To: hix@yahoogroups.com From: Wendy Lapides Date sent: Wed, 09 Jan 2002 09:10:08 -0500 Subject: [hix] show report I made the one hour trip from Providence to Boston last night (and in Peter V. vernacular, I was with my guitar player friend). I’d never been to Scullers Jazz Club, but it turned out to be the perfect venue for Dan. It’s in the Double Tree Hotel, and I imagine it’s fairly close in ambience to one of Dan’s favorite venues, The Fairmont. The room, which held maybe 150 to 200, is all dark mahogany, dim lighting, small tables, and thankfully, smoke-free. The audience was definitely there to see Dan -- they were polite, enthusiastic and appreciative. (For any future visitors to Scullers, there’s no need to get there early if you’ve ordered tickets -- the seats are assigned according to the order in which you called to reserve them -- and there really aren’t any bad seats in the house.). The 8:00 show was sold out, and at 8:10, Dan walked through the crowd and onto the small stage area, to do a quick sound check. (My guitar player friend was impressed that I knew that the first song would be Canned Music, just from the one sound-check chord, but hey, isn’t it just that kind of thing that separates us Hixsters from the rest of the world?). Dan looked mighty dapper, wearing a black satin shirt covered with fruits and flowers, similar in design to his beautiful Guild. It was almost difficult to see where Dan’s torso ended and his guitar began! The rest of the band came out, took their places on stage, and then the group was introduced and greeted with gusto. The line-up that night was Tom, Brian, Paul Smith on bass, and Susan and Robin as the Lickettes. Now this was my fifth time seeing Dan, but my first time seeing a show which included The Girls, and I have to say, they are the icing on the cake! Not only are they fun to look at, but they reduced my need to sing along and “fill in the blanks.” I wondered beforehand if I would feel like they were trying to be Maryann and Naomi, but I didn’t feel that at all. They clearly admire their predecessors shoes, but didn’t try to fill them. Susan and Robin have their own personalities, their own percussion talents, and their voices are close enough to the real thing that I didn’t find it in any way jarring. The set list: 1. Canned Music 2. Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy 3. I Got Mine 4. Caravan Brothers 5. Shootin’ Straight 6. A 30 second interlude where Dan played slide guitar with his water glass 7. I Feel Like Singin’ 8. I Scare Myself (with funny description of how he came to write the song, and Lickettes donning shades and looking oh-so-cool). 9. Hell, I’d Go 10. The Piano Has Been Drinking 11. Strike it While it’s Hot 12. Gimme the Simple Life And since there were no wings to exit, Dan joked about the obligatory encore, and he and the girls turned their backs to us, heads turned to look over their shoulders, and waved “goodbye.” The audience cheered for more, and they “came back” and did Milk Shakin’ Mama. A truly splendid evening! Dan was relaxed, in fine humor, and the band was tight. I would have stayed for the second show, but I had to get my guitar player friend home. I’m still smiling....