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Hello peeps —
Your somewhat sleepy and road-weary (Boy that’s the last time I drive to Beantown solo! Whew…The 70 mile drive to the Egg on Thurs. will seem like a walk in the park compared to last night’s 130 mile-one wayer…) narrator here with a hopefully coherent and informative mini-review and setlist from the Lee Berk Perf. Center, aka “Berserklee” a la BH. (A note about the setlist — if you remembered your pen and pad to jot everything down in correct order, feel free to add corrections. I”m doing this from memory, which as we know, is SO reliable
)— Sticks
— Funhouse
— Levitate
— Invisible
— Walk in The Sun (great drum/bass/piano improv)
— ShadowHand (on the dulcimer!)
— Snoop Dogg Town
— Mandolin R (minor key, with a breezy quasi-Windham Hill quality)
— Dreamland
— Boo R (fantastically out Sonny solo)
— Spider F>Q&A>Spider
— Way It Is (solo, then a semi-ska style until the end)
encore
— Space Place
— Here We Are>End of The Innoc.>HereJust goes to show you every show is truly different — a bit subdued (BH remarked about the ‘ballady’ — my word, not his — nature of the set after one lady yelled out “Fields of Gray” and another “Halcyon Days” immediately after or around “Dreamland”) but not without many hot moments — “Walk,” “Spider,” etc, and somewhat shorter playing time than I expected but what the hell…it still rocked.
Like I said, feel free to correct my hazy memory and questionable subjective judgements 😆
Can’t wait for the Egg on Thursday.T
Will —
Thanks for the reality checks; I encountered similar ones not long after posting. (I blame it on the fact that BH has temporarily lifted the taper ban, and the subsequent excitement said announcement generated…
)Upon doing a few searches, I came to the somewhat saddening conclusion that me taping just a few shows would be diminishing returns indeed — I don’t see too many shows anymore (have lost interest in most pop acts) so purchasing new equipment just wouldn’t be worth it…unless I took a career as a p.i. and/or an eavesdropper, i.e. quite unlikely. 😆 Not to mention I get cranky having to tote even my wallet, cell, keys and other miscellanea to concerts…put a few beers in me and any extra bits and bobs would become crazily annoying. They might even get in the way of actually enjoying the show! 😮
I guess I’ll just have to keep hitting up people who tape (and/or who manage to finagle soundboards) with a bit of regularity,
Much appreciated,
T
Victor wrote:It’s funny … I think “Space” is about my 8th-favorite song on the record (though they did a great job with it on the TV show). But it’s a shame Bruce couldn’t play Black Rats, Prairie Dog, Cyclone or Continents on Leno.Bruce mentioned in one of the (WaPost?) newspaper articles that the Leno appearance wouldn’t have happened without Clapton. 😥
I agree with Vic — woulda been nice to see “Rats” or “Cyclone” or “Continents”…but hey, Clapton’s not on those, right? Although I’m sure if BH would’ve asked him, he would’ve soloed over just about anything
Thanks for posting that link, Allisa —
T
That’s kind of a bummer for those of us who are still stuck in outdated and/or different brand modes of attaining our audio pleasures, like cds…or downloading singles, not purchasing the album all over again just to get an extra track. If the latter is in fact correct. 🙄
T
I knew that “Calvin Broadus” sounded familiar. Should we expect Snoop fans at BH shows now? 😆
“Snoop Dogg Town”?
T
Got my copy on release day, and I gotta say that the cd definitely sounds better coming thru a stereo than a stream coming thru a laptop or desktop…
That said, most of the tunes have yet to grow on me. “Here” is my certain fave — the lyrics and music more than convey what I seem to understand BH wanting them to, evocative and haunting but strangely uplifting! IMHO! “Rats” and “Drift” I’m digging on, as well. The rest, well….
Who knows, perhaps in time…it’s hap’d to us all: the album you just couldn’t get, but a couple of months later, BLAMMO!
But if not, they can’t ALL be zingers (thanks, Primus title!) and there’s always BH’s next platter that matters…Trey
I keep planning on setting aside 2 hours to watch “Dad” at Amazon (have to admit that’s convenient. Like Molo3 sez, plenty o’ beer drinking in THIS theater)…but between baseball season and kid #3 arriving last week, I haven’t had much time…
I usually catch up on movies during Netflix season, sorry…FOOTBALL season. Hopefully “Dad” is better than Bobcat’s “Shakes The Clown.” I Nflix’d it, managed to watch when no baseball was on, and while the premise had much promise (I mean, spoofing on stereotypically nasty clowns, shady bars, suburban kids parties, mimes, etc, reeks of potential) the work itself just wasn’t very good…and I’d never been a fan of the late ’80s/early ’90s “weird, shouty-angry white goofball” a la Bobcat and Sam Kinison. However, it was a trip to see Tom “Spongebob” Kenny as the evil rival clown, Kathy Griffin as Julie Brown’s co-worker, Florence Henderson as a one-night standee, and Robin Williams at the very end as a mime instructor.
