Jim James in Bloomington Last Night (sort of)

[Ive got an EVIL plan babe]

Flipping through the channels last night I was suprised to see JJ's bearded face and long hair sporting a sombrero and singing on CATS public access tv here in Bloomington, IN.  This was a solo acoustic set in Space101 (which no longer exists as space 101 as far as I know) from Bloomingtonfest 2001.  I had never seen this footage anywhere previously.

The video showed JJ sitting in the corner of what looked like an old apartment.  It was a daytime set.  The sun poured in from the window.  An instrument case sat behind JJ labelled Songs Ohia.  Jim wore a sombrero around his neck and then placed it atop his head for the last 3 or so songs.  I missed the biggining of the show, but these are the songs I remember hearing:
Hopefully
I'll be your baby tonight (bob dylan)
Just because I do
The way that he sings

The part I saw didn't showcase much JJ banter.  However, there was a classic little scene where JJ asked the sound guy to crank up the reverb as high as it could go.  There were no clips (in the part I saw) of the audience.  The camera was cropped tightly to JJ most of the time with an occassional close-up of his hands playing guitar.  Anyway, that's it.  I'm working on getting a copy of this.



I changed the title of this post so people wouldn't shit their pants anymore.

[LizKing531]

I read the thread title & about shit myself -

I'd love to see that

[BH]

Nice!   Keep us updated, please!

[Ive got an EVIL plan babe]

I contacted the videographer/editor of the show.  She was excited to hear that I enjoyed the show.  She isn't living in B-town anymore, but she was able to forwarded me to someone at CATS who should be able to get me a DVD copy.  I'll be stopping by on my way home from work.  More later.

Here's an excerpt from her e-mail.  I hope she doesn't mind.

"Yay! I'm soooo happy you liked it! It was shot at a time right before they got signed to ATO and not very many had even heard of them. They were still playing shows at places like Second Story. I would go see them like, every two months because the'd play Bloomington that often. And I always talked to Jim after shows and he's soooooo incredibly nice. The first time I saw him play was a solo show at All Ears (A record store that is now gone, was on 10th street). There were like 20 people sitting indian style on the ground and he played sitting on a folding metal chair."

[aMD]

Wow!  I've got to have it!  There's isn't a known recording of I'll Be Your Baby Tonight and it's one of my most needed tracks for the covers comp.  Please find this tape! Thanks!

[corey]

This thread might need to be changed to "Things that might make aMD shit his pants a little".

:)

[Kory]

awesome, keep us updated on the video, we'd all love to see it!
thanks!

[Ive got an EVIL plan babe]

I visited CATS yesterday.  They make a DVD copy of any program in exchange for a 60 minute DV video cassette, which they said costs about 2-4 dollars.  I placed an order for two copies.  They will be ready within two weeks.  How would you all like to go about sharing this?  I don't have the funds to make a shit load of donations and ship out a ton of dvds.  I thought I might ship out 2-3 for free to reliable members who could then make copies and again pass the dvd on for free to more members.  Alternatively, I'll look into costs of shipping and DV cassettes and you can send me a comparable donation.  To anyone in or near bloomington, you can go to CATS and get a copy right away.  CATS is on the bottom floor of the Monroe County Library on Kirkwood Ave.  Fill out a request form for Jim James: Live at Space101.

[aMD]

pm-ing you...

[hazeyjane]

Hi, all. This is so exciting for me. I am the producer/director of this program. I should have done this ages ago but I will find someplace to host this 30 minute program and let you know the link. I might place it on youtube while looking for a different place to host. I hope you all enjoy and I'd love feedback.

Laura

[aMD]

hello hazyjane!

I am very excited about this recording.  It has recordings of one maybe two songs I've been trying to track down for over a year now.  

Could you tell us about how the recording came about and what it was recorded on?

[hazeyjane]

Well, it's not a true audio recording, it's a video. I didn't bring the cables needed to plug into the audio board (really, I was too meek to ask). So, the audio is just from the camcorder so it's not the best quality, especially when you consider how much reverb Jim uses and the small size of the room. But the audio is good enough. The show was held at an art space above a Blimpies in Bloomington, Indiana called "Space 101 which is no longer an art space." 101 was having a BBQ (sans BBQ so I don't know why they called it that) and about four different acts played for about 30 people. My friend and I both worked at the local TV access station as Production Assistants at the time. I just took some equipment to the show and taped Jim's performance. I guess there's no real "story" about how the shoot came to be. But even though the audio isn't four stars, it's still a nice video because it's a great look into what it used to be like to go to an MMJ show or Jim solo performance. They are still my favorite modern band of all time, I love them with all my heart still but I do miss the days when not so many people knew about them so that they could still hang out before and after the shows. But that's just me being selfish :) The main reason I made this video was so that the access station would play it and more people could discover them. I shot myself in the foot ;)

[aMD]

Nice. Thanks for sharing.

One more question.  Would the date of this show happen to be 9-01-01, the Secretly Canadian BBQ show?  Or is this a different date?

[hazeyjane]

Why, yes, it was 9/1/01. It must have been the Secretly Canadian BBQ, which would explain the Song: Ohia guitar case although Jason Molina was not there. My memory isn't that great. I think this was either right before or right after MMJ did the split EP with Songs: Ohia...Do you live in Bloomington?

[aMD]

no i live in louisville.  i wasn't at the show.  This was seven days before the planetarium show which I was at and is one of my favorite shows of all time.  This was one of the best eras of the band, in my opinion. thanks again.

[hazeyjane]

Yes, agree. Best era.

If anyones knows a good place to host a video that is 30 minutes long *for free*, please let me know. I am having a hard time. I'd rather not break up the video.

[Kory]

Hey guys and gals,
I've got that show on tape...  I remember putting it on the archive...
http://www.archive.org/details/mmj2001-09-01.Jim_James_solo

the set is conflicting though... maybe we have a mystery on our hands...

thanks to all for getting this video out there. OK plan and I are setting up a trade to get and I'll do a ton of b&ps and try to get a torrent going as well.

kj

[EAZYE]

Thanks Kory! :)

[aMD]

yeah, i'm not sure if that's the same show or not.  someone who's seen the program could say for sure unless the two tracks i'm interested in just didn't make it on the audio recording.  Could be a different date, one that isn't on from Nashville to kentucky, perhaps.  or maybe not...

[hazeyjane]

Hi all. This was recorded at the same show but my video is not the same recording. I didn't use all the songs Jim performed for my video (like Lil Billy) because the sound from the camcorder was just bad. I used the best seven or so songs. But I have some songs that are not included in the other archive (such as I'll Be Your Baby Tonight). And, again, my recording is a video that was edited for TV, not an audio recording. Very few people have seen this video unless you are one of my friends or happened upon it while watching community access tv in Bloomington. I need to figure out how to share this with you all!