From: owner-trajectory-digest@smoe.org (trajectory-digest) To: trajectory-digest@smoe.org Subject: trajectory-digest V2 #117 Reply-To: trajectory@smoe.org Sender: owner-trajectory-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-trajectory-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk trajectory-digest Monday, November 23 1998 Volume 02 : Number 117 Today's Subjects: ----------------- news [meredith ] my week with veda [meredith ] my week with veda, part 3 [meredith ] my week with veda, part 4 [meredith ] my week with veda, part 2 [meredith ] Re: my week with veda [Michael Curry ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 22:19:09 -0500 From: meredith Subject: news Hi! Okay, so a couple tidbits of info: - -- I don't know if Veda's performing in Toronto tomorrow (Monday) night, but that's where she's going to be. Those in the area might want to check the local listings just to be sure. - -- From Wednesday 11/25 through Saturday 11/28, Veda and the band will be providing the live musical accompaniment to Mascall Dance's Vancouver performances of _The Brutal Telling_. The number to call for more info is on the Trajectory news page: . If anyone goes, please report every detail! (Veda said she's not sure, but she thinks there's a chance she might do other performances of the work with Mascall Dance elsewhere in Canada next year - maybe Toronto, possibly Montreal. Nothing is even close to concrete yet though.) - -- Last Thursday's Mercury Lounge show was recorded for webcast in its entirety at on January 8. I'll post further details as I get them. - -- Recording for the new album will take place in January. Veda will be in New York City for a few days that month to do some recording, and she hopes to set up a solo gig while she's in town. Again, stay tuned here for info. That's more than enough from me for now ... thanks for listening! +==========================================================================+ | Meredith Tarr meth@smoe.org | | New Haven, CT USA http://www.smoe.org/~meth | +==========================================================================+ | "things are more beautiful when they're obscure" -- veda hille | | *** TRAJECTORY, the Veda Hille mailing list: *** | | *** http://www.smoe.org/meth/trajectory.html *** | +==========================================================================+ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 20:35:23 -0500 From: meredith Subject: my week with veda Hi! I know I'm not the only listmember to have seen Veda perform this past week. Oh well, guess you'll all just have to take my side of the story and view it as truth, then. :) This has been, in a word, one amazing week. Four shows in five days. Veda called me a "maniac", but I'd like to think she meant that in the best, most positive way. :) Warning: this is going to be long! I'll break it up into parts so you don't get too crosseyed reading it all. PART THE FIRST: In which I remind myself why I didn't apply to WPI Things kicked off in Worcester on Tuesday night, at a coffeehouse at WPI. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make it, as rainy weather and bad traffic conspired against us, but once I found out that the show was starting at 8, not 7 as the clueless boy who'd given me directions had said, I decided to try it. woj and I got there just before 8, and found about 6 people waiting for the show to begin. The omens weren't good from the start. This Tuesday night coffeehouse series usually features acoustic artists, who play mellow music while a few students hang out and play board games and drink coffee and avoid work. Apparently none of the organizers at WPI were clear on the fact that Veda was going to be with her band until they all showed up, so there wasn't a PA system or anything set up, though they were able to scrape up some equipment and find enough channels in the board to plug everything in. There wasn't hardly any monitor sound on stage, and Veda warned me when we got there that the sound was going to suck, but we sat right in front of one of the speakers and it was actually pretty good. It's a good thing woj and I did make it, because with us and Jeff Wasilko in the audience, that meant that 3 people were paying attention. There were a couple other people who seemed to be there just to hear the music, but the other 6 or 7 students who wandered in clearly were regulars who were there to play games, and didn't give a damn about what was going on around them. This was especially evident at the table right next to us, where the kids were playing some game that involved a lot of rattling of what sounded like coins or little rocks, and apparently required a lot of animated discussion. I didn't really want to say anything to them, though, since I figured they were probably more disrupted by Veda than I was by them. Besides, when Ford Pier really got going all other noise was obscured anyway. :) Despite the weird environment, Veda and the boys did a great set. It was the longest I'd ever seen her play (about 1 hour 15 mins). Let's see if I can remember the set list (I'm not even going to try to get it in order): Small INSTRUCTIONS The Indian/Boat Ride to Skidegate/Strange, Sad Woo's Exotic Theme/Titles Hearts, Hearts/15 Years Bellyfish Sweet Greenery To And From Ira Song for Snake One Hot Summer With No Caring Driven 26 Years Neighborhood Song Slumber Queen There was a lot more from _Here Is A Picture_ than I'd been expecting, and it was wonderful. The sequence in which "The Indian" went into "Boat Ride To Skidegate" (with Ford doing the cello melody on electric guitar and e-bow), then into "Strange, Sad" utterly slew me. I'd been looking forward to finally seeing Ford Pier with the band with some trepidation, since I've heard