Jim James and friends at the Rud on June 3rd....

[megisnotreal]

so my GF called the Rud to ask about dinner for this show.  he said they are giving everyone beans, cole slaw, and a piece of cornbread!  how strange!!!  this had to be Jim's idea!

sweet :)

[Kory]

AGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH@@@@!!!!


This is just over 16 hour away people!

[jeffro79]

I am so thrilled the show is tommorow :), but at the same time I am super pissed off. The tickets I bought off of ebay never showed up and the seller hasnt responded to my messages since Monday :'(. I'm out bout $70, my friend is not gonna get to go, and the person I was selling a ticket to is fucked.  

[mjkoehler]

 Plus, there's a Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen right next door - excellent desserts!

When my brother and his family lived in Lousiville while he was in Seminary, this was a REQUIRED stop everytime we came to town. 3 Versions of Chess Pie!!!!! This place is heaven on earth.

[Kory]

I am so thrilled the show is tommorow :), but at the same time I am super pissed off. The tickets I bought off of ebay never showed up and the seller hasnt responded to my messages since Monday :'(. I'm out bout $70, my friend is not gonna get to go, and the person I was selling a ticket to is fucked.  

sucks to hear man.

[aMD]

yea, that sucks jeffro!

hey kory, come say hi at the show. i'll be wearing a plain green shirt and cargo shorts.  anyone can say hi but i'll have a copy of the planetarium for kory.

I can already feel the magic in the air today!

[Kory]

yea, that sucks jeffro!

hey kory, come say hi at the show. i'll be wearing a plain green shirt and cargo shorts.  anyone can say hi but i'll have a copy of the planetarium for kory.

I can already feel the magic in the air today!

Thanks bro, will do! I'll be nikon strapped.

[Kory]

Dylan, can you feel the magic cause you're already down there in line? HaHA! I'm sure I'll catch you outside as I'll be a bit early.

[KC]

I just wanted to post real quick and let everyone know who didn't get to go how fucking awesome the show was in so many ways. I am sure most of the details will come out tomorrow but here is my quick rundown.


• Jim was onstage almost the whole time. Just Under 4 hrs.
• Carl played on most of the songs but not all.
• Tons of covers.
• Two new Songs (positive at least 1, the other could have been a cover I didn't recognize)
• We all wore blind folds for a couple songs.


Keep your fingers crossed about a recording surfacing.

[dragonboy]

New songs? Wow!
Thanks 4 the early report KC.
Looking forward to hearing from aMD, Kory & anyone else who was lucky enough to make this show.

[Kory]

I'm still in shock from the performance... it was surreal being in a room that small and the sound was incredible. I'll have some pictures up in a little while, possilby tonight. For now here's a picture of the setlist, thanks to Dylan. Sorry for the poor quality as i had it set to manual mode and didn't change it for the quick picture.
It was a pleasure meeting you Dylan, Brian and Scott.

On a somewhat related note, Megisnotreal was supposed to show up but didn't and Scott was out here ticket price. He couldn't reach her on the phone all day and until the show started. Let's hope all is well and there was just a misunderstanding.

[JacketGal]

Holy Crap! Thanks for posting that set! I can't wait to hear more reviews. Wake-up people! :) :)

[aMD]

Wow. That was a fucking amazing show.  This is going to be long-winded but I have to start from the beginning.  

I showed up around 1:00 to wait in line for the show.  About a half an hour later the musicians showed up.  I noticed that Carl walked in right behind Jim.

People, including ron whitehead's percussionist, thought we were crazy for sitting put there so long, but it was a nice day and we got to hear all of a 2 and a half hour soundcheck.  Although most of the songs got replayed at the show there was one song that sounded like a new song that wasn't replayed, but it could have been a cover.

They let us in at 6:00 and served us our beans, cole slaw, and cornbread as we walked in.  The beans and the cornbread were very tasty but I could have done without the slaw.  My dedication paid off as I got a front row seat.  I was also lucky enough to find a good seat for Brian right behind me.

Ron Whitehead and Sarah Elizabeth were amazing!  Ron's poems came to life with Sarah and Jim accompanying him.  They did the first three songs/poems without Jim and after that point Jim didn't leave the stage. It's difficult to put what this performance was like into words.

