On Thursday, I finally realized a dream. I always check to see what shows are in town when I travel on business (time permitting). Well it finally paid off as I was able to see the Old 97's in New York. This all started when Liz's friend Nicole invited her down to see one of the shows. Liz was too "busy" but when I realized the date intersected with my travels (San Diego, Houston, Miami, NYC plus layovers in Atlanta and Albuquerque), I jumped on the opportunity. Despite being "sold out" I was able to get tickets off ticketmaster and, despite logistical confusion, me and Nicole headed off to the show.
We showed up a little after 9:30. The place was full but not crowded. Being from Boston where the main act starts at 10, I kept thinking we were late only to be reminded its new york so everything starts later. Fair enough. It was quiet upstairs so we got a beer and strolled upstairs to find a spot for the show. Amazingly (and unfortunately), Hayes Carll was finishing the last few songs of his set. He seems to be in good form and the crowd was enjoying it, but we had missed most of it. Moral of the story: new york isn't as late as it seems. We made our ways up to the balcony and ultimately staked out a good spot.
We ended up to the two guys I will refer to as the Old 97's version of Jay and Silent Bob. Really nice guys they had driven four hours from upstate New York for the show. Jay from Texas but had fallen for the Old 97's in college in Florida. He warned us he would sing along to all songs and "dance" to all songs (he delivered) as well as filling us in on Old 97's trivia. His wife has seen the show the previous night but was watching the kids tonight (how cool is that). His bearded friend danced (the Silent Bob double thumbs up dance), disappeared and spent the encores asleep on a couch. The best part was the disposable camera they had that no one could determine if you could get film developed still. Nice guys.
Every Old 97's show I've been to (actually two old 97s shows but four or five Rhett Miller) is like a sixth grade dance. Everyone is there, but sort of slow to start. By the end, everyone is dancing and having a good time and doesn't want it to end. Now maybe this is a New York/Boston phenomenon although Rhett denied that "New York was too cool for school." The thing that I really love is that I'm one of the younger people at the show. I'm hanging out with my peers. After the show, I talked to the two Moms (one with two, one with three) and the merch guy and his fiance who had gotten engaged that day. Also no a-holes, just people who are having a good time but not "too far gone to care" to pay attention to anyone else (notice the old 97's reference). Alas Dori, having fans from Texas means there are going be some tall ones, but still good people. We even spotted Kenneth from 30 Rock in the bar afterward.
The last time we saw the Old 97's, I was amazed how much Ken Bethea's guitar playing added. They guy can play and saw that again on the new songs (the show was a little heavy on songs from the last two albums, including the new one). The rumor afterward was Rhett was losing his voice and while he talked less than usual (mixed feelings on that one), he belted out his songs and did his incredible (so I'm told) double jointed hip/butt wiggling.
But the real revelation was Murry. He sang lead on more songs than I remembered (even though he fumbled the lyrics to "color of a lonely heart" explaining he's been feeling too happy lately). But they turned up the bass and it really provided the foundation for the band and showed he was the heart of the band, or its at least its soul. Nicole thought it was very "punk", which is pretty accurate although I would say "honky tonk" is equally important. By the time we made it to Barrier Reef/timebomb, the whole crowd was feeling it. For encores, Rhett did a couple solo numbers and was then joined by the band for a cover of Driver 8 and a few more of their songs. Everyone could have stayed for another hour or two but no one left feeling cheated.
Despite the longest coast check line of all time, we got out pretty fast into the frigid New York air and "home" to the weirdest hotel I ever stayed in. It was worth the five hours of sleep I got.
A few videos from the previous night (Same place/band / different day)
This is basically the angle we saw the show from:
Murry:
for John Lennon
New York Times take
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