This week’s shows

Friday, emmet swimming at the 9:30 club with Don Dixon opening (Dixon produced their third album, Arlington To Boston, along with a number of alternative bands, including R.E.M. and Moxy Fruvous).

Saturday, John Jennings at the Barns Of Wolf Trap with Tracy Grammer opening. It’s billed as “John Jennings and friends”, so you don’t know what you’re gonna get. We went last year and thought maybe members of Eddie From Ohio would show (he’s on their new live album), maybe other members of Mary Chapin-Carpenter’s band (Jon Carroll did). Who else did perform? Sissy Spacek (doing backup vocals for her daughter). Go figure.

Weekend

A fine weekend, with outstanding weather (hard to believe I was outside in T-shirt and shorts in today’s cold rain, but I digress).

Friday I read Cerebus comics while Jill studied for a nursing exam; 150 down, 150 to go.

Saturday we went to a happy hour at Baileys in Ballston with some of the folks we’re going sking with in February at Whistler. I had a fine Shiner Bock. Jill had to work later, so I went to Sterling Cinema Draft to see Kill Bill V1 with some friends. I missed it the first time around, and was glad to catch it before Volume 2 comes out in April (although if Quentin thinks I buying Volume 1 on DVD, he’s as crazy as the Wachowski brothers – from now on, I’m waiting and buying the set when they’re done). I had a Pyramid Hefenweisen and a chicken and bacon salad. Yum! After that, I went to the Barefoot Pelican in Sterling, to see Piece By Piece. A buddy of mine, Stuart, is playing guitar for them now. They played classic rock, R&B, blues and originals for a couple sets. I sat with Stuart’s fan club in back; we shared a couple pitchers of Dominion Ale.

Sunday, I went with my mom & dad to the new National Air and Space Museum annex. A lot of great aircraft, but the Space Shuttle Enterprise and SR-71 Blackbird were particularly memorable. When we were done, we went to my house for dinner – an appetizer feast, everything we had in the freezer but hadn’t used for any of our December parties. No one complained, though – it was fast and good.

Welcome

Hi, and welcome to my blog. I didn’t have a lot of New Year’s resolutions (doesn’t everyone resolve to lose 10 pounds?), but two I intend to keep: exercise more, and update my website. The most frequently updated part up to now was the concert list, which lists every concert I’ve been to, setlists if I’ve got them, and future shows. That will get a facelift in the next couple months, as I’m moving it to database driven instead of hand coded. I’ve been reading friend’s Livejournals, and have been inspired to start my own, but using Movable Type (what’s the point in having your own domain, and free Perl & MySQL if you don’t use them). Credit must go to danker for the idea.

[Edit – 2014]
Anything with a date previous to this post was originally published in some other form (hopefully with a source note), but gathered here now for posterity.

Robbie Schaefer at Jammin’ Java [In The Flesh recording]

Setlist night 1
Setlist night 2

Again, better late than never. Robbie’s shows at Jammin’ Java were great. Very similar sets, but good. Both nights looked sold out. He told a funny story both nights about sneaking off with his sister to New York City when he was 15 and she was 13, and keeping the train ticket to show his mom a couple years later. Someone who went to the Charlottesville show as well requested “Woman Of Faith” (no, not us, although Jill did shout out “Represent, Baldy” during Sunday night’s show).

[Originally published through the edheads email list]

eddie from ohio cruise report: part 2

In which our intrepid heroes continue their qu – aww, forget it.

So I left off during Friday’s all request show, but didn’t mention the show itself, which was mighty fine. Some unmentioned high points: Robbie, near halfway through “So we’re not taking a break, so if some of you need to go ahead, you can go. But we are keeping track of which songs you’re leaving during”; Julie’s sister dueting with her on “Closer To Fine”; the audience participation during “Horse”; the dancing that started during “Operator” and went through “Old Dominion”.

Setlist

Next up was the “prom” – the formal dress dinner on the cruise (and free drinks during the Captain’s cocktail hour). Formal pictures were taken, and dinner was excellent. Late night in Jane’s bar was good; “Bohemian Rhapsody” made a reappearance, Joe Murphy did “I Left My Heart In San Francisco”, and she even played “Going To The Chapel” for me and Jill.

The next day in Cozumel was excellent (except for the part where I left my sunglasses on ship and the closest place charged me $18). While Jill and my sister tried Snuba, I went for the real thing – scuba diving. It took a while to actually get there; we had to wait for the boat, take a 30 minute boat ride to the dive shop, then another 15 minutes to the dive site. I was hot enough from being in the sun I didn’t even consider a wet suit, and I was happy to get in the water. The first dive was ok – visibility was great, but my dive buddy hadn’t dove in two years and sucked up his air too quickly, so we were out in about 20 minutes. The second dive was great – we were drifting along the reef, checking out the fish, when my buddy spotted a shape. It was an eagle ray with a 6 foot wingspan, and it did 3 lazy turns around us before heading off.

