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Post by pro on Apr 1, 2009 5:13:24 GMT -8
I should probably get a 15-year old girl to submit my review of Robbie's (as Bob tipped us to already, no Jenny this week) Barbes swansong last night, because all I really want to say is
OHMIGOD OHMIGOD OHMIGOD! HE DID "NIGHT ACCIDENT"!!!! [scream and jump up and down]
Yes, after 11 years and I'm not sure how many shows, I finally got to hear Robbie sing my favorite song of his, and he absolutely nailed it. Kudos to the guy who requested it (it wasn't me), and many many thanks to Robbie.
Just an absolutely tremendous and extremely fun show last night, definitely in my top 3 Fulks concert experiences. Robbie seemed to really be enjoying himself and he was on fire on the guitar (which is awfully impressive to watch from about 8 feet away). Barbes was packed and a splendid time was had by all.
Songs: Robbie mentioned at one point that the show seemed to be taking a long time, and I agree that he did manage to fit an awful lot of material into the 90 minutes or so he played. Off the top of my head I can remember "Parallel Bars", "No Girls Allowed", "Waiting on These New Things to Go", "I Like Being Left Alone", everybody's favorite "On the Corner of I Love and You", "The Buck Starts Here", "I Push Right Over", "Jean Arthur " (another request), "Let's Kill Saturday Night", and an "Irreplaceable" that (sorry Robbie) completely blew the version on Doberman away
Update: We also got "Cigarette State", "I Just Want to Meet the Man", "She Took A Lot of Pills and Died", and a very funny improvised song about Brooklyn.
Other notes: Robbie mentioned he would be at the Mercury Lounge with Robbie G in late June, and that he may look into playing some other shows in and around Brooklyn during the remainder of his time here. Also, Bob, I saw you in the back but you beat such a hasty retreat after the show I didn't get a chance to say hello.
And did I mention HE PLAYED "NIGHT ACCIDENT"??!!!!!!
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Post by bruddah on Apr 1, 2009 7:56:15 GMT -8
Embarrassment - I didn't completely recognize "Night Accident" but was quite awestruck by it. It sort of had the verbose majesty of later Phil Ochs material. I'm glad I didn't have to search through the Doberman to unsuccessfully hunt it down.
He also did "I Told Her Lies" (request), "Goodbye Good-Lookin'" (I think), and "That's Where I'm From". Several more slow ones
I hadn't seen him solo in many years and I'm very glad the stars aligned in such a way that I was able to see the show.
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Post by elvisfontenot on Apr 4, 2009 1:19:52 GMT -8
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Post by Dan on May 1, 2009 3:52:58 GMT -8
Catching up with Robbie FulksBy Alison Bonaguro | Special to the Tribune May 1, 2009 Robbie Fulks spent most of April in Sweden, playing clubs and bars with names no American could likely pronounce. But on Saturday he'll be back in Illinois (even though the longtime Chicagoan recently moved to Brooklyn), playing a semi-new spot in the suburbs that's very easy to say. Evanston SPACE will play host to the singer-songwriter. You can describe Fulks' music any way you want. Bluegrass with a bad attitude. Irreverently insurgent country. Fringe folk. Obscurely troubadourian traditionalism. But this man can pick his acoustic guitar, get any size crowd to laugh out loud and make you feel like two-stepping even though his lyrics have an anti-Nashville air. Via e-mail from Sweden, Fulks said that his sound was very much influenced by the Doc Watson, Country Gentlemen and 1960s folk music his parents always played. "I've gotten interested in some musical styles pretty distant from that in the years since, but I think my hard-wiring was irrevocably set by those early sounds," Fulks said. "And I'll never grow tired of pop and country and all the American folk styles." He admits he doesn't necessarily feel at home standing in the dark, revealing his secret mental life to a silent group of anonymous onlookers. But he said "If I think I'm doing the job well, I feel basically content." So that bitter tone you hear in some of his popular tunes, such as "[Expletive] This Town," isn't how he really feels. He has other songs that state his mind, such as "Countrier Than Thou," which calls out the Shania Twain haters. "Even though I love Shania, I've done plenty of eye-rolling at big-brand country music, which I think is largely an uncreative, crudely manipulative, sinister pile of junk," he said. Ever the contrarian, though, Fulks wonders "What kind of world would it be if we let a small band of college-educated ... [ideologues] say what some blue-collar worker in Cedar Rapids should or shouldn't be enjoying?" And just for this show, Fulks will be bringing together a one-time-only group of his musician friends. They'll be doing songs from the quieter half of his recent 50-song digital-only album. But if you want to hear Fulks' honky tonk vocals, know that SPACE only holds about 250. And the venue does welcomes all ages, but some of Fulks' lyrics may not be the kind of PG-rated family fun you're looking for.
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Post by nobodyoudknow on May 1, 2009 14:33:54 GMT -8
So we have to start a new "Because the goddamn tour dates page here sucks" thread because the Barbe's dates aren't listed there, and neither is the rumored Mercury Lounge show for next month?
Harumph.
P.
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Post by Dan on May 1, 2009 14:40:10 GMT -8
So we have to start a new "Because the goddamn tour dates page here sucks" thread because the Barbe's dates aren't listed there, and neither is the rumored Mercury Lounge show for next month? Harumph. P. And on Saturday, June 27 at the Iron Horse in Northampton, MA...plus a show in Boston on Friday or Sunday. Woo hoo! Eastcoasting!
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Post by nobodyoudknow on May 2, 2009 13:04:59 GMT -8
Yay! Iron Horse: Site of first Official Date with my now husband. We are so there. Who else is coming?
P.
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Post by Gdogg on May 2, 2009 13:47:58 GMT -8
Yay! Iron Horse: Site of first Official Date with my now husband. We are so there. Who else is coming? P. So it started as a cross-country Internet romance? How sordid.
