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Thursday, August 28, 2008
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SherylCrowNo1Fan
Posts:6
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| 05/15/2008 5:58 AM |
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Oh my first little post on the forum, i had a great time in Buckingham on Saturday second Tift gig i've been to and what a pleasure!! The professional photos taken at the end were great and i'm sure we will be hearing from Tift as i have copyright on myself ha ha!!
I will be heading along to the Cornbury festival and may even have chance to go to Bush Hall. Great to meet you Mac-Daddy :) As for you GwenStefanifan many thanks allowing me to becoming part of your little groupie ha ha!!
Maria |
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Phillip Reid
Posts:1623
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| 05/15/2008 6:13 AM |
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| Excellent. I well remember the first time it happened to me too. |
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Phillip Reid
Posts:1623
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| 05/15/2008 6:15 AM |
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| Hi Maria. Welcome to the site--hope you stick around. P |
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ghman
Posts:408
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| 05/15/2008 3:24 PM |
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Hey Maria! Its good to see ya!
Hot off the text from Vicky in York, the news is that Tift put in a crazy disco-led electronic Gwen Stefani-influenced mashed-up remixed throw-down of a performance with DJ Zeke goin' beserk on the decks.
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M-D #18
"I get in a good mood just thinking 'bout it" |
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ghman
Posts:408
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| 05/15/2008 3:28 PM |
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Posted By supertomate on 05/15/2008 2:25 AM
Yes, I'll be at the Java in Paris for part 2 of the Tift Merritt trilogy as I'll be back in London on July 1st. This is so freaking exciting ! 
Hi Haruo - great to see another Tift fan who doesn't mind travelling to another country [groan!] to get a Tift-fix. Sometimes it just has to be done! 
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M-D #18
"I get in a good mood just thinking 'bout it" |
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SherylCrowNo1Fan
Posts:6
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| 05/16/2008 5:41 AM |
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Ha! very good Andy  i will stick around  really looking forward to see Tift again, Chris is even thinking about going to Sheffield which could be a possibility travel out a bit! |
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cjeast
Posts:11
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| 05/17/2008 11:06 AM |
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Sorry its my first post, no excuse.
Vickie i am amazed how you can do all these gigs. Andy it was good to meet you and sure will see you again at another tift show.
My plans (with Maria) is to do sheffeld and Nottingham in july maybe Cornbury.
i have seen Tift 7 times now, with band in london, twice in maidstone solo and as duo , once in bedford solo , twice @ cambride folk festival duo and buckingham solo. i know vickie is a few ahead of me!!!! she is always different each show, she always has energy for the shows, always willing to talk to her fans, i do not know any artist like that.
Will be good to see tift and her band i know they do not come over often. Personally i like the solo stuff it shows Tift raw tallent.
Any one got any photos of the Maidstone gig on Holiday Monday.
post again soon
Chris
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Phillip Reid
Posts:1623
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| 05/19/2008 6:23 AM |
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| Hi Chris thanks for being here . . . |
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ghman
Posts:408
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| 05/19/2008 10:16 AM |
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| Chris! Glad you could make it here to Tift-Teen central - will catch up with you in Nottingham if not before. |
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M-D #18
"I get in a good mood just thinking 'bout it" |
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GwenStefaniFan
Posts:60
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| 05/19/2008 12:35 PM |
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Hi Maria and Chris! This is great; my friends are taking over the asylum!  Yeah, Nottingham/Sheffield road trip in July would be such fun; I'm there!!
Maria - who is your friend in your avatar photo? She looks familiar ...
York and Newcastle shows were great! I will post the final installment of my "Tift Merritt is the best live band I ever saw in the whole world ever" gush-fest tomorrow.
Vicky |
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GwenStefaniFan
Posts:60
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| 05/20/2008 12:04 PM |
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Posted By supertomate on 05/15/2008 2:25 AM
Yes, I'll be at the Java in Paris for part 2 of the Tift Merritt trilogy as I'll be back in London on July 1st. This is so freaking exciting !
Hey Harou - here’s the set list from the Camden show (or my scrawled version of it!) See you at Bush Hall. Eurostar is great isn’t it!
Camden Green Note, 13 May 2008
1. Keep You Happy - guitar
2. Broken – guitar
3. I Know What I’m Looking for Now – keyboard & harmonica
4. Another Country – keyboard
5. My Heart is Free – guitar
6. Hopes Too High – guitar & harmonica
7. Supposed to Make You Happy – guitar & harmonica (in the audience)
8. Good Hearted Man – keyboard
9. Tender Branch – keyboard
10. Morning is My Destination - keyboard & harmonica
11. Stray Paper – guitar
12. Something to Me – guitar (in the audience)
Encore
13. Still Pretending - keyboard
14. Virginia – guitar (in the audience)
15. Milles Tendresses – keyboard
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GwenStefaniFan
Posts:60
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| 05/20/2008 12:32 PM |
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Ok, here are my final reports from the last 2 shows I went to, and then I will be gone, I promise!! I’ll do 2 separate posts since I blather on so.
