Hello,

I saw Suzanne play out in Long Island last night.
Good show, strange crowd! I felt like a kid next to everyone else at the show, which was very odd. I'm used to seeing Suzanne play at club venues in Manhattan, like the Bottom Line and Bowery Ballroom, and this was far different. At the clubs there is a more diverse group of fans. I have a feeling that at this show, most of the people were locals, or they were members of the organization that runs the place. (But I could be wrong). Well aside from the age of the crowd, the venue was very nice...there are greenhouses, lawns, flowers everywhere. We had time to look around before we took our seats.
It was outside, luckily it was pretty mild out last night since it's been 85 and above every other day this week. My seat was under a tent, but there was also lawn seats behind that where people were picnic-ing. Even under the tent I was being eaten alive by bugs that kept bouncing off my head throughout the show- poor Suzanne even said she may have swallowed one at the end of a song. (One of the many hazards of touring, I guess!) It was a little distracting, especially when my friend poked me during a song, and said there was a mosquito the size of a bat lingering in front of us. *shudder*
Actually, the only time I stopped itching was during "Calypso", which isn't one of my favorites, but it sounded so beautiful last night in the open air that it felt like we were floating on the sea. Lovely.
Another cool thing: the one song my friend really wanted to hear was "Small Blue Thing", so I told her to shout it out if she wanted to; I really wanted to hear "Rosemary", and these 2 songs happened to be the encore! Excellent, and we didn't even have to be rude and yell requests. LOL
Gerry Leonard opened, and he was great. I can't believe how finely textured his sound is with just one guitar. Very cool.
Oh, and good news. I saw Glynn was back doing the sound! It's funny, I was happy to see him and I don't even know him, except as a familiar face and name from the 'tow.
The other thing that struck me was how Suzanne can put on a fine show even though I know she must be exhausted from touring. And she's still not done! I hope the rest of the tour goes smoothly for her- she deserves a nice long rest.
Were there any other towies at the show?

Cheers,
Kathleen

Posted by Kathleen Conway (Northernsoul79) on Sunday, August 17, 2003 - 11:34 pm:

> Oh, and good news. I saw Glynn was back doing the sound!

:o) good to hear that glynn has recovered!

remember me,

philipp

I was also at the Arboretum on Saturday night. I dragged my drummer, who was not familiar with Suzanne's music, along and had to explain to him that the crowd was not typical (though I thought it was a warm, receptive audience). I was fourth row center, making a minor racket after each song. Suzanne and the band were in great form, and the setlist was excellent - nice mix of the old and the new. I'm always partial to Tired of Sleeping (Days of Open Hand is one of the most underrated albums) and In Liverpool but my favorites were Rosemary, Gypsy (she told the Camp Che-Na-Wah/Baco story), Solitaire, and I'll Never Be Your Maggie May. She forgot some of the lyrics to the latter, which was cute. I get a kick out of things like that because it makes the performance seem more intimate. At any rate, it was another great show, my favorite since my first at Carnegie Hall in 1987. And for the record, my drummer, who was good and tired of hearing me talk about the influence Suzanne's music has had on my own, is officially hooked. He's after my CDs
Thanks, Suzanne!
-Michael

Re-reading what I wrote, I didn't mean to sound like I was making fun of the audience. You're right in saying they were receptive...they were cheering enough for a second encore until the lights were flipped on, actually!
It makes me smile too, when singers forget the lyrics to songs and such- it makes them all the more human, and in Suzanne's case she showed grace by just rolling her eyes and continuing. If it was me, I would have yelled, "Son of a b****!" or something!
There seemed to be some sound problems throughout the show, too...when Gerry Leonard was playing, it sounded like his microphone was ready to explode a couple of times. But he took it in stride.

Funny, she also forgot the lyrics to (I'll Never Be) Your Maggie May" April 30 in Northampton, and every time I hear that song on my super Vega mix CD (which starts with "Big Space" and includes the underrated "Predictions"), I'm reminded of the minute or so when she struggled to remember the words, as the music continued. It adds an element of unpredictability (if that's a word) to a song I've heard a hundred times.

To be fair, her lapse that night seems to have had something to do with a couple of sneaky audience members (Calvin Theatre road diary, April 30).

New member Hank, not ready to acknowledge the new Towie membership categories just yet