Tanya for Safe and Sound at the Paradise Club in Boston, MA February 1, 1997
Mike reports:
Oh WHAT A SHOW!!!!!!! I was especially happy because I came from NJ [ New Jersey ] to see it. Tanya as usual was AWESOME! She played Restless, Swoon, Mysteries of the Unexplained, Acrobat, Bury My Heart, and -totally unexpected I might add- Untogether (She opened with it). It took me by surprise. She's the one who said she'll never play any Belly or Muses stuff. But I'm not complaining :)
Kay and Mike from LTC [ Letters to Cleo ] were imho [ in my humble opinion ] the best of the night. They played some new stuff as well as Come Around and Big Star. When it came time for their last song it seemed like they couldn't remember what they were going to play so everyone started yelling suggestions. "This is my chance," I thought so I yelled out as loud as I could (I was standing right in the front!) "PLAY THE WUSS SONG!" Kay looks at me and then goes, "Ok." She then says to everyone, "We're going toplay the Wuss Song for you." and points right at me. That pumped me up! They played it so well too (It took Mike a minute to remember how to play it though :) ).
Jennifer Trynin was ok. She opened the evening. She was energetic and got the crowd going. Too much slow stuff though. Only her first and last songs were upbeat.
Juliana was INCREDIBLE! Just her and her guitar and she still rocked the house! She got the most cheers from the VERY PACKED crowd when she came out. Everyone was singing My Sister with her. That was really cool. I was hoping she would play Dying Proof but no dice this time.
Tracy Bonham was better than I expected. A LOT of people were there for her. She didn't disappoint. Navy Bean was very well done. Everyone who knew it sang the chorus to The One. You'd never notice unless you see her live but she's the SMALLEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN! Skin and bones.
When everyone finished they all came out (minus Juliana and Tanya) and played a couple of songs. I can't remember the name of the first one. The last one was Voices Carry. Kay sang lead. Mary Lou Lord was also there singing background :) It was just an incredible number.
So here's the offical order:
Well I hope that satisfies your curiosity. There's probably more but I haven't slept in 2 days and I was stuck in a Boston terminal for 4 1/2 hours watiing for a bus so forgive me if I end this short and go to sleep now. Later!
Mike
PS: Who's going to see Juliana on Valentine's Day at Knitting Factory and Throwing Muses the 21st at Tramps?
Laura reports:
Tanya was center stage with Dean to her left and Rich something or other was playing those interesting instruments again. (It was the same setup as her Providence show) She started playing Untogether (solo) and when the Belly fans out there realized what she had begun, they started cheering. It was beautiful, needless to say. She rather enjoyed playing that too, I think...Next up was Restless, which she belted out while Dean and Rich played. Her voice really carried when she got to the "are you dying..to fly" part, although her voice cracked just a bit right at the end. But it was cute. People seemed to recognize the song rather quickly, so it was apparent that many in the crowd do own the EP already. (Go Boston!) Next song was Mysteries of the Unexplained, which she explained was "three and a half minutes of my naive whining..so get ready for it." And then she sang. :) After that, she sang Bury My Heart, but not without first introducing her band ("This is Dean....And this is Rich..")
Swoon was the next song up, which for some reason can't be sung at the Paradise without something going wrong...Last time during this song, the plug for her guitar came out and she had to bend down to plug it back in. Tonight though, she was all there, but Rich's amp was having problems the whole night and during Swoon they just multiplied rapidly. He was seen hitting his amp at times, and they tried changing cords but even that didn't work. But Tanya played to the best of her ability, and during the parts where she sang "Leave the locks on the door," it was just her playing and it was great to see her petite fingers playing the guitar like she did. At times she was maybe one fret off in her cords, but she corrected herself and no real harm was done to the whole evening. :)
Her final song was my favorite, Acrobat. She announced that she was going to be a "chanteuse" and she put her guitar down and got ready for her "hooahhhs" during the song. Those of you who have heard this song surely know what I mean. :)
What I'd like to know is if anyone knows why Tanya gave Dean her wedding ring during the show? He put it in his pocket for her...
At the end of her set she thanked everyone and announced that Juliana was up next. Then...*gulp* as she was bending down to unplug her guitar and all, she looked me right in the eyes and thanked me for coming. Oh yes, it was a very good night...
Pictures will be developed as soon as possible, btw. :)
Laura
Chris reports:
Hello-
I too was at the great show. Laura, the captain, and myself where the only ones from the list that I saw there. Anyway, I don't have anything new to say about the show. The others summed up it up pretty thoroughly.
I do have one thing to add. In case anyone cares, Rich Gilbert, he plays the mandolin and steel pedal guitar, is also featured on the Muses album, House Tornado. Just a piece of knowledge for everyone.
Later,
Chris