Вторник 13 Мар 2007, 10:55
I tried to recruit people to come see Rhett Miller with me last Friday for over a month but, because half of my friends are still students and the show overlapped with spring break, I almost had to do this one alone! Fortunately for me, I was able to convince a friend Friday afternoon that this was a show NOT to be missed. And, of course, I was correct, although I'm not so sure how much my friend agreed!
Todd Thibaud opened up with a solo acoustic act. Pleasant, but a bit boring. Still, easy to listen to and got me ready to hear some good music.
Rhett's set, however, was anything but boring. He also played a solo acoustic set, but from the first strum of his strings, Rhett rocked the venue. Besides Ben Folds, I have never seen a solo act give enough sound and energy to come off as if he were a full band! Rhett admitted halfway through the set that there were times during his solo tour that he missed having his band back him up. But he certainly compensated, even banging his fist on his guitar to in order to produce a drum sound. I also really dug the fact that he did not feel the need to quiet his voice just because he was up there alone. A lot of acoustic guitar acts end up singing softly and safely, but Rhett went right on screaming and wailing as always. I even thought he sounded more like he does on the Old 97's records than his solo recordings. But I guess this is an acquired taste, as my friend who I dragged along determined that Rhett cannot sing. I firmly disagree.
The set itself was amazing, full of Old 97's stuff and more recent solo hits. I wish I had a set list, but I swear he played at least 20 songs, if not more. He fudged the lyrics on a couple, but that never really bothers me much… it usually means the band is playing something that they don't play often, as Rhett admitted when he began his encore with Terrible Vision. Other highlights for me were Question (he sang an extra verse and chorus in french, so great), Rollerskate Skinny, and Fireflies. Since Rachel Yamagata wasn't there, Rhett sang both parts is two distinctly separate voices, citing Jaime Lee Curtis as his inspiration for the performance. I also loved his intro into Singular Girl where he explained how he had tried to get get the Old 97's to put this song on a record for years and they refused but now that Rhett has recorded it, they totally wished it was an Old 97's song.
Great show. I'm so happy I got to check it out. Now I will be restlessly awaiting the new album from the Old 97's even though it probably won't be out for another year!