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Medeski Martin & Wood 11/01/2002

SHOWID 140937

Show Reviews

Hamilton, Greg & Diana
Rate:
Nice night out- see review- but now those list archives have become annoyingly password protected, so here it is. (This was originally posted to the the netspace.org list on 11/2/03.

Though familiar with the music, I can rarely associate MMW song titles, plus this was the first show Greg and I attended since 6/00 Warfield (too long!), so consider this a few observations rather than a setlist/review.

There was plenty of visual and verbal communication between the guys, and they seemed full of energy and happy to be playing. They sure didn't seem tired out by what has looked to be a busy touring schedule!

In contrast to the Halloween multiguest show y'all have been reviewing, this was just the three of them, no warmup, no sittings-in. They dove in with some improvisation as if to gauge the audience, but later settled into a more "solid" type show, less spacy/quiet than some, and in tune with the bottle clinking audience. We personally prefer things really spacy but were not disappointed in the level of playing.

Notable in the first set improv was a humorous call-response between birdcalls and keyboards, with some parts sounding like weird goblin laughter left over from Halloween. Unfortunately another quiet part of the first set- a bass solo- seemed to be the trigger for a bunch of chitchat, and we spotted one guy nearby getting on his cellphone!

In contrast, the first set Think really kept the crowd's attention. In particular, there was a moment after Medeski had switched to piano, that things all just seemed to *crystallize*- y'know how "It" happens when the music becomes more than the sum of its parts. Shortly after, Billy went into a drum solo, and it now seemed like the crowd was still spellbound from that earlier passage, very quiet and focused with no chitchat.

Second set was generally energetic, including well-received versions of Uninvisible, The Dropper, The Lover, Partido Alto with a strange toy-piano like ending that stopped abruptly, Pappy Check (Chris really seemed to be getting into that one), at least one wild bass solo. Toy Dancing was in there as well, but seemed less inspired as we've heard better versions.

Other songs I have names for- Hey Hee Hi Ho in the first(?) set, a typical Big Time to close set 1 (of course it had to be in there somewhere). I Wanna Ride You was the encore, followed by the 3 Musketeers melodica/cuica/standup jam with various call-response between the instruments and between the shushers/hooters (most hoots from the bar area at rear). :I

How refreshing it was to be sonicated directly by the music for a change, rather than relying on CDs for a fix (a tonic indeed)! The sound waves seemed to come up from the floor more than battering the chest. Sound at center halfway back was quite clear in the first, perhaps a tinge less clear in the second, but nothing to complain about.

I noticed a mic stand close to the SBD, which was left side ~2/3 back, no idea if there were more than that or if that was fan-run or not. Audience was fairly mellow where we were despite the flowing drinks. Pretty collegiate, plenty of people cared about the music (cellphones or not), no glowstick incidents or such.

Reportedly sold out, 700 capacity (no seating). First set was about 1 hr, 2nd probably closer to 1.5 hr.

Diana Hamilton

Set I

Improv > Syeeda's Song Flute > Think > Hey-Hee-Hi-Ho, Big Time

Set II

Uninvisible > Coconut Boogaloo > Toy Dancing > The Dropper > Ten Dollar High > The Lover > Partido Alto, Pappy Check, E: I Wanna Ride You

Set III

 

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setlist courtesy mmwsetlists.com