Some of bestus moments came during this set. But it was also, no question, the most uninspired moment of the three day stand. @ the start of the second half of this fourth show, I wrote "listless set" -and the second set was as listless as the first. However, the best performance of a song this weekend was played, @ least by my accounts. And I secured a ticket for Gf, finally.
So, couple were on my mind. I loved the first three days, and I was - again - bitterly angry that I couldn't share this with Gf. I'd gone to the box office each day with a "I know this isn't possible, but are there any extra returned tix etc...?" and finally the lady said - well, there is a guy walking about with an extra ticket. So I raced to my car to try and find change to call Gf, and tore it apart finding....... 45 cents- -a nickel short of a call. Tear tear tear again, and a dime pops up finally!! Race then to the El, a 7-11, this bar and that restaurant - no pay phones. Close to giving up, I went back to the Old Town and ran into a dude trying to get rid of extra tix. Seems that a bunch of frenz from Tennessee had gotten to-ogether when the tickets were put on sale back....whenever. He had an extra ticket for to-nite, and I asked to use his phone. No answer from Gf. I had to reach her that moment if she would have any chance of getting there ontime for the late show. Waited and talked to the Tennessee kids. There was about four of them, and were very genial. I talked to them a bit as they stood in the doorway of the Old Town. Then it turned out that they had a ticket for the next nites show, and I snapped it up. It'd be an easier trick - I thought - to get GF to come that show with time to spare rather than wait and wait and hope she'd call back some Tennessee # (from the Tn. kids borrowed mobile phone). Ticket in my pocket, I walked over to Grafton to get a drink and watch some Basketball. Unlike my double drinx between the first two sets last night, I had the one so I wouldn't have to piss buckets a few songs into the show. Experience.
On the couple scene = lots. And all over each other. No fondeling/kissing during the show, but aptly the Magnetic Fields should bill themselves "Music for Lovers", @ least this nite.
My notes rip through a lot of songs and I find myself very dismissive of most of this show. It may have been many things. It mifght have been me, but I was on a high. The band was very tired, this being their fourth full show (and a late show) in the preceeding 28h. But I list:
"When I'm not around" ('N.A.G.' , or 'not as good ' as last nites)
"Castle song" ('weak')
"Sad Clown" ('Sad song')
"Zhou" (o.k.)
"Marry Me" (o.k.)]
Even songs that were liked were not gushed over, just noted:
"Zombie Boy" ( 'great applause / last version better ')
"Papa was a Rodeo" ( 'o.k. / loud claps' )
and
"All dressed up in Dreams" (' Not the punch it was yesterday / but a great song ')
The problem, as stated above, may have been the bands tiredness. During an uninpsired version of "Book of Love", I noticed that Claudia's barelt threre harmonies were absent. She had come out to start the show with two cups of tea. She finished both and then downed some water. For a band that that plays quietly and places a huge emphesis on 'getting it rite', vocal problems could be a hard to deal to get over.
But the show wasn't all bad. I was happy with a Gfticket for to-morrow. "A Nun's Litany", after a slow start, made me smile. I finally really dug the Lemmony Snicket type song "Crows", especially what was missing from the later in the show"Book of Love" - the slite backing vocals of Claudia and Shirly Timms, sometimes 'caw-ing, sometimes backing vocals. Sounded great. There was the endless chugg chugg chugg of the cello counterpoised with soring backing to Claudia's lines in the chorous in the song "Take Ecastsy with Me". It sounded great. There was the full strumming and 'rocking' of a song that has become a fractured song of mine called something like "I'll make all the same mistakes" and is about walking on the beach - or something like that. It's originally a Future Bibles Hero's song. I'll look it up. That full 'loud' strumming by the guitar is always a vast favourite of mine. And the best song of the first four shows- 8 sets - was this nites version of "I don't believe you". There hadn't been a song yet that could match this performance, and was a total treat to experience. The whole weekend in a 2 1/2m song. I finally felt that I could 'let go' a bit, and happily moved in the confines of my seat. So good -the guitar, then the cello, etc...
