From: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org (shindell-list-digest) To: shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: shindell-list-digest V8 #174 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 Thursday, November 9 2006 Volume 08 : Number 174 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [RS] Notes from the Wednesday 11/8 show at Club Passim ["Chris Foxwell" <] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 9 Nov 2006 02:51:12 -0500 From: "Chris Foxwell" Subject: [RS] Notes from the Wednesday 11/8 show at Club Passim Hi gang, here are the set list and assorted other notes from the show tonight. It was a terrific performance. Richard was on fire, and the crowd had lots of energy...in no small part because of the big gains made by the Democrats today. The folk scene up in Boston is pretty much as liberal as you can get, so everyone was pretty pumped, including Richard. His pre-show and between-song banter was more politically charged, and barbed, than I've ever heard before, and he was loving it. (So were we.) Sorry for bringing up politics, but it was a very palpable part of the show, and of the songs. Just being a good reporter. :) A few things worth mentioning: - --the new record still has no official release date, and is still untitled, as Richard confirmed to me after the show. However, as of Tuesday, he has officially finalized negotiations with a record company. - --Richard may be living in New York come the fall, on the upper west side. He announced as much to the audience, emphasizing "may," and when I was hanging around after the show I overheard him say to Antje Duvekot--who was sitting right next to me in the audience the whole time, which was pretty damn cool--that the move had something to do with his wife and Columbia University, but that nothing was certain yet. I felt kinda uncomfortable eavesdropping on their conversation, so I moved away and didn't hear any more. - --Mavis the canary, sadly deceased, has been replaced by Gloria. ("There Goes Gloria"? Eh...) Right, on with the set list... 1. Beyond The Iron Gate. The first verse was absolutely the perfect opener for the political situation, as felt by everyone present: "First warm day in all these months / All the sunlight made me drunk...". You could truly feel the audience's emotional response to those lines, especially following Richard's opening remarks. I can't describe it, it was just really powerful. Great choice for an opener, made especially funny by the exceptionally nasty and rainy weather in Boston right now. 2. Waist Deep in the Big Muddy: an obvious follow-up. Richard dedicated the song to Donald Rumsfeld. It was very driven and powerful. 3. There Goes Mavis, on the electric guitar. Awesome, as always. 4. Fishing, on the electric guitar, with the slow, melodic interpretation that he seems to favor lately. 5. So Says The Whippoorwill, complete with the Father Brown verse. 6. Cold Missouri Waters, flawless. 7. A new song that he's still working on. He didn't mention the title, but it concerns a street juggler/performer--in New York, I think--who falls in love with a woman driving a car. She ignores him, and he forever looks for her, relating/devoting all of his future performances to her. (Switching from juggling knives to flaming bowling pins for her, etc.) I'd love to hear more of this. 8. Lazy. First time I've ever heard him perform this live. The crowd ate it up. 9. You Again 10. Senor, on electric guitar 11. Che Guevara T-Shirt, on electric guitar. Not quite as powerful as I've come to expect. (Perhaps due to the verse he missed, heh.) 12. Cancion Sencilla, minus any sort of intro interpretation/explanation. 13. Fenario, not on the electric guitar. It still kicked ass. Richard's piano lessons have certainly not weakened his guitar skills. 14. Sitting On Top of the World 15. Are You Happy Now, a fast and upbeat version, in a departure from the somber interpretation he used a lot last year. One change I noticed was the substitution of the word "life" for "money," in "But it's your money have some fun." 16. Last Fare of the Day 17. Transit, absolutely flawless. God, I love that song. One very amusing change: instead of the normal "Ashcroft Republicans" that he usually substitutes for "Reagan Republicans," he sang "Bill Frist Republicans" followed by "Ashcroft Militiamen," to enthusiastic reply. 18. Encore: Reunion Hill, emotional and beautiful. All in all, a tremendous show, although while chatting afterwards Richard said that the electric guitar just hasn't been working for him lately. Coulda fooled me. :) I'll be at Thursday's show as well, so I'll report back with that set list soon. (Assuming anyone actually reads all the way through these, heh...) - --Chris - -- "We were born in a dark age out of due time (for us). But there is this comfort: otherwise we should not know, or so much love, what we do love. I imagine the fish out of water is the only fish to have an inkling of water." - --J.R.R. Tolkien ------------------------------ End of shindell-list-digest V8 #174 ***********************************