Rocky Mountain Highs

[JohnnyRage]

Storms blowing through. Can't see the mountains anymore.

That's the direction the bands coming from


AND YES, I"M PSYCHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bo dereks tits]

are we psyched!?!?!  i can't fucking wait!

Johnny Rage, you got it all there my friend.  Both of those diner's are pretty solid, can't go wrong with either one.  Also, a bit furthur east on Colfax is Twist & Shout Records, one of the best independent record stores in the country.  Venture on over there tomorrow, you won't be dissapointed.  

Let's hope their Tour Bus makes it here tomorrow.  

[Anu]

Blizzards in Utah didn't keep the show from happening last night.

Let's just pray for safe travels.

I'd like to go down early -- but I don't see it happening because of weather and the like.

My wife and I are going to get dropped off just before doors open.

Will be wearing Jim-worthy costumes.

Someone save us a spot up front. ? :)

[TRAND]

fyi, looks like MMJ made it through the stormy Rocky Mountains.  Just took a stroll around the block to get some fresh (cold!) air.  Bus is out front, crew unloading.  See you there.  

[fitzcarraldo]

fyi, looks like MMJ made it through the stormy Rocky Mountains.  Just took a stroll around the block to get some fresh (cold!) air.  Bus is out front, crew unloading.  See you there.  

Grrreat stuff! Have an amazing evening & Saturday Nite people in Denver!  :)

[sweatboard]

I can't wait to hear what Jim has to say about the mile high city.

[JohnnyRage]

This is me from Texas. Say Hi!

[sweatboard]

You look like your ready.  Have fun and come back with a full detailed report for us.  

[Anu]

Thanks for the report that the band is there! I needed to hear that.

Can we use the same thread to post our reports instead of starting a million different threads?

Safe travels everyone.

[bo dereks tits]

just got home from work.  about to hit the shower, grab some provisions and head down (coming from Boulder).  Going pretty much straight to the venue area to find a park.  I'll be up front tonight, tall, brown hair, beard, black-frame glasses.  probably wearing a black hat too.  

It's COLD AS FUCK outside!!!

WAAHAHAHAAHAHAAA!!!!!!!!!!

[TRAND]

temp. just hit 1 below and falling.  Light snow. Hope the coat check is large!  closest bars are Irish snug, Sanchos, and Couch lounge (happy hour 5 to 8), all within a block or so on same side as the Ogden.  Best bet on parking is Southeast of Colfax and Ogden.  During fillmore shows they have pay lots on Clarkson.  Not sure during Ogden shows.  Good luck and stay warm everyone. :)  

[JohnnyRage]

DO THEY REALLY HAVE A COAT CHECK???

[TRAND]

Yeah, last time I was there they had one.  Not 100% sure though.  If I remember right, getting your coat back at the end of a show is time consuming.

[Anu]

Yeah, last time I was there they had one.  Not 100% sure though.  If I remember right, getting your coat back at the end of a show is time consuming.

Coat check was surely needed tonight, but getting coats back was a riotous circus.

[Anu]

Here's my report (setlist at the end):

At 620 pm, we started the car and started scraping snow. On the road from Lafayette by 630pm. By 710, we're driving through the slippery streets of downtown Denver. God! the blackened piles of snow in the parking lots resemble the mountains in these parts.

Found parking on the street and walked quickly through the surreal chill. By 730pm, we're inside the Ogden. My, this place is small—and basically empty now, even so close to show time. I visit the coat check and get a PBR for only $4 (the cost of a sixpack of PBR, but still, a pretty cheap beer for a show). Rocky (my stepson) and I find a place by the first railing, just above the small section of front floor (the entire lower level being separated by tiers).

(My wife and anticipated date for the night is home with her daughter-in-law-to-be, nursing a cold and waiting on tomorrow night, when all four of us will check out the show.)

