From: owner-harbinger-digest@smoe.org (harbinger-digest) To: harbinger-digest@smoe.org Subject: harbinger-digest V4 #143 Reply-To: harbinger@smoe.org Sender: owner-harbinger-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-harbinger-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk harbinger-digest Thursday, October 21 1999 Volume 04 : Number 143 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) Top 40, Live Perf, Radio [steven.stewart@nokia.com] (harbinger) House of Blues Cybercast [Kenneth R Carpenter Subject: (harbinger) House of Blues Cybercast For those of you who were unable to attend Paula's concert at the Bowery Ballroom here in NYC, there's still a chance for you to see the show. House of Blues is going to air a cybercast of the concert on November 3, 1999 at 9:00 pm ET. Just go to this site: http://www.hob.com/live/events/991103paulacole/pre.shtml All the information is there. Peace. Kenn ****************************************************************************** The information contained in this e-mail message is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the recipient(s) named above. This message may be an attorney-client communication and as such is privileged and confidential. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this document in error and that any review, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the original message. ****************************************************************************** - ------------------------------ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger Btw, if you are an AOL subscriber the above instruction will work for your EVERY time. Digest, further unsub and problems FAQ at: http://www.netaxs.com/~jgreshes/lists/harbinger.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 20:32:34 -0400 From: Kenneth R Carpenter Subject: (harbinger) China Club Review The China Club show consisted of an abbreviated set - only seven songs - but it included "Be Somebody." It's the second song on the album that I still can't deal with at all, but it was still interesting to hear her perform it live. Not much crowd enthusiasm, though, so I don't know that I'm alone in my feelings. This was a cool one for me because I actually got a comfortable front row spot, no more than a foot away from the stage and almost directly in front of the spot where Paula stood for most of the show. To me, the Bowery stage is too big to enjoy a front row spot, so I hung back further. I wanted to be able to take in the whole scene and get better sound. But there weren't any more than 100-150 people at the China Club show and the stage was very small so an upfront spot is awesome. So close I could count Paula's fillings. Jay said they were heading for Detroit to do the Ginsburg show this past Sunday. Then they're going to Hollywood and Las Vegas. And, finally, they're off to Japan and then Australia. There will be other promotional shows along the way, so keep your eyes and ears open. I just want to ask a quick question while I'm here. A poll of sorts. When I was at the China Club show, there was a woman behind me who decided she was going to sing along to all of the lyrics she knew - "I Don't Want To Wait"... "Me"... the chorus of "Be Somebody." Personally, this annoys the living shit out of me. I don't go to any concert to listen to some freak in the audience croon along to the tune. In my opinion, that behavior only should occur within the privacy of one's home or car. Don't subject me to your bad voice while I'm listening to someone who could sing you into the ground, especially if I *paid* to come see this artist perform. Just shut your mouth and enjoy the show. It's a concert, not a goddamn sing-along. Show some fucking respect. So my question is... can anyone give me a valid argument for why we shouldn't turn around and ask these people (with kindness, of course) to refrain from singing along? Are these audience members infringing upon the rights of others? Is it any different than people who choose to hold conversations during a concert or a movie? Quite seriously... at some point, we really need to start working, as individuals, to encourage some semblance of manners in our brothers and sisters (my own take on "Be Somebody"). The parents of these rude bastards didn't do it, so I think it's up to us to hold them accountable for their behavior. It takes a village, y'know. I'll look forward to hearing your feedback. Peace. Kenn ****************************************************************************** The information contained in this e-mail message is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the recipient(s) named above. This message may be an attorney-client communication and as such is privileged and confidential. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this document in error and that any review, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the original message. ****************************************************************************** - ------------------------------ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger Btw, if you are an AOL subscriber the above instruction will work for your EVERY time. Digest, further unsub and problems FAQ at: http://www.netaxs.com/~jgreshes/lists/harbinger.