From: owner-edheads-digest@efohio.com (edheads-digest) To: edheads-digest@smoe.org Subject: edheads-digest V7 #121 Reply-To: edheads@efohio.com Sender: owner-edheads-digest@efohio.com Errors-To: owner-edheads-digest@efohio.com Precedence: bulk edheads-digest Monday, August 30 2004 Volume 07 : Number 121 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Great show at Wolf Trap! ["Susan G. Cable" ] RE: Great show at Wolf Trap! ["Jeffrey Jones" ] Re: Great show at Wolf Trap! [Derek ] Re: Great show at Wolf Trap! [Will Foy ] RE: Great show at Wolf Trap! ["David Martosko" ] Wolf Trap News ["Jennifer Kirkby" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 09:04:23 -0400 From: "Susan G. Cable" Subject: Re: Great show at Wolf Trap! I agree with your assessment of the show, particularly the beginning. I had the additional misfortune of sitting in front of two women who sang EVERY song. I understand the temptation, but please respect others. When Great Day came on I thought for sure they would shush, afterall, the song is a capella. No dice. I got up and moved and truly enjoyed the rest of the show. I would add that there wasn't as much banter as you expect at an EFO show. Mike was funny, as usual, but it seemed planned. It was as though the four of them just didn't have their heads into the show. I missed hearing some of my favorites, but I'm glad I got to hear the new stuff live. Who knows when I'll get to see them again. I thought the Beatles cover (Come Together) was an disappointing choice for an encore, but they did an awesome job! All in all, for the first time I've gotten back to see them live in two years, I was happy. - ----- Original Message ----- From: just joe Date: Sunday, August 29, 2004 12:04 pm Subject: Great show at Wolf Trap! > For those who weren't there: Natalie MacMaster was incredible. I'd > neverheard of her before, but she was worth the price of admission > alone, esp. > when she jammed with EFO during their set. Try to imagine a > riverdancingfiddler who looks like a cross between Shirley Temple > and Jewel... EFO > started slow, imo. Julie didn't seem to be into the first few > songs...shewas singing them as if she was tired of the same old > songs. There were > also some sound issues...I've had that before at Wolf Trap; I had > greatseats--middle orchestra toward the rear--and somehow the > sound wasn't > quite right. Julie kicked it into high gear on "Great Day" (4th or 5th > song in), and the sound problems went away shortly after. Having > NatalieMacMaster join in on the Train Song was briliant; I hope > the band > recorded that for later release. Everything after that was > golden--including Eddie's drum solo, and the new songs--and of course, > the crowd went bananas when Joe strolled out. Tonight...too many > choices...BB King is playing at Wolf Trap (Dr. John opening), and the > unbelievable Buddy Guy is playing at Pier 6 (Robert Cray opening). > I wish > I didn't have so much work to do... Hope somebody enjoyed this. JJ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 09:57:33 -0400 From: "Jeffrey Jones" Subject: RE: Great show at Wolf Trap! I would have to agree with your assessments of the show. I was a little disappointed in that since this was billed as the "biggest show of the year" that there wasn't a little more spark. For the past Wolf Trap shows, they have brought Jon Carroll and the horns and the extra guitarist and had really lit up the stage. However, on Saturday night, they seemed a little off. There were definite audio problems for the first couple of songs...but I agree that things kicked in after Great Day. However, it seemed like the show was over before it I knew it. I kept thinking to myself...That's it? I kept waiting for "Woman of Faith"...or "Fly"...or "Candido". Don't get me wrong, I love EFO and thought the concert was enjoyable...but part of me would have rather gone to the Tech-USC game instead. I guess I'll just have to wait for the next Birchmere show which tend to be a little more intimate and laid back. - -JJ - -----Original Message----- From: owner-edheads@efohio.com [mailto:owner-edheads@efohio.com]On Behalf Of Susan G. Cable Sent: Monday, August 30, 2004 9:04 AM To: just joe Cc: edheads@efohio.com Subject: Re: Great show at Wolf Trap! I agree with your assessment of the show, particularly the beginning. I had the additional misfortune of sitting