From: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org (shindell-list-digest) To: shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: shindell-list-digest V5 #201 Reply-To: shindell-list@smoe.org Sender: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk shindell-list-digest Monday, September 22 2003 Volume 05 : Number 201 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [RS] RS in Hartford. [Rongrittz@aol.com] [RS] Boston Folk Festival report [Chris Foxwell > I saw Richard last night at the Music for a Change series in Hartford. A sold out show, a wonderful and intimate set with TONS of material from his forthcoming CD. << Tons? TONS? Tons is good. I wonder if that means there's even newer stuff than "Gray Green," "Che," "Fenario" and "Last Fare." Did anybody from this list go who can fill us in? RG ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 23:46:27 -0400 (EDT) From: Chris Foxwell Subject: [RS] Boston Folk Festival report Hey all, I just thought I'd check in with a recounting of RS's performance at the Boston Folk Festival. It was a beautiful day for the festival (as was the weekend), like a little piece of July showing its face in September. Richard seemed in great spirits, very relaxed and funny, he was in top form. He also played two songs that I had never heard him play before, which is always a treat. His set consisted of the following tunes, in order: 1. Fennario 2. Che Guevarra T-shirt 3. A song sung completely in Spanish, which he prefaced by saying that it was his first attempt to compose in Spanish. I didn't catch the name of the song, not being fluent in the language, but he translated the title as "Simple Song". According to his description, it is a very straightforward and mushy love song. 4. So Says The Whippoorwill 5. Another new one, a fun cover of Pete Seeger's "Waist Deep In The Big Muddy" 6. Arrowhead 7. Are You Happy Now? 8. The Last Fare of the Day (yay!!!) 9. Transit Not bad for an hour-long set. Richard was very relaxed and seemed to be having a lot of fun with the crowd. The festival was held at the UMass Boston campus, which is very close to Logan Airport, and there were planes taking off and landing constantly, to everyone's annoyance; at one point Richard looked up and commented offhandedly "geez, it's like the U.S. Open here", which got a good laugh from those who caught it. (Does Richard plan tennis? Anyone?) He also told a funny story about Arrowhead; apparently half of his family lives in Georgia, and he adopted an exaggerated southern redneck accent when describing how his cousin really liked the piece and wanted more such songs, "but this time where the boy doesn't run!". The only real down part of the performance came in Transit, when Richard forgot some of the words, everything between "bankers and carpenters, doctors and lawyers ... between Minsi and Tammany, and into their destiny...". He recovered very well though, delivering the rest of the song with intensity, and no one seemed to notice (or else they were too polite/impressed to show a reaction). He received a rousing standing ovation after his set, and there were lots and lots of people buying his CDs. (I did my best to offer purchasing advice to potential fans. Just doing my part.) I was particularly moved by "Last Fare of the Day", as I always am--God, what an incredible song--and also by "Che Guevarra T-shirt". This was the third time that I had heard the latter song live, but somehow I was never really hooked by the two previous performances. It's really growing on me, though. By the way, while I was waiting my turn to exchange a few words with Richard, I overheard him confirm to someone else that the new album is targeted for release in February "at the very very earliest." Okay, there's my long-winded report. Great performance, and fabulous festival. Was anyone else present that also saw Shindell later on at the workshop stage? I stayed at the main stage to watch Greg Brown, and I didn't see what Richard did later. - --Chris ------------------------------ End of shindell-list-digest V5 #201 ***********************************