How to make great show even better?
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:39 pm
Everywhere you look, show reviews range from very favorable to ecstatic, justifiably so. Still, I've seen the show live and watched pretty much every video posted on the web, and if am Roscoe Beck's shoes here are the things I would consider changing to make to show even better:
a) add a few up-tempo songs - Heart With No Companion, There Is a War, Captain, Never Any Good, etc, - any of these would work great to provide bit more spunk to the show. Except LC himself, everybody else takes all this way too seriously (including me I admit). Whole event is way too much like a papal mass. Specifically, I would close the show with Heart With no Companion, played after Take This Waltz which works OK as the closer, but it is just not exuberant/banal enough for that spot (they played Heart...it as the first encore song for a while, and in sounded great). Furthermore, I would break Suzanne - Gypsy Wife - Boogie Street - Hallelujah stretch of melancholy/andante songs with one of above mentioned "scherzos"
b) limit band member introductions to 2 per player, I understand that LC is very grateful for their brilliant playing, but how many times do I really need to hear Dino Soldo's name instead of hearing the music?
c) speaking of Dino, there is such a thing called "too much of a good thing". Yes his versatility and quality of playing is ridiculously high, but does he not really need to have solo in pretty much every song?
d) ditch that bossa nova arrangement of So Long Marianne (if you disagree please check the version from Field Commander Cohen album). It does not really do the justice to the song, even just LC and guitar would work better. Also wouldn’t it make more sense to play First We Take Manhattan first and close the encore with So Long Marianne? Doesn't that seem pretty obvious?
Opinions?
a) add a few up-tempo songs - Heart With No Companion, There Is a War, Captain, Never Any Good, etc, - any of these would work great to provide bit more spunk to the show. Except LC himself, everybody else takes all this way too seriously (including me I admit). Whole event is way too much like a papal mass. Specifically, I would close the show with Heart With no Companion, played after Take This Waltz which works OK as the closer, but it is just not exuberant/banal enough for that spot (they played Heart...it as the first encore song for a while, and in sounded great). Furthermore, I would break Suzanne - Gypsy Wife - Boogie Street - Hallelujah stretch of melancholy/andante songs with one of above mentioned "scherzos"
b) limit band member introductions to 2 per player, I understand that LC is very grateful for their brilliant playing, but how many times do I really need to hear Dino Soldo's name instead of hearing the music?
c) speaking of Dino, there is such a thing called "too much of a good thing". Yes his versatility and quality of playing is ridiculously high, but does he not really need to have solo in pretty much every song?
d) ditch that bossa nova arrangement of So Long Marianne (if you disagree please check the version from Field Commander Cohen album). It does not really do the justice to the song, even just LC and guitar would work better. Also wouldn’t it make more sense to play First We Take Manhattan first and close the encore with So Long Marianne? Doesn't that seem pretty obvious?
Opinions?