Saturday afternoon was the question and answer period – which started with some bad news. Eddie’s mom had fallen and hit her head the night before, and while she seemed fine, she had gone to a hospital to get checked out, and Eddie left with her. The q & a went well, with good questions about favorite venue, most sparsely attended show, and Mike’s flatulence.

Once again we showed up in Jane’s bar. “Bohemian Rhapsody” was now a staple, and many more. Jill and I stayed for a while, then went to enjoy the midnight Mexican buffet and chat with our pal Debbie.

Sunday afternoon started with the photo of all the Edheads. We convinced Jane to come by, then everyone shouted for her to be in the picture. Next, the trivia show, which I thought I had a shot at, until we got to the “bridge” part, where you had to identify songs by the lyrics of the bridge. That knocked me right out. Finally, the unplugged show. Just Julie, Mike, Robbie and their guitars, unfortunately in a noisy room (they encouraged us to sit up close).
Best part: the introduction of “Very Fine Funeral” that was longer than the song, to let us in on a band in joke on why they call Robbie “Bobby” sometimes (I don’t think writing about it can do it justice). And they dedicated “Best Of Me” to me and Jill. Umm… thanks.

Setlist

That night we said goodbye to our wait staff – table favorite: Juarte (“darlink” and “blah blah blah”) – she got a big tip. Next, onto Doc Holliday’s were we watched “Music Power”. Julie and I argued – she was convinced they were just lipsyncing and I was convinced they weren’t. Perhaps we’d both had a little much to drink.

We made our final appearance at Jane’s bar. She was a little upset, as we showed up around closing time, but Mike charmed her. This time Julie, Mike and Robbie all showed, and each took a solo turn, besides joining in on the requisite “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Take Me Home, Country Roads”. My favorite moment was when they asked for requests, and Jess piped up with “Old Dominion”. Certainly a very different version – a cappella, with everyone in the bar singing along.

We left not long after that (it was close to 2, and I was getting up at 6:30), and got a little bit of rest. We got off the boat early the next morning, then spent a final day in the French Quarter in shorts and t-shirts, before heading back home to find temperatures in the 40s. Brrr.

[Originally published through the edheads email list]

eddie from ohio cruise report: part 1

Our week started with the first Birchmere show on Friday. Julie said during the Q & A it’s one of their favorite venues, and it showed.

Setlist

Mike had two new songs, “Lady Freedom” and “Cowboy”. Both are great, but “Cowboy” is hilarious (“Sits to pee”, anyone?). Don’t know who wrote it but Julie’s got a new blues song , “Alone”, that’s a great showcase for her voice.

We flew into New Orleans on Saturday night, and endured several days of drinking and eating to build stamina for the cruise. Emeril’s NOLA was the best food we had there, very fine – I had the tasting menu. We waddled home after that. Clover Grill was in two of my guidebooks as best burgers in town – we compared with Camellia Grill and I had to agree. We even returned twice more (partly because they’re open 24-7). The best music (besides EFO) was Beth Patterson at O’Flaherty’s Irish Channel Pub. We only caught a couple songs, but enough to know we liked her Celtic/folk blend enough to catch her when she hits Virginia in February. We toured the cemetery (St. Louis #1) and the Garden District, and still found time to catch the Matrix in IMAX at the Aquarium.

The HOB show was fun, but a very different vibe between sets. The first set was mostly seated in front of the stage. The second had lots of dancing and a fairly drunk woman with spiky blond hair that apparently hadn’t heard the band in several years and kept yelling for songs from the Bad Habits days (like Schoolhouse Rock, which I’m convinced they played partly to placate her and her friends, and partly because they had practiced it in preparation for the cruise). She also was pleading to grab Julie’s tambourine and play along during “Walk In Jerusalem”. Mike referred to her as the “mechanical bull rider” because at one point she was riding on the shoulders of a young guy she was with (rumored to be her son – everybody now: “ewwwww”).

Setlist

We lasted with the bar crawl a couple hours (I hope there are some good pictures of Eddie), then took off. We made it to the Court Of Two Sisters for their jazz brunch for the second time Thursday morning. Jill and I had gone Sunday morning, and liked it enough to bring more people the next time. Also joining us were my sister Sharon, my best friend Chris, his wife Jess, her best friend Debbie, and Stuart, who was solo on this cruise. Some of the best Eggs Benedict I’ve had.

We got to the ship and relaxed for a while. We went to the Lido deck to get some food; Mike was sitting nearby. After he left, Stuart’s keen eyes saw he had left a receipt on the table. He snagged it and noticed his Sail-and-sign number on it (the number tied to your credit card, which Mike gave out on stage last cruise), which we of course turned back to Mike. As if! No, we gave it to Shelly, then went to the cocktail hour.

