I like the Green Yellow Swallowtail song more and more. At the
SouthGate House show (in September) it seemed very eerie because they
had cut their backroads tour short within a week or two because Karin’s
mother had a stroke. The line something like “mother’s not dead she is
only sleeping” hit hard. Now the line seems softened but still has more
power now than its first performances. Karin said it started as a song
about Linford’s mother and became a song about Karin’s mother.

I also liked the “will it make a difference when I go” very much.
The old songs with a rock edge and the newer songs with a blues edge are
a fine complement to their overall mix of song choices. For a couple
songs all the warmup musicians plus Kim Taylor joined together. The
extra songs by Jack Henderson were a special treat.

I love Buddy and Julie Miller. The last time I saw them at
SouthGate House Buddy was wearing an over-the-rhine patience t-shirt
with a windup alarm clock at 9:30. It was a special treat to see them
with Over The Rhine instead of by themselves.

I missed the opener. Friday night Christmas shows make it
difficult to first adjust to getting off work and then getting to the
theater and finding parking. I was there at 8:00 and the first act was
already over. I saw all of Buddy & Julie Miller. The sound system did
not seem to be adjusted well for them and seemed too loud to me. The
sound system seemed adjusted for over-the-rhine as far as I could tell.
Someone else told me that they detected a buzz in the sound system.
Over-the-Rhine went on at 9pm and played to about 10:50 including
encores. The security people were quick to push people out of the
auditorium–maybe that is why noone posted a set list. During the show
one security person on each side of the stage was seated on chairs
facing the audience.

The show seemed too short to me but I never measured how long their
normal show lasts. An hour and 50 minutes sounds like a normal length
for a concert. There was some talking with the audience but it somehow
seemed less than usual except for the part about asking who travelled
the furthest. California or Oregon seemed to be the winner, then a man
yelled “Hawaii”. Karin did not seem to believe him. He yelled out
that he had his drivers licence (I guess to prove that he really was
from Hawaii).

Some people told me that after the show they were going to meet at
Kaldi’s. I went with the Uno’s crowd. There were 38 people in a
private room as far in the back as you can get in Uno’s. At one point
everyone stood up and said their name and where they came from, even
people who were not on the list but came as guests of people on the
list. A very large amount of respect when Don Smith said his name. I
believe he was one of three people who started this email list. Three
people even showed their tatoos: one on the right back shoulder, a
Christian fish on the top of a right foot, and a large new tattoo on the
left shoulder of David Armstrong.

The post concert brunch at Drew Vogel’s today was well attended.
Good food and coffee. Drew even arranged to have three acts of live acoustic music in his basement:

1) Ryan Adcock
2) Rick Callender (Bink who wears a kilt to each OtR Christmas concert)
3) Ashley Peacock

–Rick C

I didn’t know whether to do this or not…but what the heck…my thoughts on this past weekend (now that I have a moment to catch my breath).

I must say first of all that, despite how excited I was to do the weekend, I was more than a wee bit
nervous about meeting everybody. You see, sometimes I’m a bit awkward and a little bit bashful and
withdrawn in crowds of people, especially if I don’t know everyone that well. That’s why I went ahead
and stayed at a hotel. Sort of a retreat, if needed.
Continue reading OTR Taft Show & Lostee Gathering