LOCATION: Michigan Theatre, Ann Arbor, MI
LINEUP: Brian, Karin, Linford, Terri, Jack, Randy
REVIEW BY: jg
possible subtitles:
i met a listie!
karin loves tom waits!
where the hell is wade?
anne e./OtR coincidences part 2
i got two eve's autographed!
i talked to Margo!
wow! nice theatre you guys got up there.
let's start on Saturday night, while some of you were in Columbus drinking
liquid beef. sorry i missed this one, but Jeff Klaum's wife Rebecca and
her friend Tara joined me, (Chris Emery's Attractive Listie Theory holds
for wives and their friends equally well, and they were very pleasant
company, too.) and my friends J and Marie for an Anne E. DeChant gig in
Kent. Long time sympathetic readers will be happy to hear that Money Order
Chick finally showed for a show i invited her to, making me very happy.
Now, you're saying, "well, jg, that's all well and good and i'm so happy
for you, but this is an over the rhine list and i think we should only
discuss Over the Rhine or I'm gonna be disappointed and leave" and can
understand that completely, but i'll tie it all in for you if you'll just be
patient (Patience is an OtR album. connections beginning to form already,
see?)
THE FOLLOWING NIGHT i went to ann arbor MI to see OtR and the Junkies. (i
did not hit my CAPS LOCK button inadvertantly hint hint). I had never
seen the Junkies before, despite that they are on my top 5 band lists, and
on my desert island discs list, etc. so this was a real treat to see both
bands. yay,me, yay us. Sick Dearly Beloved and I park one block behind
the glorious historic elegant Michigan Theatre, and walk into a lobby where
they sell popcorn, but it's real popcorn, not that yellow Movie Theatre
Popcorn with the buter flavour salt on it, and when they ask you if you
want butter on it, say yes, because it's REAL butter!! Then you walk in
the theatre itself, and there's giltwork on the walls, the high ceilings,
everywhere. an elegant Tara-style paired set of stairs lead to the balcony
seating. Oh, I wonder what the Emery looks like? If it doesn't look like
this, then this must be the finest place OtR has ever played. I'm feeling
very happy for them, they've hit the big time!
We have seats dead-nuts center, about 12 rows back. I haven't yet met
him, but Listie Burrill is one row behind us, on the right side. (hi,
Burrill!) We can see fine thank you. Looking up and around, which is a
pleasure, finds another high ceiling inside the auditorium, gilted of
course, a mighty chandelier hanging from the center. we can just see the
balcony from our seats; should it have come crashing down from its moorings
last night, it would have taken out the row behind us, but it didn't, so
Burrill is spared. So were the people behind us who said "What is ~this~?"
with the same sneer in their voice usually reserved for saying "what is
this?" as you're lifting your shoe to inspect something smelly on its sole,
as we were filing out to the strains of my beloved Tom Waits, but I'm
getting way ahead of myself....call that an annoying tangent if you will.
leave the list before another one occurs.....
Because of our penchant for being promt at best, and usually late, very
quickly the lights dim, and the stage is illuminated in a bath of purple
stagelighting. A large sheet is loosely draped over the front of the CJ
set, and OtR will play in front of this sheet. Not to worry, it's pretty.
nicely draped sheet!
Brian is dressed in black, and his drum kit is extreme stage right, no
bulletproof glass this time, and there is no need for it, because this
stage is expansive. He's nowhere near Karin. "Wade" is a bit behind him,
working in to the center of the stage. I'm thinking, "you know, i have
seen Wade twice, and i don't remember him with Blonde Hair, or the Drew
Carey glasses. he must be sporting a new look....or maybe it's not Wade.(?)
