LOCATION: Mennofest, Harrisonburg, VA
LINEUP: Karin, Linford
REVIEW BY:
Josh:
We got there a little late, but in time to catch a few songs by Trent Wagler and the Steel Wheels. They were really good.. sort of a progressive bluegrass, sorta like some of Nickel Creek's stuff, but without the female vocals. It's a three man band.
After that, Andre Bemis came on stage, and boy was he a wacky looking guy. I made a mistake by assuming I wouldn't like him since he looked like some country hick. I later heard some of his stuff at the Songwriters circle and stuff and really wished I would have stayed. He's a great guitar player, and has a really interesting style.. vocals are a little weird, but I like them. (I did end up getting two of his CDs since they were 2 for $20) Instead, I went to the Katie Grove Band show at the Mainstage theater. The band was decent, but I absolutely hated it. The acoustics in the room were really really bad, the soundguy didn't have a clue.. it wasn't mixed right at all. The guitar hookup for the acoustic was awful.. it was all "twangy twang twang" instead of the normal smooth sounds of an acoustic.
At 6:00 we went back to the Campus Center (had the best speaker and sound setup IMO, sorta loungy) and saw Rachel Ries. I really enjoyed it. She's a twenty-something from Chicago, and a folk singer-songwriter. She has a really classic voice.. reminded me a little bit of Jolie Holland and at times Rosie Thomas. I bought her album.
At 7:00 we didn't really find anything we especially enjoyed, and back at the Mainstage Theatre the sound guy dropped the ball again.. nobody could hear him. Poor guy. So we went and got some hot chocolate and coffee. After that we dropped by the Lehman Auditorium to see if Over the Rhine was doing a soundcheck or whatever. They were, but wouldn't let anybody in the actual concert hall. So we just waited outside in the hallway. And as soon as they opened the doors we went in.. got REALLY good seats. (3rd or 4th row, directly in front of Karin) I was really pissed my siblings broke my digital camera, as I could have got some nice pictures.
Before Over the Rhine got on stage, there was the "songwriter circle" which I really liked. It was 5 of the performers from the day with an acoustic guitar and microphone just singing. They took turns. (hence the "circle") Katie Grove sounded MUCH better here with just her acoustic and proper mixing and such. This is when I heard Andre Bemis.. both my Dad and myself really liked him, so we decided to pick up two of his CDs. He's a very good guitar player.. and wrote some really interesting songs. Trent Wagler sounded great in this format too. Rachel Ries was good, but I was disappointed that she only did songs that she had already done at her earlier show.. I was hoping for some more. Oh well. She's sorta new to the music thing, and only has one album out so doesn't have as much to chose from I guess.
Then after a 15 minute break.. OVER THE RHINE! It was just Karin and Linford.. they didn't have a backing band or anything. Linford was on his grand-piano on wheels, and Karin was singing (obviously) and occasionally picked up an acoustic and played some on that. Before the show I got ahold of Juicy and he said he'd make sure that I could get into meat Karin and Linford and get autographs and all that. So I was pretty exited. He also gave me a copy of the setlist. (I'm assuming it was for Brandon, the guitar tech):
Drunkard's Prayer
Etcetera Whatever (L - Guitar)
I Want U2B My Live (Guitar 1 - K)
Born (Guitar 3)
I Don't Wanna Waste [new song!]
Nothing Is Innocent [another new song!]
The Trumpet Child [ditto]
Trouble (Guitar 3 - K) [yes, four new songs!]
Instrumental/Mennonite Story Hour - L [Linford did a instrumental on
the keyboard and also told a little story about his parents who were Amish/Mennonite]
Hush Now
Orphan Girl (Guitar 1 - K)
Fever (L - Guitar) [not My Love Is a Fever, but the You Give Me Fever
fever wink.gif]
Ohio (K at Piano) [So Karin goes over to the piano.. and she says this
song is gonna be a surprise. Linford left the stage. I saw him coming out
the side door, and thought maybe he had to go to the restroom or something..
but no, he takes his shoes off and sits down at this HUGE pipe organ. It
was awesome. For this and the next song Karin did the piano and Linford
played the song on this 20-some foot pipe organ that was at the building.]
