LOCATION: The Echo Lounge, Atlanta, GA

LINEUP: Karin, Linford, Will Sayler, Paul Moak, Rick Plant

REVIEW BY: Various Listees

 Echo Lounge is a surprisingly small venue in a funky neighborhood that 
I had never set foot in before. My friends Greg & Monica and I arrived 
with our three OtR neophyte friends Julie, Britt, and Neal about an hour 
before the doors were to open, and we spied the band walking up the 
street on their way to dinner. Neal and I went in about 7:25 to work 
merch, and we got a good look at how small the stage was and that there 
was no seating whatsoever. When Linford got back, he showed us the 
ropes and I asked him if they were going to play "B.P.D.," and he 
replied "we are now." Needless to say I was excited. Before the show, 
I got to meet Jason and Nick from Paste, and I had some great 
conversations with those guys. They're really cool, caring people, and 
they're deserving of our support. I also met Mark (DustyVolume) and a 
guy from EMI whose name I can't remember who said he was really proud 
of Over the Rhine.

Because of some music festival going on in this neighborhood, the venue
 was double-booked, so we had to wait a long time for OtR. Susan Enan 
went on first; she was lovely on stage, and she was extremely friendly 
and fun to talk to after her set. Next up was the excruciating Nels 
Cline. He played some terrible, expermental instrumentals on his guitar, 
and for the most part the crowd did not enjoy his set. The looks on the 
faces of people walking by the merch table on their way out of the 
venue were priceless. Carla Bozulich was the next artist, and she had 
a small but vocal following among the people there. Her set, which 
consisted mostly of covers of Willie Nelson songs, was OK. Steven 
Delopolous played next; his guitar work was phenomenal, but I don't 
think I like his voice--too much vibrato for me.

Finally, at 12:35 am, Over the Rhine went onstage. Karin thanked the 
crowd for waiting, and I sensed that she empathized with the crowd 
who had to wait for hours to see them play. The set went as follows:

--Bothered: 2003 version. Very nice. The more I hear this version, 
the more I'm convinced it's my favorite. This might have been the perfect 
way to kick off the show.

--Show Me: This song is much better live than on the record. Paul sang 
backup on this one. Linford went to town on the Hammond; every time he 
played the Hammond during the show, I think it added an amazing depth 
to the sound.

--Jesus In New Orleans: This is the first one that Karin picked up 
the guitar for. Paul's steel guitar was particularly nice. After the 
song, Linford talked about the release of a double album, and he made 
a comment something to the effect of "Over the Rhine and Outkast are 
the only artists with the balls to put out double albums this fall."

--She: The crowd was particulary quiet and respectful for this one 
(really, they were respectful to the band throughout the show at least 
where we stood, but especially so on this song). Beautiful. I don't 
know if I can say more.

--Nobody Number One: This was fun! I particularly enjoyed this song, 
and the crowd seemed to as well. Karin sang her heart out on the ad 
libs at the end of the song, and Paul sang backup here, too. After 
the song, Karin said "and all God's people said," and we replied 
"AMEN!" She then said "y'all must have been to the Reverend Al Green's 
church before." I expected an Al Green reference somewhere during the 
show, and Karin didn't let me down!

--Long Lost Brother: Karin sang this one well, too. I watched 
Linford watch Karin as she sang on this one, and I could tell by the 
look on his face that here was a man who was deeply in love with (and 
in awe of) his wife. Karin walked over to the piano after this one, 
and I sort of expected "Ohio," but instead--to my delight--I got...

--B.P.D.: Wow! I was like a little kid during this one. It was my 
favorite moment during the entire show. The sight of Karin & Linford 
sitting on the same bench playing piano and organ together was 
priceless. Paul sang on this one, too.

--All I Need Is Everything: I believe they've breathed new life into 
this one with Paul playing guitar here. It reminded me of a James Bond 
theme, which of course was a good thing. MGM should go after Karin & 
Linford for the next Bond film.

--The World Can Wait: Another cool moment. Paul's guitar work gave 
this song a somewhat different feel; his space-age effects at the 
end were fascinating, if a little loud. Karin introduced the band 
after this one, and Rick had the crowd say hello on the voice mail 
of Hunter the guitar tech, who was missing due to a wedding he was 
singing at. 

--When I Go: Wow again! Karin sang her heart out here, and Paul 
played an extended guitar solo that left my friend Britt, who is a 
prodigious guitarist himself, in awe.

After probably less than a minute offstage, they returned with 
--Cruel And Pretty, which was nice, even though it's not my favorite 
song. After this one, someone shouted out "Latter Days," and Karin 
laughed about the guy in leather with the tatts yelling for "Latter 
Days." She then joked about playing it if the guy would put on leather chaps.

--Changes Come: Another nice moment, but again, not a favorite of mine.

--Latter Days: A fitting way to end the show.

The show was over a little after 2 am. Linford wore the red polka-dot 
shirt that Ben mentioned, and Karin wore a brown sleeveless shirt and 
a brown suede skirt that, she said, "reminds me that I'm a girl." She 
looked particularly lovely. I didn't get much of a chance to talk to 
Karin, but I enjoyed talking to Linford before and after the show; I 
wish I had had more of a chance to talk with both of them. All told, 
it was a long night for sure, but it was absolutely worth the wait. 