And, no, big news! It's not Wade. Wade is gone now. May I introduce to
you Mr. Randy Cheek, from Cincy's Ass Pony's. He's been playing on from
the end of September. I'm getting ahead of myself chronologically here,
but Linford said that Wade was a "hired gun" and he was paid through the
end of one leg of the tour which ended in September, but he had commitments
which prohibited him from continuing, so they stole a bassist from the Ass
Pony's ("ponies"? possibly) and, in talking to Randy, found that he is
now "in the band" not another "hired gun". Anyway, he's got on a pair
of Khaki's and a dark sportcoat. Plays Bass. Jack/Gordon has that same
style of shirt we have all come to know and love, opened chest, gold
medallion shining, but the big news here is that he's in possession of a
comb! and someone must have taught him how to use it, too, cause, to
steal from Warren Zevon, "his hair was perfect". Go figure that one,
Listies! Karin wore platinum shimmery pants, kinda baggy, so they
shimmered more, a dark (brown? velour? ) jacket over a black spaghetti
strap top. After song #1, she lost the jacket for good. Terri had her
newly blonded hair down, and looked elegant (Jessyka, didn't you say
"elegant" too?) and wore a black outfit that flared sharply at the hips,
and even though she had her own microphone stand, and played no violin at
all, she was wired into the Borg Mothership this night too. This wire
running underneath her top caused her to fidget with it a lot. Not too
distracting, but noticable. wonder what the wire's for? Linford wore
black, and was exactly like illustrated in Binky's absolutely wonderful
review (loved that one Binky! where can i get me a Terri Doll?) that you
read earlier.
I'll give you the set list that Bink spared you:Faithfully
Dangerous/Tumbleweeds/ Seahorse/ All I Need is Everything/
Poughkeepsie/Moth/ Latter Days/ Goodbye.
Ignored requests shouted from the audience include Jacksie and Bothered.
Well, no, they weren't ignored; OtR acknowledged them, they just didn't
acquiesce. Nice try, people. "A" for effort! And it showed OtR that
they had some fans at the CJ show.
Karin's gorgeous red rick came out for Tumbleweeds. Oh, what a guitar! I
love that piece. For most of her other guitar work this show she played her
acoustic. Oh, i forgot to mention that Linford had his hair short again.
he was letting it grow when we saw him in Kent.
The show sounded great, and Dearly Beloved said, "have you noticed that a
little phrasing from CJ's is sneaking into some of Karin's delivery?" OtR
~did~ chat a little with the audience this night, and we learned that they
play in ann arbor about once a year. then they announced that they just
arranged to play there again, at the Ark, on Karin's birthday, which is
December13th. O.K. here's the coincidental part i hinted at
earlier....still with me?......Anne E. announced another gig at Brady's in
Kent on December 12th. Another two-day double header, same bands, same
cities, same next -day logistics. Oh, boy! Woo~hoo!
The fans of CJ applauded well, our little band, and activity at the merchie
table was good. Jack's wife was manning the table that night, and oh, is
she adorable! Bink, i want a doll of her too, with removable black beret
accessories, and a little digital voice box with the British accent, o.k.?
Yummy!
I couldn't restrain myself, even in this prestigious venue, and i shouted
out my trademark "I love you, Terri" line. Well, how else would she know i
was there? (Um, maybe when we stalk them after the show...? Well, o.k.
there's that.) Audience members laughed. Terri still hasn't said "I love
you, too, jg." onstage, but i have that written and signed in one of my
CD's so i know she does ( yeah, right!).
O.k. then came an intermission, and a chance to mingle and buy popcorn with
honest to pete butter on it. Burrill remembered that i told him i'd be the
old man in the Monk shirt (thanks again, Chris!) so he spotted me in the
popcorn line and introduced himself. He's a lovely young man, and was a
pleasure to meet and converse with for quite a while. We made tentative
plans to meet up again and see if we could find the band (monica prefers the
word "stalk") but, alas, it wasn't quite to be. we did meet, again, but
there was to be no Burrill-Band-Stalking. I look forward to catching up
with him again in ann arbor at the ark gig. Nice guy. everybody say, Hi
Burrill! I expected Vincent Ciccilini but i didn't see him, and my
"Listies?" sign wasn't with me at this gig. Sorry to have missed you,
Vincent. Ark?