or nice to meet you, Brooklyn
Okay, so time has been racing past me in one gigantic blur lately. It's crazy. I could swear I was just in Brooklyn two days ago and yet in real time it's been over a week now. Crazy.
Anywho, my beloved Old 97's performed at Brooklyn's Bell House for two consecutive nights last week. I've never been to Brooklyn before, so I had no idea what to expect upon my arrival. Both the club and hotel are located in a more industrial looking neighborhood in what is known as the Gowanus section of swankier Park Slope.
I said "Go(w)anus" hee hee
The first night I met up with two of my favorite people, Marcy and Sarah for an exquisite dinner and drinks at Blue Ribbon before heading off to the show. Dude, the salmon was insanely good. Wow. Like seriously a taste sensation worth noting and eating again. I'm drooling just thinking about it.
We got to the venue with about 15 minutes to spare before the band took the stage. One of the things I enjoy about this band is the culture of community surrounding it. There's always a handful of delightful people I know at each club, and I always end up meeting a few more each time. I have met several truly special people whom I count as some of my closest friends now all because of our shared love of this band. And for that alone I shall be forever grateful to these musical men.
Alright, enough of the ICK factor. Moving on to the main event, dammit...
By 10pm, the crowd was ready to cut loose. Rhett and company didn't disappoint with a rocking 26 song setlist mixing old standards and soon-to-be-new favorites. Ken was pacing the stage like a lion, shredding his telecaster over the excitable crowd, Rhett was shaking sweat from his luscious mane, making all the girls hot with his hip swaying, Murry was thumping out the rhythm line while encouraging the fans in front to pluck the strings at the end of Train Wreck, and Philip was keeping it all together with a ferocious back beat. And us? We were dancing and singing our proverbial asses off.
Heaven!
From Volume 2, Manhattan (I'm Done) - for Geo
Rhett's lovely and lithe wife, Erica was in attendance which meant we were treated to an acoustic version of Erica the Beautiful in the encore break. I didn't record it last Wednesday, but here's a performance from 2007 via the wondrous world of YouTube:
One of the many high points of the evening came during the encore performance of Won't Be Home No More. They opened with this song the very first time I ever heard the band play live. It contains one of my favorite bridges.
I'm pulling off the road
I'm opening the door
I'm giving you the pavement
I'm telling you what for
You are no more than a thought
no more than a thought
and you're getting smaller in my rear view mirror
yeah you're getting smaller in my rear view mirror
yeah you're getting smaller...
Such fantastic imagery. His anger and disgust with this chick is deliciously palpable. I love this tune. As happens sometimes as a song evolves, Rhett changed up the lyric slightly. The original was "I'm giving you the Heisman", as in the Heisman trophy stance of one arm outstretched, shoving her out the car door. It has long been abandoned, but that evening he threw in the Heisman line!
Woot!!
The funny thing is it took Marcy and I a couple of seconds to register before we screamed like girlie-girls. We're such dorks. Kooky, lovable dorks, but dorks nonetheless. Ha Ha!
(Okay, I realize this means absolutely nothing to any of you, but it was really exciting to this uber fangirl. Please, no judging or I'll be forced to slap a ginormous red "J" on your chest and write you off as a grade A, number one jagoff.)
The evening ended full-throttle with a balls-to-the-wall performance of Time Bomb, including what has become a signature lead singer jump off the amp. One of these days I'm going to have a better camera with which to capture the impressive air Rhett gets.
Great friends, great food and the Heisman equals another great evening of music from my favorite foursome. Hoarse and happy, it was an excellent first day in Brooklyn.
Killer Set List 7/13/11:
No Simple Machine
Dance Class
Dance Class
Niteclub
Buick City Complex
White Port
New Kid
Marquita/Bright Spark
No Baby I (inspiration for this blog's title)
Barrier Reef
Please Hold On
Question
Color of Lonely Heart
Manhattan (I'm Done)
Champaign, IL
Trainwreck
Big Brown Eyes
Smokers
Perfume
Doreen
Four Leaf Clover
--encore--
Erica the Beautiful
Come Around (I think...)
Valentine
Won't Be Home
Every Night
Time Bomb
