Post by tom37211 on Jan 13, 2005 15:48:24 GMT -5
Review of the Chattanooga show on 1-12-05. Part 1
Hello all!
Hello to all my fellow AKUS fans!
I just got back from the concert in Chattanooga. A typical GREAT show. I was 6th row balcony, dead center. I wish I had been closer. But at least the price was right.
Chattanooga is a neat city. The area around the theater was very crowded with concert goers and it was hard to get a seat in a restaurant prior to the show. We wound up going to a pizza joint where it took 50 minutes to get served, then it was eat and run.
We got to our seats at 7:58 pm. The show started at 8:03 pm. Among the many wonderful attributes of that band, among them is that they are quite punctual. To those planning to see them, DON”T BE LATE!
The first thing that struck me when we got to our seats was that they had changed the backdrop to their set a little bit. But, as always, it was simple, quiet and unobtrusive. In the previous shows I have seen them, there was a dark or black backdrop, and directly in front of that there were various lengths of white cloth folded over and hanging down on horizontal rods at various heights and depths. On this set, there was a white backdrop and directly in front of that were tall lengths of white fabric gathered a bit and angled slightly off vertical from floor to ceiling. They were more gathered towards the top than at the bottom. Other than that, it was the same set. A large, red, oriental carpet on which the performers played and on which, various backup instruments stood at the ready. Again, it was quiet, yet elegant. The focus of the show was not the lighting or an elaborate set. That just set the mood. The magic was focused on what the performers were doing. (Nora Jones also does a wonder job in this aspect of her shows.)
The boys in the band were wearing button down shirts and either blue jeans or docker style pants. As cool as the other side of the pillow they were. Alison was wearing black capri pants with open toed, high heeled shoes, but not too high. (How do you women wear those things?) It’s been noticed by others that I have attended AKUS shows with in the past that her shoes always appear tight on her. Me, I would never notice such a thing unless her feet turned black and fell off while she was playing. But we were too far away to notice that this time. She wore a black, pull over, loose fitting blouse with long, slightly billowing sleeves that lingered at the elbows. The top was a modest V neck style and unrevealing. (I mention this because of all the yapping done at the CMT message board about the revealing nature of her wardrobe. Get a life you vapid, uptight, old coots! It’s just a bit of cleavage. For God’s sake, it’s not like she was shooting a porno movie. I wonder, do the ladies who took offense at that never look down in the shower for fear of the horrific sight of seeing their own breasts that God gave them?) One other note. A while back, there was a woman who came into where I work wearing capri pants and it seemed she had not shaved her legs in a couple of months, or, perhaps, decades. Is there not a law or at least sisterhood rules against this? Just curious.
By my count, they wound up playing 30 songs with a generous measure of commentary by our dear Alison thrown in.
The first 3 songs were:
1 – Restless
2 – This Sad Song
3 – Unionhouse Branch
Alison then talked about the show, “30 Something” and how much she liked watching the reruns of it. She mentioned how much the character played by Peter Horton looked like one of her producers. She then talked about taking her son to the Chattanooga Aquarium and then going to the I-Max theater to see T-Rex in 3D. She said she thought he would be old enough to think it was cool. After it was over, he told her he thought it was a “big boy” movie. Dan then piped up by saying that her son was actually 15 years old which drew a large chuckle from the crowd. She then went on to talk about the new appearance to her set which she said look like her underwear hanging down. Then she pointed to one piece of fabric behind her that was hanging down and said that was her particular underwear in her beautifully modest, self depreciating way. Again, the crowd approved. Then they performed some more music.
4 – (I don’t recall and I can’t decipher my notes. Sorry. But I do believe it was from LRBW. And no, I was not drinking.)
5 – Wouldn’t Be So Bad
She then talked about how she heard that Gillian Welch had written a bunch of new songs when AKUS was looking to go to the studio to start recording and that she had asked to hear them. “Wouldn’t Be So Bad” was one that they had picked out of that lot to be on LRBW. She then introduced Dan Tyminski and talked about how she had heard him when he was with the Lonesome River Band and how much she respected him. She said she just loved his voice and his music. She then introduced him as the voice of George Clooney from “Oh Brother, Where Art Though?” to thunderous applause. Then they performed:
6 – Rain, Please Go Away
7 – Everytime You Say Goodbye
8 – Bight Sunny South
9 – Carroll County Blues
She then talked about Flatts and Scruggs and how they used to do a radio show where they had to applaud for themselves after each song because there was no actual audience to do it for them. She highly recommended checking those old broadcast out if one were fortunate enough to obtain a copy of those old shows. She then talked about her awe of Benny Martin who recorded “Carroll County Blues” and actually cried when she met him. She started to go on about this, but her band revved up for another song and cut her off.