from others that he's a bit much, but I was pleasantly surprised. He's totally over the top, true, but for the most part it works. (I was also surprised by just how cute he is. He looks exactly like the guy who plays Julius Caesar on Xena, no joke. :) "Hearts, hearts" done on piano instead of guitar was really interesting, and I think I like it better that way. The full-band version of "INSTRUCTIONS" was wonderfully funky, and "Bellyfish" was downright haunting, starting with Barry playing a little melody on the xylophone for a few measures before Veda came in on her brand-new electric 4-string. It was a good show, but I felt sorry for Veda and the band. I think the whole evening would've worked out a lot better if either the WPI folks had been expecting the full band, or if Veda had just gone solo. Definitely a communication breakdown there somewhere. (continued in next rock) +==========================================================================+ | Meredith Tarr meth@smoe.org | | New Haven, CT USA http://www.smoe.org/~meth | +==========================================================================+ | "things are more beautiful when they're obscure" -- veda hille | | *** TRAJECTORY, the Veda Hille mailing list: *** | | *** http://www.smoe.org/meth/trajectory.html *** | +==========================================================================+ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 20:35:32 -0500 From: meredith Subject: my week with veda, part 3 PART THE THIRD: live at the house of smoe Friday was crazy. When your supreme musical goddess and a couple dozen people are coming over that night, you gotta make sure the house is clean. :} I'd decided to make dinner instead of wimp out and order pizza or something (even though this being New Haven, that's a natural thing to do), so on top of everything else I had to do that too. But somehow it all worked out, we got the furniture rearranged and the shopping done, and the stew was simmering by 6:00, when I'd planned to have everything ready. Because of the nasty weather and the fact that it was Friday the traffic was bad coming from all directions, so everyone including Veda was a bit late, but it worked out fine. We got the keyboard set up and dinner served to everyone who wanted it before the guests really started to arrive. There was a period of mingling and eating and drinking, and the performance started at 8:30. I've had a little time to process the evening, and I'm still trying to find an adequate way to express just what it's like to be sitting in your own living room watching the musician you admire the most play in front of you. (If I ever succeed, I'll let you all know.) While it was happening I was trying to focus, but it was hard because I was also making sure everyone was enjoying themselves and trying to remember just what it was I'd forgotten to put on the munchies table (turned out to be the hummus, but since someone had brought some of their own it didn't matter). Here's what I think the set list was: New song (can't remember words to make up a title) New song (something about good sex :) Kill Zone Meeting the Group of Seven 26 Years Born Lucky Small Weight Clumsy The new song that starts "god beat down my door" Hearts, Hearts Pause 15 Years Bellyfish Peculiar Value I think that's it. (If anyone else remembers differently, please let me know - I really want to be able to remember this clearly!) While she was making up the set list, Veda said that she was happy to have a chance to play her new stuff, and some other things she hasn't had a chance to play in a while because the set lists with the band have been pretty regular lately. I'd asked for "Meeting the Group of 7" and "26 Years", as well as "Born Lucky". My friend Don had already requested "Small Weight" after the show the night before, which she remembered. That one was amazing - I don't think I'd ever heard her do that. I realized afterwards that I'd wanted to ask her to play "Rhapsody", but forgot. Oh well. Veda played completely unplugged, with no microphone and her piano turned down, just monitor, no amp needed. As a result of this her voice started to get really tired by the end of the hour, and she was constantly asking if the people in the back of the room could hear, which we all could. She told me afterwards that if she does this again she'll have to think about using some sort of amplification, as much as she hates the idea for such an intimate performance, simply to save her voice. I agree - it's not ideal, but it might be necessary. She sounded great until the end, though. As for the new songs: folks, the new album is going to be incredible. I can't wait to hear how everything will be arranged. A couple of the new ones, "Kill Zone" and the one she played at the Mercury Lounge are already worked out for full band and they're wonderful. I hope "Born Lucky" stays just a piano song, though - it's perfect just the way it is. "Peculiar Value" is her current favorite, and it's so new not even Emily, her manager had heard it before Friday night. It's right behind "Born Lucky" on my scale of the new ones. The phrase comes from a clause in her record contract, which reads in part, "artist acknowledges that her work is of a peculiar value...". She's wondering if other contracts say this, or if that was put in there just for her. :) The line got her thinking about worth and value, and the song came out of that. It's a beautiful piano arrangement. There were some people there who hadn't heard any of her music before (including 3 friends of mine from work - talk about cognitive dissonance!), and for the most part I think she was a hit. Several more hadn't seen her play live - what an introduction! (Veda's comment about that, "suckers!" was immediately