I Promised I Wouldn't Forget
Feb. 14th, 2007 01:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jianantonicI took Ahren to see Eddie From Ohio last Thursday night at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton, which is one of my all time favorite venues for a show. It's no Gravity Lounge, but it's still great.
Ben Arnold of 4 Way Street fame (okay, not really fame) was the opening act. He had a bad cold and it came out a little too much in his music. I wasn't really into it until he started doing some 4 Way Street tunes, but I will give him another chance on down the road - I'll blame my disinterest on his cold. He had a keyboardist with him who looked exactly like Dan Bern, but who was not Dan Bern, much to my disappointment. He was good, though.
Here's the annotated setlist:
Great Day - I was surprised they opened with this one and also a little disappointed. Ahren hates all things religion, and the look on his face when they got going with this one was one of utter distaste. I was afraid it would sour the whole experience for him, and I felt bad that I forgot to warn him about their gospel tunes. I whispered in his ear that the drummer is an atheist (I don't know if that's true but I think it might be) and that they're honestly not a gospel band, and he calmed down.
One
Quick
Clear and Present Danger - my how this one resonates with me now.
Jerusalem
Stupid American - with amusing banter about the lady in NJ who used this as her campaign theme song and how they were on the Colbert Report.
And The Rain Crashed Down
Take Back This Moment - a new one from Robbie that he wrote for a play. I'd never heard it before, and I really loved it.
Lady Freedom - I wish they would've told the story behind this one a little more before they played it. It's one of those songs that makes you go wtf? if you hear it without knowing the story behind it. The guy behind me, in fact, said "WTF?" I don't think he disliked it; he just didn't get it. This one requires the setup, Mikey.
Old Dominion - The audience sang the entire first verse before the band did any work at all.
Minnesota 1945 - Ahren started cheering loudly as soon as Julie sang the third line of the song. I wished they would've played THIS one first like they used to. But I'm glad they played it. Mentioning the word Minnesota made it all worthwhile for Ahren.
Sprawl - A song from Mike's solo album featuring Julie Murphy Wells on guitar. The band made no comment about this.
Carp In The Tub - Another one of those wtf songs, but Robbie actually explained this one:) At the end, they transitioned immediately into...
Tommy the Cannexican - Mike improvised some words about Staunton here - he may have worked them out in advance but I still thought it was brilliant and give him much credit for being a quick thinker.
I Don't Know Why - Julie and Robbie performed a very moving cover of this Shawn Colvin tune, after which Julie received a standing O.
Eddie's Drumpire - Did NOT receive a standing O, for the first time in my memory - probably because the audience felt weird about two in a row or something, because it was one of the more impressive drumpires I've seen him do.
Fly
Operator - they announced this would be the last song of the night, and when they sang the first note I sent Ahren outside and told him to check the score of the hockey game. He thanked me for this gesture and was back in time for the encore.
ENCORE
We Belong - cover of the Lowen and Navarro tune made famous by Pat Benetar. They told the story of Eric's ALS and it made everyone cry (well, me) and the audience sang along to this one too.
After this, I knew what would be next. Joe and Kitty Murphy were sitting in front of me in the audience (Mike's parents and brother were there, too) so I knew that they couldn't leave the building without playing Three Fine Daughters of Farmer Brown. When Joe took the stage to lead us in the dance, Julie cracked up as the audience hooted for him. Ironically, most of the people who hooted didn't seem to know WHY they were hooting, because I was one of only about 20 people in the audience who actually did the Joe. Ahren laughed. I had told him about it a long time ago, and he'd remembered, so he wasn't as shocked as I'd hoped he'd be.
It was a great show, but I wish they'd had more stage banter. I think having an opening act cut the night a little short and rather than cut songs, they cut chat. I think they would've won Ahren over a little better if they'd talked more. He laughed pretty hard at everything they did say...and he says he liked it and will go again, so I shouldn't complain, but the stage banter is high on the list of things I enjoy the most at EFO shows.
One thing that severely disappointed Ahren is that the namedropper did not make an appearance. He wore his Minnesota Wild hockey jersey at my request just for her, and she didn't show. If nothing else, it guarantees that Ahren will attend at least one more concert with me, because he's determined to have a hockey jersey showdown. ;)
Peace.