And another highlight was the canonization of "California Girls'. I love the song now, and enjoyed this performance thoroughly. Although it's a catty kissoff of the stereotypical 'California Girl' archetype, the term 'California girl' always was a joyous term. I can remember one Santa Cruz (Ca) Sunday afternoon with Drax a Belgian friend. A random totally gorgeous girls happened by, we silently with our looks remarked on her total beauty, and when it was safe to speak again, Drax simply stated "California Girls". There are many truths, I guess.
There occured a 'Jesus Lizard' moment. In 1990, we ( Joker, Dragon, and Jacob (Nee Jimey, and I) took a trip out to Dekalb to see said band play @ Otto's. They came to the stage with the entire crowd holding back and standing away from the stage -scardy cats! For a band whose lead singer David Yow NEEDED the crowd @ his feet, this was unacceptable. So the drummer supplied a loud BAM !! and Yow pointed to the front of the stage and yelled "Right Here!" BAM !! "Right Here!" BAM !! "Right Here!" . We'd been sitting up in the second floor talking to an old lust Trixie when we watched this display After the second BAM!! one of us looked @ each other and said "Lets go" as we raced to the stage. It was a fabled show in my tenure as a rocker. The Fields had a different approach to this problem. Rite around me there wer empty seats. Now the shows had been sold out for months, but there were seats a plenty rite about me. Claudia asked people standing if they wanted a seat, and told people upstairs to coome down if they wished to flesh out what they called the orchastra pit. I had to make do with less space in a few minutes, but if it made the group more comfortable, that's fine.
My favourite patter came when Claudia inevitably brought up the Spitzer/Kristen scandel in N.Y. Earlier she'd talked about Kristen's (the prostitute) 'ill advised' recording career. Then she talked about Kirsten's video on Youtube that was the #1 video for that day or week. Stephin interrupted and said "What did you say? Ill advised recording career? What about us? don't have the #1 video on Youtube" Pretty funny, especially if it's out of the mouth of The Great
Man and not seconded handed to you by me.
There were no ovations for this tired group and tired crowd. The group and crowd were so cranky. And something terrible happened. Stephin always tells Claudia to stop talking to the crowd - it's always a funny riff. But it fucked this show up. Out for the encore, and the now familiar jinglings to "Three Way" started to be heard as the first song of the encore. But the band messed up, and there was a stoppage to play. Pause, a second stab @ the song, and some yahoo yells out "Three Way!!!". Immediately, Stephin stops the song, pointedly flips the page of his songbook to the next page, and they started a new song. Terrible!!!! This was my favourite song, and although I thought it was funny for a second- until I realised that he was totally cutting the song from the set. I got mad and was dissapointed. Not all was good.
But that's how concerts go. They could be great a few hours earlier, but uninspiring later. Such was this case. They were tired, sick, or just playing poor - or didn't like the rowd, etc etc etc... it happens.
As I was walking out, I got little love. Can be scandelous, but...
Pre story goes like this - long ago I'd been to some punkrock show @ the Congress Thratre on Milwaukee avenue. Maybe 1995. Total punkrock Goddess in the bellyshirt was struggling with her just bought popcorn and beer load. She stopped/paused/leaned against a wall to better gather herself and her load rite as I was passing by her in the crowded hall. A few pieces of popcorn fell down her at this moment and I plucked and ate one that had rite then been caught by her beltbuckle . We shared a laugh as I said hello with our smiles over my shouulde. And of course I never saw her again.
Magnetic fields version goes like this- I'd gotten my Aldo's haircut a few weeks before, and I intended my coiff to lie flat. However, on one of the bathroon trips I took during the first two days of shows, I ran my wet fingers through my hair and noticed it spiked up nicely. So, after that discovery, I wet and spiked it. Mindless fun for me. After the show let out I was milled about the departing crowd. As I passed a girl who was wandering to the exit, she ran her fingers though my hair. Always nice to get attention from the opposite sex-always nice to get random attention from the opposite sex - and nice to get attention from such a lady. Scandelous, but a nice random encounter. Random ?? What am I-a California Girl????
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