Bob Walkenhorst, Friday, August 19th, 2005, All Soul's Unitarian Univsersalist Church
It was good. :) And it was recorded. And I got pictures. Not stellar great pictures, but, I figured I ought to take some so Jeff who does the CD covers has pictures to use.
Jeff (Porter, not CD cover Jeff :) ) did get to play the piano. (Which you can see in the pictures behind Jeff.) At Wednesday's show they mentioned the piano and that Jeff would get to play it. He did on 3 songs. I forget the first two. Slow/soft kinda songs I think. Oh, wait, 2nd was "Dry Dry Land". (Unless there were 4 songs and that was 3rd). Last was "Jan Vermeer". And that one in particular I enjoyed with that piano. And then it was break time. Yes, they took a break. A 20 minute break. Bob explained from the stage before the break, it had to be that long to allow time to drink a glass of wine.
Oh, and they had beer too. Miller Lite, and Boulevard (I think Unfiltered Wheat, but I didn't look closely). The Boulevard was the expensive drink... $1.50. Wine, pop, and Miller were only $1.
The audience was quite attentive. I heard folks laughing during "Fool's Gold" at some of the lyrics. (At least, I think that's the song.) And laughing at some of Bob's stories. Including once when he wasn't even being humorous. Bob was mentioning playing in his hometown last week, and when he said "soybean fest" that got a laugh. :) Then Bob mentioned the name of a festival in another nearby town which was even more amusing, though I forget what that festival name was.
There was dancing. Mostly in the back. And not started by me. Though I did dance. Though not till the 2nd half. The very last song (I forget what it was) some folks started a snake dance thing (much as I'd actually be inclined to avoid a song title label, especially a song they didn't do, calling it a conga line would be very optimistic, so I'll have to go with snake dance).
After playing "Fool's Gold" Bob commented that it's a cynical song. And he said the next song was also a cynical song. And played "No Romance". Although I don't disagree, I've never (going back all of 15 months) looked at the song as cynical. It's like, the song has both wisdom and cynicism, and I've tended to take note of the wisdom. In particular, I like, "I've spent too much of my life waiting / Hoping, dreaming, wishing, believing, / And way too little of it living". The idea is, don't just dream about life, go out and live it. Ah, but one can live life fully, presently, [i]and[/i] have romance. The problem is when romance becomes a replacement for life instead of a part of being alive. I also like: "But the sooner that you learn this / The sooner you free your hands / To get on with things that really matter". I guess to me it speaks of not spending too much time in fantasy. When romance is a fantasy, it's not real, so let go of it and get on with real life. And I'm done with my philosophizing. Really. :) (Then again, occasional fantasies can be fun, but not in place of living life.)
After that, Bob said "I need a love song" and played "Life Can Turn".
I got there late. Actually, I first got there on time. But then I realized I was short on cash, so I had to go back to the car and make a run to the ATM. I got there during the 2nd song (I know from talking to someone else). First song (which I missed) was "View From The Tower". 2nd was "Long Gone Long".
I didn't miss out on the wine, since they had that during the break as well. I had the Blush Chablis. Good stuff.
"Lakeview Man" was played. And "The Day That We Hung Up the Flag" and "Primative Garcia". 2nd to last song (first encore song) was "Information". I went and sat down for that one. I like the song, and it's got a dancable beat, but it just doesn't (usually) make me want to dance. It's more a sit and watch song, for me. I think that may be the only song Bob did that he didn't write.
At the end of the break, as people were returning to their seats, the guys did an instrumental jam thing. Bob on drums. And it sounded good. And was a nice way to draw people back before continuing the show.
Before playing "Hoo Dee Hoo" Bob mentioned there being a "Hoo Dee Hoo" day somewhere, and he commented that it sounds like a Unitarian Holy Day. :)
Bob commented on the album Skin. He talked about what the album was about, the theme, focus, whatever the word of the album. He mentioned Steve questioning if anyone would buy an album with that theme (sounds like Steve. :) ). And Bob said he said "no one's buying our albums anyway". (I recall that same exchange is reported in one of the articles on the Rainmakers website.) Bob said the album is going to be back in print. (I'm guessing that it went out of print because of the label -- Shooting Star's V&R Records -- ceasing operation. I know the Shooting Star albums are no longer available.) That's good, that it will be back in print. Anyway, Bob then played the song "Skin".
A brief comment on the church itself. Catholic that I am, I always find it odd being in a church with no crucifix and/or no kneelers. I don't buy the idea of Jesus being a necessarily sacrifice for our sins so we could be saved. I don't believe God works like that. Still, the crucifix is meaningful to me. I think because I can identify with a suffering Christ. (Hm... I guess, then, there's a connection between my appreciation of crucifixes and my appreciation for "Let My People Go-Go" and the line Bob has Jesus speak. Interesting thought. Oops, there I go philosophizing again.) As for kneelers, I usually briefly pray kneeling before mass (unless I'm singing with choir), which for me is a good way to get in prayer mode, and when I've gone to services in Protestant churches, or Catholic churches without kneelers (not common, but there are a few) I really notice the lack of kneelers and wish for one. The lack of kneelers, however, was not a problem at the Bob Walkenhorst concert. :)
Anyway, it's a nice church. It does have a nice spiritual feel to it, I thought. Meaning the space. Though the people seem pretty darn likeable too. Not just Bob, the rest of them too. :)
Jeff (Porter, not CD cover Jeff :) ) did get to play the piano. (Which you can see in the pictures behind Jeff.) At Wednesday's show they mentioned the piano and that Jeff would get to play it. He did on 3 songs. I forget the first two. Slow/soft kinda songs I think. Oh, wait, 2nd was "Dry Dry Land". (Unless there were 4 songs and that was 3rd). Last was "Jan Vermeer". And that one in particular I enjoyed with that piano. And then it was break time. Yes, they took a break. A 20 minute break. Bob explained from the stage before the break, it had to be that long to allow time to drink a glass of wine.
