House concerts. They’re a new
June 08, 2003
House concerts. They’re a new thing for me. Tonight I played one out in the Dunbar area of Vancouver. The show was completely acoustic and took place in a real living room. I think its a pretty exciting idea and I look forward to trying it again. My thanks go to Tatiana Nemchin for putting it all together and gently prodding me for a year and a half until I actually showed up to play. Andras Jones was the other performer and I was suitably impressed. We share many of the same musical sensibilities and he’s a great performer. You can check him out at andrasjones.com. A lot of old friends showed up and this made it feel like I could take a few more chances. I buggered up a few things but it was all in the name of not choosing the stuff I knew well. There’s nothing that adds immediacy better than a complete flail. The record number of stumbles and mistakes seem strangely unimportant. Usually I would be concerned. Tonight it just seemed appropriate to let it go. Family matters have consumed my week so I had no time to work up completely new material. Instead I combed through a couple of Odds records just before I left for the show and quickly brushed up on how some of the old things went. Some notable set list variations were:
Oh Sorrow Oh Shame
Yes (Means its Hard to Say No to You)
Little Things (new Northey/Valenzuela)
the Last Drink
Suppertime
I don’t think I’ve ever performed “Oh Sorrow...” or “Yes..” but I’m sure one of you will correct me on that soon. I know I’ve only done “Suppertime” once or twice (even with the band). I actually reviewed a few more so hopefully I’ll get another chance to trot out the old dogs before I forget them again.
The most notable set list variation was the exclusion of “Someone Who’s Cool”. It felt right to leave it out of a night where I was lurking in the darker corners of my past. I wouldn't want to feel like I couldn’t make anything work without playing that song. At that point I would start to resent the tune. I wouldn’t want to feel that way about one of my babies because, after all this time, we’re still on good terms.