Ben Arnold of 4 Way Street fame (okay, not really fame) was the opening act. He had a bad cold and it came out a little too much in his music. I wasn't really into it until he started doing some 4 Way Street tunes, but I will give him another chance on down the road - I'll blame my disinterest on his cold. He had a keyboardist with him who looked exactly like Dan Bern, but who was not Dan Bern, much to my disappointment. He was good, though.
Here's the annotated setlist:
Great Day - I was surprised they opened with this one and also a little disappointed. Ahren hates all things religion, and the look on his face when they got going with this one was one of utter distaste. I was afraid it would sour the whole experience for him, and I felt bad that I forgot to warn him about their gospel tunes. I whispered in his ear that the drummer is an atheist (I don't know if that's true but I think it might be) and that they're honestly not a gospel band, and he calmed down.
One
Quick
Clear and Present Danger - my how this one resonates with me now.
Jerusalem
Stupid American - with amusing banter about the lady in NJ who used this as her campaign theme song and how they were on the Colbert Report.
And The Rain Crashed Down
Take Back This Moment - a new one from Robbie that he wrote for a play. I'd never heard it before, and I really loved it.
Lady Freedom - I wish they would've told the story behind this one a little more before they played it. It's one of those songs that makes you go wtf? if you hear it without knowing the story behind it. The guy behind me, in fact, said "WTF?" I don't think he disliked it; he just didn't get it. This one requires the setup, Mikey.
Old Dominion - The audience sang the entire first verse before the band did any work at all.
Minnesota 1945 - Ahren started cheering loudly as soon as Julie sang the third line of the song. I wished they would've played THIS one first like they used to. But I'm glad they played it. Mentioning the word Minnesota made it all worthwhile for Ahren.
Sprawl - A song from Mike's solo album featuring Julie Murphy Wells on guitar. The band made no comment about this.
Carp In The Tub - Another one of those wtf songs, but Robbie actually explained this one:) At the end, they transitioned immediately into...
Tommy the Cannexican - Mike improvised some words about Staunton here - he may have worked them out in advance but I still thought it was brilliant and give him much credit for being a quick thinker.
I Don't Know Why - Julie and Robbie performed a very moving cover of this Shawn Colvin tune, after which Julie received a standing O.
Eddie's Drumpire - Did NOT receive a standing O, for the first time in my memory - probably because the audience felt weird about two in a row or something, because it was one of the more impressive drumpires I've seen him do.
Fly
Operator - they announced this would be the last song of the night, and when they sang the first note I sent Ahren outside and told him to check the score of the hockey game. He thanked me for this gesture and was back in time for the encore.
ENCORE
We Belong - cover of the Lowen and Navarro tune made famous by Pat Benetar. They told the story of Eric's ALS and it made everyone cry (well, me) and the audience sang along to this one too.
After this, I knew what would be next. Joe and Kitty Murphy were sitting in front of me in the audience (Mike's parents and brother were there, too) so I knew that they couldn't leave the building without playing Three Fine Daughters of Farmer Brown. When Joe took the stage to lead us in the dance, Julie cracked up as the audience hooted for him. Ironically, most of the people who hooted didn't seem to know WHY they were hooting, because I was one of only about 20 people in the audience who actually did the Joe. Ahren laughed. I had told him about it a long time ago, and he'd remembered, so he wasn't as shocked as I'd hoped he'd be.
It was a great show, but I wish they'd had more stage banter. I think having an opening act cut the night a little short and rather than cut songs, they cut chat. I think they would've won Ahren over a little better if they'd talked more. He laughed pretty hard at everything they did say...and he says he liked it and will go again, so I shouldn't complain, but the stage banter is high on the list of things I enjoy the most at EFO shows.
One thing that severely disappointed Ahren is that the namedropper did not make an appearance. He wore his Minnesota Wild hockey jersey at my request just for her, and she didn't show. If nothing else, it guarantees that Ahren will attend at least one more concert with me, because he's determined to have a hockey jersey showdown. ;)
Peace.
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no subject
Date: 2007-02-14 08:10 pm (UTC)I also love Operator, and suspect I would even if I were an atheist. How can you not love Operator? It's like that song from Good Omens. What song, you might ask? Well, read the book! (It's by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.)
no subject
Date: 2007-02-14 08:36 pm (UTC)And while I wish he would love the song for the music that it is, he has reasons for his distaste of all things religious, and as long as he doesn't criticize my own views, I am okay with this and it's not a battle worth fighting to me. He came to the show. He stayed for the whole thing. He even enjoyed it. This is better than I could've hoped.