LOCATION: Eddie's Attic, Atlanta, GA
LINEUP: Karin, Linford, Jake Bradley, Kenny Hutson
REVIEW BY:
Orchard thread:
http://www.overtherhine.com/orchard/index.php?showtopic=9326
jholland:
Now that I am old, 7:00 sounds like a perfectly reasonable time for a concert. Getting home by 10:00 PM sounds even better. I don’t know when I turned into an old man, but here we are. Aging was on the mind of Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler, too. The two artists, accompanied by Jake Bradley and Kenny Hutson on a bevy of guitars, slide guitar, mandolin, and upright bass brought out new songs for the crowd at Eddie’s Attic. At least two of the songs, if not more, focus on the inevitable march of time.
The new songs are so new they haven’t even really been formally recorded yet. One was still pre-lyrics as Karin just wordlessly rang out the notes. Their parents were on their minds as Linford mused about the death of his father and how a man’s perspective changes when he buries his father. His thoughts coalesced into a song with lyrics about how their love should be like Johnny and June Carter Cash and “Who Will Bury Who.” Karin also had a song about her mother who currently resides in assisted living after a stroke and about how the whole place is a “collision of comedy and tragedy” in her song “Only God Can Save Us Now.”
The night wasn’t all maudlin, though. Linford was amused by a woman who requested a song “about a satellite.” He couldn’t immediately figure out what song she was talking about, but quickly realized she meant “I Radio Heaven.” He proceeded to entertain us with a spoken word version of the song. Karin introduced us to two new songs both tangentially related to her dogs. There was some fun pickin’ and grinnin’ as Jake Bradley led the band in a rousing version of “You Don’t Know My Mind.”
The band also put a couple changes are what are now old standards. Karin’s song “Ohio” was given some musical depth with Linford on bass and Jake on guitar. I always associate “Who Am I Kidding?” with Mickey Grimm and his frantic drum solo, but with his absence Kenny explored the song a little more on guitar. “Professional Daydreamer” was also given a nice full-band treatment.
There aren’t many bands out there brave enough to try out new material on their audiences before it’s been polished to a sheen and put out on CD, but part of the fun of following Over the Rhine is following the development of their music and how some songs start out as one idea, but in a couple of years end up sounding totally different. At this stage, it appears that Karin and Linford are at only the beginning of another song writing cycle and we are in for another chapter in the story of Over the Rhine.
Set list (* – new songs are guesses on my part.)
I Want You To Be My Love
Etc. Whatever
Trouble
I’m On A Roll
C’mon Boy *
Who Will Bury Who *
Only God Can Save Us Now *
Who Am I Kidding
Ohio
Professional Daydreamer
What a Waste *
Trumpet Child
-Q & A- (I Radio Heaven by Linford)
Soon (no words) *
All I Need Is Everything
—
No Kill Shelter *
You Don’t Know My Mind (Jimmy Martin cover)
bivester:
ok, the show...
eddie's attic...the legendary eddie's attic lived up to it's reputation. great little (little!) room, great sound ran by a true music lover and fan. it reminded me of what CST would (could) be if it wasn't dirty, broken down, had a sound system that was functional, had a great food and drink menu and had functioning heat and air conditioning system.
both shows were sold out, the first "comfortably" so, the second, i now know how sardines feel...
but both audiences were great.
as i said earlier, there was little variances in the sets, but you wanna hear about the new stuff anyway, right? in pretty much every case karin explained the origin of the song and how in came about. early in the show, she stated that they were gonna tell a few stories.
ok...
"the laugh of recognition"
"it’s called the laugh of recognition / when you laugh but you feel
like dyin’
come on boys / now don’t be shy / if we gotta walk away / we gotta hold our heads up high
you’re not the first one to start again / come on now friends / there
is something to be said for tenacity
i’ll hold on to you / if you hold on to me / come on boys"
karin explained that it was inspired simply by calling in the dogs from playing during the recent massive snow ("come on boys") and thinking that "there might be something for a song there." there was. it turned into an amazing statement on where many of us are right now. this, imho, stands up against anything in their catalog, it is that good.
for me, this was the highlight of the night. both times.
"johnny and june"
"when you find the kiss that brings / the holy aftermath / follow that
blinding light down a crooked path / and wind up here / in an earthbound
love song
some questions cannot be answered / who’s gonna bury who / we need a love like johnny / johnny and june"
simply a beautiful tribute to johnny cash and june carter cash and to real ever-lasting "love" in general.
the main significance of this, besides being a great song, is that it is a true, full duet with karin and linford. he seems to have gained a lot of confidence in his vocals on this, he sings kind of a base (not bass) that karin's vocals lie on top of, there are a lot of subtle lyrical/vocal inflections and nuances and they nail it. plus, their harmonizing fits a song of this subject matter perfectly.
"oh yeah by the way"
"oh yeah by the way / oh yeah by the way / what a waste that i still
love you / after the mess you’ve made
what a waste that i’m not jaded / once in awhile i even smile / what a waste you’re just a stranger / to me now"
again, another full on harmony w/K&L. a beautifully sad "break up" song. very, very strong.
"infamous love song"
karin introduced this as another song by linford "with a lot of words."
lyrically brilliant, using phrases like: "i sing the bebop apocalypse,"
and "we were born in the dirt on our hands and knees
/ but started out climbing deciduous trees" and could be an extension
or bookend to "the trumpet child." it has much the same anthematic (if
that's a word, if not, it should be) feel to it. an incredible song and
her vocals match it perfectly.
"no kill shelter"
"i’m a no kill shelter it’s a labor of love / i rescue strays seems
i can’t get enough / lettin’ sleepin’ dogs lie is somethin’ i never learned"
inspired by their adoption of "porter" with has, as karin noted, many double entendrees. the only real out and out "rocker" of the new stuff played and they ripped it pretty hard. kenny joined in on harmony on the chorus.
"soon" (not on setlist, first show only)
this was kind of impromptu after someone in the audience commented
on the power of her voice, she looked at linford, smiled and said "let's
do it." only the melody is finished, no lyrics as of yet but karin said
she was going to do it in "vocalise" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocalise)
and chanted along with linford on piano. it was pretty stunning to hear.
all in all, lot's of great new stuff, they seemed to be getting comfortable with the songs and enjoying playing them.
so there you go.
i'm so glad i went. smile.gif