10 – (Did not get the name of the song. It had the words, “It Doesn’t Matter Now” in it from my notes/chicken scratch.)
When that song ended, it was quiet and everyone was fine tuning their instruments. Alison mentioned that the awkward silence was actually specifically planned to make everyone feel uncomfortable. That loosened up everyone again. (It’s funny, after every song, without fail, everyone in that group stops and fine tunes their instruments. It’s like watching the Grateful Dead.) They then played:
11 – Forget About It
12 - Gravity
She then talked about meeting R.L. Castleman, who wrote “Gravity” and many other songs for them, for the first time many years ago. She said it was at a surprise birthday party for her. She also mentioned that she does not like those. She said it lasted about 15 minutes. One of her band mates piped in, “Yeah, SURPRISE, now we are leaving.” Which made everyone laugh. She talked about how he wrote ”Forget About It” and “Lucky One”. She said that the song, “Lucky One”, originally was a happy song that went, “I’m the lucky one so I’ve been told…” but that she asked him to make it darker, so it was changed to, “You’re the lucky one so I’ve been told…”. She jokingly mentioned how she can’t have people feeling good about themselves with their music. She then talked about the song, “Let Me Touch You For Awhile.” She said that she was afraid her band mates would laugh at her when she mentioned the title of the song which they absolutely did. She then said that the more you say it, the easier it gets which brought a roar from the crowd and the band as well. Then she introduced Ron Block. She stated what a great song writer he is and that they had been stealing his songs for years. She said that he is a great writer and musician and also stated that her mom said that his music was “Like songs falling from heaven.” He then sang:
13 – In The Morning Light. (From “Faraway Land”).
Hello all!
Hello to all my fellow AKUS fans!
I just got back from the concert in Chattanooga. A typical GREAT show. I was 6th row balcony, dead center. I wish I had been closer. But at least the price was right.
Chattanooga is a neat city. The area around the theater was very crowded with concert goers and it was hard to get a seat in a restaurant prior to the show. We wound up going to a pizza joint where it took 50 minutes to get served, then it was eat and run.
We got to our seats at 7:58 pm. The show started at 8:03 pm. Among the many wonderful attributes of that band, among them is that they are quite punctual. To those planning to see them, DON”T BE LATE!
The first thing that struck me when we got to our seats was that they had changed the backdrop to their set a little bit. But, as always, it was simple, quiet and unobtrusive. In the previous shows I have seen them, there was a dark or black backdrop, and directly in front of that there were various lengths of white cloth folded over and hanging down on horizontal rods at various heights and depths. On this set, there was a white backdrop and directly in front of that were tall lengths of white fabric gathered a bit and angled slightly off vertical from floor to ceiling. They were more gathered towards the top than at the bottom. Other than that, it was the same set. A large, red, oriental carpet on which the performers played and on which, various backup instruments stood at the ready. Again, it was quiet, yet elegant. The focus of the show was not the lighting or an elaborate set. That just set the mood. The magic was focused on what the performers were doing. (Nora Jones also does a wonder job in this aspect of her shows.)
The boys in the band were wearing button down shirts and either blue jeans or docker style pants. As cool as the other side of the pillow they were. Alison was wearing black capri pants with open toed, high heeled shoes, but not too high. (How do you women wear those things?) It’s been noticed by others that I have attended AKUS shows with in the past that her shoes always appear tight on her. Me, I would never notice such a thing unless her feet turned black and fell off while she was playing. But we were too far away to notice that this time. She wore a black, pull over, loose fitting blouse with long, slightly billowing sleeves that lingered at the elbows. The top was a modest V neck style and unrevealing. (I mention this because of all the yapping done at the CMT message board about the revealing nature of her wardrobe. Get a life you vapid, uptight, old coots! It’s just a bit of cleavage. For God’s sake, it’s not like she was shooting a porno movie. I wonder, do the ladies who took offense at that never look down in the shower for fear of the horrific sight of seeing their own breasts that God gave them?) One other note. A while back, there was a woman who came into where I work wearing capri pants and it seemed she had not shaved her legs in a couple of months, or, perhaps, decades. Is there not a law or at least sisterhood rules against this? Just curious.
