LOCATION: Bogart's, Cincinnati, OH
LINEUP: Brian, Linford, Karin, Terri, Jack, Mike
REVIEW BY: Chris Emery
Those of you who didn't (or couldn't) trek down to Bogart's for the show Saturday *really* missed out. This was a fantastic show - easily the best OTR show I've seen in the last year or two. It was really great. The crowd was into it, and the band seemed to be feeding off the energy. Especially Mike - right, Dug? Once again I had the pleasure of hooking up with several listies: Snoop Duggy Dug, Bruce Lachey, Anita Regner, Scott Ulrich, and several other friends/relatives. Oh yeah...some guy named Craig, too. ;-) I'm telling you - seeing a show with Dug is a must for everyone. He's a trip. True to Linford's word, they played 7 "unrecorded" songs - 5 new, and 2 of the usual suspects (Little Blue River, Goodbye). The setlist was a little varied from the one we've become so accustomed to over the last year or so, and that's a good thing in my book. ;-) In favor of the new material, some oldies were dropped: 'And It Can Be', 'June', 'Paul And Virginia', and 'Bothered' to name a few. So here we have a setlist with nothing recorded earlier than _Good Dog Bad Dog_, plus the new material, and the oldie-but-goodie live favorites (Miles, Lucy, Goodbye). It made for a more interesting set than the average OTR fan has been exposed to in the past two years. I really missed 'June', though - it would have fit in nicely instead of 'Etcetera Whatever' or 'Everyman's Daughter'. Looks like if I want to hear _Eve_ material, I have to go to Monk shows. ;-) Terri Hair Watch: Let me take a second just to talk about how diving Terri looked. I was right up front on her side of stage. the hair was half up/half down, and she was wearing black tights (!) with a sheer tight black top (!!) with a chartreuse scarf. To quote a fellow listie (Bruce?): "I don't remember her being that busty." The Sway was in full effect all night. The venue: Bogart's - right around University of Cincinnati downtown. It's a general admission music hall, similar to the Newport in Columbus. Looks like it holds somewhere between 1000-1200. That's a guess on my part. I'm sure someone has the actual capacity. (someone?) Stage is raised about 5' off the ground, and it's *much* more spacious than the last several stages I saw them crowded onto recently. Nice sounding PA. The opener: Mysteries Of Life - from Bloomington, Indiana. The foursome played a bland and generic blend of roots-rock that easily gave away the Bloomington connection. Several of the songs sounded *exactly* like John Mellencamp songs, but weren't. Scary. They also announced their new album was a concept album based on C.S. Lewis' _Chronicles Of Narnia_ series. *yawn* Like *that* hasn't been done before. Apart from Duggy thinking the keyboardist/harmonica guy looked like Alec Baldwin from the side, nothing notable really happened. Too bad they didn't sing about 'Zack and Diane...' ;-) The setup: Stage layout was almost totally reversed from the last time or two I saw them. *Linford: was wearing the same green/brown leisure suit from the Canal Street show - he & his keyboards were situated stage right, front *Mike: same grin all night long - played the 4-string fretless, the upright, and a new 6-string bass that I don't remember seeing before. *Brian: behind the 'bulletproof glass' at his drumkit, rear center *Terri: Mmm Mmm Good, and stage left front, blocking my view of Mike (but that's ok) *Karin: had the gray business suit thing goin' on, and was front and center. *Jack: still playing the gaudy orange Gretsch 6 string, and now pedal steel! He wandered around in the space between Linford and Brian. The Setlist: Faithfully Dangerous *Tumbleweeds The Seahorse / Afterthought All I Need Is Everything Etcetera Whatever Everyman's Daughter *I Will Remember *Moth *Whatever You Say Poughkeepsie *Anyway Little Blue River Goodbye ~~1st Encore Jack's Valentine Miles Lucy ~~2nd Encore Latter Days The Show: *Faithfully Dangerous* Decent opener - I like it better than 'Latter Days' in this slot. *Tumbleweeds* Pretty good number. I wish I could figure out what it's about. ;-) *The Seahorse/Afterthought* *All I Need Is Everything* *Etcetera Whatever* *Everyman's Daughter* The obligatory block of _Good Dog Bad Dog_ songs - performed pretty well. Nothing special, though. One thing...I've heard the little tack-on song to 'Seahorse' referred to as 'Summertime', but on Brian's setlist (You'll get it back, Bruce, I promise!) it's referred to as 'Afterthought'. Anyone have the scoop on this? *I Will Remember* This new one has some very cool interaction with Brian and Mike...kind of a strange rhythmic groove going on. (or something) ;-) *Moth* *Whatever You Say* WYS was pretty much identical to the Canal Street show - it's the most GDBDish of the new material, IMO. 'Moth' has the makings of a classic, though. I need to hear it a few dozen more times. ;-) *Poughkeepsie* *Anyway* Again, Jack with the cool slide licks on this one. *Little Blue River* *Goodbye* I agree with Dug - I *love* 'Goodbye'. It's easily the best unrecorded track they have. (I'm still looking for a good tape with it, BTW) Dug remarked that 'Goodbye' *always* follows LBR. *Jack's Valentine* We, the crowd, were going psycho-nuts at this point. Jack played pedal steel for the whole song, and it was a nice twist. He had a couple of 'solo' spots. Mike was going great-guns gonzo, get the funk down, son. I guess since they cut his bass solo in June, he thought he could make up for it here. And he *did*. Dug & I were shouting at him, and he smiled and pointed at us. ;-) I think Karin & Terri get a kick out of playing old-fashioned backup singers. They were exchanging sly smiles throughout the song. *Miles* One of my all-time favorites. *Lucy* This was a little less inspired than some other performances of it I've seen, but still very strong. Jack made eye contact with me at this point, and I smiled at him - he then gave me a quirky smile, and then did an exaggerated Townsendesque chord change & strum. ;-) If only he knew... *Latter Days* I thought I was going to make it through the concert without hearing this one. Oh well. Made a decent closer, I guess. Kinda a downer after the Jack's Val/Miles/Lucy ending. The summary: 1) Whenever 2 or more listies are at a show, those around are likely to be annoyed, specially if one of them is Dug. Corollary: When getting together with 2 or more listies, you're pretty much guaranteed a good time. 2) Never snag a setlist from Bruce Lachey. 3) After a 12-15 month lull, OTR is finally getting their act together. Toast-y Jeff - this upcoming Schuba's show might be one for you to see, instead of skipping. 4) I like Jack more when he does his own thing, and he's not trying to replace Ric. The pedal steel on JV was a good example of this. I understand he's in a hard situation - he just needs to find his own space. 5) Partying with listies can be hazardous to your health. Dug needs an E string. Anyway, for those of you who have been dodging shows lately, now is the time to go, since they're really in the swing at the moment. :30