From: owner-good-noise-digest@smoe.org (good-noise-digest) To: good-noise-digest@smoe.org Subject: good-noise-digest V2 #53 Reply-To: good-noise@smoe.org Sender: owner-good-noise-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-good-noise-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk good-noise-digest Monday, April 26 1999 Volume 02 : Number 053 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Review: JG at May's Chapel, 4/24/99 [MadlyDancn@aol.com] Re: Review: JG at May's Chapel, 4/24/99 [ThePsyche@aol.com] Re: Review: JG at May's Chapel, 4/24/99 [Kris & Scott Pancoast ] Re: Review: JG at May's Chapel, 4/24/99 [Achimera@aol.com] Re: lost Crime and Punishment songs [SAbrams613@aol.com] Review: JG at Delaware Theater Company, 4/25/99 [votels ] Crime and Punishment [votels ] Psychic Communication/Crime and Punishment [MadlyDancn@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1999 09:21:30 EDT From: MadlyDancn@aol.com Subject: Re: Review: JG at May's Chapel, 4/24/99 Thanks for the review of the Saturday show at Mays Chapel, Jay. I was there Friday night. We had a slightly different set-list, but I didn't record it. (It was a long week. I just wanted to veg!) I suppose it was the fact that there were Friday and Saturday shows, but I was still surprised that Friday night wasn't sold out. On the whole, the crowd at Friday's show seemed to be experiencing many of JG's songs for the first time, which is fun to be around. We had two encores as well. On Friday, Cypress Trees was followed by Branching Out as a "tree medley." :-) I'm usually shy about making requests, especially for older songs. Does anyone know if JG plays "Italian Girls" these days? I can't remember hearing it in any recent shows. It's one of my favorites. Thanks, Karen ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1999 09:35:12 EDT From: ThePsyche@aol.com Subject: Re: Review: JG at May's Chapel, 4/24/99 Jay writes: > Next stop on the Chaos Express: Delaware Theater Company, Wilmington, > Del., April 25, 7 p.m. > Very clever. I wish I could grab that train....I could use a Gorka fix right about now. I enjoyed reading your review while at the same time feeling a bit of melancholia. I was set to see John in Cedar Rapids last month and then illness prevented me from making the journey. With that cancellation it means I will not hear John perform again until the end of August. The good part of that is he will be performing...literally....in my backyard at an outdoor music venue called The Ravinia Festival. Only two blocks from my home, it is set on 36 acres of woodlands in the heart of my town, Highland Park, Illinois. There is a large pavilion for those interested in actually seeing performers but most folkscome for the reasonably priced lawn seating. People bring picnic baskets, wine chairs, candles, even tables and chairs and enjoy a very unique music setting. John will be playing in the Martin Theater on the Ravinia Festival grounds and not in the pavilion. Others who are coming or have been at Ravinia include Shawn Colvin, Keb Mo (my fav), Randy Newman, Bruce Cockburn and Lyle Lovett. Ravinia is most known as the summer home of the Chicago Symphony but each year it is adding to its new/popular music schedule. Anyone who is interested in a summer jaunt to a great area (Chicagoland) to hear John in an absolutely wonderful setting should consider Ravinia. Hey, maybe we could have a meeting of Gorkanatics before hand.....eat, drink and be merry on the lawn and then go into the theater for the performance. I mean, we are John's greatest fans......with computers. If you would like a link to the Ravinia Festival web site email me privately and I will pass it along. On that note....thanks again Jay. I know you are going to be seeing John quite a bit in the coming months......say hello for me. And please continue these great reviews. They will keep me going until August! Adios, Bryn ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1999 09:43:47 -0400 From: Kris & Scott Pancoast Subject: Re: Review: JG at May's Chapel, 4/24/99 Hello All - First, thanks very much Jay for the show review!!! Sounds like a nice one!!!! Have fun in DE tonight doesn't look too good for me getting down there :( Secondly, Karen - yes, I've seen John do Italian Girls. It was about 14 months ago at the Common Ground coffee house in Bryn Athyn PA. FWIW, that was the one and only time I've heard it live. Now, there's something driving me crazy, which I wonder if any of you can answer - when John