ms. yvon Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 **this is a copy and paste of my post from the mmj board. i've ammended it in that i've posted the rest of the setlist for the show.** there are about 18 layers of why this weekend was so special. i love visiting portland. beyond it being full of amazing coffee and beer and yarn, it's home to some of my closest friends. without exaggeration: i sing out loud the whole time i'm there. saturday before heading out to edgefield was spent with friends at Genie's (12th and Division)--a tremendous breakfast restaurant with a full bar. veggie benedict and bloody marys to beat the band. and stumptown. ah, stumptown. oh, yes. the overcast sky of the morning burned off to become a beautiful afternoon. holy cats. just stunning. i headed out to edgefield to meet up with vespachick. lovely! fall hasn't kicked in yet, so the deciduous trees are still leafy and green for the most part. alders everywhere! when vespa-c pointed out that i could go into the hotel, buy a glass of beer and bring out to enjoy while waiting in line, i just about fell over: sitting outdoors and drinking coffee or sipping a fantastic beer is something that i love. (i've got all the best patio spots mapped out in my surrounding neighborhoods. ) before the gates opened, everyone is line was really excited, and giddy. especially noteable b/c the average age up at the front of the line was about 35. woo! it was a great, fun feeling. not long after we'd gotten in and found spots for the show, another pair of old friends found me in the crowd! they'd travelled up from southern oregon and we knew to look for each other at the show. wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! i realize this post is laden with superlatives and gushing, but i tell you, emotionally, there was a lot happening last weekend. even after a full day of work today, i'm still feeling full-hearted. in the course of meeting neighbors before the show, vespa-c id'd eric26! everyone down around the stage was friendly. how often does this happen? really. friendly. and social. and just happy to be out there. during john callahan's set there was a squirrel leaping around in the branches of a tree stage left. my friends not close to the stage said they couldn't hear his set. we could hear him down front, but it was clear he didn't have the capacity to project much. some plaintive, lovely, funny and heavy hearted songs. when it was announced he would open the show, someone on the board posted a link to his performing "touch me someplace i can feel." this is the number he closed with. damn. soooo good. ok. enough backstory. the setlist and some moments i remember from the show... -the inflatable cricket that's been on stage seems to be suffering a leak. despite a re-inflating just before show time, he was flat before too long. alas. -bermuda highway: vespa-c turning to me and saying, "are you kidding?!" the sun was just starting to go down, dusk was coming on. soooo beautiful.-at dawn-golden-it beats 4u --at dawn and it beats 4u: well, damn. the drive of patrick and tom in it beats coming after golden was terrific. and those keys. FANTASTIC to hear this again! -i'm amazed: I GET DISRUPTED!-otr-wonderful man: big finish! -evil urges-way he sings-thank you, too: gorgeous! at one point during the song a young girl climbed onto the stage. there was a moment as everyone looking to see what she was going to do...then she just stood in front of bo's keys and danced in the light with her eyes closed. after it was clear she wasn't going to tackle anyone, there were some smiles from the band. one of the band's crew whisked her off stage without too much ado. -gideon: not sure what happened here, somedays some songs just strike a chord. this was a catapult!-PHONE-WOW. sounded like there were a lot of people singing along with this-easy morning rebel! HELL YES! -laylow-magheeta--after magheeta jim explains that the band is going to slow things down and invites us all to go on a slow...adventure... -sec walkin -librarian: everything about this song in performance is so delicate: every instrument, the lighting... the song started with the stage mostly dark w/only jim lighted. there was a low blue light behind him, but the rest of the band was in silhouette. as the song grew, some magenta mixed slowly in. by the end there was a gorgeous tangerine light in the mix. sooo lovely. boy howdy. -dondante: i love that carl's saxophone still has the sea creature stickers on it from those prom shows. Grin (note to bevil: v3, yo. ) again the lighting at then end of this during carl's sax section: beautiful! -smokin from shootin: WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, ANYWAAAAAAYYYY?! -touch me pt 1 --> pt 2: Shocked Shocked the smoke from the stage was rising in smoke rings into the stage lights... as the band crouched down for the outro, jim sped up then slowed down the rhythym on the omnichord. looked like he and bo were sort of bobbing out of each other's eye line...think "peek-a-boo." --------2nd set----------COBRA. i'd seen this dropped from a previous setlist so was ecstatic to hear that opening! vespa-c and i were moved to throw down some quality moves. this 2nd set:-cobra-wordless-highly suspicious-run thru-anytime-obhSWEET. CRACKER. SANDWICH.