Re: (TV) Good Time?

["Rex Broome" <rexbroome@gmail.com>]

On 6/17/06, Leo Casey <LeoCasey@comcast.net> wrote:

> Anyone who was at Friday's Roxy Show care to weigh in?  Did anyone have a
> good time?


Excellent show.  I'll have more to say later, but...

-Very well attended, I think.
-No Television... don't have the setlist, but fairly similar to other recent
shows, including Persia (set closer), Pillow, Scientist, Words from the
Front, Kingdom Come, Clear It Away, Breaking In My Heart (encore),
-Especially early on and on the new material, I think it was easily the most
vocally-focused I've ever heard Tom.  Really good stuff, almost always
inhabiting the songs instead of tossing off the words.  His attention
wandered a little in the middle section, the lowlight being Scientist on
which he forgot several lyrics, then left out the bridge and didn't bother
with any notable soloing.  Pillow also seemed slightly phoned in, but I
think I would've loved it had I not had a sneak preview of the "new" version
on the KCRW broadcast the same day.
-"The Earth Is In The Sky" is almost certainly now "This Earth Is In The
Sky".
-No e-bow from Jimmy Rip(p) (who looked completely different from how I
remember him).  On the "synth"-y parts of both Orbit and Documentary, he was
using a large silver and red pedal for those tones (didn't get a good look;
I was right in front of Fred).  On Orbit the chorus sound is bolstered by
the fact that Tom, Jimmy, and Fred all play it in unison, Fred in two
octaves.  Fred was of course great, Ripp was great, too, especially on Clear
It Away, which has always been somewhat of a showcase for him.  Louie Appel
really impresses... a hard hitter, lots of tribal-y tom toms, switching to
mallets periodically; you'd never pick him out as "the new guy".
-Yeah, I think I like Documentary just fine now... it looks like the guys
have a lot of fun with it.  And the surprise discursive guitar selection of
the night was Shingaling... I think the uncharacteristic rhythm of it is fun
for the whole band so they really pushed it to some new territory.
-At one point Tom came over to speak with a bouncer right in front of me
about some people taking pictures.  "But you don't have to throw 'em out,"
he decided.
-The band made a big deal a few times about the Roxy's indemic "buzz" (and
yeah, the amps were noisey).  Tom mentioned having played there 20 years
before, and "the buzz is still here".  He and Rip then took turns turning
towards and away from their amps to modulate the buzz and maybe turn it into
a rhythm to start the next song, before giving up.
-Maybe less tuning than usual, but some pauses deciding what to play next.
Tom had to ditch a malfunctioning pedal mid-song (the delay, I think) at one
point, but mostly it was about the music.  Very strong show, I'd say, with
the new material shining the brightest.  Listening to S&OT again, I was
struck by all the good songs he didn't play, but that I didn't miss until
hearing them again, so my estimation of the record must be growing, too.

-Rex
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