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Okay. It's
3:52 a.m. on Wednesday, 5/9, and I've decided to forego
sleep for a number of reasons, mainly because I have a fear
of "oversleeping," but another reason would be so I can
get this review started ASAP!! This is going to be a
LONG entry - if you want to skip right to the show,
click
here!
A day off of
work, warm, sunny & breezy, I sleep in 'til 9, walk and
get supplies for the day (batteries for the walkman, film,
gum, water and a Three Musketeers (turned out to be my
breakfast AND my lunch) and I head to the
Waukegan, IL Metra station to catch the train to
Chicago, Clyborn Street Station again. (see
Waterboys
show). Wished I'd taken the 1:10 train instead of the 2:10
to have a bit more time to take pictures and walk, but it
turned out for the best.
Walked and
took pictures on my way to Schuba's.
Got there around 4:00ish and had an early dinner (veggie
burger, rice and beans on the side, and iced tea) at
Schuba's Harmony Grill. Sat outside, eavesdropped on those
sitting around me (there were people from the
Onion at
the table behind me!) and took in a little sun while
watching the traffic on Belmont and Southport. Afterward,
I walked around Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville
(one big area of amazing houses, shopping, dining, and
entertainment), and just as I went to take a picture of
Wrigley Field, I pulled out the camera, the battery
cover flew to the ground, and my battery was nowhere in
sight!! Must have fallen out sometime earlier - I ended
up backtracking trying to figure out where I could have
dropped it but it was futile. No battery, and not enough $
to buy another one in time for the show!! Damn
shame!!!
So,
I got in line about 7:00 to get in for the 8:00 show.
In front of me were 2 couples going to the show together -
male/female married and male/male. They were in their 40s
and pretty excited about seeing the show. Behind me were two
students from a Christian College who chatted about the
pitfalls of a professor at their learning institution
talking on subjects of evolution and homosexuality,
complained of how bad the smoke was ("we're gonna have to
shave 7 years off our lives in here" - when it wasn't bad
AT ALL!), and after hearing a bit of the sound check,
they fretted how they were going to go deaf because the show
was going to be loud (they didn't realize it was such a
small venue). **sigh** sometimes it's hard to just
listen! The band filtered in shortly after 7:00 for sound
check and I got my first glance at them in person. Two
rather nice looking, quiet and unassuming members with a
slight grin on their faces carrying their instruments
(guitar, violin) through a nice little crowd waiting
patiently in line. Then in came a rather upbeat and
animated, tall, nice looking, bleached blonde
collegiate-type young man with his mandolin case in hand,
chatting with friends and acquaintances in line, shaking
hands...
A little
history: I first heard of NC from my friend
Kim (who is my main source of mix tapes and info source on
new music). After hearing her raving about them,
I downloaded some MP3s and knew I had to see
them... For those who don't know anything about this band,
they are classified as "neo bluegrass" which I think
would be appropriate. Throw in a little Celtic, though.
The three "main" members are Sean Watkins on guitar, Sean's
sister Sara Watkins (sister) on violin/fiddle, and Chris
Thile on mandolin. Ages are 24, 20, & 20 respectively.
Yep. YOUNG. They also have a bass player touring with them
who is probably in his 40s and quite wonderful but wasn't
often spotlighted as he's not an
"official" NC member.
We were let
in at 7:30. I was right up in front third from center
on the left, close enough to rest my feet on the stage. This
is a small venue. I'd say about 250 or so. Feels
like a rustic chapel, wood beams, white stucco walls,
candles on small mantles, an ornamental wooden archway over
the stage, even a pew wrapping around the corner of the
right hand side of the stage. Very intimate, very cool.
Small bar in back for those who want a drink without leaving
(there's a door closing the venue off from the main bar).
They had about 10 rows of folding wood chairs spit down the
center...
8:15:
the show begins. From the moment their instruments started
playing, I became teary eyed. This was pure beauty. A
sweet, slow breathtakingly beautiful tune written by Chris
Thile for his great, great, great grandfather. The song was
then melted into "You Don't have to Move That Mountain" with
Sara giving some gutsy and spiritual vocals. I could
probably write on each individual song, but... since they
did almost 2 hours of music, I'll spare a little time. Each
song was it's own particular highlight. "Between Green and
Grey," based on a J.R.R. Tolkien character... "What It's
Worth" (an incredible mandolin duet written by Chris
& Sean over the phone, of all things!!)... "When
You Come Back Down" (their current "hit," #4 on the
Billboard Country Charts - please don't let
"country" scare you. They're also #186 on the "regular"
Billboard charts. This is more bluegrass, and with the
current popularity of the music from "Oh Brother, Where Art
Thou?", it's cool to like bluegrass! They've actually
played with the Soggy Bottom Boys!!)... and of course, they played the no-longer a secret "The Fox"/"Subterranean Homesick Blues" medley with some wickedly fast paced vocals, where the band members are allowed to stretch their musical wings and go into freestyle mode and stray a bit from the celtic/bluegrass. Suffice to say, they’re musical prowess isn’t limited to one particular genre, and it’s baffling to think where the musical future will take them!!
