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Subject: NYC - Mercury Lounge

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Billbarry
Posts:28

03/19/2008 7:19 AM
I'm headed to the NYC show tonight. Does anyone know if the band is joning her? I would assume so, but now the venue is billing it as "An Evening with Tift Merritt." As appealing as that might sound, it also sounds acoustic. Anyway, I doubt it's acoustic. Just worried... Is there an opener? Any early reviews from MA or PA? Y'know there was that thread earlier about which songs she could keep on this tour.....we need to resurrect that. Have fun at the show tonight. I'll be that guy at the bar.

admin
Posts:549

03/19/2008 8:09 AM
I think the band is with her for the remaining U.S. shows, but I'm not 100% sure on that. If you take pictures, please send them in!

Chris McCandless Admin

Billbarry
Posts:28

03/20/2008 6:40 AM
Decent show. I've seen better from her, but in her defense, the stage was very small as was the venue in general. It's definitely a notch below venues from the last tour. Even Johnny Brendas in PA is no World Cafe Live (right?). I've been to WCL but not to Brendas. The lineup at Brendas seems weaker. Tomorrow night is the Birchmere in VA. She gets to play the "big room" at the Birch, which is considered a step up from the grandstand. In the big room, they serve you dinner. Nice setting, but I like the more rock-in Tift more than others seem to -- but that's personal preference. I've seen Kathleen Edwards at the Birch and she was limited by the venue , while Aimee Mann was not. Tift seemed hindered by the Mercury Lounge stage and setting. Her disastrous looking one-sy, the band's typical lack of fashion sense, the drape over the keyboard and the Mercury Lounge's backdrop and lightling made them look like runners-up at a battle of the bands competition. Honestly, it looked like Tift just ran the 400m at the Armory. Of course, she was her usual charming self and interacted well with the crowd. She and the band brought the new songs to life. The last 4 shows I've seen have all been acoustic. For my fiance -- seeing her 5th show -- this was her first time seeing the band. She was nearly moved to tears. Not sure exactly why, but I took that as a plus. Pound for pound/dollar for dollar she entertains more than anyone I've seen. Band was more subdued. I'm not saying this is wrong, but it felt more like the Tift Merritt Show up there than a band. That's ok. It's not Tift and the Carbines anymore, but for fans, it's like you're seeing Aimee Mann or Natalie Merchant -- they're the only ones that matter. Again, that's ok, but this was show #22 for me going back to the Carbines and those Chapel Hill gigs; it's less fun for me. The parts of the band seem interchangeable. I did not get that impression on the Tambourine tour. I hope that's not the case - it was only the 3rd show of the tour and it was tough to move around up there. I still won't miss a show. I hope there's another US leg of the tour. By the way.....the encore was practically band-less. Two solos and then the band came out for Mille Tendresses. The band helped, but I've never seen such a mellow encore. Oh.....Tift needs to work on the intro to Mille Tendresses. She should just speak from the heart rather than try to translate it into English. I've heard it a few times now. Last night, the people did not that the song she was about to play was in French, so when she started telling the story (sounding like how I would translate in Spanish class), people were like "Um, ok...right back at ya." I think she rushed it and forgot to remind us that she wrote the album in Paris.

jentafour
Posts:1

03/20/2008 8:09 AM
i was at the show last night, too. billbarry hit the nail on the head...especially the comment about the disasterous one-sy...

admin
Posts:549

03/20/2008 8:58 AM
What does one-sy mean?

Chris McCandless Admin

Billbarry
Posts:28

03/20/2008 9:39 AM
One single garment -- not a separate top or bottom. Looks like a track suit -- to me. I'm not sure what it's really called.

gopster
Posts:6

03/20/2008 7:35 PM
mercury lounge was a better place than union hall (the last time she played in nyc). maybe it might be that there were 4 bands worth of equipment on stage that night? it also has one of the better sound systems in the city. i couldn't go to this show because it was sold out for a while and the merc didn't update that it was sold out until a week before the show. i thought she could have filled the bowery ballroom. i'm so disappointed that i couldn't get in. oh well.

Billbarry
Posts:28

03/21/2008 6:20 AM
Gopster - Fair and accurate statements. It is better than Union Hall but it was just Tift that night so stage real estate wasn't as important. Definitely could have filled Bowery/Irving Pl.

Chris Popp
Posts:6

03/21/2008 4:22 PM
I was also at the show on Wednesday, and I have to disagree with some of the sentiments above. I liked Tift's outfit, and I liked the band a lot. This was my first time seeing Jay and Zeke, and I thought they both killed it. And Danny on keys and Scott on guitar both broke off some fantastic solos. I also liked the venue a lot. It was intimate, which suited the material, and the sound was great. I agree that a show at Bowery Ballroom would be cool, but I would happily return to the Mercury Lounge for another Tift show. Just my opinions - I think everyone headed to a future gig on the tour is going to have a great time.

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