Sidewalk Cafe (3/16/05)
New York, NY
I'm always excited for shows at Sidewalk, because the room is perfect for singer/songwriters and the crowd is usually interested. Once again, I found myself in a cab on the FDR drive, trying not to worry whether or not enough people would show up to assure me of another booking. Turns out there was nothing to worry about; the crowd was perfect. A few people from the hospital turned out, along with some friends from medical school I hadn't seen in a while, including Jay, Jess, and Rivka. I was actually on call at the hospital, but I got a friend to cover me for a few hours so I could perform. It was also the night before the Residency Match, so I had that to think about as well.
I opened with Snapdragon, which I hadn't played since May, and So Long, Angeline, absent since September. Pretty Girls has lost some of its wry luster for me, but the crowd seemed to enjoy it (especially my friends from work). After a couple of Simon and Garfunkel tunes, I figured I'd keep the feeling going with The Beauty Pool, which owes a lot to Paul Simon's The Rhythm of the Saints. This Guy is one of my favorite songs to play these days, but I think it loses something without the harmonies. Maybe when internship is over I'll have some time to find a few good musicians to play with...
At some point Liz, one of my friends from the hospital, requested In the Shade of An Old Apple Tree, the opening track on Plain and Simple. Apple Tree is one of the songs my grandmother brought home from camp as a young girl, and my father used to sing them to my brothers and me when we were kids. I restructured it to include more of the original melody, but I couldn't remember how to play it and instead turned to Upper East Side, 10 a.m. I hadn't played it since May, so it was a little rusty. I think it would really take off with a second guitarist.
Two comic relief songs (First of May and She's Dead) later, I broke out Something Simple, unplayed since March of last year at DTUT. I know I've said this before, but that song always takes me back out West. I worked on it in so many different places (Arches, Bryce Canyon, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain), it seems a direct product of the exprerience. I don't play it enough.
I hung around for bit before hopping a cab uptown to the hospital. This is life now, comfortable moments of hamony in a year that has been otherwise a blur...
I'm always excited for shows at Sidewalk, because the room is perfect for singer/songwriters and the crowd is usually interested. Once again, I found myself in a cab on the FDR drive, trying not to worry whether or not enough people would show up to assure me of another booking. Turns out there was nothing to worry about; the crowd was perfect. A few people from the hospital turned out, along with some friends from medical school I hadn't seen in a while, including Jay, Jess, and Rivka. I was actually on call at the hospital, but I got a friend to cover me for a few hours so I could perform. It was also the night before the Residency Match, so I had that to think about as well.
I opened with Snapdragon, which I hadn't played since May, and So Long, Angeline, absent since September. Pretty Girls has lost some of its wry luster for me, but the crowd seemed to enjoy it (especially my friends from work). After a couple of Simon and Garfunkel tunes, I figured I'd keep the feeling going with The Beauty Pool, which owes a lot to Paul Simon's The Rhythm of the Saints. This Guy is one of my favorite songs to play these days, but I think it loses something without the harmonies. Maybe when internship is over I'll have some time to find a few good musicians to play with...
At some point Liz, one of my friends from the hospital, requested In the Shade of An Old Apple Tree, the opening track on Plain and Simple. Apple Tree is one of the songs my grandmother brought home from camp as a young girl, and my father used to sing them to my brothers and me when we were kids. I restructured it to include more of the original melody, but I couldn't remember how to play it and instead turned to Upper East Side, 10 a.m. I hadn't played it since May, so it was a little rusty. I think it would really take off with a second guitarist.
Two comic relief songs (First of May and She's Dead) later, I broke out Something Simple, unplayed since March of last year at DTUT. I know I've said this before, but that song always takes me back out West. I worked on it in so many different places (Arches, Bryce Canyon, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain), it seems a direct product of the exprerience. I don't play it enough.
I hung around for bit before hopping a cab uptown to the hospital. This is life now, comfortable moments of hamony in a year that has been otherwise a blur...
Setlist: Snapdragon (first since Sidewalk Cafe: 5/21/04)/So Long, Angeline (first since The C-Note: 9/27/04)/Pretty Girls/The Only Living Boy in New York (Simon and Garfunkel cover)/Song For the Asking (Simon and Garfunkel cover)/The Beauty Pool/This Guy/Upper East Side, 10 a.m. (first since Sidewalk Cafe: 5/21/04)/First of May (Jonathan Coulton cover)/She's Dead (Jim Infantino cover)/Something Simple (first since DTUT: 3/2/04)
posted by Michael Novick at 1:28 PM
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