During the first set jim and sarah elizabeth played a fucking amazing version of White Rabbit, also, great versions of Sounds of Silence and House of the Rising Sun.  They did some of Sarah Elizabeth's tunes as well which were really nice.

They broke for 20 minutes and then came back for 2 and a half hours.  The audience was great, with a few exceptions.  There was a great energy to the audience and it came through in the performances.  I'm going to list the set list out first the way it reads on the list and then I'll annotate it next (oh, I got the setlist :) )

TONIGHT I WANT TO CELEBRATE
LOOK AT YOU
AT DAWN
IT BEATS 4U
BERMUDA HWY
HOPEFULLY
OLD SEPT
WAY HE SINGS
GIDEON
I WILL BE THERE WHEN YOU DIE
WONDERFUL(THE WAY I FEEL)
I NEEDED IT MOST
DANCEFLOORS
WONDERFULL MAN
NASH TO KY (WITH SARAH)
KNOT COMES LOOSE (WITH SARAH)
WORDLESS CHORUS (WITH SARAH)
GOLDEN (WITH SARAH)
INTO THE WOODS
THE BEAR
BY MY CAR
DONDANTE
ORDINARY
ANYTIME
CHERISH (WITH SARAH)
SETTIN THE WOODS OF FIRE (WITH SARAH)
LOUISIANNA WOMAN (WITH SARAH)
GREIVOUS ANGEL (WITH SARAH)
NOBODY (WITH SARAH)

The annotated version:
TONIGHT I WANT TO CELEBRATE – jim on omnichord
LOOK AT YOU – possibly an original, jim on guitar, carl on lap steel
AT DAWN – filled the tiny room we were in and just about blew me away.
IT BEATS 4U – I need to update the tabs page (capo on 8).  Great version! Jim solo with guitar
BERMUDA HWY - Jim solo with guitar
HOPEFULLY - Jim solo with guitar
OLD SEPT – Jim and Carl on acoustic guitar
WAY HE SINGS  – Jim and Carl on acoustic guitar
GIDEON– Jim and Carl on acoustic guitar.  Before this song Jim talked about going down to new Orleans last week and seeing all the fucked up shit down there and trying to make sense of it.  He also talked about not wanting his music to be overtly political but being drawn to the those messages when you look at things like Katrina.  I don't think it was any mistake that they played this song next.
I WILL BE THERE WHEN YOU DIE - Jim solo with guitar.  Amazing.  This is my wife and I's song and this was a great version!  This is point in the show when my wife began to cry.
WONDERFUL(THE WAY I FEEL) - Jim solo with guitar. This is definitely a new song.  He said he wrote it after he got out of the hospital and he felt like shit and felt really good at the same time because a lot of good stuff was happening
I NEEDED IT MOST  - Jim solo with guitar
DANCEFLOORS  – Jim and Carl on acoustic guitar
WONDERFULL MAN – Jim on omnichord
NASH TO KY (WITH SARAH and carl) – spectacular version!  This has got to be the best live version of this song hands down!
KNOT COMES LOOSE (WITH SARAH) – wow!  My first time seeing this one live, spectacular! I need to retab this one: capo on 8. (btw, I loved jim's pink capo!)
WORDLESS CHORUS (WITH SARAH) – jim on acoustic guitar.  This is the first version I know of with jim on guitar for this song.  Great version
GOLDEN (WITH SARAH and carl) – wow! All I can say.
INTO THE WOODS - Jim solo with guitar.  For a time during this song jim stepped away from the mic and sang at the top of his lungs, filling the hall with the power of his unamplified voice. He also told a story half way through the song, explaining the lyric "E!".  he said his old roommate and him used to say "E!" if something was good or cool. Like, hey isn't that girl hot, yeah she's totally E! (note to self: correct the tab for this song)
THE BEAR- Jim solo with guitar.  
BY MY CAR- Jim solo with guitar
DONDANTE- Jim on guitar, carl on sax. This was a chilly, morifying, wonderful version of this song. Afterwards jim mention aaron todovich and said that the last time he saw him play was on that very stage.  This is when my wife lost it.  She was friends with aaron and that song always chokes her up.  This version just about did her in.  this was the highlight of the evening for me.
ORDINARY – jim solo with guitar, probably another new song
ANYTIME – jim on omnichord, carl on acoustic guitar.  
CHERISH (WITH SARAH and carl) – kool and the gang cover. before this song jim passed out sleeping masks for everyone to wear.  He told us that we could wear them on this song but we would be required to in a few songs.    He had the audience sing the chorus at the very end
SETTIN THE WOODS OF FIRE (WITH SARAH and carl) – hank Williams jr cover
LOUISIANNA WOMAN (WITH SARAH) – Loretta lynn cover (usually with Conway twitty)
GREIVOUS ANGEL (WITH SARAH) – what a beautiful cover of a beautiful song!!!  Something tells me jim's working on a gram parsons EP along with the george Harrison one already recorded.
NOBODY (WITH SARAH) – a fucking Keith Sweat cover!  This is the song that Jim required us to wear the sleeping masks.  Sarah Elizabeth and Jim broke this slow jam down!  They kept the music rolling and snuck out of the room without the blindfolded audience realizing it.  After some amount of time I finally took my blindfold off to notice the empty stage. It was classic!