Between songs and during the “tuning lulls” when one band member or another had to make adjustments to their respective instruments, the conversation went from background and song history to Sara asking “Can anyone tell me why phonetically is spelled with a PH?” Stories were shared about how Sean & Chris wrote a country song filled with clichés when they were ages 10 and 14 respectively… How Chris and his friend were “really into lighthouses” and decided to write a song from the perspective of a lighthouse (“The Lighthouse’s Tale” – a gorgeous, tragic, and unusual “love song”). Chris, obviously quite taken with Chicago, said "Chicago kicks my butt!" He's a huge baseball & Cubs fan and talked about going to a game the day before. He was grinning ear to ear like a little kid (although he did that much of the time anyway)! Sarah talked about going to the top of the John Hancock and the beautiful view on this wonderful day. They talked about their favorite foods (Powerbars, iced double mochas). It was wonderful. Like hanging out with some down to earth and extraordinarily talented friends.
Most
musicians would kill to have the musical "genes" of
Sean and Sara Watkins. If this kind of gift isn't genetic,
you're not going to prove it by them! Sweet, smooth,
beautiful & clear, Sara's voice is similar in
quality to Allison Kraus. It has an innocence about it, even
when she gets gutsy. Her violin/fiddle playing is skillful,
beautiful, and heartfelt, her performance style is modest.
I wished she'd had her mic turned up a little more on
ballads such as "The Hand Song" and "Reason's Why," though.
With his
flowing acoustic guitar sound, rapid moving but delicate
fingers, Sean is enthralling on guitar especially solos.
While he gives somewhat subdued and almost "shy" performance
at times (as does Sara) is, on occasion Sean would feed off
of Thile's energy and break into a big grin, move and
"jam." I actually first heard Sean on the radio
one day at work on what I think was the Putumayo Music
Hour for a Celtic music special on WMSE. A breathtaking
piece of guitar work caught my ear. I grabbed a blank
tape and started recording so I wouldn't miss who it
was. Turned out it was Sean Watkins, from his solo album.
That's when I downloaded his MP3 as well as the NC
MP3s! Simply beautiful music.
I have a
problem with the word "prodigy." It just sounds too
sterile to me. So I looked it up in Roget's
Thesaurus and got some words I am more comfortable
using when to describe Chris Thile - phenomenon; wonder,
wonderment; marvel, miracle - and one phrase that sums it
all up "what no words can paint." This is Chris Thile.
Absolute genius on the mandolin, voice of an angel,
brilliant and touching song writing, energetic, amusing,
animated, sweet, charming... He is by far the most
incredible musical performer I've seen on a stage and he's
only 20 years old!! He dropped out of college to do the
Nickel Creek thing, and never was there a better choice to
be made. He's stunning. It's hard not to just watch him the
entire show simply because he draws you in with his
overwhelming passion and talent. At times, he would be
playing and all you could do is smile or even laugh and
shake your head in a sort of disbelief. It wasn't just me
doing this. The woman sitting next to me was doing it too!
:-) He cut his first album at age 12, I believe, and
actually wrote a book on mandolin techniques. But what Chris
Thile has is more than something that can be learned - it's
a rare gift.
The show
ended after the 2nd encore with a beautiful song written by
Thile called "Sleep" which I think will be on his
upcoming solo album. Nickel Creek is also recording an album
with former Toad the Wet Sprocket lead singer/songwriter
Glen Phillips due out late summer or fall. At this point,
I know NC is scheduled to play Chicago again at the
Abbey in October, but since it's only May, I'm not holding
my breath on that one!! Given the overwhelming
enthusiasm of the crowd this night, and the
NC / Glen Phillips / solo projects "buzz" that
seems to be stirring, I see them playing much larger
venues SOON. :-( well, I can always say
"I saw them when!"
I had a
little time after the show, because I knew
I wasn't going to make my 11:43 train (they played
until 11 with one short 20 minute break), so I decided to
hang out and do something I never do. Get autographs.
Cheesy, yeah... but it was either that or wait in a little
line just say "Hi" - either way I felt a little silly.
I did say hello to Chris after grabbing a coke, and
said "may I shake your hand?" He cheerfully
agreed and I secretly hoped some of that magic would
rub off on me. :-) I told him they were wonderful and
had played a little longer than I expected because I'd
missed my 11:43 train. He laughed and then was barraged by 2
young fans (yes, YOUNG - 9 or 10). But then...
autographs. What to have them sign?? Then, as
I was perusing it... it hit me! My train schedule. So
I took my schedule over to Sara, jokingly told her my
story, and she signed it "Carol, you rock! now hurry!!"
:-) cute. Sean gave me a "thanks for
coming!" After taking a picture of Chris with some
other fans (with their cameras), I had
him sign my schedule. I got one of the most unusual
autographs ever obtained - "Carol, We're So
Sorry!!" :-D Ah... yes... no apology
necessary, Chris. It was worth every sleepless moment!!
I took the 12:43 train, got home about 2:45
a.m....
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