in front of two women who sang EVERY song. I understand the temptation, but please respect others. When Great Day came on I thought for sure they would shush, afterall, the song is a capella. No dice. I got up and moved and truly enjoyed the rest of the show. I would add that there wasn't as much banter as you expect at an EFO show. Mike was funny, as usual, but it seemed planned. It was as though the four of them just didn't have their heads into the show. I missed hearing some of my favorites, but I'm glad I got to hear the new stuff live. Who knows when I'll get to see them again. I thought the Beatles cover (Come Together) was an disappointing choice for an encore, but they did an awesome job! All in all, for the first time I've gotten back to see them live in two years, I was happy. - ----- Original Message ----- From: just joe Date: Sunday, August 29, 2004 12:04 pm Subject: Great show at Wolf Trap! > For those who weren't there: Natalie MacMaster was incredible. I'd > neverheard of her before, but she was worth the price of admission > alone, esp. > when she jammed with EFO during their set. Try to imagine a > riverdancingfiddler who looks like a cross between Shirley Temple > and Jewel... EFO > started slow, imo. Julie didn't seem to be into the first few > songs...shewas singing them as if she was tired of the same old > songs. There were > also some sound issues...I've had that before at Wolf Trap; I had > greatseats--middle orchestra toward the rear--and somehow the > sound wasn't > quite right. Julie kicked it into high gear on "Great Day" (4th or 5th > song in), and the sound problems went away shortly after. Having > NatalieMacMaster join in on the Train Song was briliant; I hope > the band > recorded that for later release. Everything after that was > golden--including Eddie's drum solo, and the new songs--and of course, > the crowd went bananas when Joe strolled out. Tonight...too many > choices...BB King is playing at Wolf Trap (Dr. John opening), and the > unbelievable Buddy Guy is playing at Pier 6 (Robert Cray opening). > I wish > I didn't have so much work to do... Hope somebody enjoyed this. JJ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 10:00:27 -0400 (GMT-04:00) From: Derek Subject: Re: Great show at Wolf Trap! I have to say I like Cowboy better than And the Rain Crashed Down but I can imagine that Cowboy might not translate so well into a studio recording. Let's just hope they keep playing it live. Definitely were some sound issues at Wolf Trap. The first three songs of EFO sounded bad and the band looked flat. After that I thought the show really picked up. I love Come Together as an encore and then, of course, Joe just about brought the house down. Was the show perfect? No. But EFO has yet to disappoint me. - -Derek P.S. It was fun to run into Shelly and her beautiful smile. :) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 10:07:05 -0400 From: Will Foy Subject: Re: Great show at Wolf Trap! On Sun, 29 Aug 2004 13:18:49 -0400, Jack Mitchell wrote: > I know that Wolf Trap doesn't allow sound board taping, but was anyone able > to do a recording from the audience? If so, you are going to post it to > the internet archive, right? (In case you weren't sure, the correct answer > to both of these is yes.) ;-) Jack et al... I would've, had I been allowed to, and if not for the fact that I had park security all ringed around me, I would've done my poor attempt at stealth recording it, since they didn't make me return to the car with my gear... Wolf Trap has a long standing policy of not allowing taping. That said, last summer, I went to see Bela Fleck and the Flecktones with Keller Williams [ great show, fwiw ], and taped both sets to my laptop. Unfortunately, when I was setting up, high on the lawn, well out of any spectator's way, Park police approached and asked if I had a "press" pass... Well, no, I've never thought of tapers as "press" before, but I went to the press room over to the house right side of the vending area, and spoke with a press coordinator, who asked me to wait while he contacted his boss, the same Mr. Zimmerman who Robbie referenced during the show, giving thanks for putting on such a great venue. I won't scream sour grapes totally, b/c Wolf Trap does provide a great atmosphere for performances. My main criticism is that he wouldn't have Zimmerman speak to Bob, whom