From: owner-small-repairs-digest@smoe.org (small-repairs-digest) To: small-repairs-digest@smoe.org Subject: small-repairs-digest V4 #101 Reply-To: small-repairs@smoe.org Sender: owner-small-repairs-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-small-repairs-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk small-repairs-digest Thursday, August 3 2000 Volume 04 : Number 101 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [s-r] Shawn at the Birchmere review [metcalfe@hn.va.nec.com] Re: [s-r] Shawn at the Birchmere review ["Home" ] RE: [s-r] Shawn at the Birchmere review [Susan Krauss Subject: Re: [s-r] Shawn at the Birchmere review Sounds like a non Shawn fan to me. Just another crank who doesn't appreciate a real entertainer. Part of entertaining is interacting with the audience which is rarely seen these days. Sammy - ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2000 11:24 AM Subject: [s-r] Shawn at the Birchmere review > Friends, > > Shawn is currently playing a 3 night gig at the Birchmere. All three nights > have sold out. At $45 a pop, I very reluctantly popped Live 88 into my CD > player and stayed home this time. However, I thought some of you might be > interested in the mixed review the Washington Post gave. I'd be interested > in the insight of anyone else who attended this show. > > Shawn Colvin, With a Lot on Her Mind > > Shawn Colvin appears to be suffering from a sort of singer's block. > Through much of her Monday night show, the platinum-tinged pop folkie was > more intent on hosting a chat session than a concert.Colvin sings in > delicate, generally hushed tones, making her far better suited to clubs the > size of the Birchmere (where she opened a sold-out, solo, three-night > stand) than the large halls and amphitheaters that she can now fill. But > along with a guitar, Colvin came to the stage with a lot of nonmusical > matters on her mind. > At 42, she has a young child and is struggling with record label politics > while trying to get her next CD out. She also admitted having real fears > that her new material isn't any good. So she let her speaking voice, a less > lilting, "Fargo"-esque instrument left over from her South Dakota > childhood, fill the intimate surroundings for most of her nearly two-hour > set. > There were some fine musical moments. Renditions of the Alison Krauss-like > "I Don't Know Why" (from 1992's "Fat City") and her gender-reversed cover > of Steve Earle's wondrous "Someday" were spare and beautiful. She showed > off her perfect pitch while ending both "Shotgun Down the Avalanche" and > the Grammy-winning "Sunny Came Home" by humming a simple melody line over > her guitar strumming for several bars. And, contrary to her worries, "A > Matter of Minutes," an offering that will be on her next CD, was very > favorably received. > But in the end, those moments were overwhelmed by the chatter. For her > encore, Colvin told a long tale about breast-feeding. > > To view the entire article, go to > http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21326-2000Aug2.html > > Phillip Metcalfe > metcalfe@hn.va.nec.com > Sterling, VA > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > To unsubscribe from the list send mail to majordomo@smoe.org with 'unsub > scribe small-repairs' in the message body. FAQ & other info: http://www. > tisd.net/~casey/shawn/small_repairs.html *REMEMBER* all posts not > directly related to Shawn must have the tag 'NSC:' is their subject line > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from the list send mail to majordomo@smoe.org with 'unsub scribe small-repairs' in the message body. FAQ & other info: http://www. tisd.net/~casey/shawn/small_repairs.html *REMEMBER* all posts not directly related to Shawn must have the tag 'NSC:' is their subject line - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Aug 2000 13:41:08 -0400 (EDT) From: Susan Krauss Subject: RE: [s-r] Shawn at the Birchmere review I have permission from the author to forward this email to the list. She originally posted it on the MCC list. This email indicates that Shawn talked about being "available." As late as June she was talking about travelling with her husband to the show I saw at Villa Montalvo - so if she is available it's very recent. From: mcclist-approval@world.std.com Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2000 6:00 AM To: MCCList (E-mail) Subject: MCCLIST: Last Night - OH MY GOD! - Long Well folks, I had the unbelievable pleasure of attending The Birchmere last night. It was probably the 2nd most fabulous concert I have ever been too! (The first was a private party where CSN performed at a mansion in LA). Having never been to The Birch before, I didn't really know what to expect. It is fantastic! First up was Michelle Ferrick. She seemed very, very nervous when she came out and was a bundle of energy. A really great guitar player, I was surprised to learn that she already has 5 cd's out. After the first song, she seemed to relax somewhat but was still all over the place - literally bouncing. In fact, the lyrics to one song mentioned that at times she is intense and the audience chuckled a bit. She is very much in the Shawn Colvin spirit and will also be performing at Newport. Worth a listen. Now for those of you familiar with The Birch (and those that aren't), I was sitting just behind the railing off stage right. Just before Shawn came on stage, a table was set up in front of me w/ four chairs. As the lights were going down, MCC hustled in w/ two gentleman and a young lady. My guess is the woman was Melissa but I don't know for sure. No idea who the gentlemen were. I have only seen Shawn once before in concert (at George Mason w/ MCC a number of years ago) but didn't truly appreciate how funny she is. Appearing confident and self-assured on stage and with healthy doses of self-deprecating humor, she was a joy to watch. She mentioned that she had performed the night before at The Birch and a few people applauded. She jokingly said she hates when she has "repeat offenders" because what appeared witty and off-the-cuff the first night now appears rehearsed and less spontaneous. She then said she would try and mix up her set "and not perform the same stuff as the night before - after all, she has her pride." After an hour of hits and stories (including the song she wrote for The Simpsons - complete with the information that she will be a recurring character and might be doing the nasty w/ Ned Flanders and some funny stuff about opening for Sting), she mentioned that we may have noticed there was another microphone set up on stage. Well, her