i'm telling you stories. trust me.: October 2008

I am still jobless. That's some of the less exciting news I have.

More exciting things:

— Next week, we are going to see Jolie Holland!(for which concert there will undoubtedly be a review posted here. Several days late, of course.)

— Tonight I finished the longest piece of writing I've ever completed. A short story which clocks in at 21 pages (6134 words), called "The Weather God." I'm at least reasonably pleased with how it turned out. Obviously it needs some (read: a lot of) work, but the ideas are there. Most of them, anyway. A first reading by someone who isn't me will let me know if I was clear enough, though still subtle enough, with the hinted things. Or, perhaps, too out in the open. The reading will help. And this story is something I intend to include in a collection I'm developing in MY BRAINS called Hello, City. I have two other stories finished in rough drafts, both of which are only about a quarter of the length of this one, called "The Guitar Man" and "The Man Wearing the Black Suit and Carrying the Gray One." I like both of them, too, which is a nice surprise. Also, I have plans to insert, between each of the stories, little things I'm calling "vignettes of place," which are very short——no longer than a page——and have no characters, no plot; none of that stuff. Just descriptions of places. I have a few of these started: "The Payphone," "The Pigeon" and "The Bathroom He Used" (this last one may not be included. It was just something I whipped up, though it probably doesn't belong with the rest of the collection.). And several other ideas, including the backyard at this place and a parking lot.

Hi, my name's Mr. Pretension. How are you?

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. I got to see them play. Last Wednesday (like with the Shellac show/post combo, I preferred to let things dull into the fogginess of my memory before posting about them. This way I can make stuff up with fewer pangs of conscience). I was introduced to these guys in 2000 or thereabouts by the Brothers L.——probably moreso the younger than the elder. I've been diggin' 'em since around that time.

So, the show. At The Kool Haus. Which is massive and open and solidly floored. Which we learned after waiting in line for at least half an hour, slowly progressing toward the entrance. That's what we get for getting there only ten minutes before doors opened, I guess. So, we ended up with a line of sight not all that great——especially for Gabrielle, which I felt bad about the entire show. Especially when the six foot something fellow moved, about halfway through the show, directly in front of her. So close that when she blinked, her eyelashes got stuck in the weave of his sweater. The extrication process was long and painful. I could see most performers from about the waist up.

The openers, Black Mountain, were unimpressive I found. I thought every song, at its commencement, was a cover. And not of anything spectacular. Imagine Black Sabbath stripped of all their darkness and bluesiness and converted into even more stereotypical arena rock. There you go. The woman who sang in the band, with her sea-sickeningly wide vibrato, reminded me of Grace Slick. So, I guess that's a good thing.

To Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds!
Their setlist (from what I could remember when we got home——I'm not sure on the order for parts of it, but I'm almost positive I've got every song they played listed):

The Night of the Lotus Eaters
Dig, Lazarus, Dig
Tupelo
The Weeping Song
Red Right Hand
Hold on to Yourself
Love Letter
Midnight Man
The Ship Song
The Mercy Seat
Deanna
We Call Upon the Author
Moonland
Hard On for Love
Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry

Encore. Of course.:

Get Ready for Love
The Lyre of Orpheus
Stagger Lee

I was a bit disappointed that it was mostly their rockers that were played, though not surprised. And they rocked them well. Watching Jim Sclavunos and Thomas Wydler go at their kits was an entertaining sight; the contrast in their styles was... readily apparent. J.S. was a wildman behind the kit. All flailing limbs and contorted body. T.W. was the epitome of calm. Perfect posture; light, spare movements——though no less hard hitting. I think I have the names right. Just to be on the safe side, though, reread this section and swap the names.

Nick Cave was pretty much the quintessential Rock Star. The traditional "I love you, too"s; the incessant "fuck"s. That sort of thing. A wicked showman.

