Remembrance of Things Past
Oh! That I could recount all the wonders of that magical night! I will make a feeble attempt.
First, I got there a little early. There was no van and trailer out back. Hmmm.
So I wandered around the block and came back a few minutes later. They had arrived! It was already about 5:30, so the load-in proceeded immediately. All available hands were enlisted in the efforts, and I offered to help as well, but people were intent on hauling, so I wasn’t immediately handed anything. So, I decided to make it seem like I was supposed to be there and went to find Mr Duffy, to give him the DVD I promised. (Let me add that from henceforth, Sunday, October 17th, 2004 should be designated “Robert E. Lee Duffy Day,” for his efforts in bringing the Band of All Bands to Columbus. Good work, sir! Although, that’s not entirely his name, I just thought it needed to sound appropriately famous.) Then I gave my Decemberist namesake the set of DVDs for the band. After that I tried to stay out of the way so the important people could do their work. Nate came back out the side door to retrieve his double bass, and I asked if the remaining container needed to come in. He said, “Yeah, and could you get that board there, too? [the merch display]” Ha! Now I had a purpose! So I carried them into the club and, then, well, stayed. First I “guarded” the Funk guitar—which I really DO love now—and the banjo, and various personal effects [not guitar pedals, bags]. Things were quickly set up on stage. Colin got out his guitars. Rachel’s drums were set up. Jenny’s keys, too. Apollo Sunshine started hauling in their gear, so Colin did a very brief vocal soundcheck—the usual hey hey check check stuff as well as a couple lines from the almost lost Smiths classic “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” or whatever it’s called. I talked to Chris briefly and gave him a pair of the socks. He immediately showed them to Rachel who quipped that they’ve considered a whole line of home products, like Martha Stewart has (had?) with Kmart. Ah, what a good joke. A little later Jenny came and talked to me, and then Rachel joined her. We had a lovely chat about many important topics, including other bands, England, religion, and John McEnroe (on guitar he’s no Kevin Bacon, I offered). Soon after I talked to Colin and asked him if he would mind doing a geeky thing and sign my copy of his charming Let It Be book. I asked if it was all true. His inscription? “It’s ALL true.” Soon after I planted myself in the middle, about 10 feet back. People started weaving in, and soon a fairly lengthy soundcheck by Apollo Sunshine ensued. They rocked, it’s true. Then our heroes took the stage, did their real soundcheck and almost secretly launched into Shanty. I bet someone else has posted the setlist, so I’ll just mention that the highlights included Angel(!) Infanta (that IS a ridiculous song, in a good way) and Bridges and Balloons. I got close ups of the chord changes for that one. I think I’ll have to revise the tab slightly—is that an Fmaj7? Anyway, even though they only got 3 hours of sleep, they put on a great show for the people of Columbus. The crowd was ripe for it, as there was much singing and a generally jovial atmosphere. I felt bad for the hipsters next to me. They were so excited about hearing the Tain, but since Colin did not bring his Epiphone—and the fact that the rock opera opus has been “retired”—it was not really a possibility. No matter, there are many fine live recordings of it.
And soon there will be another DVD.
PS Colin broke either the B or G string on the little Martin, and also played a Gibson, “Beatles” acoustic-electric, like I’ve seen John Lennon with in old pictures. And the Martin 12 of course, too. It’s interesting. If you’ve seen enough shows you can almost predict what number will be next. Certain song combos pop up, and certain instrument combinations reveal it, too.
Let the magic continue, but let them all have a rest until they tour for the new album.
PPS I now realize that the sound guy—David?--I’ve seen at shows comes with them. He’s the only one I didn’t speak to, cuz I told Adam that I enjoyed Norfolk & Western and wished they could have played last night, too.
Oh! That I could recount all the wonders of that magical night! I will make a feeble attempt.
First, I got there a little early. There was no van and trailer out back. Hmmm.
So I wandered around the block and came back a few minutes later. They had arrived! It was already about 5:30, so the load-in proceeded immediately. All available hands were enlisted in the efforts, and I offered to help as well, but people were intent on hauling, so I wasn’t immediately handed anything. So, I decided to make it seem like I was supposed to be there and went to find Mr Duffy, to give him the DVD I promised. (Let me add that from henceforth, Sunday, October 17th, 2004 should be designated “Robert E. Lee Duffy Day,” for his efforts in bringing the Band of All Bands to Columbus. Good work, sir! Although, that’s not entirely his name, I just thought it needed to sound appropriately famous.) Then I gave my Decemberist namesake the set of DVDs for the band. After that I tried to stay out of the way so the important people could do their work. Nate came back out the side door to retrieve his double bass, and I asked if the remaining container needed to come in. He said, “Yeah, and could you get that board there, too? [the merch display]” Ha! Now I had a purpose! So I carried them into the club and, then, well, stayed. First I “guarded” the Funk guitar—which I really DO love now—and the banjo, and various personal effects [not guitar pedals, bags]. Things were quickly set up on stage. Colin got out his guitars. Rachel’s drums were set up. Jenny’s keys, too. Apollo Sunshine started hauling in their gear, so Colin did a very brief vocal soundcheck—the usual hey hey check check stuff as well as a couple lines from the almost lost Smiths classic “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” or whatever it’s called. I talked to Chris briefly and gave him a pair of the socks. He immediately showed them to Rachel who quipped that they’ve considered a whole line of home products, like Martha Stewart has (had?) with Kmart. Ah, what a good joke. A little later Jenny came and talked to me, and then Rachel joined her. We had a lovely chat about many important topics, including other bands, England, religion, and John McEnroe (on guitar he’s no Kevin Bacon, I offered). Soon after I talked to Colin and asked him if he would mind doing a geeky thing and sign my copy of his charming Let It Be book. I asked if it was all true. His inscription? “It’s ALL true.” Soon after I planted myself in the middle, about 10 feet back. People started weaving in, and soon a fairly lengthy soundcheck by Apollo Sunshine ensued. They rocked, it’s true. Then our heroes took the stage, did their real soundcheck and almost secretly launched into Shanty. I bet someone else has posted the setlist, so I’ll just mention that the highlights included Angel(!) Infanta (that IS a ridiculous song, in a good way) and Bridges and Balloons. I got close ups of the chord changes for that one. I think I’ll have to revise the tab slightly—is that an Fmaj7? Anyway, even though they only got 3 hours of sleep, they put on a great show for the people of Columbus. The crowd was ripe for it, as there was much singing and a generally jovial atmosphere. I felt bad for the hipsters next to me. They were so excited about hearing the Tain, but since Colin did not bring his Epiphone—and the fact that the rock opera opus has been “retired”—it was not really a possibility. No matter, there are many fine live recordings of it.
And soon there will be another DVD.
PS Colin broke either the B or G string on the little Martin, and also played a Gibson, “Beatles” acoustic-electric, like I’ve seen John Lennon with in old pictures. And the Martin 12 of course, too. It’s interesting. If you’ve seen enough shows you can almost predict what number will be next. Certain song combos pop up, and certain instrument combinations reveal it, too.
Let the magic continue, but let them all have a rest until they tour for the new album.
PPS I now realize that the sound guy—David?--I’ve seen at shows comes with them. He’s the only one I didn’t speak to, cuz I told Adam that I enjoyed Norfolk & Western and wished they could have played last night, too.
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