We debate about getting right up front, but this spot we found has such an incredible sight line and expected sound, that we decide to stay there. At this point, having only see 'em at the Ryman and the 'roo, I am still utterly shocked by both the small size of the venue and the sparse crowd so close to curtain. Are people just fashionably late or intimidated by the weather? Either way, I'm grateful for the generally mellow and not-too-crowded vibes.

Just after 8, Elvis Perkins and his band take the crowded stage. Speaking the pure language of what's come to be known as freak folk (and reminding me of Dylan, Nick Drake, and Devandra Banhart), this group grooves with acoustic guitar, harmonica, stand-up bass, trombone, and an antique marching-band bass drum. Center stage, there's also something strange and sounding from the keyboard family that my limited knowledge and vocabulary cannot surely name, perhaps a close relative to the concertina, squeezebox, or harmonium. Given the story that they got stranded on the way to Salt Lake and missed last night's show and how utterly tiny the crowd still is at this point, this ensemble puts on an emotive and playful set, only making me wish I'd made myself more familiar with their stuff before tonight.

Elvis Perkins and people exited the stage around 845pm. By this time, the club finally started to feel full, and during the break, more people came in from the cold. But, compared to some shows, it was still really easy to move around and get to the bathroom and bar and back in plenty of time for the buildup to lights down and jacket up. Around, 925pm, the place went black, the old-school pre-show music filled the room, and the Jacket was with us. "One Big Holiday" proves the perfect opener, and we're off.

The show had many breathtaking, mind-stretching moments. When Jim's pipes climbed to the high, high notes at the end of "Wordless Chorus," the "weeowoohwah" or whatever-it-is-so-angelic-and-eerie-that he does struck itself inside my soul. He finds a similar synthesis of soul-soothing and spirit-shocking inside "It Beats For You."

Just as Jim finds such elusive epiphanies with his vocal yoga, the band bends its own massive metaphors when channeling the classic-rock gods—as in the spacier, harder, longer, let's-not-call-them-jam-band-moments of tracks like "Lay Low," "Run Thru," Steam Engine," and "Mahgeetah."

As good as it is in such a small room with such great sound and friendly folks heating up a hideously chilly night, there's something just a little off about it all. Our bassist Two Tone Tommy needs a chair to sit for a few tracks and seems generally woozy or grumpy or something. In general, the whole band has an end-of-the-leg leeriness about it, an understandable "We just risked our lives getting here, and we're tired as fuck" mood.
In one of his few moments of speechifying between songs, Jim referred directly to the death-defying drives, of trusting the tour bus driver to face the snow drifts safely. He also mentioned a flu in the whole crew, suggesting that no-one kiss the band-members tonight.

When we think about the 115 minute set in the context of how utterly whipped they all must be, we can understand how heroic they still are in spite of it, giving 200% for the fans who risked as much just getting there, too.

Our family member reverb can be defined as "the acoustic environment that surrounds a sound." One very cold Colorado Friday night, the Ogden Theatre patrons were soaked in sacred reverb and smoked-out by second-hand reefer fumes. By the end of the show, I could loosen my scarf and feel the heat of: Carl and Jim's dueling guitars; Patrick's cymbal-riffs rocketing through my head; Tommy's bass bad-assedly thumping my third-eye; and Bo's bopping keyboard cool keeping it soulful and real.

The show lacked any cover songs and several favorites we might wish for tomorrow tonight, when I expect they'll mix it up just a little and play longer, as Jim made more than one remark to those he expected to see two nights in a row.

Setlist (please forgive and correct any errors):

1.One Big Holiday
2.What a Wonderful Man
3.Gideon
4.The Way That He Sings
5.Wordless Chorus
6.Lay Low
7.Phone Went West
8.Off the Record
9.It Beats for You
10.Golden
11. Dondante
12. Run Thru
13. They Ran
BREAK
14. Bermuda Highway
15.Knot Comes Loose
16.Steam Engine
17.Mahgeetah
18.Anytime

[TRAND]

Thanks for that awesom review.  Don't think I could add much more to it.  Great effort from the band for sure.  Have fun tonight.  My only suggestion to anyone going tonight that was not there last night is get there a little early and secure a spot along the railings on the balcony.  A lot of tall, frat boy types talking loudly, acting drunk, etc. in the floor sections.