York, 15 May
Most of what you need to know about this show is encapsulated in the first photo below – more Tifty piano heaven! [I think the text Andy mentioned referred to a dream I had …]
This was another converted old church. No bar noise, and a very quiet, attentive audience (as we reserved Brits tend to be!). When I took up my Screamy Teeny position in the front row I found myself sitting next to Geoff (or Jeff?), another ‘stalker’ who I recognised from the Bristol gig. So we got to compare notes before the show, which was nice. Tragically, the support act from Camden had hurt her hand and had to pull out (any rumour that Tift stamped on her hand is entirely malicious and started by me ….) so instead we heard a disgustingly young and talented local singer-songwriter called Rosie Doonan who had a very sweet voice and a nice line in break-up songs. http://www.rosiedoonan.com/
Tift took to the stage at the unfeasibly early hour of 8.15 which, since there were no blinds, meant that the show started in daylight. Unusual, but nice. Oh, but there was no stage, so Tift took to the stone floor right in front of us. She got the “oh no!, my shortie status is revealed!” quip in immediately. (though I must stand up and be counted here – I’ve never found her particularly shortie … possibly meaning I’m a shortie myself, or do I just have shortie blindness?) Another great show. Another piano rendition of Tell Me Something True, which Tift said she wouldn’t attempt with her band or on the keyboard, so must be a rarity? (Wish’ I’d taped!) Apart from that, it was the encore that was particularly noteworthy at this show. Tift seemed to be having a blast – I’ve never seen her laugh so much while she’s playing. She opened it up to requests, and someone asked for Sunday. “I don’t think I can do that one”, Tift mused. “I haven’t practiced it and it’s very long and has a complicated chord structure.” But she had to try, and proceeded to treat us to a wonderful and unique free-form jam of the song with the odd bit missing! 45 minutes later she followed up with the anti-Asda song and Trouble Over Me. But she wasn’t done yet! She closed the show with a real romp through Morning is My Destination; a foot-stomping extravaganza that climaxed with the kind of wild two-footed lunge at the piano pedal that would earn a straight red card on the football field! Phew…! Geoff and I needed to calm down and, given the interest Shug and Phillip have expressed in Guinness Extra Cold, I felt it was our duty to hit the town and find out if it tastes as good up north. I’m pleased to report that it does.
I’ve loved all the shows I’ve been to on the tour, but everyone I’ve spoken to has agreed that the shows with the piano were particularly special, and very different to anything Tift has released. Given that the acoustics were better at Buckingham than York,
the Campaign for a ‘Live from Buckingham’ CD starts here!! 
The band then went on to Chorley, but I didn't know where it was and don’t have their stamina so I spent the next day on the beach instead.
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GwenStefaniFan
Posts:60
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| 05/20/2008 1:11 PM |
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Newcastle, 17 May
Newcastle LOVES Tift Merritt! This was another totally different kind of show. A dingy rock club, the only standing venue of the ones I went to, and a packed out rowdy crowd. Tift responded with glee (as the photos elsewhere demonstrate!) and put on much more of an acoustic rock show. I think the songs that went down the best were the off-mic guitar tracks, which she sang standing right at the front of the stage. The biggest cheer of the night came when she climbed up on to an amp or something at one side of the stage and played a storming version of Stray Paper. For a frightening moment she reminded me of Sheryl Crow! (see rather blurred photo below). One of my favourite songs on this tour has been My Heart is Free – I really like the guitar riff Tift does on it, and being an archivist I like the story behind it too! (I’m assuming everyone knows the story, but if not I will repeat it.) At this show she also played Write My Ticket, which I hadn’t heard before. She kept saying how much she’d enjoyed the tour (“and I’ve drunk more Guinness than I can handle!” - atta girl!!), and how she would feel homesick for the UK when she left, so she wanted to dedicate the song to us (awww!) When it came to the encore Tift threw it open to the audience again. “At risk of Gwen Stefani requests, is there anything you would like to hear?” (Pah! What kind of idiot would ask her to play a Gwen Stefani song?!) Now, I have a sneaky feeling that she has certain songs in mind at this point in this evening, but maybe I just have a suspicious mind!  After Laid A Highway she took up a shout for [drum roll …] Late Night Pilgrim! I tried to tape it for you guys on the other thread, but my MP3 player was under the stage and unfortunately the recording was ruined by someone stamping their foot very loudly all through it. But take it from me, it sounded great – a highlight of the show. This show was also notable for the only serious heckler of the dates I went to. The fact he was drunk and had a thick Scouse accent made for some interesting exchanges until Tift dispatched him with great aplomb to massive cheers from the crowd. I know some of you like to hear this stuff, so it went something like this:
Heckler - incomprehensible shouting about something to do with Chorley – the show the previous night
Tift – “What??”
