From: owner-lucy-list-digest@smoe.org (lucy-list-digest) To: lucy-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: lucy-list-digest V2 #298 Reply-To: lucy-list@smoe.org Sender: owner-lucy-list-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-lucy-list-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk lucy-list-digest Sunday, November 26 2000 Volume 02 : Number 298 In this issue: [lucy-list] Lucy's Bottom Line shows [lucy-list] Bottom Line ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 25 Nov 2000 04:16:51 -0400 From: "Benay Bubar" Subject: [lucy-list] Lucy's Bottom Line shows So I cut out early on my relatives in Connecticut after Thanksgiving and hopped a bus back to NYC so that I could go straight to the Bottom Line, luggage still in hand, to see Lucy tonight. In the past when Lucy has done two shows anywhere, I've always missed one of them...usually it's the late one, and I'm always told it's better...so this time I planned to attend both shows from the start. (I think I was the only one, at least from the general audience, who went to both this time.) Ellis Paul opened...he did pretty much the EXACT same set of songs and between-song stories for both shows, but to his credit he did ask for requests at the second show and they just happened to be for the same stuff, and it was all good enough that hearing it twice was not boring. (His songs: Maria's Beautiful Manse, Did Galileo Pray, Words [this was a new one, he said], The World Ain't Slowin' Down, Angel in Manhattan, 3000 Miles, and the one about the bar in heaven, Martyrs' something, whose exact title is escaping me now.) I'm not a huge must-see-whenever-possible Ellis Paul fan, but I like him and it was certainly a treat to have an opening act that wasn't just something to get through in order to see Lucy. Then, of course, came Lucy, in her usual regalia of black leather jacket over a white shirt and black jeans. She was with the band from Ten Year Night for both of these shows, and she clearly adored playing with them---she didn't seem nervous or tentative at ALL tonight, right from the beginning, but seemed confident and happy and energetic for both shows. I always have mixed feelings with regards to Lucy with a band...that is, I love her by herself too, and I almost feel like Lucy-with-a-band shows are an entirely different genre than Lucy-by-herself shows...both great in their own ways but certainly not the same thing. But anyway, this was a band show...and they were indeed an amazing band---at one point early in the second show, Lucy broke a string and convinced the band to play on their own while she changed it...she was rocking along with them as she changed the string, and they continued even a little AFTER she said she was ready (Lucy then said laughingly that she wasn't sure she liked feeling so expendable!). Lucy kept talking about how great they were ("It feels like Christmas to be playing with them...I shouldn't say that because I'm Jewish...but it does.") Lucy must have had an intuitive, deep understanding of the fact that I, someone who has trouble recalling set lists, had vowed to review the Bottom Line shows for the Lucy-list, because she played just about exactly the same set for both shows. (Actually, I think probably one main reason for not varying it had to do with using the band as much as possible...Lucy by herself probably would have changed things more.) I was actually fine with the same songs twice, though, especially because many of them were new, and some of the new ones I hadn't heard before. Anyway, here was the main show, as much as I remember it, in not-necessarily-chronological order (the only difference in the main body of the two shows was that "Promise Me" was included in the second show...I can't remember anything in the first show that it "replaced," so perhaps it was an addition, but I can't be totally sure). Small Dark Movie (by Greg Brown---Lucy said it would be on a Greg Brown tribute album she was taking part in) One Good Reason Guilty As Sin (when she told her mother she'd written a song about adultery, her mother said "That's good") I Know What It Is to Be Nowhere Swimming Song Scorpion Time to Go (preceded by a nice story about introducing her mother to computers, and how her mother gave her a prayerbook that had belonged to her mother's grandmother just after Lucy had written the song...things we can give our parents, things our parents give us) Written on the Back of His Hand (I actually don't know the title of this and maybe it didn't have one yet...it was so new that Lucy taped a piece of paper onto the microphone when she sang it...I wasn't sure what the song was about, but that was mostly because I kept getting stuck mulling over various parts of lyrics about water and tears...the song itself I really liked even without understanding it much) Don't Blame Me (preceded by the movie story...her part is still in the movie as far as she's heard...she is supposed to be Miss Kaplansky, a folk singer singing a sad song, and Sherman Alexie asked her if she had any sad songs...she told him this was no problem) End of the Day Five in the Morning Turn the Lights Back On Promise Me (second show) Ten Year Night (I heard Lucy say she hadn't done this as the last song before, but it worked well that way) Even though both shows were much the same, the second one WAS better. Besides the fact that I thought the overall sound quality was better for the second show (Lucy easier to hear over the band), what clinched it for me were the encores. After the first show, Lucy did "Guinevere," which I always adore, and I didn't think she could top it. But after the second show, to my surprise and delight, she did "The Tide," which was a real treat because I think I'd only heard it live once before. She sang it much differently from the way it was on the CD; same words and rhythms, but the tune was changed, and while I like the CD version too, tonight's live version was lovely. Finally, at the very end of the second show, Lucy called Ellis Paul out with her---they hadn't done anything together during the first show because (Ellis had said) they hadn't had time to put anything together, but to finish off the late show they did a gorgeous version of Shawn Colvin's "I Don't Know Why"...that alone would have made the second ticket worth the price. Anyway, it was a great evening of Lucy, and it went by with lightning speed. Near the end of the second show, Lucy said she wished she and the band could play for a few more hours, and we in the audience certainly felt the same way. Benay (Oh, by the way, does anybody know if Lucy's still doing "No More Excuses," the third song in the angry trilogy? I heard so much of her great as-yet-unrecorded stuff tonight that it took a while for it to occur to me some new one I'd heard before was missing, and then I realized it was that one. Did it die? I hope not.) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Nov 2000 14:48:21 -0500 (EST) From: "colorspace" Subject: [lucy-list] Bottom Line I have to agree with Benay in saying the show last night at the Bottom Line was terrific. I attended the late show. I also understand your mixed feelings with regards to Lucy with a band. It was a totally different show with a band compared to Lucy by herself. Lucy seemed thrilled to have them with her. I kept thinking throughout the show how wonderful it must have felt for Lucy to be with a band for a change. Afterall, she does play by herself weekend after weekend. It was a great night....and as usual, Lucy was quick to greet all of her fans after the show. She is the sweetest and most caring artist I know!! Thanks for the great review Benay. I'm so lucky to be able to see Lucy again tonight with Cheryl Wheeler in Hightstown, NJ! Donna ------------------------------ End of lucy-list-digest V2 #298 ******************************* This has been a posting from the Lucy Kaplansky mail list digest To unsubscribe send mail to Majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe lucy-list-digest" in the body of the message