good friend MCC was supposed to show up and perform with her but she didn't show. She went on and on about what a rotten friend she was (I suppose this was funnier for those of us sitting near her, knowing she WAS there). Shawn then asked the audience how she should deal with a friend like that. The audience suggested "dumping her," etc. Someone shouted out that Shawn should perform MCC's songs badly. She seemed to like this idea and preceeded to sing I Feel Lucky as a bluegrass song (this went back to an earlier riff about bluegrass). MCC then bounded on stage to mock-strangle Shawn. Apparently, MCC was supposed to arrive on stage much earlier but was "enjoying the show and wanted to see how far Shawn would go." For the next hour or so, the two chatted and sang together. It was sublime. I guess that Shawn told the audience on Monday night that MCC would be there the next night. The audience then reminded her of bits of business from past shows including movie dialogue that the two would spout. Shawn reminded MCC of this last night and they then spent the rest of the evening reliving movie dialogue. Most of this was a riot but of particular interest was MCC's take on Sunny Came Home. Now Shawn has said that the song was inspired by the painting that is on the album cover. MCC then told the story of how she heard the tape of the song w/o seeing or knowing of the painting. At the time Shawn was heavily into Reversal of Fortune. MCC thought that the song referred to the movie and that Sunny von Bulow was plotting her revenge in her head. This lead to a very funny rendition of the song, complete with movie lines interspersed. I am sure that people who really like the song were a bit peeved that they were laughing and joking their way through it but I loved it. Other discussions included why the call each other Oprah and Neil Finn. MCC said that she met him when she was in Australia last year. She carries a picture taken of the two of them in her wallet. They then sang a Neil Finn song. Shawn also graciously allowed Chapin to perform one of her new songs. I don't know the name but it is about the huge moon in Rome and letting someone go to be someone else's dream. It was a lovely, lovely song sung with such intimacy . I know the rules about discussing their private lives but since Shawn made much of it last night, I thought I would include it. Shawn mentioned that both of them were available at the moment and that she was thinking of having the two of them go to a video-dating service. In fact, she jokingly said that there was a crew in the house. At this, MCC turned all kinds of red (and commented that her face was so red it hurt). Shawn then said that her life consisted of meeting someone, breaking up and writing songs about it. She briefly mentioned her child and how much harder it was to find time to write. She then performed two new songs - and forgot the words on both. For the encore, they invited John Jennings on stage where they performed another new MCC song. John played Shawn's guitar and they both sang backup. For those of you who are more familiar with her new songs, you probably know what this was. I do not - and really think of any of the lyrics to help w/ identification. Some important information gleaned from last night: 1) MCC returns to the studio in November to start work on her new album. Shawn mentioned something about MCC touring Europe in the Fall and she said she has decided not to in favor of returning to the studio. (Sorry for those of you looking forward to this) 2) Shawn and MCC are going to start work on an album together soon. Well, I think that's it. As I said, it was a fantastic night and The Birchmere is a wonderful place to listen to music. Linda (still glowing in VA) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from the list send mail to majordomo@smoe.org with 'unsub scribe small-repairs' in the message body. FAQ & other info: http://www. tisd.net/~casey/shawn/small_repairs.html *REMEMBER* all posts not directly related to Shawn must have the tag 'NSC:' is their subject line - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Aug 2000 15:24:34 -0500 From: "Dave Short" Subject: RE: [s-r] Shawn at the Birchmere review I'm as big a Shawn fan out there, and I *do* love her stories in concert. However, she DOES go overboard at times. One show she played here at Ravinia in Chicago was probably half talking and such, and it was especially inappropriate for the venue, where people are out on the lawn and can't hear much but the singing. I've love to see her on a talk show or something -- she is hilarious. But when I pay money to hear her concerts, I'd prefer to hear her sing! Dave > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-small-repairs@smoe.org > [mailto:owner-small-repairs@smoe.org]On Behalf Of Home > Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2000 9:57 AM > To: metcalfe@hn.va.nec.com; small-repairs@smoe.org > Subject: Re: [s-r] Shawn at the Birchmere review > > > Sounds like a non Shawn fan to me. Just another crank who doesn't appreciate > a real entertainer. Part of entertaining is interacting with the audience > which is rarely seen these days. > > Sammy > ----- Original Message ----- > From: > To: > Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2000 11:24 AM > Subject: [s-r] Shawn at the Birchmere review > > > > Friends, > > > > Shawn is currently playing a 3 night gig at the Birchmere. All three > nights > > have sold out. At $45 a pop, I very reluctantly popped Live 88 into my CD > > player and stayed home this time. However, I thought some of you might be > > interested in the mixed review the Washington Post gave. I'd be interested > > in the insight of anyone else who attended this show. > > > > Shawn Colvin, With a Lot on Her Mind - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from the list send mail to majordomo@smoe.org with 'unsub scribe small-repairs' in the message body. FAQ & other info: http://www. tisd.net/~casey/shawn/small_repairs.html *REMEMBER* all posts not directly related to Shawn must have the tag 'NSC:' is their subject line - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ End of small-repairs-digest V4 #101 *********************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from the list send mail to majordomo@smoe.org with 'unsub scribe small-repairs-digest' in the message body. FAQ & other info: http ://www.tisd.net/~casey/shawn/small_repairs.html *REMEMBER* all posts not directly related to Shawn must have the tag 'NSC:' is their subject line ------------------------------------------------------------------------