every EFO taper knows well, and with whom I'd traded emails pre-show to get everything lined up. He said that perhaps if I'd gotten something in writing pre-show, or if he cared about building a relationship with me that he'd consider allowing me to tape, but because my name wasn't Larry King, he really didn't care. At least he was honest, if impolite and arrogant, and he flatly refused to call backstage. This was about 45 minutes before Natalie McMasters' set, but nontheless, he could've at least tried. Would've taken only a couple of minutes, and would've given me a sense of a "final" decision from the band, instead of what I believe is a bad position of Wolf Trap taking fan-recording [ taping ] decisions out of the hands of the artist. In all honesty, although I'm looking at a more stealth-friendly rig based on a PDA instead of a laptop [ core-sound audio's pdaudio unit combined with a decent iPaq and my existing mic's ], I would say that officially speaking, Wolf Trap is NOT taper-friendly in any way, although through an old taper contact, I do hope to gain some inroads, and perhaps get them to look at letting it be a band decision and getting it in writing or some such. I'm trying to keep an open mind, look for a win-win way to get out of my anger at the way Wolf Trap's staff handles taking an artist decision away from the artist [ which was the impression I was left with ], and to try to seek first to understand Wolf Trap's concept of why they choose to override an artist's decision.... yeah, yeah, I've been reading Covey again lately. Good 75-ish minute set though, and alas, it was not taped, unless Bob got it. so that excellent Train Song and Baltimore featuring Natalie McMasters wasn't taped, and thus, won't make it up to archive.org ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 10:27:46 -0400 From: "David Martosko" Subject: RE: Great show at Wolf Trap! Amen to that. This was the first time I came away from an EFO show tuly disappointed. The set was too short; they played just about everything really, really fast; they didn't really fill up the stage; the house audio was terrible (Julie's microphone was turned off for half of the first verse of "Quick"); and the opening act (Natalie MacMaster) out-played them. Has EFO "jumped the shark"? I'm starting to wonder. One thing is for sure - -- I'll never see them in a place that big again. Spacs like Club Passim (Cambridge, MA) and the Rosebud (Pittsburgh) bring out their best. Wolf Trap chewed them up. - -DM At 09:57 AM 8/30/2004, you wrote: >I would have to agree with your assessments of the show. I was a little >disappointed in that since this was billed as the "biggest show of the year" >that there wasn't a little more spark. For the past Wolf Trap shows, they >have brought Jon Carroll and the horns and the extra guitarist and had >really lit up the stage. However, on Saturday night, they seemed a little >off. There were definite audio problems for the first couple of songs...but >I agree that things kicked in after Great Day. However, it seemed like the >show was over before it I knew it. I kept thinking to myself...That's it? >I kept waiting for "Woman of Faith"...or "Fly"...or "Candido". Don't get me >wrong, I love EFO and thought the concert was enjoyable...but part of me >would have rather gone to the Tech-USC game instead. I guess I'll just have >to wait for the next Birchmere show which tend to be a little more intimate >and laid back. David Martosko Berman and Company - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1775 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 1200 Washington, DC 20006 tel 202.463.7100 fax 202.463.7107 www.BermanCo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 11:00:33 -0400 From: "Jennifer Kirkby" Subject: Wolf Trap News I have been enjoying the stories of Wolf Trap. I noticed some of you writing about the banter seemed to be rehearsed. My husband and I saw EFO last year in Asheville and since we had previously seen them in St. Louis also we noticed all the banter was the same from show to show. With the exception of Mike telling a man to go home and eat some tuna (referring to his wife/girlfriend) Julie gave him a pretty dirty look and said "Michael - cut it". I was a little shocked. Things seemed a bit tense. ------------------------------ End of edheads-digest V7 #121 *****************************