From: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org (believers-digest) To: believers-digest@smoe.org Subject: believers-digest V10 #64 Reply-To: believers@smoe.org Sender: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-believers-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk believers-digest Sunday, October 1 2006 Volume 10 : Number 064 In Today's believer's digest: ----------------- "This is the weirdest show I've done all year." ["Tim Dunleavy" Subject: "This is the weirdest show I've done all year." So proclaimed Susan Werner last night on the stage of the Tin Angel. Well, I don't know about that, but it was certainly one of the wildest and loosest Suze performances I've ever seen. Mind you, I've seen Susan onstage over 40 times... but for a number of logistical reasons, I haven't seen her since May of last year. Well, it was definitely worth the wait. This was one of those shows where I wished someone was recording it... or at least that I'd brought along a notebook to take down every wacky moment! It was a 7:30 show at the Tin Angel. (Only one show this time... the days of two Susan shows per night at the T.A. are long over!) Well, it was scheduled for 7:30, but the doors didn't open till nearly 7:25 - - the soundcheck ran long - and the show got underway around 7:45. Susan, who did the whole show seated, started out with "Time Between Trains"... ending the song with a half-sung story about how she wrote the song while waiting at 30th Street Station in Philly, observing the signs (for a train to Miami) and counting the tiles ... even though there are no extra tiles in the hall... and telling how a man came up to her after a show once and told her that the reason she had said that there were 88 tiles in the hall was "There are 88 keys on a piano, and you were sublimating your love for the piano..." and Susan replied, "It's just a song." :) "This feels like the earliest show ever," she said - which led to a story about how she flew into Philly the previous night, but the landing was delayed half an hour "by YOUR weather," then the ground crew at Philadelphia International Airport "smoked three packs of cigarettes before they unloaded our bags"... so this show "feels like brunch to me." She did have some nice jokes about how that ground crew, like most people in Philly, would get into a fight to defend the city... wish I could remember all of those wisecracks... She's spending the whole month in Philly to record her new album - "You'll see me around town, at a Wawa near you" - and the show was structured around the different stages in her career. The first part was performed on guitar, so she did older numbers like "Standing In My Own Way" and "St. Mary's of Regret" ("My favorite song," a woman near me exclaimed), then took requests for tunes like "Born a Little Late," "Like Bonsai," and even "Boy From East Dubuque." Then it was time for the not-so-oldies. She slid over to the keyboard and called up to the stage two old pals whose bands she'd played in: Ken Ulansey (on clarinet) and Grant McAvoy (on drums, which he played with brushes). She reminisced about playing wedding gigs with Kenny's band at the Morris Arboretum, and focused on songs from her last album. So we heard "Late for the Dance" (with some heartbreakingly lovely work from Kenny), "Stay On Your Side of Town," etc. There was also a fun romp through "Give Me Chicago" (which had a delightful drum solo, as did "Let's Regret This in Advance"). Best of all, Susan returned to guitar for a race through "It's Only a Paper Moon," with all three players having the time of their lives trying to keep up with each other (Grant did some very long and quirky drum solos, but Susan came back in at just the right time - her timing is as good as his). And she inserted her only jokey lyrics about... boy, I wish I could remember, but the jokes come so quick with Susan! After "Paper Moon," she cracked, "Boy, I've made a lot of money off of that song... I'm glad I wrote that. That's one of the best ideas I ever had." ;-) Then the two guys departed, and it was time for three songs from her upcoming "Gospel album for agnostics." My favorite was the haunting "Oh Doubt," but she also did her jokey take on the Our Father and another tune which was really thought-provoking. Then she closed the set with "My Strange Nation." For the encore, she brought Grant and Kenny back, and started playing a samba on guitar... complete with Portugese lyrics, and a melody which I thought I recognized. After a verse or two, she switched to English... it was the Genesis hit "Follow You, Follow Me"! Completely transformed, and completely wonderful. She took a song I'd never cared for much and immediately made it one of my favorite songs. I wonder where she got the Portugese part from... did someone record it in Brazil? Whatever, it was a spellbinding conclusion to a show that ran the gamut - from sidesplitting improv, to jokes about the bagged spinach scare, to political commentary, to songs of love, heartbreak and redemption. Just your typical night out with Susan Werner. - -Tim HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at World Cafe CDs http://worldcafecds.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2006 19:27:34 -0500 From: "Tracy J. Wells" Subject: Re: "This is the weirdest show I've done all year." Wow, Tim, thanks for the long review!! Makes me wish I was there!! I have a good friend who lives in Philly... I should have gone to visit her this weekend!! ;o) Wish someone had been recording it (do you know for certain no one was?? Hello out there?? Anyone? Anyone? :o) Oh, and just a random aside/comment: I wish she'd quit calling her new album the "gospel album for agnostics." I know it's kind of a joke on some level, but I hate to see her pronouncing these songs "agnostic" when to me they are very relevant to my faith. I think maybe she doesn't realize how much potential those tunes have to speak to deeply faithful people who are of a different stripe those who view the world in black and white. Not everyone who sympathizes with her alternative Lord's