*string of expletive laden superlatives here*the momentum in this set was crazy! this night's set was a stunner. through and through. maybe it was the locale. or the weather. or the curry being served...but the setlist seemed to suit the night and the crowd perfectly. i'm a classic show-exiting-lagger. i will wait til i am swept out by security. i just love lingering afterward, looking for familiar faces in the crowd, talking to other people. so edgefield was wonderful: we didn't have to go anywhere. i spent an hour after the show with my friends, swapping jonathan richman stories. although i missed wizzard at the show, i did get a little bit o'multnomah falls over the telephone! all of this and at the end of the night i knew i had another p-town breakfast opportunity, a road trip w/vespachick AND another show to look forward to on sunday. took me a long time to fall asleep. *ok. it's 1am. the coyotes are going nuts somewhere in the neighborhood. such a freaky sound. i'll post about seattle shenanigans tomorrow. 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markosis Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Jealous. I love Portland. Out of curiousity, Ms, how do you manage to do all of this travelling/going to MMJ shows? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ms. yvon Posted September 30, 2008 Author Share Posted September 30, 2008 every girl's gotta have a hobby. really, these days i only get to see weekend shows. my job is seasonal, so in the off season i have a couple months off. makes getting to shows pretty easy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stooka Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Great review!! Gush all you want, reading that stuff is enjoyable. Why in the world I haven't seen this band is beyond me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mdpoet Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Thanks Ms Y for putting us in the moment. Sounds incredible. Hopefully one of these days we'll make it to that part of the country to catch a show. I can't wait to see them again after reading posts like this. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bold992003 Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 I don't think it can be said enough about how insanely awesome MMJ are live. I feel like I'm seeing history everytime I see them. See you at MSG on NYE! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ms. yvon Posted October 1, 2008 Author Share Posted October 1, 2008 woohoo! forgot to mention that after the show i was hanging out near one of the edgefield bars, talking with some other fans. laura viers and tucker martine walked out of the bar and i went, "oh! hey! hi!" in absolute uncool, fangirl fashion. i told all the people around me, "that was laura viers!" and they didn't know who she was. selective geekiness. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
markosis Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Who's Tucker Martine? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ms. yvon Posted October 2, 2008 Author Share Posted October 2, 2008 he is in laura's band the saltbreakers, but he also produces her albums. last year he produced the decemberists' "crane wife" and produced some of jim white's last album "transnormal skiperoo." i'm a fan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouisvilleGreg Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Wow, I've been ducking the setlists of late, as a few weeks ago it seemed they were stalling out abit, but this sounds amazing. I'm all over some EasyMorning Rebel, definitely an understated song in the MMJ canon. And those first 3 songs out of the gate, that's so 5 or 6 years ago of them.And yes Evon, you are correct about all things Portland, except I would also add great record stores and great book stores and great public transportation and oh yeah it really is very pleasing on the eyes. I'm in Louisville again already, visiting family and really thinking of making a run at those upcoming Chicago shows. Thanks for the review. See you at the Garden! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
markosis Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 you are correct about all things Portland, except I would also add great record stores and great book stores and great public transportation and oh yeah it really is very pleasing on the eyes. Don't forget clean and fresh-smelling. Like a pine forest. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
miss jayne Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 oh ms yvon, thank you for the virtual trip to ecotopia...sounds wonderful. And a beautiful set list well done. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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