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| From | "Sager, Greg" <greg.sager@bankofamerica.com> |
| Subject | Re: the dB's live |
| Date | Mon, 19 Sep 2005 03:22:06 -0500 |
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> Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 13:38:48 -0500
> From: "Greg York" <yorkgreg@hotmail.com>
> To: audities@smoe.org
> Subject: Re: The dB's live
> Message-ID: <BAY102-F3400F5DBFE622812F15CB2D7930@phx.gbl>
>
>
> >From: Michael Bennett <
> >I really enjoyed the two shows yesterday.
>
>
> Me too!
Me three! And I consider it quite a privilege to have been at the first two dB's shows in well over a decade (Holsapple introduced the later show at the HOB as "our first *indoor* show in well over a decade", no doubt attempting to appease the paying customers who missed the early evening gig at the Hideout Block Party), and the first original-lineup show that they've done in sixteen or seventeen years. I'm also quite pleased that the band chose Chicago as the city to debut the band's return (it's not just a one-off reunion; they're going to be a working band again, albeit not a full-time one). As a diehard dB's fan, the fact that they chose Chicago meant a lot to me.
Although I didn't make the HOB show, only saw the
> afternoon party
> set. I was afraid I was gonna miss alot, but per your blog,
> looks like they
> only played another 30 minutes of so at the HOB.
Yeah, that's about right. The shows were about even in quality ("Black And White" and the outstanding new Holsapple composition "World To Cry" both sounded better at the HOB, "Cycles Per Second", "Ask For Jill", and "Dynamite" sounded better at the Hideout Block Party), but the HOB show was about 40% longer. They dug into the post-Stamey catalog at the HOB show, adding "Love Is For Lovers" and "Lonely Is As Lonely Does" from *Like This* and "Molly Says" from *The Sound Of Music* to that set. No "She's Got Soul" or "White Train", though, even though I'm 99% certain that the band has rehearsed both of those numbers, and I was surprised that they didn't play "Spy In The House Of Love" at either venue -- that song has been a staple of WXRT's playlist here in Chicago for two decades now, and that's the radio station that has nurtured the dB's cult in this town ever since *Like This* came out.
The quartet was augmented at both shows by keyboardist/backing vocalist Andrew Burton from Stamey's touring band.
You can hear an mp3 of "World To Cry" on the band's website, www.thedbs.com . You can also download the band's new version of the Jimmy Ruffin Motown classic "What Becomes Of The Broken-Hearted" there; the band is offering it to anyone who donates via the site to the New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund. Former dB's bassist Jeff Beninato set up the charity with Chase Bank of Chicago in order to raise money for New Orleans musicians left homeless by Hurricane Katrina. It's a very important cause for the band; although neither is in financial need, Holsapple and Beninato, both New Orleans residents, have been left homeless by the hurricane. Their idea is to help out the less fortunate among the musicians who really make the Big Easy the cultural capital that it is.
>
> It wasn't precision tight, but great nonetheless.
Agreed. There were ongoing problems with monitors and mics at the HOB show; unlike the main stage, the downstairs stage there is not a very good room (although it wouldn't be the dB's without some sort of equipment problem!). But the band itself was slightly ragged around the edges, which is certainly to be expected after such a long hiatus. Still, they had obviously rehearsed enough to re-learn the material, and the level of musicianship in that band is so high that they didn't even come close to embarrassing themselves. In fact, watching them made me think just how impressive their playing will become once they become a touring band again and have a higher comfort level with the material; after all, I doubt that any of them have played these songs in a long time (especially the *Stands For deciBels* and *Repercussion* material), and the *Like This* and *The Sound Of Music* songs are new to Stamey (except for "Amplifier", which appeared on both *Repercussion* and *Like This!
*).
Here's the set lists:
HIDEOUT
Ask For Jill
Big Brown Eyes
Happenstance
World To Cry
Hang Around (a new Stamey number)
If And When
Living A Lie
Dynamite
Cycles Per Second
Black And White
Neverland
encore: Amplifier
HOUSE OF BLUES
Ask For Jill
Big Brown Eyes
Happenstance
World To Cry
Hang Around
Purple Hose
Lonely Is As Lonely Does
Molly Says
She's Not Worried
Living A Lie
Dynamite
Black And White
If And When
Love Is For Lovers
Cycles Per Second
Neverland
encore #1: Amplifier
encore #2: That Time Is Gone (new Holsapple song)
? (new Stamey song)
I was a
> little bummed
> that my positioning made it impossible for me to see Will
> Rigby...what a
> great drummer (no simple 4/4 going on there...). I was also kind of
> suprised to see that Chris Stamey never used a guitar
> pick...all those
> ripping runs with his fingertips!
Stamey's really an amazing guitarist (Holsapple, a more conventional player than Stamey, is no slouch, either). And Rigby? He's been one of my favorite drummers for ages.
The vocals were a little raw -- not having seen him live in awhile, I'd forgotten how Holsapple always sounds like he's one high note away from laryngitis -- but the harmonies sounded really good, especially on "Dynamite".
Can't wait for their new album (the scuttlebutt is that they're label-shopping at the moment) and for their next trip to town.
Gregory Sager
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