Dispatch From the Road

Day Five of the Portland/Seattle road trip and I'd thought I'd better record last night for posterity. We came into Seattle a little earlier than we thought because we weren't able to contact my college roommate and his family (in Vancouver). So, we headed north on I-5 until we got to the SuperMall in Auburn.

At this point, I realized my 'vacation' was turning into a big mall run. Granted, I happened to be getting some new clothes out of the deal, and that's what small-town rubes are supposed to do when we enter shopping meccas, right? But I was ready to do something besides try on shirts. And then I thought, 'let's go see Bob Schneider tonight'.

After getting onto the internet at Tat's brother's place, we found out ol' Bob was playing here: The Triple Door. Now, I vaguely remember Carl telling me to check out the venue '3 doors'. I assume he meant this. Completely world class all the way. A fantastic venue that I really couldn't say enough about, from the food to the staff to the sound to the atmosphere. It was a great place to go. The website gives all the details. I recommend the pad thai. It was excellent.

How was the music? Well...

Hardcore Reidt bloggers would remember how blown away I was with Bob's B-side show in Spokane. Tat and I were not as impressed this time around. Don't get me wrong, his band was incredibly tight and the whole performance was pristine and well-rehearsed. And that was the biggest problem. While the music was 100% better, the show was just too clean. Tat had a couple of really great comments:

1. She had come for a 'show', but got a 'concert'
2. Bob should save the perfection for the record

And that got me to thinking (no surprise) about what it is that I enjoy about live music. Invention, rapport, spontaneity. I need to somehow feel that the show that I am enjoying is a truly unique event. If it is just a super-glossed rendering of all my favorite tracks...well, I can listen to the record for that. Tat agreed whole-heartedly.

Bob's Spokane show was stunning in its interaction. He talked to the crowd between every song. He riffed on all sorts of topics. He was funny and down-to-earth. After the show they just wandered around. Here it was a big concert. The venue establishes a certain seperation between the audience and performer just by its layout, and Bob wasn't trying too hard to bridge the gap.

So, some great music but not a great show (unless you really like stage lighting). Overall though, it was a great experience. It just really drove home a couple of lessons regarding what seperates good live music from recorded music.

An unexpected surprise was getting to hear Steve Poltz as the opening act. Steve did everything Bob did (last time) and didn't (this time). Namely, he interacted with the crowd, told funny stories, and got everybody really engaged. He was a perfect opener...the crowd was really ready - and then Bob didn't do anything with it.

A tangent is the proliferation of myspace.com. Steve made a plug for his myspace site, asking us to all be his friend. A quick search shows similar profiles for Bob Schneider as well as Billy Harvey, who weirdly, wasn't playing with Bob last night (what's that all about?). Anyway, it was interesting to see established acts using myspace as a networking and marketing tool.