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Nestled in the comfort of Evan's rollout couch bed in Chelsea, a mere 2 hours from the site of miraculous renown, I reflect that the day was long and excellent. Though we set out immediately from Boston even before my class was truly over, the drive was longer and more trafficky than we expected and we stressed about getting there in time for the Crash Kings, let alone the openers.
Turns out, all our stress was relieved by one spectacular Jason Morris, standing outside the venue. He saw us at the same time we saw him, and smiled and waved and was glad we made it before we said anything. Apparently he'd read our worried tweets; he assured us that Bloodfeather was only just about to start. So we went in and saw them.
Worth getting there on time for. Sort of a six-man combination of Bob Dylan and the Doobie Brothers; two lead singer/guitarists, a rhythm, a bass, a drummer, plus jack-of-all-trades sax/maraca/keyboard player. Nice.
But then, oh. Our boys didn't even have to set up themselves because they were headlining so the house guys took care of it. And they came on and rocked harder than I've seen them do before. Tony forgot the words at the beginning of one chorus of Come Away, which cracked me up to know they still have those moments even at their level. They had time to jam on a lot of songs they don't usually spend so much energy on, live. Videos forthcoming.
Jason came out from backstage first, and spoke amiably with us about the show and our drive and the tambourine parts on the album (apparently the producer went for it), before stepping out for a smoke. Mike came out next, and was friendly but distant as usual, and he went to get a drink. Tony took some time, and finally came out onto the stage rather than the side stairs we'd been waiting by. He saw us from the stage, smiled and waved, and jumped off and walked over to talk to us. Yes, he did.
Julie finally got a chance to be included in a post-concert chat with him, and we talked for what must have been ten minutes. I gave him the transcriptions, the fixed Come Away and the new Saving Grace, and right off he noticed some omissions (I was thrilled; it's nice to know he's paying attention). I did get the words right, though; I'd been worried about that, and asked him. We talked about the transcription, in particular the time signature changes, and he stood there and counted it to himself, involved in our conversation, while other people asked to take pictures with him without interrupting us. He insisted the whole verse was in straight 7, but I had written it 7-7-5-4-4. This is important later.
We talked about health food (eating on tour is hard, and he mentioned he's trying to eat healthy when I offered to bring cookies to the next show I see). We talked about going home; they finally have a hiatus in LA after this show. We brought up the tambourine issue we'd discussed with Jason. We asked him what the sound was, at the end of My Love when the lead voice goes into crazy improv, and he explained. It's him singing trumpet noises through a trashy mic and distortion. No wonder we had such a hard time figuring it out. Then he demonstrated. Enthusiastically.
We bowed gracefully out in order to leave him some breathing room, because, as I said, if I was exhausted after just dancing to the show, how tired must he be after playing it? He agreed he needed a breath, and thanked us for coming out.
We got on the road to NYC after a rejuvenating drink of water and a huge dose of post-show, post-chat euphoria, and listened to the beginning of Saving Grace to confirm my suspicions that it couldn't all be in 7, there weren't enough beats. So I tweeted that the bar at the end of the cycle had to be in 6.
Lo, we made it to Evan's house, and the internet (and are graciously received and accommodated). So we can read facebook status updates and lj posts and tweets. HE ANSWERED mine. Saying I was right. it's 7-7-7-6. I'm fixing it right now.
I'm going to be so sleepy tomorrow. Having brunch with Eric then coffee with Ben, but somewhere in there I'll post the videos I took. Which are fantabulous. They added a bunch of segues I'd never heard, between songs that don't usually follow each other. And, generally rocked. As one might expect.
Turns out, all our stress was relieved by one spectacular Jason Morris, standing outside the venue. He saw us at the same time we saw him, and smiled and waved and was glad we made it before we said anything. Apparently he'd read our worried tweets; he assured us that Bloodfeather was only just about to start. So we went in and saw them.
Worth getting there on time for. Sort of a six-man combination of Bob Dylan and the Doobie Brothers; two lead singer/guitarists, a rhythm, a bass, a drummer, plus jack-of-all-trades sax/maraca/keyboard player. Nice.
But then, oh. Our boys didn't even have to set up themselves because they were headlining so the house guys took care of it. And they came on and rocked harder than I've seen them do before. Tony forgot the words at the beginning of one chorus of Come Away, which cracked me up to know they still have those moments even at their level. They had time to jam on a lot of songs they don't usually spend so much energy on, live. Videos forthcoming.
Jason came out from backstage first, and spoke amiably with us about the show and our drive and the tambourine parts on the album (apparently the producer went for it), before stepping out for a smoke. Mike came out next, and was friendly but distant as usual, and he went to get a drink. Tony took some time, and finally came out onto the stage rather than the side stairs we'd been waiting by. He saw us from the stage, smiled and waved, and jumped off and walked over to talk to us. Yes, he did.
Julie finally got a chance to be included in a post-concert chat with him, and we talked for what must have been ten minutes. I gave him the transcriptions, the fixed Come Away and the new Saving Grace, and right off he noticed some omissions (I was thrilled; it's nice to know he's paying attention). I did get the words right, though; I'd been worried about that, and asked him. We talked about the transcription, in particular the time signature changes, and he stood there and counted it to himself, involved in our conversation, while other people asked to take pictures with him without interrupting us. He insisted the whole verse was in straight 7, but I had written it 7-7-5-4-4. This is important later.
We talked about health food (eating on tour is hard, and he mentioned he's trying to eat healthy when I offered to bring cookies to the next show I see). We talked about going home; they finally have a hiatus in LA after this show. We brought up the tambourine issue we'd discussed with Jason. We asked him what the sound was, at the end of My Love when the lead voice goes into crazy improv, and he explained. It's him singing trumpet noises through a trashy mic and distortion. No wonder we had such a hard time figuring it out. Then he demonstrated. Enthusiastically.
We bowed gracefully out in order to leave him some breathing room, because, as I said, if I was exhausted after just dancing to the show, how tired must he be after playing it? He agreed he needed a breath, and thanked us for coming out.
We got on the road to NYC after a rejuvenating drink of water and a huge dose of post-show, post-chat euphoria, and listened to the beginning of Saving Grace to confirm my suspicions that it couldn't all be in 7, there weren't enough beats. So I tweeted that the bar at the end of the cycle had to be in 6.
Lo, we made it to Evan's house, and the internet (and are graciously received and accommodated). So we can read facebook status updates and lj posts and tweets. HE ANSWERED mine. Saying I was right. it's 7-7-7-6. I'm fixing it right now.
I'm going to be so sleepy tomorrow. Having brunch with Eric then coffee with Ben, but somewhere in there I'll post the videos I took. Which are fantabulous. They added a bunch of segues I'd never heard, between songs that don't usually follow each other. And, generally rocked. As one might expect.
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