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I have an
online "acquaintance" who worked in advertising for an
independent newspaper. After a long silence, not more than a
month ago, I had a short chat with him (I think he was
looking for a job) and the subject came up about the
Bodeans, and Sammy Llanas and Kurt Neumann's solo endeavors.
This person said "My ex-girlfriend reviewed Kurt's
CD for the paper - she really reamed it!"
I was shocked. Then he told me "I hate the Bodeans
anyway. I've interviewed them, and they're nice guys, but
I leave before their show." Again, shocked.
Hate??? The Bodeans?? Then this guy
claimed he was doing freelance music reviews!!
(I've yet to read one, however.) I've always thought the
beauty of the Bodeans was the diversity of Sammy and Kurt,
and - given their respective strong suits, and that
wonderful balance in vocals, song writing - hating them was
an impossibility.
If you
haven't heard either of the respective solo stuff from Sammy
& Kurt, and you like the Bodeans, I suggest you go
out and get the Absinthe "Good Day to Die" (Sammy's),
and "Shy Dog" by Kurt. I first saw Kurt solo at
Shank Hall last winter before owning "Shy Dog" and remember,
once I did have the CD, thinking "Wow,
I remember these songs!" They were catchy, smooth,
introspective, and sweet tunes. (And yes, proud to say, my
friends and I actually STARTED the dancing that
night despite the rather vapid crowd!!) People see the
words "...of the Bodeans" and think they are
going to or should get mostly Bodeans. (Add that to a
list of pet peeves.)
This night,
at Harborfest, he played practically every tune from "Shy
Dog," even though the crowd of Racine people desperate for
entertainment shouted out Bodeans requests throughout!! Kurt
said "We'll get to some of those..." In the meantime,
a handful of us were thankful to hear the "Shy
Dog" stuff. Armed with another wonderful guitar
player (outside of Kurt, himself, who got to show off his
guitar skills quite a bit!), a bass player, and a drummer
who bore a striking resemblance to Bob Dylan, Kurt put on a
non-flashy, upbeat (despite the heartbreaking "Shy Dog"
story), smooth, and musically great performance. His voice
was silky as ever, non-wavering, and background vocals by
the other guitarist were quite the compliment, reminiscent
of Sammy (sans the grit).
Not many
people know that Kurt was first and foremost a
percussionist. As a child, he would play with his father's
band, and I think it's a role that he should explore a
bit more. It's obvious he has a great love for it. On two or
three tunes, Kurt grabbed drumsticks and pounded out some
amazing rhythms with the other drummer -- the kind of thing
that draws passers by to truly stop in their tracks and take
a listen! The crowd never dissipated, though, despite not
knowing 85% of the tunes. They danced a bit to songs like
"Venus in the 7th House," and "Like I Do."
A few die-hard Bodeans/Kurt fans stood right up front moving
through and singing along with every song (I did this from
my bench). Some dancing crowd members were drunk (I've now
dubbed a 23 year old male from Racine as "town
drunk" after seeing him at 3 music events,
totally inebriated, dancing with any
willing female). Other dancers were
females desperate to get Kurt's attention (don't blame
them! **wink wink**) , but for the most part, they were
all supportive - happy to be out listening to some really
great music on a beautiful night (finally!!) !! And
yes, after a few songs, Kurt did appease the audience with
some Bodeans tunes, interspersing songs like
"Runaway," "Do I Do," "Good Things" (it's
really hard do to that sing-along "no no no, don't pass me
over..." with any sort of volume!!) and one the
highlights for me, "Voodoo." He did end up doing 2 encore
songs he deserved from a crowd I think he wooed into wanting
more!!
Oh... and
THANK YOU Kurt, for not doing "Closer to
Free"!!
If he plays
solo again in town (possibly at Shank Hall), catch
him!! And dance!! (Sammy can also be found
at what is usually a VERY CROWDED Linneman's now and
again, as well!!) And rumor has it that lawn seats for the
Bodeans at Ravinia are QUICKLY selling out!! :-D
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