LOCATION: Paradox Theater, Seattle, WA
LINEUP: Karin, Linford, Jack, Dave, Don Heffington
REVIEW BY: OncleBoo
Given the white screen as a backdrop to the stage, the black curtains draping the walls, and the arrangement and type of chairs within it, the Paradox appeared to have once been a movie theater. Capacity is in the vicinity of 200. By the time Robert Deeble and his two compatriots took the stage on Friday, the place was about half-full. Saturday appeared to be a capacity crowd, even with the addition of some removable chairs up front. Deeble played his acoustic, and was accompanied by a female backup vocalist and a cellist. He seemed to be a bit looser at these shows than he was the previous times I've seen him. Whereas when I've seen him before he's pretty much stuck to just playing his moody songs without much interaction with the audience, this time he talked a bit and injected a bit of humor into things from time to time. A little levity can go a long way when you're singing songs like "A Russian Murder Ballad In ¾ Time". All in all, he put on a decent forty-five minute show. Certainly a better performance than I've seen from him in the past. Following a break of approximately 20 minutes, OtR took the stage. From the audience's POV, Linford was on the left, at an upright piano that the theater operators had secured for him. The piano's position up against the wall left Linford with his back to the rest of the band. To his right was David LaBruyere, who was seated thru the entirety of the shows, except when he left the stage, IIRC. Karin was at centerstage, as was to be expected. Don Heffington was directly behind her playing his bright green drums. What's up with that hat he wears though? Jack was off to the right with his guitars. Here's the playlist, with a few notes of mine interspersed. "Go Down Easy" - On Friday, this was preceded by Linford briefly playing what Heather and I agreed was a hymn. To my recollection though, neither of us could recall the title of it. Karin's setlist, which I swiped following Saturday's show actually had "Go Down Easy" listed in the encore section, but they led off with it on both nights. "All I Need Is Everything" - Here, I got a bit of a shock as Linford got up from his bench and strapped on a guitar. The band then lit into a relatively upbeat version of this song. Linford didn't look tremendously comfortable playing guitar, but he wasn't completely incompetent either. What caught my eye more than anything though was that Linford seemed to smile quite a bit more while playing guitar than he seems to when he's at the piano. The audience seemed to respond positively to the additional energy displayed on this song. "Poughkeepsie" - Why they chose to follow up an energetic version of AINiE with such a somnolent rendition of "Poughkeepsie" makes no sense to me. It sapped all the momentum that they'd just picked up. Linford was back on piano for this one, btw. "Little Blue River" - Sadly, this was the only song they played that's too be on the upcoming record. Not that I was really expecting any different though… "Orphan Girl" - Here came shock # 2. Once again, Linford stepped away from the piano, but instead of grabbing the guitar again, he picked up an accordion! OtR picked up the tempo on this one again, plus I love this particular song (although I'm still partial to Gillian Welch's version), so my spirits were lifted again at this point. Jack even took off on a little solo. "It's Never Quite What It Seems" - Preceded by Karin announcing the new record deal and an appeal for people to pick up a copy at the merch. table. Linford was back on piano. "Thank You My Angel" - I suppose I could classify the playing of this song in mid-February as shock #3. It seemed to be a bit of a shock to Karin too, as she wound up forgetting some of the lyrics on night #1. Linford on guitar yet again. "Faithfully Dangerous" - L remained on guitar, while K removed hers. Ya know, Karin should leave the guitar alone. That's not to say I dislike her playing, she's passable in that regard, but she's so much more expressive when her hands are free. Her entire body seems to emote so much more and she's so much more enjoyable to watch when she's not playing that guitar. "The Seahorse" - Jack, David and Don left the stage. Karin told the usual story about being inspired to write the song during their stay in the UK. L & K were both on guitar for this and the next song. "I Painted My Name" - Listed on the setlist as simply "I Painted". My first time to hear this song live, so I enjoyed it from that perspective, but unfortunately, it paled in comparison to the recorded version. The song needs more energy than they were giving it. Linford described it as their ""living room version" of the song, i.e. they supposedly had it sounding the way it did when they first played it in the living room all those years ago. Vocally, Karin reminded me quite a bit of Shawn Colvin on this song, for some reason. "Lucy" - The band returns to the stage and L returns to the piano. "Jack's Valentine" - I never cared much for this song on GDBD, but it always seems to be a highlight to a show. Prior to beginning, L mentioned that this "experiment" took just 15 minutes to write, and he's been regretting it ever since. Jack then quipped, "Seven and a half minutes per chord," which provoked Karin into a bit of laughter. This song has, in the past, been Linford's showcase since it's his lone vocal outing, but Jack took this song over on both nights. "Cast Me Away" (extended version) - Only played on night #2. An audience member called out to them to play something from TWHF, so they obliged her with this. Too bad I couldn't get them to respond to my request for something from "Eve". L & K only on this song. The others indicated that they didn't know it. "Circle of Quiet" - L on accordion again. Karin described how he's become a multi-instrumentalist this year since they've been doing some in-stores and radio appearances as a duo. "Latter Days" - L on piano, obviously. "This is a sad song, but to me the sad ones are the happiest" - Linford The band left the stage at this point. Both nights they received a standing ovation, which I wasn't quite anticipating, but I guess they're not quite as jaded as some of us on this list… Encore # 1 - "Etc. Whatever" - For me, the best part of this song is that Karin clearly enunciates the difference between the two "s" sounds in "fists". Karin and Linford only, L on piano. Encore # 2 - "Bothered" - Standard "Besides"-era rendition, with just Karin, Linford and Jack. Encore # 3 - "My Love Is A Fever" - The rest of the band was back for this one. Although I know this has been played at many of their concerts, even in recent days, it had not been played at any of the OtR shows I've been to. Linford was back on guitar for what Karin described as an arrangement that Linford dreamt up at 4 AM while watching the Mickey Mouse Club. It was a bouncy, jazzy thing. Not sure how else to describe it. They seemed to be having fun while playing it, at least. "Rhapsodie" was also on the setlist, but went unplayed both nights.