T
Re: I Only Have One Thing To Say
You must be both a psychic and a soothsayer, because I have yet to click that link…
By the way, what did I have for dinner tonight? 😆
T
Ah yes, the rat tail! Or as BH called it (if I remember correctly, on one of the Munck shows): “that damn lil’ Slinky”…. 😆
In his defense, not that it’s much of one…but many peeps had them back “in the day,” which seemed to run from about 1982 to 1988 or so. Mostly new wavers and skate rats and soccer jocks, at least in my part of (my native) north Tampa area. And Neil Peart. And oh yeah, BH!
I never had one. No, really. I did have a vile and hideous spike, though 😳
What’s more interesting, the rat tail or the songwriting?
T
Victor wrote:I noticed the playlist is down to 2 songs. It must be a new technique to sell records: give them all the goodies, then take them away just before the album is released! Works for me. I’m having withdrawal already!Vic
So should the original post title be rechristened “Levitate — Now Only 1/6 Up at Verve!”?
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
And yes, it’s growing on me a bit more. Or at least, it was… 🙄T
If anyone is interested, as of this morn (8/18 in the a.m.) tix were not available at the Berklee site, nor was the date showing up. However, I called the Berk and spoke w/customer service, who said that the date was legit and that tix could be purchased at Ticketmaster, AK(to yours truly)A TicketBastard. So I got one, a fairly decent one I might add, and sucked up the ‘Bastard shite. Oh well
T
PHRoberts wrote:
No petition needed, just sign up for a free account and you can put anything on Wikipedia See? When you use the wrong terminology it comes back to bite you! 😆
I must say
that I was gonna change the Wiki entry to reflect the fact that BH had been doing BRCM as an intro…but then Wikip. asked me to do something like sign up for a free account…pfft. Don’t they know I’m too lazy for that kind of shite? 🙄 Trey
I’m starting to come around on “Drift,” “P-Dog,” and “Here We Are Again” (or as I call it “Here We Go Again…With Pop Physics,” a lame attempt to connect BH to Whitesnake and well, pop physics! :lol:)
I’ve been a fan of “Rats” since first hearing it at Lowell last summer.T
Jonathan wrote:Not heard the original before, but like it when Bruce sings it as an intro. I’m always amazed at these things he just seems to know!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Rock_Candy_Mountain
Here’s the Wikipedia link. Very interesting that the tune has so many other pop references…and I notice that someone petitioned Wikip. to add the BH bit…that must be new, ’cause I’ve been checking and didn’t see it until just 5 mins. ago! 😆
T
molomolomolo wrote:I would be willing to bet it will grow on you, brother. Definitely check it out again, this time with some quality headphones on. I did notice the gain was way up when I initially got on the Verve’s site. I had to tinker with the EQ to make it sound proper.molo3Yeah, that’s what I’m saying and hoping…thanks for your support! 😆 Maybe something is lost in translation? Nothing sounds good on a laptop…and/or with the kids watching “Pokemon” in the background…or with the Sox getting blasted by a sloppy but victorious Yankees! 👿
I’m usually skeptical of the whole “it’ll grow on you” thang when it comes to tunage…sometimes it happens, sometimes not…more often with classical shite than with pop, I’ve found, but hey, there are usually exceptions to the rule.
T
si_twining wrote:the thing to bear in mind with Bruce’s records is that the studio verison accounts for maybe 10% of the song.Take that same song out onto a live stage (e.g. Funhouse), and you’ll forget you ever heard the CD!
Ha!
I was thinking of the same tune…although I’ve always liked the album version, you and I are of the same opinion, fo’ sho’. Both “Funhouse” and “King of The HIll” pick up a sense of urgency and danger in a live setting, not to mention interesting cover mutations!Definitely a plus when the live rendition improves on the studio cut…here’s hoping that occurs in this case,
T
I gots to keep it real, as they say —
I ain’t wit’ it. 😯
As such, I voted “maybe it’ll grow on me.” P’raps my initial reactions were due to trying to listen to it at the Verve site, on a laptop, while either Cartoon Network (day) or the Red Sox/Yanks game is on (night). In other words, not on a stereo and giving the album more concentration.