Heckler – repeats above
Tift – [grinning] “Whaaaat??”
Tift climbs up on the amp and asks the people in the balcony what the guy said. They don’t know.
Tift to heckler – “YES!!!!” [big cheers]
[The guy starts again after the next song.]
Tift – “It’s you again. You’re not running the show!” [bigger cheers!]
[Guy starts again.]
Tift – “Yes, Chorley was good last night. But I’m going to go ahead with tonight in Newcastle now.” [massive cheers. Whole audience loves Tift, guy shuts up.]
This show was really buzzing. As Tift left the stage she beamed “I’ll be smiling for weeks!” and the audience seemed to feel the same. She was signing for ages afterwards and they sold loads of merch (though still some pink T’s left ….)
Oh, support that night was another local artist, Elaine Palmer. www.myspace.com/elainepalmer Nice, sweet, mellow folk songs. Another foot-stomper too, which always scores extra points with me!
I’m sure everyone is sick of my gush-fest by now  , but can I sing one more song before I go? I think the finest moment of the shows I saw was in Camden. Midway through the tour, Tift had a poor venue and an unresponsive audience. A lot of bands would have given up and just gone through the motions and got off stage as fast as they could. But Tift stomped out in to the audience with this “**** you, I’m going to make this a great show!” attitude, and did just that by delivering a couple of really intense songs right in the middle of the crowd (one of which she sang whilst slowly rotating and eyeballing people, which was pretty scary from where I was sitting!! ) For me it’s that improvisation and passion that makes her so great as a live artist.
I got the impression that Tift and Zeke had a lot of fun on the tour, and that it was a success for them. Personally, I had an absolute ball! I think I should have been in a band myself because I love the whole thing of travelling round to random places (and some of the venues on this tour were really random!), and meeting random people (and not so random people!) at the shows every night. Roll on July!
I’m done now, really ….
V
Oh, did I ever mention that I think Tift Merritt is really good live? ..... |
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Shug
Posts:209
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| 05/20/2008 4:57 PM |
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I love your stories, Vicky, the details you describe make me almost feel like I was there and envious that I wasn't. It sounds like you had some special times, and it makes me worried that Tift has a better time when she's in another country (sorry, couldn't help it!) and won't want to hang out in the US anymore now that she knows how great it is in Europe and the UK. I know what you mean about following around musicians that you love on tour, it can be addicting. Glad you had such a great time and thanks so much for letting us in on the experience and for taking the time to do it in such detail, I really appreciate that alot.
Cheers!
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Mack Daddy #7
"Some like their water shallow, I like mine deep"
-Chris Robinson |
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ghman
Posts:408
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| 05/20/2008 4:57 PM |
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These reports are GREAT! Thanks Vicky for writing it all down and sharing it with us.
How you remember everything after all that Guinness is really commendable  
Anti-Asda song??? Que? |
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M-D #18
"I get in a good mood just thinking 'bout it" |
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Phillip Reid
Posts:1623
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| 05/20/2008 6:55 PM |
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| Second that--these are great. |
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SherylCrowNo1Fan
Posts:6
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| 05/21/2008 5:59 AM |
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Round of applause for Vicky!!! Great reviews
Ohhhh the person next to me in my picture ahh thats someone i just bumped into whilst at a Tift gig LOL!!
Catch up later tonight.... |
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ghman
Posts:408
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| 05/21/2008 2:25 PM |
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Posted By GwenStefaniFan on 05/20/2008 12:32 PM
I’ve loved all the shows I’ve been to on the tour, but everyone I’ve spoken to has agreed that the shows with the piano were particularly special, and very different to anything Tift has released. Given that the acoustics were better at Buckingham than York,
the Campaign for a ‘Live from Buckingham’ CD starts here!!
Tift sez.....
"Buckingham, oh Buckingham I miss your old church and your magic piano (I will be back..."
I'll sign that petition! Come on back Tift and get some live tracks recorded at the old church - you know you want to! |
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M-D #18
"I get in a good mood just thinking 'bout it" |
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admin
Posts:549
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| 05/23/2008 12:05 PM |
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Excellent reports, Vicky. |
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Chris McCandless
Admin |
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GwenStefaniFan
Posts:60
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| 05/24/2008 9:56 AM |
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That's really nice if people like reading my reports (or are kind enough to pretend they do! ) I have to confess that I am one of those sad people who takes notes during the shows ... otherwise they all blur in to one in my increasingly middle-aged memory!
Andy - the anti-Asda song is Laid A Highway (Wal-Mart owns Asda, spit!)
Shug - yes, following bands round on tour is addictive isn't it!  Great fun, but another of my favourite bands is touring right before Tift at the end of June and I think the schedule of gigs I have set myself then is going to kill me!! But it must be so much harder for you with the distances in the US? How far do you have to travel to shows?
V |
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