By my count, they wound up playing 30 songs with a generous measure of commentary by our dear Alison thrown in.
The first 3 songs were:
1 – Restless
2 – This Sad Song
3 – Unionhouse Branch
Alison then talked about the show, “30 Something” and how much she liked watching the reruns of it. She mentioned how much the character played by Peter Horton looked like one of her producers. She then talked about taking her son to the Chattanooga Aquarium and then going to the I-Max theater to see T-Rex in 3D. She said she thought he would be old enough to think it was cool. After it was over, he told her he thought it was a “big boy” movie. Dan then piped up by saying that her son was actually 15 years old which drew a large chuckle from the crowd. She then went on to talk about the new appearance to her set which she said look like her underwear hanging down. Then she pointed to one piece of fabric behind her that was hanging down and said that was her particular underwear in her beautifully modest, self depreciating way. Again, the crowd approved. Then they performed some more music.
4 – (I don’t recall and I can’t decipher my notes. Sorry. But I do believe it was from LRBW. And no, I was not drinking.)
5 – Wouldn’t Be So Bad
She then talked about how she heard that Gillian Welch had written a bunch of new songs when AKUS was looking to go to the studio to start recording and that she had asked to hear them. “Wouldn’t Be So Bad” was one that they had picked out of that lot to be on LRBW. She then introduced Dan Tyminski and talked about how she had heard him when he was with the Lonesome River Band and how much she respected him. She said she just loved his voice and his music. She then introduced him as the voice of George Clooney from “Oh Brother, Where Art Though?” to thunderous applause. Then they performed:
6 – Rain, Please Go Away
7 – Everytime You Say Goodbye
8 – Bight Sunny South
9 – Carroll County Blues
She then talked about Flatts and Scruggs and how they used to do a radio show where they had to applaud for themselves after each song because there was no actual audience to do it for them. She highly recommended checking those old broadcast out if one were fortunate enough to obtain a copy of those old shows. She then talked about her awe of Benny Martin who recorded “Carroll County Blues” and actually cried when she met him. She started to go on about this, but her band revved up for another song and cut her off.
10 – (Did not get the name of the song. It had the words, “It Doesn’t Matter Now” in it from my notes/chicken scratch.)
When that song ended, it was quiet and everyone was fine tuning their instruments. Alison mentioned that the awkward silence was actually specifically planned to make everyone feel uncomfortable. That loosened up everyone again. (It’s funny, after every song, without fail, everyone in that group stops and fine tunes their instruments. It’s like watching the Grateful Dead.) They then played:
11 – Forget About It
12 - Gravity
She then talked about meeting R.L. Castleman, who wrote “Gravity” and many other songs for them, for the first time many years ago. She said it was at a surprise birthday party for her. She also mentioned that she does not like those. She said it lasted about 15 minutes. One of her band mates piped in, “Yeah, SURPRISE, now we are leaving.” Which made everyone laugh. She talked about how he wrote ”Forget About It” and “Lucky One”. She said that the song, “Lucky One”, originally was a happy song that went, “I’m the lucky one so I’ve been told…” but that she asked him to make it darker, so it was changed to, “You’re the lucky one so I’ve been told…”. She jokingly mentioned how she can’t have people feeling good about themselves with their music. She then talked about the song, “Let Me Touch You For Awhile.” She said that she was afraid her band mates would laugh at her when she mentioned the title of the song which they absolutely did. She then said that the more you say it, the easier it gets which brought a roar from the crowd and the band as well. Then she introduced Ron Block. She stated what a great song writer he is and that they had been stealing his songs for years. She said that he is a great writer and musician and also stated that her mom said that his music was “Like songs falling from heaven.” He then sang:
13 – In The Morning Light. (From “Faraway Land”).
Thanks for taking the time to type it up! 