Be that as it may, initial reactions from a couple of listens — sounds, to me, properly IMHO’d and all
like my least fave cuts from both “Big Swing Face” and the Skaggs cd combined, with little bits of “Tom,” “What The Hell,” and “Heir” sprinkled on top. What’s missing are the immediate ‘grabbers,’ like “Trash,” “Candy Mtn.,” “Circus,” “Dreamland,” etc. I’m finding the lyrics to be clunky in some cases, obvious in others. The music itself is a bit ordinary, with most of the ornate flash and complexity of albums from “Harbor” to “Halcyon” not easily apparent….Hopefully, ‘this too shall pass’ when I experience said cd on a proper piece of playback equipment, and/or hear the tunes live…
I’m sorry to be such a bummer, I rilly rilly am 😳 😥 but that’s just the way I feel, man!
Trey, down in de dumps
David Day wrote:Big Rock & Children of Zion intro? Has Bruce ever done that before? :Yes…off the top of my head and not consulting any lists, Portland Zoo ’05! Next!
Trey
GuinnessGoon wrote:It was a Genesis song and I think its called ‘Thats All’…the lyric ‘its just a shame thats all’
…and no the song after ‘SOTM’ wasn’t ‘Halcyon Days’. I would be pretty lame if I didn’t know that seeing that Halcyon Days is my favorite record 😆GG —
Yeah, that’s “That’s All.” Interesting that BH is quoting Genesis tunes now in the “Sunflower” medley…
And BTW, thanks for not blasting me on my “Halcyon” semi-condescension…you’re too kind! 😆 I guess I shoulda looked at yer ‘fave Hornsby’ slot… 😳
T
Kat! Thanks for the timely coverage
but I really am upset with myself now for not making the Peekskill show 😥 Even though it seems close, Peeks is about 3 hours away from the Brattleboro area, and I am notoriously lazy. 😆 Moving from Tampa with shows galore (within 5 to 30 mins) to another with at least 45 mins. to 2 hours driving time (Nhampton, Boston, for ex.) has only exacerbated my bump-on-a-logitude…dammitt! My loss, right?!But I see that BH and the NMs will be at the Egg in Albany 10/1, which fortunately for moi, is only about 70 mins. from me house…
Glad that you had a great time, and thanks again for fab review.
T
Hey GG–
Great review, thanks for the write-up. I’m jealous…but then again, I’m usually jealous of every show that I can’t make.
You mention that they teased a Genesis tune — “Same Old Song.” To the best of my knowledge, (the era from Peter and Phil to Phil) they have no such song so named…maybe I’m missing a lyric or something? And p’raps the tune that they went into after “Moon” was “Halcyon Days”? It’s what generally follows…
T
sunflowerkat119 wrote:I was also at the shows in Englewood, NJ and Peekskill, NY….so as quickly as I can get some edited, I’ll send them to Si.Oh yeah? Well, how about some reviews and/or setlists, Kat?? Jeez, inquiring minds wanna know…
T
Maybe I’m off base and a bit late to the veneration thread for BRCM
(having only seen it because Jim bumped it)…but the Mountain Winery ’06 version has a very Latinized “Un Poco Loco” in the middle section. Again, maybe it’s me and I’m still asleep… It could be a misperception based on a limited sample size, but apparently you can never go wrong asking BH to play “Big Rock Candy Mountain Run” and/or some Bud. 😆
T
Thanks for the details…can’t wait to hear the new stuff, or perhaps I should say the “new stuff that I’ve not heard before.”
I don’t think that a show is in the works for moi this summer…this closest would be in Peekskill NY, which from S.E. VT is a bit of a drive: about 3 hours or so. That said, I can’t rule it out as the better half is from that area of NY and we don’t have anything planned that week, so…
Speaking of the Snoq. show, has anyone seen the review of the show that someone posted to the BH site guestbook? Just for convenience, here it be (cut and paste stylee):
Just saw your show at the Snoqualmie Casino. IT SUCKED. I’ve seen you many times over the years..always great until last night. It was a funeral, no head bobbing, toe tapping, hand clapping. Just puzzled looks from the audience. I almost fell asleep. What was up with that. I expected new and different material, not a bunch of rehashed old stuff. You didn’t dissappoint me there. But my God what happened to great piano work? More than Money wasted you wasted my time and for you it won’t happen again. I’ve spent a lot of money over the decades supporting and enjoying your music. With that comes some expectation of coming away from a show feeling good.
Hah! Either this person has got the most deadpan sense of humor and/or is one of BH’s buds taking the piss out of him, or the BH fan brigades just lost a member fo’ sho’! 😮 😆
T
)
But if not, they can’t ALL be zingers (thanks, Primus title!) and there’s always BH’s next platter that matters…
I usually catch up on movies during Netflix season, sorry…FOOTBALL season. 
No petition needed, just sign up for a free account and you can put anything on Wikipedia 
Has Bruce ever done that before?