 
 
Bill Ivester:

hello all. karin and linford played a nice little [very loose & fun] 
promo gig at a border's books near midtown this beautiful saturday 
afternoon. they had a few tech glitches but the little "cafe" they 
played in was small and it was no big deal. more of an issue was the 
damn noise made as the prepared all their fancy little coffee drinks @ 
the coffee bar, once even [in the middle of a song] getting a small 
little smile, shrug & "eyeroll" from karin. 

the set was loose, they didn't even prepare a setlist, just decided 
what to play as they went, very fun & funny at times. after the 3rd 
or 4th song, linford said we're not gonna play anything here that 
were gonna play tonight. then karin said, well you already blew that, 
linford asked "why?", she said so we're not gonna do "suitcase" 
tonight? linford's response...oops, oh, well. 

- what i remember most
- suitcase
- fever
- my love is a fever
- seahorse > summertime [dedicated to me]
- show me

the travel must be wearing on them a bit, karin said "we just got in 
from... [she kind of blushed & smiled], then said "linford, where were 
we last night?", he just smiled and said "asheville". apparently the 
band and spinner were still on the road [i think karin said they just 
couldn't get out them of bed].

what was most interesting for me, no keyboards [a first for me], just 
K & L, both on acoustic guitar, a little different sound, very nice. it 
was also cool to be walking through border's and hear this beautiful 
voice say "biiiiilllll, what are you doing here?", then seeing that great 
smile [ok, the hug wasn't bad either ]. we talked for a few minutes 
before they set up, i explained that i was in town for my high school 
reunion [so unfortunately, i couldn't make the show that night, so 
this was great for me] all of which she mentioned in the dedication. 
they signed, talked and were great, and seemed to really enjoy the 
crowd. i got to talk to karin for a long while after the set, which 
is always a joy, she is such a sweetheart. as always, another 
beautiful day in the OtR neighborhood. 

DustyVolume

Borders  10-17-2003 2 p.m. (no set list) An acoustic set with just Linford
and Karin.

A nice two level Borders with a cafe in the top floor corner flanked with
windows on both sides of the would-be stage.  The only thing flawed in the
design of this place is that the cappuccino machine is too close to the live
music. Karin even gave an "oh well" kind of smile when the ice grinding could
be heard over her sultry rendition of Summertime.  The set went like this:

- ---What I'll Remember Most:  Linford said they hadn't worked up a full band
version of this song yet, but damn, they sounded good acoustic style. 
 
- ---Suitcase:  a lovely soft version close to what's on the CD.

- ---Fever:  They dusted this song off due to being in the south and the "100
degree temperatures." 70 probably feels like 100 if you're from the
north-eh? Linford accompanied Karin on his Lowden, and reminded her that she
was the percussion.  Turns out Will gave Karin a little wreath of bells that
she used to keep the beat with. It was a nice touch.

- ---My Love is a Fever:  This was a combination of the old and new versions
that we recently heard about a year ago-I think there was an MP3 of the month
that closely resembles this version.

- ---Seahorse:  They "slayed" the sound system (twice) during this song. 
Linford said it was from their "high powered rock -n- roll." They were great
sports about the whole thing.  It was priceless to see Linford sneaking around
behind Karin while he simultaneously played guitar and slowly crouched down to
reset the amp that was in the floor behind her.  I only wish I'd gotten a
picture of him in his cat-like sneakiness.

- ---Summertime:  I finally got to hear this one live.  It's great to hear
Karin take a song like this and make it her own. "and your mama is so... good
looking."

- ---Show Me:  Rocked even as an acoustic duo.

The band gave away about five copies of the LP for those who could answer
trivia questions about the band.  They even gave away one for a wrong
answer-someone thought there had been 13 CDs instead of 10.  I got my copy
for knowing Willow's name, and Bill Ivester (HI BILL) got his copy for knowing
one of Paul's nicknames (Smoky-which I used to think was a reference to his
guitar playing, but now I believe it's more a reference to his cigarette
habit). Either way, it fits.  And yes, the performance was crowded.  There
seemed to be a few official people there (from Paste I think), and I did get to
Meet the aforementioned Bill from the list and Drew's message board.  After the
show, K and L signed any and everything for those so inclined.  They gave away
posters and signed our LPs.  It took about 20-30 minutes to sign everything. 
I actually enjoyed Borders a little more than the actual full band show later
on. Echo Lounge Atlanta GA 10-17-2003  12:30 a.m. Excellent commentary already
posted by Chris, so I'll just list the set-list as snatched from the stage-my
comments in parentheses ().

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting through cover bands and
legitimate openers, OtR took the stage and the first word from the crowd was
"finally!" Karin retorted that she couldn't agree more.  I think the actual
set was shortened just a bit due to waiting so long to go on.  Here's the
set.

Bothered
Show Me
New Orleans
She        
Nobody Numero Uno
Long Lost Bro
BPD
All I Need
World (can wait)
When I GO
Cruel (and Pretty)
Changes (come)
Latter Days (not on set-list)-A guy in the audience got into some good stage
banter with Karin and promised to wear leather chaps if they played this
song. If you wanted the full story, you should have been there!  :)

 

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