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 20:31:58 -0400 From: Kenneth R Carpenter Subject: (harbinger) Review of Bowery Ballroom Concert So, the Bowery show was really good. Unquestionably, the crowd was loving it. Paula performed everything from Amen. except "Be Somebody" and "Suwannee Jo" (as Kara and Tina mentioned was the case at the Phoenix show in Toronto) and included her big ones from This Fire and Harbinger, namely "Ordinary," "Cowboys," "IDWTW," "Me," and "Feelin' Love." This particular version of "Feelin' Love" was performed at a faster tempo than is usual for her (even in its extended This Fire version). I'm assuming that this new rendition is probably what we can expect from "Feelin' Da Love" (minus Missy's rhymes, of course). Doug Wimbush is adding a lot to the new line-up. Seeing the Bowery show went a long way toward making me enjoy the album more. It's been a few weeks now since the release and, although I still don't have any affection for "Free" or "Be Somebody," my feelings for the other songs on Amen. have improved. I already loved "I Believe In Love" and still do. She just sings the hell out of that song. "Amen" has grown on me. In my initial review of the song, my only notable complaint had to do with the overly specific Alanis-style list lyrics of the bridge that will prevent the song from being timeless. That's pretty easy to overlook, though, when you are listening to Paula building up that same bridge in the live act. It works fine there. I know quite a few folks aren't too nuts about "La Tonya," but I really like this song. In the live show, Rakiya (who is only 22 (!) and just graduated from Berklee) fills in with the "My name is La Tonya..." parts during the final choruses. But what blew me away on this song was the absolutely soul-shaking from-the-crotch WAIL that comes out of Paula at the end of the song. On the album, it's the same wail that gets pushed into the background. On stage, she just about punches a whole through the ceiling with that note. Her pipes are in top form right now and she is channeling Aretha at that moment. "Pearl" is great in the live show. Sounds a bit different musically than the album version. If I remember correctly, this is the song where Doug Wimbush does a lot of cool theatrical hammering on his bass. He's amazing (and not so bad to look at either). I was never too crazy about Mark Brown's contributions. I always thought Eric Schlemerhorn was Paula's best bass player to date. Doug is right up there with Eric. Paula opened with "Rhythm Of Life" and I am really enjoying this song now. I still see it as a novelty song, but her execution is respectable and it's fun to hear her try her hand at rap. In certain instances, I've been learning to tune out some of the lyrics on this album and just enjoy her voice and the music. As I mentioned, she performed "Free." At the Bowery show, Hassan Hakmoun came out and the song became a duet for a minute or so halfway through the song. Hassan doesn't really sing lyrics as much as he does vocalizations. I mean, in his own music, it might very well be a foreign language he's singing, but in this duet it was just vocalizations. The overall reaction to the song was lukewarm at best. Nothing like the feedback she was getting during the rest of the show. Hassan's entrance threw off the whole thing. It was distracting. Paula closed the show (actually the final song of her encore) with "God Is Watching." Musically, "GIW" is a cool song. But, by the end of the live version, Paula seems to be trying way too hard, lyrically and vocally. It's still early in the game, so maybe she'll lighten it up a bit eventually but she comes off too preachy. There's a "We Are The World" tone to her delivery that falls flat on its face in spite of all of the bells and whistles. I don't recall the exact set list. I know she opened with "ROL" and that the encore consisted of "La Tonya," "God Is Watching" and something else - maybe "Ordinary." Can't recall. Her solo piano rendition of "Ordinary" that night was poignant as hell. Quite beautiful and still very touching. The crowd at the Bowery B-room was really going crazy for her. They just kept cheering for her all through the show, not just after she finished a song. She'd finish a verse of "Pearl" and there'd be a surge of applause. She hit the big note toward the end of "La Tonya" and they roared. Throughout the show, they just kept feeding her that positive energy and she was eating it up with a spoon. I've seen her perform enough times to know that she is only as good as her audience when it comes to the live show. If the audience is lame, Paula just clunks along. But when they're out there giving her all they've got, she delivers that much and more back to them. That was the case that night. She was having such a good time up there and seem quite confident about herself and the music. She also thanked the audience for "hanging in their with [her]." I assumed she was referring to the backlash she has gotten about Amen. from fans and critics alike. Ran into Steve (Honoku), Steve Bornstein (JourneyBear) and Jean Sapula before the show, which was very nice. My apologies to each of you if I seemed spaced out when we spoke. As I mentioned, I've been pretty much out of it for the past few weeks. But it was good to see you and I hope you enjoyed the show. Never did run into Kara and Tina, but I suspect I might have been right behind them on line. Did one of you (a redhead) have a small photo album full of Paula concert photos? If so, please let me know. :) More to come.... K. ****************************************************************************** The information contained in this e-mail message is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the recipient(s) named above. This message may be an attorney-client communication and as such is privileged and confidential. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this document in error and that any review, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the original message. ****************************************************************************** - ------------------------------ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger Btw, if you are an AOL subscriber the above instruction will work for your EVERY time. Digest, further unsub and problems FAQ at: http://www.netaxs.com/~jgreshes/lists/harbinger.html ------------------------------ End of harbinger-digest V4 #143 *******************************