++
Poughkeepsie [they left the stage, then came back and did this as an
encore.. Linford on the organ again]
So yeah, it was an awesome show. And it was also really cool to learn about their new projects. Karin said that they're actually working on two new albums right now. A Christmas album that's going to be out soon (hopefully before Christmas wink.gif) and a regular album that's due out sometime in Spring of next year. I didn't know about either of those.. so I was really excited. And she played 4 songs from the new album, so that was cool.
I was actually surprised how little the crowd was.. I didn't get a good look at all of it, but I highly doubt it was much more than 200 people. sad.gif Oh well. They all loved Over the Rhine, and everybody around me was pretty quiet for the most part. (Except someone to the back of me, who was quietly singing along to almost every song they played tongue.gif)
It was well worth the 2+ hour drive.
Kirk:
The Songwriter Circle was wonderful. The audience was attentive and clearly into it, even though people were coming in during the entire hour. Each of the performers (Trent Wagler, Katie Grove, Chuck Neufeld, Andru Bemis, Rachel Ries) did beautifully, and it was a fine presentation of how differently five solo songwriters with acoustic guitars can sound. Dave (Juicy) was sitting beside me during this set, and after nearly every song made some comment about, This is wonderful, Where did you find these people, I've been doing this for a lot of years and these folks are really good. It was very gratifying, especially when he returned from checking backstage with the report that Linford was standing behind the curtain "just diggin' it". I was so proud of them. And the capper came after the concert: I was standing with Trent when Linford invited him to open for them next month at “a little listening room in Dayton”- Canal Street Tavern! (I heard later that he also spoke to Andru and to Rachel about it; it seems he wanted to transport the Circle to Ohio. Alas, Rachel will be on tour, and I don’t know what didn’t work out with Bemis, but Trent will in fact be opening both nights at CST. Hopefully, the others will work it out for another time.)
And then, of course, Over the Rhine. I had wanted for so long to bring them to our area, had nearly gotten them for Mennofolk last year, and now it was actually happening, and I had done it. I got to introduce them, told a brief version of my meeting OtR story, and then got to soak in the show from the front row with my wife, who has never been a fan but who promised me she’d come if they did.
And what a show. Maybe it was the release of tension, or fulfillment of expectation, but there were moments of beauty that moved me to tears. Both of them just seemed to be in a relaxed, generous space, in tune with each other and the audience. They played up the Mennonite connection (Karin’s first words: “I just want to say to Linford: [expansive gesture] your people" laugh.gif ). His Mennonite Story Hour/Unspoken Request instumental was reminiscent of St Elizabeth’s. The three songs I hadn’t heard (“I Don’t Want to Waste Your Time”, “Nothing Is Innocent”, and “The Trumpet Child”) were each powerful and thrilling and satisfying, though very different from one another. (The new record- Linford said later it’ll probably be summer 2007- is going to be amazing.) And the surprise- when Karin said that and then started to play “Ohio”, I was curious, to say the least. I mean, I’ve heard that song a half dozen times, and I like it, but how surprising can it get? So when Linford came slinking in from the side and fired up the organ, I wasn’t the only one who laughed out loud. It completely transformed the song; it was no longer about Karin or the lyrics, it was about Linford playing the organ. And they both knew it and had these big grins on their faces, along with everybody else. Linford swelled the final chord long after Karin’s piano faded away, and she just laughed and threw up her hands helplessly. It was a truly joyous moment. And for the encore, the organ imbued “Poughkeepsie” with such a sense of grandeur that it really revitalized the song. I think even Bruce and Dan would have liked it. biggrin.gif It was a wonderful ending.
Afterwards K&L were as gracious as ever, meeting people, pausing
to sit with me for a picture, etc. My wife, being a pianist herself, was
especially impressed with Linford’s playing, and was able to talk with
him a bit. It really was a wonderful evening; the only possible improvement
would have been if a couple hundred more people had showed up (the official
count was around 325). But Linford said more than once that it had been
a special evening, and they’d love to come back, so I consider it a definite
success.