I may have messed up on what carl was playing for each song, it seems like played sax on another song as well.  I'm not sure exactly how many new songs we got two or three.

I'm not sure I mentioned this but sarah elizabeth's singing voice is amazing!  Sultry, sweet, sexy, beautiful.

It was great to finally meet Kory, hang out with Brian a bit, meet up with old friends, and meet some new ones (what's up Walt and Curry!?)  I'm still reeling from this show, it will take me a while to put this experience into some perspective.  All I can really say right now is wow, just WOW!

[BH]

Oh my gawd!   I am literally kicking myself right now.

How fantastic.  I am sooo happy that you guys got to experience that.  

Dylan, you made it so much easier to take by giving me such a great review.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you!

A solo Dondante!!!!!!  That's a first right?  Holy Efiin' Shit.

Brian, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, tell me what we all want to hear....

[BH]

Since they did all of the covers at the end, I bet all three of those songs are new!  

My computer is just begging for something to fill it's bandwidth on this fine Monday morning.... ;)

[JacketGal]

aMD~ thank you so much for sharing that amazing experience. These reviews just make me a believer all over again. Sounds like a magical night for sure. Happy for all of you who got to see this!!!!

[BH]

unfortunately, brian ran out of battery during by my car so the rest of the show isn't on his tape, including dondante.  after it was over brian patted me on the shoulder as if to say WOW, i said tell me you got that and he just shrugged his head no.

the word is that scoot got the show taped but kory knows more about that.  the rud taped it but the sound guy was a dick, so if that version leaks it going to have to come through ron or jim

3/4 is better than none!

KJ, tell me more about this fine fellow by the name of Scoot.

[Mr. T.]

Thanks for the review Amd!!!

It must have been wonderful... :o

[Kory]

as it clearly said in a ton of locations, "no taping of any kind allowed" I don't think we should talk too much about who taped but moreless the fact that it did get recorded.
With that being said, I don't know any one that taped it.  ;)

I posted a couple quick unedited pictures on a post KC made over on the ol' 37.
More to follow.

http://37flood.blogspot.com/2007/06/quick-rudyard-kipling-benefit-show.html

[Scott D]

As Kory said, there were signs saying "no recording."

Wow!  What a show!  I had been less-than-floored by a few recent MMJ shows, but this show was AMAZING!  My favorite show in quite some time...  [EDIT: The person who was to buy my other ticket got in touch with me, and all is well - no problems.]  

Nice/thorough review, aMD!

Highlights for me were:
-having at least 100 people get into the show before me, yet still sitting in the first row, right behind Carl.
-Ron's "I Refuse" poem
-Sarah Elizabeth's voice - WOW!  Her duets with Jim were outstanding!  I'd love to see more in the future.
-White Rabbit
-By My Car
-laughing and hollering while blindfolded for Cherish and Nobody.  I feel quite certain that no one had those 2 on the list of "songs they might play tonight"!
-Setting the Woods on Fire and Louisiana Woman - the best part of the show for me.  I really loved the back-and-forth June Carter/Johnny Cash-esque vocals.  
-the crowd was great, and it was nice to meet Kory, KC, and Chris.

I took ~150 pics of varying quality wih my assortment of cameras.  I'll go through them in the next few days and put them on my web site.  I'll post a link when they're ready to view.

Scott (with one "o")