prayer, for example, is outside the church!!! :o) :o) I have a deep Christian faith but find myself alienated from the dominant mainstream of American evangelical Christianity and many of the sentiments I've heard in her newer songs ring VERY true for me (and some of my likeminded friends). I'm in discernment for the priesthood (in the Episcopal Church) right now and if I become a priest, I could totally see using some of these songs in worship settings. So they're not just gospel for the agnostic, they're gospel for the faithful too! :o) Anyway. But I'm rambling now.... I'll hush. :o) ~Tracy On Sep 30, 2006, at 12:05 PM, Tim Dunleavy wrote: > So proclaimed Susan Werner last night on the stage of the Tin > Angel. Well, > I don't know about that, but it was certainly one of the wildest and > loosest Suze performances I've ever seen. > > Mind you, I've seen Susan onstage over 40 times... but for a number of > logistical reasons, I haven't seen her since May of last year. > Well, it was > definitely worth the wait. This was one of those shows where I wished > someone was recording it... or at least that I'd brought along a > notebook > to take down every wacky moment! > > It was a 7:30 show at the Tin Angel. (Only one show this time... > the days > of two Susan shows per night at the T.A. are long over!) > Well, it was scheduled for 7:30, but the doors didn't open till > nearly 7:25 > - the soundcheck ran long - and the show got underway around 7:45. > > Susan, who did the whole show seated, started out with "Time Between > Trains"... ending the song with a half-sung story about how she > wrote the > song while waiting at 30th Street Station in Philly, observing the > signs > (for a train to Miami) and counting the tiles ... even though there > are no > extra tiles in the hall... and telling how a man came up to her > after a > show once and told her that the reason she had said that there were 88 > tiles in the hall was "There are 88 keys on a piano, and you were > sublimating your love for the piano..." and Susan replied, "It's > just a > song." :) > > "This feels like the earliest show ever," she said - which led to a > story > about how she flew into Philly the previous night, but the landing was > delayed half an hour "by YOUR weather," then the ground crew at > Philadelphia International Airport "smoked three packs of > cigarettes before > they unloaded our bags"... so this show "feels like brunch to me." > She did > have some nice jokes about how that ground crew, like most people in > Philly, would get into a fight to defend the city... wish I could > remember > all of those wisecracks... > > She's spending the whole month in Philly to record her new album - > "You'll > see me around town, at a Wawa near you" - and the show was structured > around the different stages in her career. The first part was > performed on > guitar, so she did older numbers like "Standing In My Own Way" and > "St. > Mary's of Regret" ("My favorite song," a woman near me exclaimed), > then > took requests for tunes like "Born a Little Late," "Like Bonsai," > and even > "Boy From East Dubuque." > > Then it was time for the not-so-oldies. She slid over to the > keyboard and > called up to the stage two old pals whose bands she'd played in: Ken > Ulansey (on clarinet) and Grant McAvoy (on drums, which he played with > brushes). She reminisced about playing wedding gigs with Kenny's > band at > the Morris Arboretum, and focused on songs from her last album. So > we heard > "Late for the Dance" (with some heartbreakingly lovely work from > Kenny), > "Stay On Your Side of Town," etc. There was also a fun romp through > "Give > Me Chicago" (which had a delightful drum solo, as did "Let's Regret > This in > Advance"). > > Best of all, Susan returned to guitar for a race through "It's Only > a Paper > Moon," with all three players having the time of their lives trying > to keep > up with each other (Grant did some very long and quirky drum solos, > but > Susan came back in at just the right time - her timing is as good > as his). > And she inserted her only jokey lyrics about... boy, I wish I could > remember, but the jokes come so quick with Susan! > > After "Paper Moon," she cracked, "Boy, I've made a lot of money off > of that > song... I'm glad I wrote that. That's one of the best ideas I ever > had." ;-) > > Then the two guys departed, and it was time for three songs from her > upcoming "Gospel album for agnostics." My favorite was the haunting > "Oh > Doubt," but she also did her jokey take on the Our Father and > another tune > which was really thought-provoking. Then she closed the set with "My > Strange Nation." > > For the encore, she brought Grant and Kenny back, and started > playing a > samba on guitar... complete with Portugese lyrics, and a melody > which I > thought I recognized. After a verse or two, she switched to > English... it > was the Genesis hit "Follow You, Follow Me"! Completely > transformed, and > completely wonderful. She took a song I'd never cared for much and > immediately made it one of my favorite songs. > I wonder where she got the Portugese part from... did someone > record it in > Brazil? Whatever, it was a spellbinding conclusion to a show that > ran the > gamut - from sidesplitting improv, to jokes about the bagged > spinach scare, > to political commentary, to songs of love, heartbreak and redemption. > > Just your typical night out with Susan Werner. > > -Tim > > HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org > Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at World Cafe CDs > http://worldcafecds.com HELP! owner-believers@smoe.org Send mail to believers@smoe.org Susan's CD's are available on your desktop at World Cafe CDs http://worldcafecds.com ------------------------------ End of believers-digest V10 #64 ******************************* ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------- This has been a posting from the Susan Werner believers-digest To unsubscribe send mail to Majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe believers-digest" in the body of the message