does his "Tree Medley", isn't there a 3rd song in addition to Cypress Trees & Branching Out? Can't recall what it is!! Thanks, Kris MadlyDancn@aol.com wrote: > > Thanks for the review of the Saturday show at Mays Chapel, Jay. I was there > Friday night. We had a slightly different set-list, but I didn't record it. > (It was a long week. I just wanted to veg!) > > I suppose it was the fact that there were Friday and Saturday shows, but I > was still surprised that Friday night wasn't sold out. On the whole, the > crowd at Friday's show seemed to be experiencing many of JG's songs for the > first time, which is fun to be around. We had two encores as well. > > On Friday, Cypress Trees was followed by Branching Out as a "tree medley." > :-) > > I'm usually shy about making requests, especially for older songs. Does > anyone know if JG plays "Italian Girls" these days? I can't remember hearing > it in any recent shows. It's one of my favorites. > > Thanks, > Karen ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1999 09:44:24 EDT From: ThePsyche@aol.com Subject: Re: Review: JG at May's Chapel, 4/24/99 MadlyDancn@aol.com writes: > I'm usually shy about making requests, especially for older songs. Does > anyone know if JG plays "Italian Girls" these days? I can't remember > hearing > it in any recent shows. It's one of my favorites. > I heard John perform Italian Girls last year at Fitzgeralds in Berwyn, Illinois which is a great little bar/music venue. Italian Girls is a beautiful, intimate song and hearing John perform it live was unforgettable. I would rank that show as probably the best Gorka show I have seen.....save for the first time.....your first is always memorable right? The bar atmosphere really was a fitting backdrop to many of the stories in his songs. I was sitting with a friend that night who knew John in the old days of Bethlehem and Godfrey Daniels. She reacquainted herself with him before the show. Perhaps it was that reconnecting or just that the planet and stars were lined up right, but he played more old stuff that night than any other show I have seen. I have wondered something about John's songs for a while now......He has said at shows that he has placed a moratorium on his Crime and Punishment series. I have always wondered why. For me, Grand Larceny, Vinny Charles, Jailbirds in the Bighouse are some I would love to hear. Has anyone ever heard any of these? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1999 11:22:37 -0500 From: "John W. Richard, Jr." Subject: Re: Review: JG at May's Chapel, 4/24/99 >He has said >at shows that he has placed a moratorium on his Crime and Punishment series. >I have always wondered why. For me, Grand Larceny, Vinny Charles, Jailbirds >in the Bighouse are some I would love to hear. Has anyone ever heard any of >these? > I've never heard any of those songs at any of the shows I've been to, and I agree that it's a very interesting puzzle. Anyone else able to shed some light? - --JWR ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1999 10:03:24 PDT From: "Sean Palen" Subject: italian girls Thanks for the help on the tunings, I heard JG play Italian Gorls two months ago in Austin, so I assume it's still in his regular rotation. Take it easy Sean _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1999 14:30:23 EDT From: Achimera@aol.com Subject: Re: Review: JG at May's Chapel, 4/24/99 As far as I know, John will play any song, new or old, except those from the crime and punishment series. Otherwise, the only reason why he won't play a particular song is that he can't remember the words. Shirley ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1999 19:19:37 EDT From: SAbrams613@aol.com Subject: Re: lost Crime and Punishment songs Since many of you see JG perform on a regular basis, and seem to know him well enough to talk with him, can someone just ask him about the Crime and Punishment series? You know from my past postings that those songs have always been great favorites of mine, and I've wondered why he put a moratorium on performing (and it seems, writing) them. Thanks. I'm counting on you guys. He seems to avoid Northeastern Ohio like the plague.... Barbara ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1999 23:23:51 -0400 From: votels Subject: Review: JG at Delaware Theater Company, 4/25/99 John Gorka, April 25, 1999, at Delaware Theater Company, Wilmington, Del. Reviewed by Jay Votel — votels@dmv.com 1. Like My Watch 2. I'm From New Jersey 3. Cypress Trees 4. Mean Streak 