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COMBINED
REPORTS - Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago IL, September 15 2000
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From:
Dave Chichura All the waiting paid off: Dan Hicks at the finest music venue in Chicago, The Old Town School of Folk Music. This 400-seat gem has been host to many a fine performance and seeing Dan there was a perfect addition to the "who played there" list. I attended both the early and late shows and took copious notes, but for brevity's sake, I'll distill my reviews. First,
the setlists: It was a fun performance, fraught with Dan's sarcastic, self-deprecating humor. From the start Dan was lively on the stage revealing his penchant for fancy footwork; a few kicks here, a well-placed heel there... For those who don't know: beware of requesting songs of our six-string totin' hero, he will shoot you down. Replying to a suggestion, Dan matter-of-factly retorted, "...your suggestions are shit...". The band was tight and the sound, as always at the Old Town, was pristine. The girls were great, adding some percussion here and there and just plain old style. A real performance highlight was during Tom Mitchell's rapturous solo on "I Scare Myself" when Dan stood in front of Tom and air-guitared all over his axe; Dan the rock star! The final song of the set, "Milk Shakin' Mama" featured some conversational scat courtesy of Mr. Hicks which was not only amusing, but down-right good scat singing: Dan's voice and verbal agility is par excellence. LATE
SHOW Another fun show. Between sets, I asked Tom if they'd be mixing up the setlist at all and he said "a little". Well, I'm glad I caught both shows, because as you can see, they kicked out a bunch of different numbers. Great songs all the way through, a favorite of mine being "My Cello". "Where's the Money" was where it's at, so to speak. I felt lucky to catch this one and Dan seemed to enjoy playing it, gracing us with his Bob Dylan impression in the last chorus. "Strike It" is another great one. The instrumental this time was "Caravan>Four Brothers>Caravan" and it was slick. To introduce "How Can I Miss You" Dan told of how this is the song that really made everything happen. Whether it was "the book or the video", it made everything better. "It got Richard back with Liz", "made the hole in the ozone layer bigger or smaller, whatever's good for it". As to the singing of the song, Dan added, "...if you feel like joinin' in think twice...". "Four or Five Times" was a fun one where we were actually encouraged to join in with its call and response lyrics, truly a fun moment. Another find this set was the encore, "Buzzard". The grease was flyin' in this fast-paced show-closer that left a wide smile on everyone's face. So, I think I exceeded any semblance of brevity here, but the performances warrant such explanation. Dan was quite gracious after the show to boot, signing LP covers and getting his picture taken with a few of us who waited around. Can't wait to see him again! Dave Chichura To:
hix@egroups.com Greetings Hixsters... Dan is BACK...! I saw the BEST DH&HL performance (since I saw him in LA in 72) last Friday at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music. I had not been there before and it is a GREAT venue (very small and intimate) It holds about 400 and the back seats are no further than 40 feet from the stage. The crowd was great (just a few empty seats), no talkers - they seemed to all be Hix fans..., Dan even commented on how great the sound system was. I didn't take notes, I just wanted to enjoy the show..but here are some observations -- from memory. Dan started out by announcing his new album - 'Beatin the Heat' and the Lickettes harmonized a: 'Beep Beep, Beatin the Heat' reminicent of the old Hi Lo's sound. Dan & the group seemed UP UP UP. They
started out with: Their encore was a wonderful version of 'The Buzzard was Their Friend" The Lickettes really make the Group. I hope they can stay together. I enjoyed them so much, I will probably drive to St Lous and then Des Moines, just to experience that wonderful sound!!! From
the Heartland
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