New London acoustic show ?

[dragonboy]

Ah man, that's too cool  8)

We need to have that show!!!
Thanks for posting!

[loper]

I guess I'm the only one a bit disappointed by Jim's show. :-[

As has been said, it was a tiny, intimate room, above a really cool pub. Although it was far from cool upstairs with so many people in such a small space. Jim had to have an electric fan set up beside him.

The location  did seem perfect for a really personal experience, one of those 'I was there THAT night' ones that pass into legend.

The tiny stage, about 6 inches above the floor, was occupied only by a basic stool and Jim's 2 acoustic guitars. The audience were happily chatting away and there was an expectant buss all around. Then (typical of the man) Jim shuffles out of a side door, almost unnoticed, carrying his omnichord and plonks himself down on the stool. Without even looking up he starts playing it, just a loosening up instrumental, what tune it was I haven't a clue.

This is where I am not the ideal correspondent, guys, because I've deliberately avoided any pre release Z stuff, so a lot of what he plays I dont recognise. I think he starts with Wordless Chorus, accompanied on the omnichord.

 Now my major disappointment of the night rears its ugly head! He swaps to acoustic guitar and kicks into Bermuda Highway. REVERB!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, dont get me wrong, reverb adds such an ethereal edge to Jim's voice that I love it. But within reason. Tonight, on a scale of 1 to 10, the mic is set to 11!!!!!!!! As Jim sings 'Sometime I walk around town looking at faces......' his voice reverberates off every plane and angle within this small room. There is nowhere for it to defuse,no where for it to dissipate.It bounces straight back of the walls and back into Jim's next uttered syllable. At the best of times it needs a lot of attention to comprehend Jim's lyrics through his very personal singing style, but tonight you can hardly make out a word.

For the likes of us fans who know most of the lyrics already, it's not so bad, but for those not so familiar with the band, well they haven't got a clue what Jim is singing about! One man acoustic music is a very personal affair and it is the empathy the audience have with the troubadour's message/story that creates atmosphere. Clear diction and a story are vital in these circumstances. The reverb makes this impossible.

Some people left saying how impressed they were with Jim's vocal gymnastics, but didn't know any more about the man behind the music, at the end of the night, than when they'd walked in. They couldn't warm to him, unable to relate to the subjects he was singing about. That for me makes the gig a big disappointment.

There!!! I've got it off my chest! No doubt I will be castigated, hung, drawn and quartered for my verbal diarrhoea, but I'm sorry, that's how I saw it :'(

There were some personal highlights for me after all that. It was a wonderful surprise to hear Jim sing The Bear. The climax to this song is my fav MMJ moment and as Jim repeated 'forever' for the third time a police siren joined in, absolutely in tune! Come Closer, It Beats 4 U were other favourites.

Having been in the bar downstairs for too long before the gig started and with the 'interesting' smoke in the air making the atmosphere quite heady! my recollection of the setlist is very vague.

These are a few :-

Wordless Chorus
Bermuda Highway
Off The Record
The Bear
Gideon
It beats 4 U
Golden
Come Closer
Hopefully
A beautiful song for a friend who died (very moving). I dont know it. Is it from Z?
A couple more I didn't know.

And then the show finished as quickly as it had begun. Jim finished a number, said a quiet 'thank you' and rushed off stage left. He was gone! No amount of cheering, clapping stomping or whistling would convince him to return for an encore.

My hopes for 'I will be there when you die' and a climatic 'Steam Engine' were dashed :'(  

[edwardsh]

I enjoyed it, but not as much as the one from Upstairs at the Garage a couple of years ago. That was truly one of the best shows I've ever been to.

By the way, the last song he did was a cover of "All the Best" by John Prine.

[EC]

Thanks you guys for all of your stories!  That's been awesome to read this morning.  

Loper, I don't think anyone's going to jump on you.  You're allowed to have your own experience, and I'm really glad that you took the time to write it all down.

The song about the dream is called Dondante.

It's interesting the reverb stuff.  Lots of people have lots of opinions about reverb.  That's cool.

So it was the omnichord, and not the keyboard.  Still wicked.

You lucky old dudes.  :)

[loper]

Dondante? Thanks EC. I've read so much about this song that its the one I'm most looking forward to hearing on Z.

From whats been written about Z my expectations of the song was that it would be a soaring, atmospheric stormer, yet last night Jim made it a beautiful, melancholic tribute. One of the highlights of the night for me.

[EC]

Dondante? From whats been written about Z my expectations of the song was that it would be a soaring, atmospheric stormer, yet last night Jim made it a beautiful, melancholic tribute. One of the highlights of the night for me.

It completely made me lose my shit when I first heard it way back in June (live).  Just a stunning, beautiful, headspinning song.  :)

[Ian Leonard]

Jim also played a flawless version of Dylan's 'You're a Big Girl Now' from Blood On The Tracks.

Many thanks again to the guy outside who gave me a free ticket in.

[Billy_Pilgrim]

Ah, so it was an omnichord? I was stood right at the back and saw nothing except to occasional flash of his head :(

Loper --  I have to agree with you about the reverb, it was overdone for such a small venue. Like you, I have also avoided listening to anything from Z, apart from Off The Record which i heard on the radio the other day. However, I think this helped my enjoyment of the gig. It made it all that bit more mystical. It was the first time I had every seen Jim live, so it was all a great pleasure for me.

[tomEisenbraun]

so any idea of tape-age available for this show?

[Chills]

Jim also played a flawless version of Dylan's 'You're a Big Girl Now' from Blood On The Tracks.

quote]

And 3 Speed by Eels!!!

Holy shit, two of my fav songs of all time.
Someone must have a recording of this.

[ratsprayer]

who the hell here is ultra-jonesin' to hear this acoustic version of dondante?

meeeeeeeeeeeeee!



 [smiley=guitar.gif]

[dragonboy]

I'd love to hear It Beats 4 U & Wordless.

[tomEisenbraun]

i wanna hear the whole darn thing!

[aMillionDreams]

I have to hear you're a big girl now!  One of my favortie songs of all-time.  I wonder what versio he modeled his cover after, the album version, the original new york recording, or the amazing rendition from the rolling thunder revue.  They're all breathtaking in their own ways.

[Zmog1974]

Jim also played a cool version of Wonderful Man and an Acoustic version of Into The Woods..that also had a perfectly timed Police siren from the street outside, towards the endof the song. It was also nice to see Mr Leckie in the audience.

As for the reverb its the 6th member.

[tomEisenbraun]

oh cmon!

nobody recorded this?

[EC]

bump

[aMillionDreams]

seriously people.  someone recorded this, right?  I have to hear "You're a Big Girl Now"!  If someone has it but doesn't want to make it public I have a shit ton of mmj live available for trade.

[loper]

Sorry chaps, I'm too much of a techno muppet and I wasn't aware of anyone around me setting anything up. :-/ :(

[sweatboard]

Now see, if you all had raised the money to send me, we would all be enjoying a nice recording of this show right now.