Gut Pageant 2 at Slim's in San Francisco, CA May 26, 2001
Thanks
A big THANK YOU to Billy, Kristin, Dave, Bernard, Bobby and everyone involved in setting up the event!!! Thanks to everyone who attended and made it an *event*! :)
- Vinh
Photos
Reviews
Scott is the first to report:
having managed a few hours of sleep (still dog tired, as i was so excited friday night that i couldn't sleep a wink), wanted to check in with some notes from gut pagaent, part deux.
on a personal note, while i was nervous going in due to kelly's late stage of pregnancy, i was both relieved and quite able to enjoy myself because: 1) the baby didn't come (yet), and 2) everyone was so darn friendly and accommodating to kelly that she seems to have survived the day quite well. she was pretty hard to miss, and much thanks to ALL who helped her out and/or stopped by to say hi. with all the kind wishes and goodwill we received, this baby has a considerable head start on life.
but...on to the event. unlike boston, where i felt overwhelmed and shy in a new city, it was particularly sweet having gp on my home turf. i mingled much more, met a ton of nice people, and had a great time. too much to into and once--and curious to hear others' observations--but some high points for me included:
KARAOKE: could have been lame, but wasn't. take five people who feel passionately about the songs they're singing, the world's greatest karaoke machine, and put them in an event like this, and you've got something to behold. the five participants sang their hearts out. have video, hope to post at some point, but wow, what fun.
THE PLAN: maybe it was that slim's afforded more open space than the middle east, maybe it was that like survivor II we knew more of what to expect this time, or maybe it was the man with the plan, billyo, but this year's event had much more flow than last. and what it may have lacked in spontanaeity, it made up for in festivity. not manufactured, but well thought out. a BIG thumbs up on this front to b, k and the band.
SHIRTS: very cool ringers, with art (cat: "MUSES" mouse: "YOU") by the kids. though i thought the references should have been reversed, since WE were obviously eating THEM up yesterday. must see.
NEW SONGS: that's right, two of them. can't given names (set list refers to them as "new 1" and "new 2," but very, very nice stuff. late in the sound check, i was so engrossed watching the magic of my favorite band reappear, it took me well into the first new song before i realized, "holy, crap. this is something new." what's it all about? can't tell you, other than to say that kristin's response during the show proper when asked about a new album was something like "when we get a sugar daddy." so...curious, but very intriguing, hunh??? slower in tempo, both sounded like mature progressions from the limbo era. hope they see the (cd) light of day.
PEOPLE: didn't meet everyone i'd hoped to (still going to try at brunch), but met SO many great people. it struck me yesterday that the magic of the gp's have been, in addition to the alchemy that occurs when your favorite band reforms for a day, an extension of the best parts of community that spring from this board. on so many occasions yesterday, there was the glance at the nametag, stop, double-take, then thrust of a hand to shake, along with a "hey, how are you doing?" it felt like meeting people you already knew, with the added bonus of getting to meet them face to face.
PAULA FRAZIER: what can i say? i'd named paula in the "who would you want to see k collaborate with" thread, so this was a real treat for me. the set was a bit low-key for the buildup after a long day, but paula was in fine voice (surprise, surprise), and her set was well received. very nice.
will quit now. sorry to ramble, but hard not to. thanks to all for the fun time and the opportunity. hope for more in the future, but am exremely contended for now. only regret is for all of you who couldn't make it, for which i've posted the limbo-heavy set list below.
tired and happy,
scott
gp2 setlist 052601:
limbo
the field
shark
counting backwards
start
bright yellow gun
ellen west
shimmer
freeloader
NEW 1
tar kissers
tango
NEW 2
colder
vicky's box
flood
say goodbye
backroad
furious
two step
pearl
mania
Musemanic yells:
What a glorious, glorious weekend! Thank you Kristin Hersh, Throwing Muses and Throwing Music. I agree that Slim's was a bit uncomfortable Sat. nite, but so many nice people in attendance i can't complain. Hello to Shana and Susan!
Matt writes:
I took tons of no-flash pics with high-speed slide film (which I'll have scanned to cd and uploaded soon), including my holy grail of Kristin pictures, Kristin in 3-D! On Sunday, Kristin graciously posed for me just inside the entrance to Slims and held completely still for about ten seconds while I snapped one picture, then moved the camera over a few inches and snapped another. And I swear she was like a total statue those few seconds, so it should turn out good unless i screwed up. I've got a homemade 3-D slide viewer to look at it with. If it turns out I'll attempt to post the 3-D image of her on my page, the left and right image next to each other in a way that'll make it easy to combine mentally, like a Magic Eye image. So everyone can experience K in person!
I was in the very front at the TM show. Hot as hell up there. But what a magical performance! They played all the songs I wanted to hear too! 'Start' and 'Say Goodbye' were awesome. I could hear much of the audience singing along to 'Say Goodbye', which was cool, like a large-scale karaoke thing.
It was so cool to finally meet all my fellow TMO'ers. You guys are so nice! And you all are much better-looking in person than in the posted pics I'd seen.