Except for "Get Ready for Love," which suffered from tuning and timing issues (and the lack of the gospel choir), the set was damn near impeccable. Oh, yeah: add to the peccadilloes: the lack of my favourite verse (among others) in "The Lyre of Orpheus" (I think they just wanted to get out of there at that point. Because of this lack, I'm going to post the lyrics, and put everything he/they skipped in bold [and my favourite verse in italicised boldness]):

Orpheus sat gloomy in his garden shed
Wondering what to do
With a lump of wood, a piece of wire
And a little pot of glue
O Mamma O Mamma

He sawed at the wood with half a heart
And glued it top to bottom
He strung a wire in between
He was feeling something rotten
O Mamma O Mamma

Orpheus looked at his instrument
And he gave the wire a pluck
He heard a sound so beautiful
He gasped and said O my God
O Mamma O Mamma

He rushed inside to tell his wife
He went racing down the halls
Eurydice was still asleep in bed
Like a sack of cannonballs
O Mamma O Mamma

Look what I've made, cried Orpheus
And he plucked a gentle note
Eurydice's eyes popped from their sockets
And her tongue burst through her throat
O Mamma O Mamma

O God, what have I done, he said
As her blood pooled in the sheets
But in his heart he felt a bliss
With which nothing could compete
O Mamma O Mamma

Orpheus went leaping through the fields
Strumming as hard as he did please
Birdies detonated in the sky
Bunnies dashed their brains out on the trees
O Mamma O Mamma

Orpheus strummed till his fingers bled
He hit a G minor 7
He woke up God from a deep, deep sleep
God was a major player in heaven
O Mamma O Mamma

God picked up a giant hammer
And He threw it with an thunderous yell
It smashed down hard on Orpheus' head
And knocked him down a well
O Mamma O Mamma

The well went down very deep
Very deep went down the well
The well went down so very deep
Well, the well went down to hell
O Mamma O Mamma

Poor Orpheus woke up with a start
All amongst the rotting dead
His lyre tucked safe under his arm
His brains all down his head
O Mamma O Mamma

Eurydice appeared brindled in blood
And she said to Orpheus
If you play that fucking thing down here
I'll stick it up your orifice!
O Mamma O Mamma

This lyre lark is for the birds, said Orpheus
It's enough to send you bats
Let's stay down here, Eurydice, dear
And we'll have a bunch of screaming brats
O Mamma O Mamma

Orpheus picked up his lyre for the last time
He was on a real low down bummer
And stared deep into the abyss and said
This one is for Mamma
O Mamma O Mamma

Another low point to the show (though not, entirely, the fault of the band): the dude beside us getting uncomfortably excited at the line "I'm gonna give the gates a shove" during "Hard On for Love." The dude was beside himself with something; I'm not too sure I want to know what, though.

The high point of the show, though was "The Mercy Seat." They emphasised the intensity of the song, building and building to the clever climax. I love the lyrics to this song, the progression through the story. It's very well laid out.

Other highlights: Gabrielle's creepy as all get out eyes before the show started. There were black lights everywhere. So: CREEPY. And wicked.

Other high points (song-related):
— singing along with everything at, or near, the top of my lungs.
— Warren Ellis
— Mick Harvey
— "We Call Upon the Author"
— "Deanna"
— "Red Right Hand"
— and, of course, the obvious set closer: "Stagger Lee"

Upon rereading this post, I've realised that I say pretty much nothing. It's apparently really difficult for me to write about a band that's as high up on my list of favourites as these guys are (I mean, seriously, check out my last.fm profile!)

I went to the show expecting to be entertained, and expecting the band to blow my mind. I was definitely entertained, but I'm not sure if the band entirely blew my mind. Maybe my expectations were too high? Though it was an amazing set, don't get me wrong. Everything was played with an excess of energy and everything sounded good, full, large and they all looked like they were having a good time. Maybe it was the overwhelming size of the audience that cut down on the show's goodness for me. Since I wasn't comfortable, the quality of the show diminished? It's probable.

But, yeah, nice work, boys.