " chris: "I'm *never* sitting between you two at a show again" dug: "Opening keyboard A-major on ED totally matches 'Us And Them' by Pink Floyd. Speaking of which, Karin's shirt collar reminds me quite a bit of Syd Barrett's wardrobe in the early Floyd days" *June* Again, OTR is doing an *amazing* 'June' these days. My only complaint is that Mike's bass solo was dropped in favor of a longer guitar solo. This is one song where the band is exceptionally tight, and Jack really shines. It's a shining example of what you can do when you take a what is essentially a good song (but not a standout) and give it a little room in the live show. It starts to take on a life of its own. I'll be honest - I wished they'd play it for about 10-15 minutes. ;-) And yes, I liked Jack's solo, Ed. dug: "Brian looks more & more like Ron Howard (in his Opie days) every day" jg: "Dearly beloved and I thought Brian was gay" chris: "Mallory is a cutie" dug: *jaw drops* "I'm in love with Mallory" dug (shouted during solo) "Yeah! Work it Jack, baby!" *Orphan Girl* This was my first time hearing 'Orphan Girl' in any form. It didn't make that big an impression on me. It was performed well. Guess I need to hear the Emmylou Harris version. jg: "We've got this Emmylou Harris - and dearly beloved plays it all the time. She just loves it." *Poughkeepsie* I think the live version of this comes across much better than the GDBD version. I still prefer the circa-95 live versions, though. Remember the twangy-country riff Ric used to throw in between verses? Linford plays it on the keyboards now. jg: "God, Karin, *don't* kill yourself! I worry every time I hear 'Poughkeepsie'. Please, NO!" *Miles* This is one of my favorite songs that they've been playing recently. I love it when Karin sings "Your eyes are always dark and deep". *sigh* Linford had a huge, sappy grin on his face during the whole song. jg: "Drinking in a church pew: I'm diggin' it!" chris: "You should be Catholic" jg: "I was, for about 10 minutes. It's kinda like porno over ch. 3" *break* Lengthy intermission - jg accosted Linford for about 10 minutes, and I maneuvered over to the bar where Brian was (the bar? Brian?). I bought Brian and Mallory drinks, and asked Brian to sign my _Eve_ cover, which he graciously did. Then I sidled over to Linford, and wormed my way into their conversation, and had Linford sign my CD as well. He also graciously gave in to my decadent fanboyism. Well...another pitcher of brew, and we're all seated in the pew for the remainder of the service. ;-) **Tumbleweeds** First of the new songs they played. Karin started off by saying something to the effect that these were unfair to Jack - he showed up for rehearsal, and they said "Well, we've got these *new* songs..." I remember less of this than the other three. I do remember that Jack used his usual trick of: a) volume pedal off b) strum chord c) volume pedal on d) viciously manhandle the tremolo e) repeat as necessary I'll give him credit - he has this maneuver down to a science. dug: "Phat!" karin: "Jack will sing for a whiskey" dug: "NO!" chris: "NO! We've *heard* Jack sing" **Anyway** This was a nifty little number. I think I like it the best of the three they played. Jack plays some great slide on this one - easily his best performance this side of 'June', maybe better. Nice percussion, too. chris: "That's some *sweet* slide" dug: *nods* **Whatever You Say** This was the most GDBDish of the three - a little more upbeat, but a similar mood. Mike did some cool stuff here. This one recalls 'Miles' a little in its structure. *And It Can Be* Good one - I like it better now that they've dropped 'Cast Me Away' - they never really got that to work in the sextet, IMO. Nice violin work by Terri here. *Paul And Virginia* This one has always been better live than on the CD. Karin prefaced it by saying "We don't have any excuses one this one - it's so old" dug: "Paul & Vir-gin-i-a & Dug" chris: "Cobalt blue vessels and *what*?" dug: "Uh, yo mama?" chris: "Brian's vocals kick *ass*!" jg: "Brian's?!?" chris: "Brian's!!!" jg: "Well, if you say so." Karin: "Backing vocals by Terri and Brian..." jg (shouted at stage): "I love you, Terri!" dug (shouted at stage): "I love you, Brian!" *Lucy* This was a little weaker than the other times I've seen and heard it performed - I attribute that mostly to the transition from the new stuff back to the setlist they've done for the past year. I don't mind weak transitions when they're caused by *new* songs! chris: "Loo-say?" *Jack's Valentine* Always a fun one! Linford & Mike are a blast to watch on this one. Linford looks a lot older with his hair longer, and goatee shaved. chris: "Look! Karin's doing a buttdance on the stool!" dug: "BUTTDANCE!" chris: "Terri can even sway seductively sitting down" *Little Blue River* Another good one - the band is much tighter than the last time I saw them in December. This and 'Goodbye' need to turn up on an album soon! *Goodbye* I *love* this song, and it only gets better each time I hear it. dug: "*This* song will make them big!" chris: "No, Dug, *you* being heard on every live recording will make them big" ---encore--- *Latter Days* Somehow I knew I wouldn't escape a show without hearing this one. ;-) Karin's heartfelt vocals are especially passionate this night. *Go Down Easy* This was the first time I'd heard this one live. It's a good, smooth way to end the show. Conclusions: Over The Rhine is much tighter as a band than they were 6 months ago. The sextet is starting to gel. Jack has been practicing the material. Those of you who have been skipping shows due to the recent redundancy should start going again - they've broken out of the rut. Rating: **** (of 5)