From: owner-harbinger-digest@smoe.org (harbinger-digest) To: harbinger-digest@smoe.org Subject: harbinger-digest V2 #113 Reply-To: harbinger@smoe.org Sender: owner-harbinger-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-harbinger-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk harbinger-digest Thursday, October 30 1997 Volume 02 : Number 113 HARBINGER DIGEST To post, mail harbinger@smoe.org To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger-digest To get list info file, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: info harbinger-digest Today's Subjects: ---------------- (harbinger) Paula Cole Review: 26 Oct 97 - San Juan Capistrano [Joel Sieg] (harbinger) LA Times Article - 28 Oct 97 [Joel Siegfried ] (harbinger) hello everyone! [alyssa velasquez ] (harbinger) WOW!! [Sharley Hillgardner ] (harbinger) Re: harbinger-digest V2 #111 [Nicole Labbe Subject: (harbinger) Paula Cole Review: 26 Oct 97 - San Juan Capistrano A concert review by Joel Siegfried, c. 1997 For formatted version with photographs, please point your browser to: http://members.home.net/ecto/paula.html Would you find a woman who wears combat boots attractive? If her name is Paula Cole, then the question is irrelevant! Here is a performer whose persona is mesmerizing. Literally. The crowds were so still at the Coach House in Orange County, California last Sunday, October 26th, that you could hear ice cubes melting. In fact, to see her perform live in a smallish venue was really a treat. She took the stage in total darkness, playing a clarinet, and for about two hours held the crowd of four hundred or so breathless, eyes riveted to her with an intensity that few other performers command. She sings, postures, prances like a spirited pony, grunts, whistles, plays piano, guitar, tambourine, and drums, jumps, stabs at the air, smacks her body in that now familiar manner, does incredible scat lyrics, and is a wonder to behold -- pure sexuality, energy, physical beauty and strength. In actuality, her dress was a deep shade of crushed red velvet, sensually caressing her lithe body. She wore almost no makeup, save for peach colored lipstick, yet had an earth-toned, transcendent glow. Adding to the au natural image, she wore no bra, didn't recently shave her armpits, had light fuzz on her forearms which were accented by the stage lighting, was adorned by no jewelry except for a very tiny gold stud pin through her right nostril and a thin gold bracelet on left wrist, and had on the aforementioned black boots identical with those pictured on the album jacket of Harbinger which she used to kick the lowest octave of the Baldwin keyboard to close a set, something I had never seen Tori do to her Bosendorfer. Of course, she was otherwise absolutely gorgeous. The only smoke came from some incense burning by the drum stand, some dry ice wafting across the stage, and steam coming from the nostrils of some of her fans. It was memorable. I did not keep a set-list, but remember that she sang Happy Home as an ode and prayer for her Mother, Stephanie Cole ("wherever she may be"), with the utmost devotion and love, Bethlehem, Hitler's Brothers delivered with anger, almost bordering on rage, and most all of the other autobiographical songs from her two albums "Harbinger" and "This Fire". Especially memorable was Where Have All the Cowboys Gone? sung holding and wearing a Kakuki mask. At one point, she complained to the soundboard person about adjusting a hum coming from one of the piano pedals, then turned to the audience saying that she'd "have to kick some butt if necessary to get things straightened out" to a huge roar of approval. Later, she spoke of the vulnerability that all performers experience, or as she put it: "You know, we are up here working out our own shit." Judging from her lyrics, about the death of friends, family experiences and pain inducing memories, her performances are indeed cathartic. Perhaps that was also the symbolism to the backdrop of dresses hanging from a scrim on the stage, including a child's frock, a wedding dress, a Japanese kimono and some other skirts -- representations for the ages of womenhood, and the roles that they play. Twice she took time out to introduce the members of her band. They were her sidemen Jay Bellerose from Orchard Beach, Maine on drums (he's been with Paula for over ten years); Kevin Barry on guitar, and Paul Bushnell on bass -- the same band that appeared on her first album, and who no doubt accompanied her on her Lilith appearances this past summer. If I am in error, please correct me. Opening for her on this tour was an Irish group, The Devlins, whose androgenous lead singer Colin Devlin oozes sexuality, and who produces music that creates a fugue-like dream state, including such cuts as Heaven's Wall, Reckless, and the title track Waiting, all produced on the CD by the Canadian Pierre Marchand, who is also Sarah McLachlan's production guru. The venue itself, the Coach House remains a veritable showcase for musical talent, drawing audiences from Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego, and providing an intimate, if crowded ambiance. It would benefit in a major way from a menu make-over, which presently almost gives airline fare a patina of haute cuisine by comparison. But when someone like Paula Cole is in the spotlight, the comfort food becomes secondary. I was so grateful for the incredible musical experience, and hope you also will have an opportunity for a live performance. - -- _______________________________________________________ Joel Siegfried San Diego, California Email: mailto:ecto@home.com Voice Mail: (619)222-9236 Web Home Page: http://members.home.net/ecto/index.html _______________________________________________________ - ------------------------------ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger Digest, further unsub and problems FAQ at: http://www.netaxs.com/~jgreshes/lists/harbinger.html For This Fire kinda-lyrics write Riphug@aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 02:27:04 -0800 From: Joel Siegfried Subject: (harbinger) LA Times Article - 28 Oct 97 Tuesday, October 28, 1997 POP MUSIC REVIEW Paula Cole: Impressive Range, Emotions Ripe for a Rock Diva By MIKE BOEHM The overarching theme of Paula Cole's two albums is her struggle not to let the expectations of others or the riptide of emotional need and sexual attraction erode her sense of self. With her current album, "This Fire," a burgeoning hit, this newly minted pop rock diva has come along at the right time to avoid another kind of trap. A generation ago, a talent like Cole would have been pinned to the expected female role of confessional singer-songwriter, admired for the sensitivity of her observations, the strong emotion of her singing and the attractiveness of her melodies. Now women have other options, and Cole doesn't let many of them go untested. Playing for an adoring, near-capacity crowd Sunday at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, she unleashed the hellish fury of a woman scorned, bluesily moaned her lust and overindulged in self-administered primal-scream therapy. She sang impressively, with wide, assured range, charismatic presence and far more control than in her Lilith Fair set at Irvine Meadows last summer, when she frequently went off the tracks in a heated attempt to make a big impact in a big venue. With her gift for drama, Cole was never boring. But the unevenness of her 90-minute show suggested that too many options aren't always good for art, and that maybe the forced boundaries of the old stereotypes did, at least, lend themselves to more focused and consistent artistry. Her best stuff fell squarely within the old, no-screaming tradition of down-the-middle, melodic pop-rock songwriting. * * * * Paula Cole plays tonight at the Wiltern Theatre, 3790 Wilshire Blvd., 8 p.m. $22.50 and $27.50. (213) 380-5005. Copyright Los Angeles Times - -- _______________________________________________________ Joel Siegfried San Diego, California Email: mailto:ecto@home.com Voice Mail: (619)222-9236 Web Home Page: http://members.home.net/ecto/index.html _______________________________________________________ - ------------------------------ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger Digest, further unsub and problems FAQ at: http://www.netaxs.com/~jgreshes/lists/harbinger.html For This Fire kinda-lyrics write Riphug@aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 14:45:11 -0700 (MST) From: alyssa velasquez Subject: (harbinger) hello everyone! hi, my name is leash and i am a new subscriber. just thought i'd send a greeting and can't wait to hear from everyone! leash - ------------------------------ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger Digest, further unsub and problems FAQ at: http://www.netaxs.com/~jgreshes/lists/harbinger.html For This Fire kinda-lyrics write Riphug@aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 17:36:11 -0600 From: Sharley Hillgardner Subject: (harbinger) WOW!! Hey all- You have got to check out Joel Siegfried's site. The picture he captured of Paula is amazing!! The site can be found at http://members.home.net/ecto/paula.html. It's a must see!!! ~Sharley - -Just a note: Let's take this snappy sally/IG discussion off the list-please. No offense is meant to either of you. - ------------------------------ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger Digest, further unsub and problems FAQ at: http://www.netaxs.com/~jgreshes/lists/harbinger.html For This Fire kinda-lyrics write Riphug@aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 20:13:56 -0500 From: Nicole Labbe Subject: (harbinger) Re: harbinger-digest V2 #111 k-i-d-s kids incorporated...we're gonna have fun k-i-d-s kids incorporated...for everyone (woah-oh-oh) - ------------------------------ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger Digest, further unsub and problems FAQ at: http://www.netaxs.com/~jgreshes/lists/harbinger.html For This Fire kinda-lyrics write Riphug@aol.com ------------------------------ End of harbinger-digest V2 #113 *******************************