Serial Lady Killer
Not only did Rhett Miller put on an amazing show, but he did it without the rest of the Old 97's. I didn't expect anything but a first-rate performance from one of my favorite songwriters of all-time, but I was blown away.
The real surprise was that Rhett managed to rock. I was expecting "An evening with Rhett Miller" - a laid back set of innocuous pop a la The Instigator, lots of plaintive slow songs, etc. - but things were much more intense than that. Simply put, Rhett got into it. He literally assaulted his guitar, flailing away with reckless abandon, playing nothing but chords with a minimum of bloated riffage and not a trace of subtlety. He didn't shy away from the fast stuff, belting out classics like "Doreen" and "Time Bomb" with the same aplomb as when the entire band is behind him. Rhett was all over the stage, retaining his signature "moves" and his loose, unfettered vocal delivery. During a particularly spirited rendition of "Big Brown Eyes", Rhett screamed at the top of his lungs...
What did I expeeeeeect!!!!
I've heard him sing this line in exactly this way at countless Old 97's shows, but hearing him do it alone, with just an acoustic to back him...wow.
Who knew losing what's left of your mind could sound this good?
Highlights:
- Lots of 97s tunes and very few from The Instigator
- Cover of California Stars (!!!!!)
- Pixies cover
- "Question" alternating between French and English
- Rhett singing both parts on "Fireflies"
- Songs from new (!!!) Old 97's album
posted by Pj at 12:22 PM
2 Comments:
Love the Old 97's, but couldn't really get behind Miller solo. Because (as discussed) I lean towards the lyrics, I could not get past the first 4 lines of 'Meteor Shower' without swallowing twice in an attempt to suppress my gag reflex... ;-P
I might have agreed, but he put on a great show.
Last time I saw the 97s (http://overlyactivebrain.blogspot.com/2004/10/you-slipped-mickey-in-my-heart.html), the band finished and Rhett came back onto the stage with an acoustic guitar. There were groans and people muttering random crap along the lines of, "christ, here comes the solo stuff..." Everyone braced themselves, but happily, Rhett broke into "Wave of Mutilation" by the Pixies.
An almost audible collective sigh of relief...whew...
He played the Pixies cover in Toronto as well, and only one song from the first solo album. Yay for that.
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