dismissed by the three of us who were there at the time to hear it. ;) She sold a lot of the CDs she'd brought with her. There was a nice little party afterwards, people hung out and listened to music and didn't eat nearly enough food. Veda left around 10:30. I still can't believe *she* was thanking *me* for setting this up - I really just wanted to throw myself down at her feet and try to express my gratitude, but I figured that'd be a bit much, so I refrained. :) Thanks again to everyone who came. I hope to get a chance to do this again someday - I have a few other artists in mind, and if Veda's up for it again she knows she can play in my living room any time. :) (concluded in the next rock) +==========================================================================+ | Meredith Tarr meth@smoe.org | | New Haven, CT USA http://www.smoe.org/~meth | +==========================================================================+ | "things are more beautiful when they're obscure" -- veda hille | | *** TRAJECTORY, the Veda Hille mailing list: *** | | *** http://www.smoe.org/meth/trajectory.html *** | +==========================================================================+ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 22:12:32 -0500 From: meredith Subject: my week with veda, part 4 PART THE LAST: In which the Stamford Folk Community gets a rude awakening Last night was the "Not Famous Yet" show at the Acoustic Studio in Stamford, CT. This was the second in a new series set up to showcase up-and-coming artists. The Acoustic Studio is a great space - it's a television studio at the Stamford Center for the Arts, with good lighting and excellent acoustics and professional sound. They set up little tables with candles and incense, and art by local artists hangs on the walls and it's just a wonderful room. Most everyone in the audience was seeing all three artists completely cold - the venue itself has a following that's been steadily growing since it opened last year, and now it's pretty much guaranteed to be a packed house no matter who's on the bill. I'm interested to see if that's going to remain the case after last night. ;> First up were Lori McKenna and then Jess Klein, who both did 30-minute sets. I'd never heard of Lori McKenna, but apparently she's quite in demand in her native Boston, where she doesn't have much time for gigs due to familial and work obligations. She was really good - vocals strongly reminiscent of Patty Griffin (though without the constant screaming quality that completely turns me off Griffin's work), and adequate acoustic guitar strumming underneath it all. I wasn't moved to buy a CD, but I'd definitely see her play again if she were to turn up on a bill with someone else of interest. I'd been looking forward to finally getting a chance to see Jess Klein, since I've been hearing a lot of buzz about her over on the Nields Nook. If I hadn't been in NYC on Thursday, I would've been up at my alma mater in Middletown to see her play at the WestCo Coffeehouse. I have to say I was a bit disappointed. She has a great voice - sort of like a more classically trained Karen Peris - and a goofy, Ani DiFranco-like stage presence, but I found my attention wandering about halfway through each of her songs, no matter how hard I tried to stay with her. Everything sounded the same, and I was unconsciously drawing up lists in my head of people she sounds like, most of whom do it better. She's young, though, and hopefully with time her earnestness will turn into something engaging. I haven't written her off by a long shot - maybe if I see her when I'm not anxiously awaiting the main attraction she'll click. After intermission, the main event began. The place was packed - I found out afterwards that the final count was 130, and it really was a fire dept. nightmare in there. I'd warned Veda that this was going to be very much a Folk Crowd (tm), and when Emily mentioned at intermission that they had "Kill Zone" on the set list I was gleefully looking forward to the sheer subversiveness of it all. As soon as she walked on stage, I knew by the glint in Veda's eye that we were in for a killer set. Seasoned Bellyfish Precious Heart Sweet The Indian/Boat Ride to Skidegate/Strange, Sad Kill Zone Hearts, Hearts 15 Years A song by No Means No (something about a river) working Noah's Ark The new song that starts, "god beat down my door" to and from Ira Slumber Queen (encore) One Hot Summer Peculiar Value The encores almost didn't happen - even before the final cacophonous screeching sounds of Ford's guitar at the end of "Slumber Queen" had died away, people were literally falling over themselves to get to the door. I seriously thought someone had yelled "FIRE!". A bunch of us clapped for a while, then we saw the exodus behind us and gave up. After a few seconds a couple of women at the table in front of us shrugged and started clapping again, and those of us who cared took it up until the band came back out and Veda asked, "You sure?" By that time there were about 30 people left, most of whom were right up front and were clearly still there because there hadn't been time for them to make their way out. Those of us who cared yelled Yes!, and Veda said "Okay - but the rest of you can leave if you want, don't feel guilty." I do have to give the audience credit, though: not one person left before the main set was over, and everyone listened politely and quietly throughout. Of the band shows I saw this week, this was by far the best. I've never heard Veda's voice so strong and assured, and she and the band were *on*. Plus, the sound was perfect. We got there a bit early and Rich, the organizer of the Acoustic Studio pointed out the middle table to us, saying that the sound was all focused there, so