LOCATION: Smith's Olde Bar, Atlanta, GA
LINEUP: Karin, Linford, Devon Ashley, Rick Plant, Kim Taylor
REVIEW BY:
otrfan:
A completely magical evening.
Faithfully Dangerous
I Want You To Be My Love
Born
Spark
Lookin' Forward
Anything At All
Suitcase (prior to Suitcase, Kim T got a case of the giggles - pretty
funny stuff.)
Bluer
Little Did I Know
Drunkard's Prayer
Firefly
All I Need is Everything
Cruel and Pretty
encore
Hush Now
Moondance
Latter Days
Jeff Holland:
From my site...
Over the Rhine at Smith’s Olde Bar
May 16th, 2005
Over the Rhine came into town this past weekend touring their new album Drunkard’s Prayer. I was a little apprehensive that the show might lack some of the energy of some of their past shows due to the low-key nature of the newest album, but thankfully, this was not so.
Touring with Karin and Linford are two talented musicans who have been
travelling with them for a couple years now. Devon Ashley (of Indianapolis
with a band named “The Pieces”) played drums while
Rick Plant (known mostly for his work with Buddy Miller) played electric
bass for most of the night, but also played electric guitar on a couple
of songs.
Over the Rhine was also accompanied by their opener and friend, Kim Taylor. Kim had just returned from taking her son to Disney World for a couple days and was still a little stunned from the experience. Taylor entertained the audience with a “solo” by her imaginary friend during her opening set.
Setlist (songs with [KT] indicate songs that Taylor joined the band):
Faithfully Dangerous
This is the most jazzy version that they were doing around ‘97 or ‘98
on tour.
I Want You To Be My Love
Born [KT]
Kim Taylor joins the band on stage, playing acoustic guitar and singing
background
vocals. I always liked it when the band toured with Terri Templeton
as it gave the
vocals a little depth, so Taylor was a welcome addition. Rick Plant
played electric
guitar on this song.
Spark [KT]
Lookin’ Forward [KT]
Linford straps on the electric bass guitar and Rick plays electric
guitar. This was
a little rollicking version of the song that I liked better than the
version on
Drunkard’s Prayer.
Anything At All [KT]
Suitcase [KT]
Linford played acoustic guitar on this song. I love this song and it
sounded
wonderful with Kim on background vocals. Kim got the giggles before
this song (Karin said it was from the Disney trip) and had to work hard
to compose herself for this song.
Bluer
Linford also played acoustic guitar on this song.
Little Did I Know
Karin wandered around the stage during the instrumental breaks.
Drunkard’s Prayer
Karin plays piano and Linford plays the accordian on this song. This
is another
song that I liked much better live than on the CD.
Firefly
Karin plays piano, Linford plays the electric bass, and Rick played
electric
guitar. This song was awesome! I would love to see what Paul Moak could
do with this song. Maybe he’d tear it up too much, but it would be
interesting
to hear.
All I Need I Everything [KT]
Kim Taylor rejoins the band on stage.
Cruel and Pretty [KT]
—
Hush Now
Karin and Linford only on the stage for the first song in the encore.
Moondance
Great Van Morrison cover! Jazzy and upbeat. Had the crowd all bouncing
and swaying
just a little.
Latter Days [KT]
Drunkard’s Prayer hasn’t grabbed me the way that Films For Radio did, and it hasn’t slowly grown on me the way that Ohio did, but the live versions of songs off of the new CD stood up very well next to the older songs. Combined with the fact that they played some of the regulars I really enjoy (like “Latter Days”, “All I Need…”) and not some of the ones that I’m burned out on (”Ohio”, “Poughkeepsie”) and all in all, I had a fabulous time.
The couple next to me smoked clove cigarettes all night long. Normally, I can’t stand the smell of cigarettes, but the aroma of the clove cigarettes was pleasing and dare I say it…. intoxicating?
I suspect the next time I smell clove cigarettes, I will think back to this night.
rukimeera:
thanks for the review! i was there, and this was a great show....high
energy....first time i saw them in a non-theater, bar kind of setting....and
i agree, all the new songs sounded amazing, even the ones that weren't
necessarily my favorites. firefly was louder than i expected it to be but
mind-bogglingly heaven-like noentheless....somehow i pictured karin woman-handling
the microphone singing it live (she was on the piano).
my only complaint was about the two couples in front of me that were
making out and groping each other all through the show - GET A ROOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
or two.
i feel better now that i got that off my chest.
maus
She wasn't so much wandering around during Little Did I Know as she seemed to be stepping to the shadows of the stage to watch Linford play. It was very sweet, actually.
Great show. Seemed to be a little tension somewhere in the band or maybe fatigue. Maybe I was imagining things. Who can say? If anything, it only added to the texture of the evening.
Packed room, as well. A met a bunch of folks over from Birmingham. I wonder if OTR will ever play there?
Firefly seemed to really stir things up in a good way.
Paste magazine was also there, so I suppose they're giving OTR a write up in an upcoming issue. That should be fun.
john1800:
Simply astounding! I can't say enough good things about this show.
My wife and I had only seen OTR once previously (Atlanta, 2001) and we'd
been talking about that show to this day. I have the bootleg and still
listen to it. Well, last night, they really topped themselves. The intensity
was a 10... if not an 11. "Faithfully Dangerous" and "Firefly" just tore
the roof off the place. Karin's voice was just as I remembered it from
four years ago... stunning. The kind of singing that fills up a room. There
wasn't a bad song or a "down moment" in the whole show, if you ask me.
Now I will be frantically checking the boards until the vine shows up.
Which it must. (PLEASE!)
My only regret is my missed opportunity, aka my dorky fan moment. My wife and I were hanging out in the "Atlanta Room" next to the main bar area waiting for the line to form, and I peeked my head around the corner only to see Linford and Karin standing right there. Words absolutely failed me; I'm not even sure if I smiled. I probably just had a stupid shy look on my face and then turned back around. Oh well... maybe one day I'll have another chance and won't blow it.
Leah:
what an amazing show it was - smith's olde bar is a great venue. the
sound in there is very good. i have seen this tour in both ny and philly
but they were more intimate with linford and karin only (with kim joining
in on a few songs). while the more intimate shows are beautiful (of course)
it was also nice to see devon and rick join them - they sounded excellent
as a full unit and it seemed like they were having a lot of fun together.
i noticed how quiet linford was too. :-( maybe it was the pollen in the air. it was nice to hear him sing though.