You know that group shot we all did on Sunday? I was standing right behind K and Billy, which was very cool. But since it was so dark in there, and the cameras' flashes were so far away, I'll be amazed if any of those photos turn out.
I'm so bone-tired, after a 8+hour drive home, but not half as tired as Kristin I bet! back to bed i go...
~matt
Jason and Christine M. happily comment:
Anyway, head over to http://www.beestung.com/gp2 to see our pictures... all taken with a Casio digital camera.
It was great meeting all of you... I wish we could have met everyone there. The atmosphere was very warm and receptive, something you just don't see any many concerts. I can't wait to hear some of the recordings!
-Jason and Christine
Michelle B. muses:
Seems kind of silly to post after everyone else already has but.... I have to say a few things.
First off I really wish I had got to meet more of you. Quite a few people came up to me recognizing me which surprised the hell out of me! ;-) It was great to meet some of you who I have talked to for several years on the board and never met as well as meeting some brand new faces. And of course it was great to see those of you who are always there! :-)
Secondly, the karaoke was a friggin great idea and wish they had let a few more people try it out. Oh well...maybe next year. (Ok...that's what
Kristin said anyway.)
My only complaint was that it seemed rather "clique"-y during the meet and greet on both Saturday and Sunday. There seemed to be 5 or 6 six major groups of us TMO posters but we were all in our own little circles. (I've only started feeling guilty about being part of that on the drive home today.) I regret not really talking to more of you....especially since I did the same thing in Boston. I guess they can't all force us to talk to each other but maybe next time we can plan something where it's a lot more interactive?
After re-reading this post I sound like I am ungrateful... I am not! What a great weekend. Can't beat seeing my fave band of all time and hanging with some new friends. ;-) Jesus---I sound like I'm still drunk! ha!
Michelle B.
Michele adds:
well, i am still amazed at what has taken place (again)...and what i was allowed to experience. from spending a huge chunk of my quick 2 1/2 days with wonderful friends that i met thru this band, to meeting a few others that i never would have otherwise. i never would have imagined that you could build such solid friendships thru this thing called the interenet. i was way wrong. scott and kelly, i will never be able to thank you enough for all you did. you both made it possible for me to make this trip, and i am grateful. susan, tyler, and jason (just to name a few), it was sooo nice to meet you face to face...it was a pleasure!
i am sad that it is all over. and more sad that i didn't take advanytage of the oppourtunity to meet more of you. my shyness, along with (or triggered by) my fear that some of you that i have chatted with in the past wouldn't remember me, prevented me from doing so. hindsight always tells me, "who cares, don't be such a shithead"! hindsight has real bad timing!
anyways, i won't bore you with any more details...others have already done so much better than i can right now. so i'll leave with this...i have fallen in love all over again with all things muses...and it's a beautiful thing. glad to hear that most of you are making it back home safely.
take care,
Joe L posts:
Just wanted to say what an incredible time the Gut Pageant was. Many many thanks to Kristin, Billy, the band & the people at Slim's for putting on an incredible day. I have read through the posts and don't have much more to add other than a) San Francisco is a wonderful city and I greatly enjoyed walking around and acting like a wide eyed tourist. The views of the Bay are among the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. And the crookedest street was a hoot! b) the Muses kareoke was beyond great. First off, all 5 participants were really into it and each chose a difficult song to perform and rose to it. The young lady who sang Pearl was intense! What floored me was watching Kristin and the band react to the five singers. If there is a GP3 this must be done again. c) the concert was superb and I am forever grateful for the blistering assault that
was Mania to finish the show. Blew me out onto 11th street with the biggest grin. As for the much discussed angry crowd - it was a long day. Paula F. demonstrated a beautiful voice and some lovely tunes although I understand how she could make people sleepy. The Lakuna videos were a bad idea timing wise and I too heard grumblings (especially from my partner). Most people should have known though that TM was not scheduled till 11:00 - and how many of you have ever been to a rock show that went off on time?? Never happens. The 11:20 start was early to
me!! Finally, a quick 'HI' to all the great people I met and yakked with. And a
special hi & thanks to Scott & Kelly for the guest book idea -
hope many people signed.
Now to sit back and anxiously await word for GP2002.........
Steve gingerly says:
Aside from getting to meet the band (I shook David Narcizo's hand! I shook David Narcizo's hand!) and so many great TMO folks, I think my favorite part of the experience was the fact that Kristin was playing around so much with alternative phrasings, both at the Saturday Noe Valley show (the only one I went to) and at the reunion show. There are so many bands that either: 1) might very well be playing the album cut and lip-synching for all that you can tell by listening, so slavishly do they follow the recorded version, or 2) throw weird, distracting, and not very musically compelling change-for-the-sake-of-change into their songs in concert, leaving me feeling like the songs I wanted to hear were alluded to mockingly, rather than performed. So I was wildly impressed that Kristin was so able to keep it fresh and take a new look at so many songs while remaining entirely true to them. Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!
steve
michele