Set I Planet of Inexperience*> Wolof*> Get me with Fuji Tinderbox new vocal tune% ???II Back in 15 Minutes, song of the world (middle-eastern tune)$, Poor Boy$, happy birthday!, Gemini (Kingdom of Light)^, Tenfold*, Sometimes There's WineE : Mudslide*> Sandman* Hallelujah& Notes: * on the sitar ??? a jazz standard? % sounded like a reworked version of the opener from 4/27/03 $ acoustic ! the crowd sang happy birthday to andrew ^ with andrew singing! & leonard cohen cover
Last saturday was the Slip's triumphant return to Le Swimming, the dark second floor pool bar in Montréal where we had seen them exactly six months ago in November. The crowd seemed thinner than it had the last time but there was still a solid gathering of friends from Canada, Vermont, and beyond. There never seems to be a lack of good people in the audience of a Slip show. :)
So the first song was the tune we have come to know as Planet of Inexperience. In fact, the first time I heard this, in what I believe was its original incarnation, was at the last le Swimming show. After In Your Dreams on 11.23.02 there's this jam of (I think) I V vi V, which we've also recently heard as an opener to Sometimes True to Nothing on 3.29.03 (Pearl St.) and various other places. It was great to hear this at le Swimming as a solid tune in its own right, and a brilliant show opener.
Marc casually led the bass line of Planet of Inexperience to grow into a righteous and energetic Wolof.. Brad seems to have gained an masterful proficiency in playing the sitar, as we saw in many tunes throughout the night, including this one.
Wolof was followed up with Get Me With Fuji, which featured Andrew's super tight beat boxing skills. The crowd was rocking out and Fuji wandered through a mesmerizing trancy jam before coming to an end.
The next song was Tinderbox, which is always quite amazing and powerful when you hear it live. The new lyric variation "somewhere over the oil fields the hot sun burns" is both poetic and appropriate. This song reminds me so much of the low dark clouds which hung over our heads on the drive up from Boston through New Hampshire and Vermont on the way to Montréal; the heavy darkness and the sudden bursts of intense light. One of the highlights of this song was Brad's scat solo; it was also incredible to watch BAM play off each other and the way they create and release tension...
The song that followed was a new vocal tune, which was also played at Amherst on 4.27.03. The vocals weren't coming through perfectly during this, but I'm pretty sure one of the lines was "what do you call this again"... Kosta and I agreed that this song seemed to have a pretty substantial Built to Spill influence, and also a bit of the Cure. We'll just have to see when it shows up next.
The last tune of the first set was an up tempo jazz tune, perhaps a standard I didn't recognize. I think the bridge was a rhythm changes progression, (I vi ii V?) but I could be wrong about this.
The second set was opened with Back in Fifteen Minutes. During the first verse Andrew was on the instrument whose name I don't know but which somewhat resembles a ceramic vase. Someone please tell me what it's called. Andrew took up the drums on the second verse (St. Peter, here's all my money, forget you saw me...) and the rest of this beautiful song would have made Nathan Moore a proud man.
During the song we know as the Song of the World, the Middle Eastern Tune, or Kurdistan, the crowd started to really get down. It was around this point that taking pictures began to get extremely difficult due to the violent shaking of the floor. Andrew was getting crazy with the polyrhythms and the Slip was rocking out in their finest form.
Poor Boy was next and also carried over the same energy. I especially enjoyed Andrew's back up vocals on this, partially because his and Brad's voices just sound like honey together, but also because the harmonies are very stable and strong and round out the song really well.
After Poor Boy, Brad announced that it was the birthday of his little brother Andrew. Tim kicked off a roaring Happy Birthday and afterwards the boys launched into one of Andrew's tunes, Gemini (Kingdom of Light). This is the first time I have ever heard this song with vocals (sung by Andrew) and it really brought out the mystical vibe of the tune.
The next song was Tenfold. I think the best point to describe the way this song was delivered is to say that, at this point, I really did think the floor of le Swimming was going to collapse. The energy coming from the stage and the instruments and the musicians and the audience was flying around the room in dance and song and smoke and drink...
And then, Sometimes There's Wine. What an amazing song. Andrew's double time feel was really nice. I think a couple of the ladies in the audience had to wipe their eyes after this one. ;)
Brad strapped the sitar back on for the encores, the first of which was Mudslide, which kicked everyone's ass. Mudslide jammed into Sandman, which was also full of ass kicking energy.
The last tune of the evening was the cover of Jeff Buckley's cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. This was a sweet surprise; during this song the lights seemed a little dimmer, and the audience seemed a little quieter, except for joining in on the choruses. Another fine example of the Slip's uncanny ability to connect with their audience and fully bring them into the music.
The bars in Montréal close at three, so at 2:40 am after the Hallelujah, we were hoping to be able to cheer on for another tune or two... However, only moments after the song ended the roar of the crowd was overpowered by the shriek of the fire alarm. The manager of the club came on the PA and instructed everyone to remain calm and leave the club immediately. We were also told that the sprinklers were on, but the only sign of this I saw was the water dripping on my head as we walked down the stairs. At this point though, we could smell the smoke and everyone proceeded to file out of the club. I was amazed and happy to see that everyone really was remaining calm and that no one was flipping out. We all just filed down the stairs and outside onto the sidewalk. The crowd was spread out over about half a block of St. Laurent street in front of the club and when the emergency services came we were pushed back by firemen. Four firetrucks came and they were painted green; I was told by a friend of mine who lives in Montréal that this was in protest as part of a wage strike. We saw someone bring down some of Brad's guitars but there were worries about the other gear being damaged by smoke/fire/sprinklers... And shit man, I hope the tapes are okay! So we stuck around for a while and stood in the rain watching the fireman walk around inside le Swimming... In front of the club there is this overhang that says Le Swimming on it, and above that there is a statue of an Elvis-looking dude playing a guitar, and behind him was the room on fire. We didn't see any flames from the street but there was a shitload of smoke pouring out from there. The word is that someone was smoking a cigarette in the computer room (on the same floor as the main room of the club) and that's how the fire started.
Fortunately and thankfully, no one was hurt. It seemed like the firemen had things pretty under control so I'm assuming and hoping that nothing bad happened to any of the band's gear. It was an unfortunate and abrupt ending to an incredible night, but hey hey what can you do. Praise be to the Slip and our many friends in Canada for a memorable and wonderful evening.
Also, pictures of this night and other adventures with the Slip are up at the posted link.
See you guys in Connecticut. (and Creekside!!!)
Love, tasoula