[bo dereks tits]

Thanks for that awesom review.  Don't think I could add much more to it.  Great effort from the band for sure.  Have fun tonight.  My only suggestion to anyone going tonight that was not there last night is get there a little early and secure a spot along the railings on the balcony.  A lot of tall, frat boy types talking loudly, acting drunk, etc. in the floor sections.

DEFINITELY!!  I had a good spot on the rail, but my friends were milling about in the back, so I hung out with them, and that is NOT the place to be.  Honestly, probably the worst crowd I've ever been a part of.  Rock n Roll is supposed to be a fucking ecstatic celebration and an EVENT.  These people were not fun to be around.  Rant over.  

Also, do NOT check your coat.  The coat check scene after the show was an utter and total nightmare.  

as for positives:  Steam Engine, was, fucking amazing.  And I got a TTF shirt :)

[JohnnyRage]

Man, I'm just now recovering from my hangover.

I was surprised how much of an acoustical difference there was depending on where you were. I was up against the railing on the third tier, probably 50ft from the stage. I could see fine, but my cousin couldn't. Didn't like all the dead ends on the tiers and the bar, but I'm sure that's better once you've found YOUR spot. I didn't venture downstairs.

Crowd was a little tame, but most everyone I spoke with it was there first show.

I'm excited to catch their last show of the fall/winter tour!

[ms. yvon]

quote anu: the band bends its own massive metaphors...—as in the spacier, harder, longer, let's-not-call-them-jam-band-moments of tracks like "Lay Low," "Run Thru," Steam Engine," and "Mahgeetah."

well put, mister.   i never get tired of lay low, run thru and steam engine.  last night's steam was terrific.  the bass was really present in the mix at the top, fantastic!

last night i had a great spot for watching patrick play.  during it beats i noticed that since the orangutan (sp?) was removed from the bass drum, you can see the kick mallet hit the drum.  cool thing during those groove intensive tunes.

jim mentioned that the flu had been plaguing the crew and band.  i know what's it like to do my job when i feel like shit, but to be on/around stage putting out the kind of energy all these guys do.  damn.   what a way to work.   :( let's hope the bus is stocked with airborne, oranges, and seasons 1-4 of the simpsons on DVD.  a good way to ride out the flu.

more notes from the show:
--where i was the crowd was enthusiastic, but during a song near the top of the set patrick was clapping his hands and the crowd must have been unresponsive b/c he gave them the most solid finger i've ever seen.
--tt-t sat for golden and dondante.  he must have felt like hell.  damn.
--run thru was a little shorter than usual
--during they ran:  full disclosure:   i love this song.  i'm a sucker for a good soul song.  after jim left the stage bo and carl played these beautiful instrumental passages.  bo always lays a gorgeous groove in this tune.  (now playing in my head.)
--the lighting during "knot" was lovely!  the lighting at every show is a little different.   last night they used this orange/gold combo of moving lights.  (i realize this difficult to describe w/o the appropriate vocabulary.  alas.)
--did anyone catch that great fuzzy twang right before the last chord of mahgeeta?  awesome.

again, met some truly cool folks at the show last night.  this turned into a couple of pints and some distinctly pub-food food.

i'm excited to hear what might be different for night two!  see you all tonight for the last show of the tour for all of us.   [smiley=beer.gif]


do i really have to go back to work on monday?

[ms. yvon]

another bit:  elvis p in dearland made it to town last night but they must have just squeaked in.  they were still doing there sound check at 7pm.  the ogden let all the people who were outside into the lobby at 7.

after the sound check finished i was milling around and passed dearland's bass player/saxophonist ordering dinner for everyone on the phone.  what a day they must have had.   :P