LOCATION: Greenbelt Festival, Cheltenham, UK
LINEUP: Karin, Linford, Jack
REVIEW BY: Various Listees
Greenbelt 2002 ::Kiss of Life:: set list:- They played about a fifty minute set on a large arena stage, with Brian Kennedy opening (who became exacberated by his guitar and took to singing unaccompanied, the perfect setting for OtR. ) Karin commented on the recording later this year, and hinted at Jack’s singing skills being the reason for his lack of microphone (I have to hear the solo CD now!) Latter Days (stripped down, absolutely amazing) Bothered Anything at all I Radio Heaven (stripped down completely.) Roll Me Over (extended - stripped down beginning, built up by Jack at the end.) All I need is Everything (stripped down again) The World Can Wait (built up again at the end) Jack’s Valentine (extended, wonderful, wonderful solo’s by Jack) Orphan Girl (just Karin and Linford.) I do have photographs (I was at the very front, how perfect for my first live concert) but haven’t developed them yet. It was utterly wonderful -I had no idea - even from the comments on this list how beautiful OtR are live. When I looked around, mid-the world can wait, the crowd was utterly enthralled. That was quite rare in the venues. The friend I was with said after the concert ‘Oh, you never told me how amazing they were. You never told me.’ (and I didn’t know. I need to move to America, I need OtR live!) I’m not sure if I can listen to the CD’s again for a while without hearing the way Karin formed the words in the concert. I’ve never heard such passion and freedom in live shows before; and the piano was heavenly. Jack’s solo’s inevitably resulted in masses of applause and after the gig, (when I sadly had to go back to work, so couldn’t go to the signing) people kept asking me who the amazing band on stage one were. (Yay - blatant plug opportunities!and I was at the concert for free in return for working as a Steward *smiles*) I sang right to the end of my 2:30am shift, woke up for the early morning shift still grinning with a very smudgy set list scrawled on my hand (and imprinted on my cheek) and I completely forgot the problems of having soaking wet clothes (lesson one: never, ever, even when there’s not a cloud in sight ,leave your tent door open. Lesson two: don’t trust backpacks that claim to be waterproof. Lesson three: never work outside directing traffic without taking a rainmac. No matter how gloriously sunny it may be. ) I’m really disappointed that OtR are playing in Wales tomorrow night, about ninety miles away in Dylan Thomas country, but I can’t get there, and our sporadic public transport won’t take me close enough, and would cost me over eighty pound. I need a car too. *whines*
1 I was really disappointed by the live version of "I radio Heaven" it sounded like a dirge and beared very little resemblance to the album version (2 accoustic guitars and jack playing lap steel guitar). It bugged me but while i have been thinking about it since i have come to see that really the album version disguises the real emotion and sadness in the lyrics about not being able to get through to heaven and how the person in the song actually felt about this. The live dirge version was just right for conveying the emotion of the peice and the more i remeber and sing it over in my head the more i get it. 2 Jacks valentine. Was excellent and recieved the best response to any song performed in the set. I loved it. 3 after the signing and gig linford Karin and Jack went to one of the late night shows and performed a couple of songs just Linford and Karin, (Jack was on a union break), Karin almost fell off the stage, we found out thanks to the interview that toast is the over the rhine solution to ups and downs of life. They sang a fun song I didn't recognise but then about 15 to one in the monring started playing whatever excetera. it sounded amazing and well it was quite close to heaven. being 20 meters from the stage in an audience of about 100 and hearing karin outsing a small PA was excellent I hope to hear this again sometime.