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Post by Dan on May 2, 2009 14:17:01 GMT -8
The Incredible FulksLike most kids in the burbs, I grew up thinking country wasn't cool and, judging by the commercial country stuff then and now, I was mostly right. But a few years ago I was on a business trip overseas, and something possessed me to pick up a collection of Merle Haggard tunes (probably jet lag). I didn't love it right away, but was impressed by the craftsmanship and began some tentative explorations into this alternative country music universe I'd spent my life ignoring. I quickly discovered something called "alt country" which was filled with all kinds music that definitely qualifies as cool - smart, gutsy, fun, and sometimes moving. A few artists who started in the alt country ghetto have moved into indie/mainstream success (e.g. Jeff Tweedy/Wilco, Ryan Adams, Neko Case). But most have pretty much stayed there, quietly putting out great stuff and playing to small rooms.
One of those unsung heroes is Robbie Fulks. If you haven't checked out any of his CDs or, especially, live shows you're missing out. He is the rarest of songwriters, both literate (English degree from Columbia) and fun-loving - in fact, often LOL hilarious onstage. I caught his show last night in support of his latest CD "50-Vc. Doberman," which is a collection of 50 (!!) songs he recorded and mostly wrote himself in the last year. It was a grand time, a little quieter and more reflective than his typical show, although he did rock out with the band in the second set.
"50-Vc." is only available from Robbie's website, and you can buy it here. Newcomers can get a taste of his unique highbrow-lowdown perspective from these song descriptions. Where else will you find music inspired by noted anti-communist Arthur Koestler, acerbic film critics who come to tragic ends, and 1971 National Lampoon articles about masturbation, among many, many other things. (A bonus for Yeah Right readers - he is an acknowledged libertarian, and definitely an independent spirit) And if you're lucky enough to be in Nashville next Tuesday, don't miss his show at the Bluebird Cafe with John Langford (formerly of the punk band the Mekons). The Bluebird is like Mecca for alt country fans, and every music lover should visit it at least once before they die... www.yeahrightblog.com/yeah_right/
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Post by nobodyoudknow on May 2, 2009 16:04:56 GMT -8
Yay! Iron Horse: Site of first Official Date with my now husband. We are so there. Who else is coming? P. So it started as a cross-country Internet romance? How sordid. No. We used to live down the road from each other in Brookline NH in the mid '90s. We were buds but not An Item. I got back in touch 2 years ago and the rest is romantic history.
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Post by jayell on May 2, 2009 17:41:30 GMT -8
Aw, she's lying. Everyone knows it was one of those Ukrainian mail-order bride deals.
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Post by Dan on May 2, 2009 19:54:08 GMT -8
Aw, she's lying. Everyone knows it was one of those Ukrainian mail-order bride deals. I suspect that it was male-order groom deal. "Me love you long time, da?" "Well, I don't know..." "I will bury you!" "Sold."
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Post by Dan on May 2, 2009 21:25:18 GMT -8
Robbie Fulks & friendsWhen: Sun., May 3, 7 p.m. Phone: 773-728-6000 Price: $20, $18 members, $16 seniors and children Robbie Fulks is usually pretty careful when it comes to putting albums together, both in sequencing and tune selection, and that has historically meant that a bunch of his songs—among them some undeniable gems—end up unreleased. But the Internet really does change everything: I kinda doubt the 50 songs that make up the download-only collection 50-Vc. Doberman (available in full only at robbiefulks.com) are even everything he wrote or cut last year, but it’s still an embarrassment of riches. Fulks is a voracious student of American pop and country songcraft, and there’s hardly a form he’s afraid to try, so Doberman includes bluegrass, murder ballads, R & B, power pop, commercial country, and turn-of-the-century pop, among other genres and genre hybrids. He’s the first to admit that some of these experiments are better than others—in his typically entertaining liner notes, he recommends against buying “Just Too Easy to Cry” a la carte, calling it the “golden turkey” of the bunch. But even the duds have some redeeming qualities, and the best songs are very, very good. For this weekend’s release concerts his killer band includes guitarist Robbie Gjersoe, banjoist Danny Barnes, violinist Jenny Scheinman, and singer Nora O’Connor. —Peter Margasak events.chicagoreader.com/chicago/Event?oid=1007571
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Post by nobodyoudknow on May 4, 2009 5:13:19 GMT -8
Aw, she's lying. Everyone knows it was one of those Ukrainian mail-order bride deals. I'll have to send you the brochure -- this one came with a nice house, a car, and a couple of boats! Such a deal.
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Post by antoine on May 4, 2009 5:39:32 GMT -8
A great show last night at the Old Town School. Robbie was in fine voice, and while he had some funny comments, there was not the usual shtick -- he definitely was ready to get down to business. The band sounded incredibly tight for having only played a few gigs together, and there was no shortage of virtuoso soloing. A setlist to the best of my recollection (not in order, sorry): I'll Trade You Money for Wine Goodbye Virginia They Want Me Here Moses on the Mountain (absolutely amazing version) Keep Those Cards and Letters Coming In The Sun of Your Soul (I didn't like all the avant-garde noises any better live than I do on the record) My Backyard (an excellent Nora O'Connor tune) Arthur Koestler's Eyes I Say, Hang Him It's About the Money (a cool, funky version -- a real highlight of the show) Waiting on These New Things to Go Jenny Scheinman tune that was very good Caked Joy Rag Because You Can Imogene (half-ruined with some goofy effects from this box that Danny Barnes was goofing around on) You Can't Go Back Danny Barnes song that was very, very good Common Law Cabin Irreplaceable The World is Full of Pretty Girls
Encore: I Wanna Be Mama'd There may be some quibbles about what got played and what got left out, but it was really a great show.
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