From: owner-lucy-list-digest@smoe.org (lucy-list-digest) To: lucy-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: lucy-list-digest V4 #244 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 Thursday, October 24 2002 Volume 04 : Number 244 In this issue: [lucy-list] more on my Lucy weekend: Part 2 [lucy-list] more on my Lucy weekend: Part 1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 20:58:32 -0400 From: "Benay Bubar" Subject: [lucy-list] more on my Lucy weekend: Part 2 And at last, Lucy---in the new brown jacket Sharon described---took the stage with Duke Levine...and since we were so far up front, it didn't take her long to spot our little group. She did quite a double-take upon seeing me amidst her usual D.C.-area crowd! As I mentioned, the setlists for the Birchmere and Hightstown were quite similar, though not completely the same. There were a few notable changes, for both shows, since the last time I'd seen Lucy. For instance, Don't Mind Me was bumped out of third place, so the Lucy comment that used to go "Those were a couple of really dark songs...here's one that's not so dark..." was transformed into "Those were some really dark songs...and here's a couple more!" It caught me off-guard in a delightful way...plus the fact that it was great to get to hear Secret Journey and The Tide. Lucy talked a little less than usual in these two shows, I think. The bug intro to Ten Year Night was utterly gone...that saddened me a little, my having felt such a connection to it, but no intro lasts forever, and that one had a nice long run. The Ten Year Night intro in Hightstown was that Lucy was going to see a Philadelphia Eagles game with Rick the next day and THAT was true love---it got a big laugh and didn't offend the audience as Lucy worried that it had! She also told the air guitar story, as those of you in the UK had promised, though not until Hightstown did she offer free air guitars with the CDs. The air guitar story is a good addition to her set, though unlike the two previous UK stories, it doesn't have a NEW Lucy cover to accompany it---it's become a Loch Lomond intro. Not that I can blame Lucy for that. It's pretty hard to find an air guitar song to learn, and I doubt she'd want to try! Both nights Lucy briefly forgot lyrics to Nowhere (which she always plays with Duke because of his great guitar solo---her entrancement with his playing was the reason she faltered on the lyrics!). At the Birchmere the problem came in the middle, ironically at "you know them all by heart," and we didn't help her very smoothly and she ended up skipping a few words, but in Hightstown she got lost at the very beginning and the audience help was more immediately successful. In both cases, she continued masterfully. Other than those little slips, she didn't falter...it always surprises me that she CAN remember as much as she does, actually. She didn't do any of her dad's songs at either show...it didn't occur to me to miss them until afterward, though, because we got so many other songs and covers. She really used Duke as much as she possible could have...I think it may have been only This Is Home on which he DIDN'T play. I'm Looking Through You has become a song I actively anticipate, so I hope Lucy continues to do it regularly. Her version is just stunning...it puts me in renewed awe every single time I hear it. The only way she could improve upon it, in my view, would be to sing it twice during every show. At the Birchmere, Lucy made mention of how the last time she'd been there it had been just after last September 11th...a few people clapped to acknowledge that they'd been there then too, but in a quiet way. She thanked us for coming THIS night "despite everything that's going on." Indeed I think the sniper situation had gone through all our minds to some extent...I'd certainly thought about it, traveling to the area, and then as we'd waited in line outside the venue. But it was clear, and someone in the audience even said it, that we were at least as grateful for Lucy's presence as she was for ours. So those were the further Lucy highlights of the weekend, at least the ones I can think of now. Oh, and she DID mention the incredibly strong Yorkshire Tea as we were talking to her in Hightstown! And yesterday morning, as I was in my neighborhood tea and coffee store to pick up my usual supply of regular tea, I saw it...Yorkshire Tea! Imported, packaged in the U.S., but the box insisted it was THE Yorkshire Tea, blended in the dales of Yorkshire (I wish we had dales here...it would sound so much more romantic to live, say, in the dales of Brooklyn). Anyway, I couldn't help it...I had to try some. And it IS darned strong stuff, no doubting that. But I like it. Now I just have to get my hands on some of those bourbon biscuits mentioned here a while ago... Benay ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 20:57:12 -0400 From: "Benay Bubar" Subject: [lucy-list] more on my Lucy weekend: Part 1 So I thought, the list being so quiet, I might pop in with a few more comments to fill out my rather abbreviated (for me) discussion of Lucy's two shows this past weekend. I haven't done so until now because, for various reasons, I haven't been able to summon the cheerfully frenetic mood I usually require for Lucy reviews. Actually, I STILL haven't been able to summon it particularly...but with the only other entertainment option for this evening being The Bachelor on TV (which I am certainly not going to watch, and if I do, I am certainly not going to admit it!), some additional Lucy commentary is seeming preferable. Obviously, I won't go into doing setlists again, so this will be just various notes on the weekend's experience. Sharon's already described Hightstown (a lovely place except that I kept wanting to put another E in all the signs there so it would be Heightstown, which would look much better to me). So I'm going to focus on the Birchmere, though some of my comments on Lucy's actual performance will be applicable to both shows. I took the train Friday night to DC and then the Washington Metro out to Vienna, where I met Libby with no difficulty. With Lucy on the car CD player, we sped off to a delightful lunch at Jammin' Java, a lovely little place with delicious dried-cranberry-laden salad. (They often have music there, as the name implies, though it would be too small a place for Lucy these days.) Then it was on to the Birchmere, where we managed to snag the first spots in line outside. The weather was lovely, so it was a pleasant wait...Libby brought a blanket and yummy brownies we ate with forks...soon we were joined by Joanne and her friend Val, and it was only a matter of time before Libby's guitar came out and we were serenaded by the very talented Libby herself as well as launching into group versions of some Lucy songs (with Lucy, thankfully, nowhere in sight to hear us---we will not be going on the road as a Lucy cover band any time soon, I'm afraid). The Birchmere has a very civilized system for a general-admission venue---at 5, they hand out line numbers, and then you can hang out and relax until 7, when they call you by number for seating for the show. This allowed us to spend the intervening couple of hours in the vast, comfortable bar/lounge that is the outer part of the Birchmere building. Libby and the others played pool, while I bounced around being excited about having made it to Virginia for a Lucy show. I kept looking at the doorway to the actual music area, which had a big sign over it with "Appearing tonight: Lucy Kaplansky" all lit up...I wasn't quite able to believe I was really there. Finally, we were allowed into the actual music area. It's set up somewhat like the Bottom Line, for those who know what that's like...long tables...except that it's more spacious and less cramped and cavelike. Our little group, with our prime line number, snagged a table right in front, and we ate and drank and were merry until it was time for the opening act. That was Commonbond, a female duo from the DC area who were quite enjoyable and would probably have been even more so had I not been so excited about seeing Lucy. (to be continued...) ------------------------------ End of lucy-list-digest V4 #244 ******************************* 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