COMBINED REPORTS - Lake Eden Arts Festival, Black Mountain NC, Oct. 20 2001

Date: Sun, 04 Nov 2001 21:42:35 +0100 To: hix@yahoogroups.com Subject: LEAF Show report (long, save it for a rainy day) From: "Peter J. Visser" Hi All, On Saturday October 20 we, for the first time, had the opportunity to see Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks performing live. Not once but even twice. We arrived in Asheville late on Friday night and stayed at an hotel near the airport. Because one of our bags was missing we had to return to the airport the next morning and make arrangements to get it delivered at the LEAF festival in nearby Black Mountain. Although the airline people were a little sceptical at delivering lost luggage at a festival it worked out alright and we got our bag later that day. Because of this we arrived later than we had planned and after setting up our tent we had a look around the festival area and chose a spot for our paper modelling workshop. We set up next to a chestnut stand, run by someone from Switzerland and his American wife. We had paper models for children and Dan´s Moustache for the grown-ups, which we were wearing ourselves. Although many people stopped and looked at the paper models, only a few actually made a model, including the chestnut people, who made (with a little help from us) the moustaches. --------------------------- Start show report #1 --------------------------- By 3 pm we closed the workshop because of the first Dan Hicks concert. We found a place in front of the stage and could see Dan and the band putting up their equipment. At 3.30 the show started and the band was really doing great. The only live experience we have had was the Chicago concert at the Rolling Stone site, nothing compared to a real live concert. The audience consisted of a couple of dozen real fans and a lot of people who were just there for the festival, but reactions were very good. You could notice that Dan was enjoying himself. The line-up was: Dan Hicks Vocals, guitar, harmonica, percussion. Tom Mitchel Lead guitar Brian Godchaux Violin, mandolin Paul Smith Upright bass Susan Rabin bg vocals, percussion, ukelele ? Armstrong bg vocals, percussion (sorry, didn't catch her first name, seems to be a new Lickette) The set list was: 1 Canned Music 2 Chattanooga Shoeshine Boy 3 Peach Pickin´ Time in Georgia (with Susan on the Ukelele and Dan on Harmonica) 4 Strike it while it´s Hot 5 I´ve got a Capo on my Brain 6 Honey Suckle Rose (Dan wears a red baret) 7 I Scare Myself (Great guitar solo by Tom Mitchell, but with Dan stealing the show as a would be Jimi Hendrix) 8 The Piano has been Drinkin´ (Dan needed a piece of paper to get the words right) 9 I Feel like Singing 10 Gimme the Simple Life (Great dancing from Dan and the Licketttes) encore: 11 Milk Shakin´ Mama Most of the songs were familiar to us, but Peach Pickin´ Time in Georgia, Honey Suckle Rose and Gimme the Simple Life were new to us (not the songs itself, but Dan´s version of them). And we noticed the lyrics of Canned Music had been updated with an Internet couplet. But most of all we liked the sing and dance routines, the witty remarks in between songs and the briljant guitar solo act during I Scare Myself. It really adds to the live recordings, seeing Dan and the band is much more than hearing a live recording. It was also good to see that the Lickettes were much more than just background singers, they were a whole rhythm section of their own. Especially Susan Rabin was really good. And we loved Dan´s shoes. The set lasted about 75 minutes, more than we had hoped for. And it had all we sort of expected it to be and even more. It was really great! -------------------------- End show report #1 -------------------------- After the show we and some other fans went to the back of the tent were they had performed and had a short chance to talk to some bandmembers and Dan Hicks himself. First thing he asked was about the paper model of his moustache, which he heard about but hadn´t seen yet (Clare probably doesn´t have Acrobat Reader). We gave him some and though he didn´t say much about it, it put a smile to his face. We also gave him a cd by the Dutch band The Amazing Stroopwafels. Then he had to go off, signing cd´s. But he asked us to come backstage after the second set. Later he stopped at the chestnut people and got some chestnuts and while we were walking around listening to other acts, we saw Dan standing in the audience a couple of times as well. We also had the pleasure of meeting Mark Grier of this list, he recognized us because I was wearing my Dan Hicks t-shirt, and we were both wearing our moustaches. It was nice talking to him and we gave him a couple of moustaches as well. --------------------------- Start show report #2 --------------------------- Later that evening, at 10.15 pm Dan played another set, 75 minutes again and only three songs that he played that afternoon. The set list was: 1 Canned Music 2 Waitin´ 3 Wild about my Lovin´ 4 Hell I´d Go 5 Caravan-Four Brothers 6 Where´s the Money 7 How Can I miss You when You won´t go Away 8 I Scare Myself 9 Somebody Tell Me The Truth 10 Gimme The Simple Life encore: 11 The Buzzard was their Friend This time there was one new song for us, Gimme the Simple Life, but we already heard that on the first show. This totals up to 19 songs in all, not bad, but there are a lot of other songs we would have loved to hear too. Well, maybe next time. Because of the time the crowd was a little bit restless, people with young children had to leave during the show and the audience didn´t pick up on all Dan´s comments. And temperatures fell dramatically during the evening, it nearly did freeze during the night. But the show was great again, we loved it very much. -------------------------- End show report #2 -------------------------- After the show we went backstage and Dan was looking for paper to give some signatures to some kids. We offered the Moustache model and he accepted it and signed it at the back. We talked a little bit about the two shows, and he agreed that the first one was better than the second, but he just adjusts to all kinds of audiences easily. He complimemted us on our radioshow earlier this year (we sent him the cd´s) and said it was a real good choice of music. After two shows he looked a bit tired, but we had the impression he isn´t that much of a talking guy as he is on stage. And again he had to go out to do a cd signing session. After that we talked Paul Smith (we have a teeth-thing in common) and Brian Godchaux. They also told us that the Annapolis concert was postponed, but they were not sure, so they advised to call in advance before going there. All in all it was a memorable day, seeing two shows and talking to Dan and some Hot Licks, and we were still talking about it everyday. Especially the things we forgot to ask, overwhelmed at actually seeing The Man in person. And now we´re working on our second radio show, only half an hour this time on another local radiostation in Zoetermeer. Would be nice if it could coincide with the release of A&L in The Netherlands on November 12th. We´ll keep you posted. Best, Peter (Lucia will send her own report later) -- Peter J. Visser Iceberg Bouwplaten / Paper Models http://www.peterjvisser.demon.nl