5. Let Them In, Peter (on piano) 6. Edgar, The Party Man 7. Land of the Bottom Line 8. When the Ice Goes Out 9. I Saw A Stranger With Your Hair 10. When He Cries - --intermission-- 11. Branching Out 12. Italian Girls 13. Gravyland 14. Wisdom 15. Down in the Milltown (on piano) 16. Houses in the Fields (on piano) 17. St. Caffeine 18. Body Parts Medley 19. Blue Chalk 20. Part of Your Own 21. After Yesterday 22. encore: The Water is Wide (on piano) 23. encore: Flying Red Horse John Gorka played to a large, but not sold-out house at the Delaware Theater Company Sunday night. There was no opening act. John just strode out onto the stage with his new Martin guitar and manila folder of lyrics, and opened with the oldest of his songs that he still performs, "Like My Watch." The crowd in Wilmington was much more subdued than the previous night at May's Chapel. One woman in the front rows off on the stage right side was requesting a lot of songs and John kept politely turning her down. She had wanted to hear "All That Hammering," which John said he couldn't possibly remember. She also wanted to hear "That's How Legends Are Made," which would have required heavy retuning -- though he didn't say that. But he came back after intermission, after having rehearsed "Gravyland," another one of her requests, and played it. She responded with thanks. He filled several other requests, too: "Edgar" from your faithful correspondent here; "Land of the Bottom Line," "Italian Girls," and "Wisdom," which he played after he pulled the lyrics out of the folder and balanced upon the guitar mike. Someone up in the upper part of the house was trying to shush the requests. Perhaps she was new to the "John Gorka Dance Party Experience." There have been requests from the audience at every Gorka show I've attended. John even developed a little shtick about the requests, which he hasn't used lately, saying he could communicate psychically with the audience for requests. Inevitably, someone would call out the name of the song, and John would look up and around and ask the audience, "Did you hear that, too?" Highlights: A reprise from last night of "Flying Red Horse" as the second encore -- which John said after show is now in the current song rotation; "Wisdom," which was the first time I'd heard this favored cut from "After Yesterday" live. My girlfriend got chills from "Part of Your Own," and I got them, too, for "The Water is Wide" and "I Saw A Stranger With Your Hair." ### ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1999 23:28:39 -0400 From: votels Subject: Crime and Punishment Hi everyone: I have never heard any of John's "Crime and Punishment" songs live. My daughter Jackie has requested her favorite, "Stranger in My Driver's Seat" at least three times over the years at various shows, and each time he has politely turned her down, saying each time that he isn't performing his "Crime and Punishment" songs right now. This goes back at least five years. Maybe someone else on the list has heard why. - -- Jay Votel ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 00:46:44 EDT From: MadlyDancn@aol.com Subject: Psychic Communication/Crime and Punishment In a message dated 4/25/99 11:23:36 PM Eastern Daylight Time, votels@dmv.com writes: > There have been requests from the audience at every Gorka > show I've attended. John even developed a little shtick about the > requests, which he hasn't used lately, saying he could communicate > psychically with the audience for requests. Inevitably, someone would > call out the name of the song, and John would look up and around and ask > the audience, "Did you hear that, too?" > He's used it in about every show I've seen lately, including Friday night at Mays Chapel. It's still funny every time, too. Guess you just have to get him on a night when he's hearing the voices. :-) As for the Crime and Punishment series....it's interesting to hear that he chooses not to play them. I suppose if there's a significant reason, he'd have explained if he wanted us to know. Then again, maybe he just hasn't been asked. Tough call. I have heard "Vinnie Charles" frequently requested and I don't recall John even acknowledging the request. I have to admit that's not one of my favorites: it bums me out. But, I really do like "Grand Larceny" (though I do feel sorry about the incident). No real point to all this. It's late. Have a good week, everyone. . . Karen ------------------------------ End of good-noise-digest V2 #53 *******************************