Oh, and they had beer too. Miller Lite, and Boulevard (I think Unfiltered Wheat, but I didn't look closely). The Boulevard was the expensive drink... $1.50. Wine, pop, and Miller were only $1.
The audience was quite attentive. I heard folks laughing during "Fool's Gold" at some of the lyrics. (At least, I think that's the song.) And laughing at some of Bob's stories. Including once when he wasn't even being humorous. Bob was mentioning playing in his hometown last week, and when he said "soybean fest" that got a laugh. :) Then Bob mentioned the name of a festival in another nearby town which was even more amusing, though I forget what that festival name was.
There was dancing. Mostly in the back. And not started by me. Though I did dance. Though not till the 2nd half. The very last song (I forget what it was) some folks started a snake dance thing (much as I'd actually be inclined to avoid a song title label, especially a song they didn't do, calling it a conga line would be very optimistic, so I'll have to go with snake dance).
After playing "Fool's Gold" Bob commented that it's a cynical song. And he said the next song was also a cynical song. And played "No Romance". Although I don't disagree, I've never (going back all of 15 months) looked at the song as cynical. It's like, the song has both wisdom and cynicism, and I've tended to take note of the wisdom. In particular, I like, "I've spent too much of my life waiting / Hoping, dreaming, wishing, believing, / And way too little of it living". The idea is, don't just dream about life, go out and live it. Ah, but one can live life fully, presently, [i]and[/i] have romance. The problem is when romance becomes a replacement for life instead of a part of being alive. I also like: "But the sooner that you learn this / The sooner you free your hands / To get on with things that really matter". I guess to me it speaks of not spending too much time in fantasy. When romance is a fantasy, it's not real, so let go of it and get on with real life. And I'm done with my philosophizing. Really. :) (Then again, occasional fantasies can be fun, but not in place of living life.)
After that, Bob said "I need a love song" and played "Life Can Turn".
I got there late. Actually, I first got there on time. But then I realized I was short on cash, so I had to go back to the car and make a run to the ATM. I got there during the 2nd song (I know from talking to someone else). First song (which I missed) was "View From The Tower". 2nd was "Long Gone Long".
I didn't miss out on the wine, since they had that during the break as well. I had the Blush Chablis. Good stuff.
"Lakeview Man" was played. And "The Day That We Hung Up the Flag" and "Primative Garcia". 2nd to last song (first encore song) was "Information". I went and sat down for that one. I like the song, and it's got a dancable beat, but it just doesn't (usually) make me want to dance. It's more a sit and watch song, for me. I think that may be the only song Bob did that he didn't write.
At the end of the break, as people were returning to their seats, the guys did an instrumental jam thing. Bob on drums. And it sounded good. And was a nice way to draw people back before continuing the show.
Before playing "Hoo Dee Hoo" Bob mentioned there being a "Hoo Dee Hoo" day somewhere, and he commented that it sounds like a Unitarian Holy Day. :)
Bob commented on the album Skin. He talked about what the album was about, the theme, focus, whatever the word of the album. He mentioned Steve questioning if anyone would buy an album with that theme (sounds like Steve. :) ). And Bob said he said "no one's buying our albums anyway". (I recall that same exchange is reported in one of the articles on the Rainmakers website.) Bob said the album is going to be back in print. (I'm guessing that it went out of print because of the label -- Shooting Star's V&R Records -- ceasing operation. I know the Shooting Star albums are no longer available.) That's good, that it will be back in print. Anyway, Bob then played the song "Skin".
A brief comment on the church itself. Catholic that I am, I always find it odd being in a church with no crucifix and/or no kneelers. I don't buy the idea of Jesus being a necessarily sacrifice for our sins so we could be saved. I don't believe God works like that. Still, the crucifix is meaningful to me. I think because I can identify with a suffering Christ. (Hm... I guess, then, there's a connection between my appreciation of crucifixes and my appreciation for "Let My People Go-Go" and the line Bob has Jesus speak. Interesting thought. Oops, there I go philosophizing again.) As for kneelers, I usually briefly pray kneeling before mass (unless I'm singing with choir), which for me is a good way to get in prayer mode, and when I've gone to services in Protestant churches, or Catholic churches without kneelers (not common, but there are a few) I really notice the lack of kneelers and wish for one. The lack of kneelers, however, was not a problem at the Bob Walkenhorst concert. :)
Anyway, it's a nice church. It does have a nice spiritual feel to it, I thought. Meaning the space. Though the people seem pretty darn likeable too. Not just Bob, the rest of them too. :)
posted by Ellen Kozisek at 9:21 PM
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