I saw Mike coming in with yellow 3×5 card on which to vote, and headed him off. I had produced a two sided ballot of my own. The first side was the songs, in order of votes (that got one vote or more) from that poll I ran last month. The second side was the recall.
Unfortunately, the band has all the ballots, and I don’t believe they counted the responses, so we may never know the outcome (maybe we can petition the Supreme Court?). Also memorable was Mike’s toast, which if Shelly doesn’t have, I can transcribe.

After dinner, people were looking for someplace to hang, but nothing really clicked until a whole bunch of people showed up at Rick’s American Cafe. There was a large request book that people were requesting songs from and Eddie was there, but it really got started when Mike led another group of 15 Edheads down from the Casino (a twisty red staircase led down). I pointed out Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” in the request book to Mike, and the next thing you know, 30 people are singing along at the top of their lungs. It went on for a while after that, but I called it a night not too long afterwards.

Friday was an excellent day. We sunned for a while, then took in the show. I had some misdirection going on – I had a trophy for Bob McNichols celebrating 10 years with the band. What only Chris and Jess knew was I had something else to do, which the band kindly obliged me on. “Woman Of Faith” is Jill’s favorite song, and I asked them if it made the setlist, and if so could I do a special dedication. So before the song (8 songs in), Robbie called me up. Jill couldn’t figure out what I needed her to come with me for. I said “The song is ‘Woman Of Faith’, and I hope that Jill will be my woman of faith”. Then I got down on one knee and popped the question. She said yes, and I put the ring on her finger, then we danced to the song. She was very surprised: “If I knew, I wouldn’t have been wearing sweatpants, no
makeup, and my nails not done”.

[Originally published through the edheads email list]

Robbie Schaefer at Jammin’ Java

Setlist

Robbie was planning on taping his two shows this past weekend. Unfortunately, Jammin’ Java was closed due to a power outage on Saturday, and he did not record the Sunday show. Since he wasn’t, he was taking requests during the show (first time I’ve heard “Straight And Narrow” live), and extended the encore for them (“If you guys want to leave, you can”). Two new songs, “Clear And Present Danger” (about how you never really know your partner), and “Backbeat” (not sure of the title), he said it was an old one he’d never played in public before. The first two songs were because of the hurricane (“Number Six Driver” because of the coffee reference: “I never knew I’d miss Starbucks so much”).

[Originally published through the edheads email list]

eddie from ohio at Day in the Woods

Setlist

I have my own theories about the sparse attendance (lack of promotion by Clear Channel, late announcement of the show, etc.), but the important thing to me was what a fantastic show it was. The only people I hadn’t seen before was Keller and Teitur.

We’re About 9 is a good local band, doing some fine harmony vocals. Matt Nathanson has good catchy songs. Dar Williams had her band with her (she was solo at Falcon Ridge), and whipped through a great set – made everyone turn on their cell phones in place of lighters for “Iowa”. Brown Couch is a funky jam band (it was just two of them on Saturday) and did a different take on Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”. Keller Williams did a good set, including a cover of efo’s “Very Fine Funeral”, but he can be difficult to get into if you’re not familiar with him. I didn’t think too much of Teitur, not my style.

By the time efo went on, some people that were there for Dar and Keller had left, but the remaining crowd was pretty enthusiastic. The band put a lot of energy into their set; Stuart said you could see a haze on the stage from the sweat. I’ve seen them three Saturdays in a row now (Fredericksburg and Falcon Ridge also), and this was the best show of them all.

[Originally published through the edheads email list]

Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Highlights

Great topic Stuart. Hey to everyone from the patch (and thanks for saving our tent space, especially Shelly), hope to see some of you on the cruise (or at Merriweather).

> 1. What was your favorite “moment” of FRFF (i.e. the one moment where you felt that the essence of FRFF came to life)?

Late Saturday night at the Bugdiedome. I thought it would be mostly campers (not that Josh wasn’t good, he was), but Cadence Carroll and Russell Wolf could have held their own on the main stage, and they were playing for 20 people without amps.

> 2. What was your favorite song (by any artist) that you already knew when it was played?

eddie from ohio – “Hole Hearted” at Groove, Stomp and Shout. I’m a big Extreme fan, but had never heard them do it, and have wanted to ever since I got a copy of the last Bad Habits show (I lobbied for it on the cruise last year and failed).

> 3. What was your favorite song (by any artist) from the fest that you had not heard before (not necessarily new from the artist – just new to you – However, it may very well be a new song)?

A tie – between Da Vinci’s Notebook – “The Captain’s Wife’s Lament” and Eric Schwartz’s “Who Da Bitch Now?” at Rolling In The Aisles. I think I laughed at both the same.

> 4. What was your favorite performance or workshop?

Fab Four Forever.

> 5. What was your favorite audience participation sing-along?

Dar Williams – “Iowa”.

> 6. What song did you here the most (i.e. repeated on multiple stages possibly by multiple artists across multiple events)?

The Kennedys – “Stand”, Dar Williams – “The Christians and The Pagans”, Annie Wenz & Tracy Grammer/efo – “Come Together”.

[Originally published through the edheads email list]