that's where we should sit. He was right. Yow. The full-band version of "Kill Zone" was head-bangingly amazing, and the No Means No cover was great. That's when I was sure the whole set had been designed for maximum freakout value: there we were in the premiere acoustic music venue in Connecticut, listening to a cover of a punk song. It was truly a thing of beauty. It was great to get a second chance to hear "Peculiar Value", too - I had a chance to really listen to it, and now I'm more anxious than ever to hear the new album. (Recording is scheduled for January, and Emily guessed it might be out by the fall. Yay.) I do think that if (when?) Rich has Veda back in Stamford, there will be a few people at the show - when she started the show with "Seasoned", which is the song she performed with the Connecticut Ballet last spring some folks in the audience appeared to know it, and there were a few people who were clearly getting into the whole thing. I don't know if it'll be the standing room only situation of last night, but I'm hoping there will be an opportunity to see if anyone comes back. So now it's time to crash. If anyone managed to catch the Philly or D.C. shows, please report. I've got some news I've gathered - next and final post of the evening. +==========================================================================+ | Meredith Tarr meth@smoe.org | | New Haven, CT USA http://www.smoe.org/~meth | +==========================================================================+ | "things are more beautiful when they're obscure" -- veda hille | | *** TRAJECTORY, the Veda Hille mailing list: *** | | *** http://www.smoe.org/meth/trajectory.html *** | +==========================================================================+ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 20:35:11 -0500 From: meredith Subject: my week with veda, part 2 PART THE SECOND: In which I discover that the girl can rock, and witness an extraordinary conversion Thursday night was the Mercury Lounge in NYC, with Mila Drumke on in the slot beforehand. It had been months since I'd seen Mila, and I was disappointed to see that despite all promises to the contrary she still hasn't written any new songs, but it was still good to see her play again. A lot of people stuck around after her set was over to see Veda, too, which was good. The room was pretty full when she took the stage. There was a pretty big space between the first row of people and the stage (which Veda commented on later: "good to see you all keeping a healthy distance - I do spit, you know"), and I ended up in front by no fault of my own. This set kicked ass. Now let's see if my brain will work again: INSTRUCTIONS (Either a new song heavily influenced by Nick Cave or a Nick Cave cover, I wasn't sure which and forgot to ask) The new song with the "I'll take care of you" chorus, which really kicked with the full band 26 Years The Indian/Boat Ride to Skidegate/Noah's Ark Bellyfish One Hot Summer With No Caring 15 Years Sweet Woo's Exotic Theme/Titles Slumber Queen (encore) Jackson Five song (in honor of the birthday of someone in the audience named Renee) - I can never remember the title, but it's the one that goes "Oh baby give me one more chance ... let love back into your heart". (This was absolutely hilarious.) Driven Our tape didn't come out well for some reason - the whole thing sounds like it's under water. :( I'll try to remember to update the set list into the correct order the next time I have a chance to listen to it, though. The crowd was really into it, and the band was having fun, too. Ford was nuttier than before, and Martin even cracked a smile at one point! (I don't think Veda quite believed woj when he reported that to her later. :) A friend of ours had dragged along a friend of his from San Francisco who happened to be in town. She hadn't heard either Mila nor Veda before, and she thought Mila was good, but she completely and utterly flipped over Veda. She bought as many CDs as she could and plans to go to the show in San Francisco next month. Another convert! Yay. For me, the whole thing was definitely worth getting home at 3 am. :) As I commented to someone as the last strains of "Driven" were fading away: People shouldn't be allowed to be that good. It's dangerous. (continued in the next rock) +==========================================================================+ | Meredith Tarr meth@smoe.org | | New Haven, CT USA http://www.smoe.org/~meth | +==========================================================================+ | "things are more beautiful when they're obscure" -- veda hille | | *** TRAJECTORY, the Veda Hille mailing list: *** | | *** http://www.smoe.org/meth/trajectory.html *** | +==========================================================================+ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 22:43:11 -0500 From: Michael Curry Subject: Re: my week with veda At 08:35 PM 11/22/98 -0500, meredith wrote: >I know I'm not the only listmember to have seen Veda perform this past >week. Oh well, guess you'll all just have to take my side of the story >and view it as truth, then. :) Well, I was at two of the four shows (though I had intended to be at three and am rather bitter that I wasn't), and I can testify that the show in Meredith's living room and the one in Stamford were ever bit as wonderful in their respective ways as she described them. Both are definitely among the top five live music experiences I've had this year (and it's been a damn good year) and rank way up near the top on the all-time list too. So though she might be a maniac, Meredith really isn't exaggerating how amazing seeing Veda was! Mike ------------------------------ End of trajectory-digest V2 #117 ********************************