Entertainment Weekly, April 30, 2001: Difference between revisions
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Indeed, "this next number is a murder ballad" seemed to be the catchphrase of the night. There haven't been so many vivid descriptions of wife, girlfriend, or mistress homicides on one stage since Eminem's last trip through town. "This is another song about someone in the Appalachias getting knocked up... and killed," said [[Kate McGarrigle]], introducing "[[Ommie Wise Part 2 (What Lewis Did Last...)|Ommie Wise]]," which she sang with her sister [[Anna McGarrigle|Anna]]. But there was at least an attempt at redress here. After the original tune's abrupt climax in which the wife killer gets away scot free, Elvis Costello came onstage and announced, "We didn't think that was a very satisfying ending." He then sang the "lost" coda -- actually, a whole new song he'd written -- in which the murderer is so haunted by his evil deed, he goes to dig up his wife's grave, only to find the coffin empty. | Indeed, "this next number is a murder ballad" seemed to be the catchphrase of the night. There haven't been so many vivid descriptions of wife, girlfriend, or mistress homicides on one stage since Eminem's last trip through town. "This is another song about someone in the Appalachias getting knocked up... and killed," said [[Kate McGarrigle]], introducing "[[Ommie Wise Part 2 (What Lewis Did Last...)|Ommie Wise]]," which she sang with her sister [[Anna McGarrigle|Anna]]. But there was at least an attempt at redress here. After the original tune's abrupt climax in which the wife killer gets away scot free, Elvis Costello came onstage and announced, "We didn't think that was a very satisfying ending." He then sang the "lost" coda -- actually, a whole new song he'd written -- in which the murderer is so haunted by his evil deed, he goes to dig up his wife's grave, only to find the coffin empty. | ||
Another highlight was Irishman Gavin Friday's rocking rendition of "Fatal Flower Garden," a 1929 tune about a boy who goes to retrieve his ball from a neighboring woman's house and gets locked up and killed by the psycho lady. Let's see Marshall Mathers write something that sick! (On Wednesday night, at the first of the two shows, Friday was cheered on by his Dublin pals Bono and the Edge, taking a night off amid their own series of L.A. concerts.) But apparently, in the 1920s, if there was no one around to kill you, you had to do it yourself -- as with the lovelorn female protagonist of "[[The Butcher's Boy]]," who's so upset by her suitor's infidelity, she hangs herself in her parents' house. That song was irresistible enough to be performed twice, first by Van Dyke Parks with a string quartet, and later by Elvis Costello as a rock & roll scorcher. | Another highlight was Irishman Gavin Friday's rocking rendition of "Fatal Flower Garden," a 1929 tune about a boy who goes to retrieve his ball from a neighboring woman's house and gets locked up and killed by the psycho lady. Let's see Marshall Mathers write something that sick! (On Wednesday night, at the first of the two shows, Friday was cheered on by his Dublin pals Bono and the Edge, taking a night off amid their own series of L.A. concerts.) But apparently, in the 1920s, if there was no one around to kill you, you had to do it yourself -- as with the lovelorn female protagonist of "[[The Butcher's Boy]]," who's so upset by her suitor's infidelity, she hangs herself in her parents' house. That song was irresistible enough to be performed twice, first by [[Van Dyke Parks]] with a string quartet, and later by Elvis Costello as a rock & roll scorcher. | ||
Not everything in these concerts was quite so morbid. The three principals of Spinal Tap -- [[Michael McKean]], [[Christopher Guest]], and [[Harry Shearer]] -- donned striped shirts and a cheerful, Kingston Trio style demeanor to take on the guise of the Folksmen, a put-on that's (at least in small doses) even funnier than the Tap. Their hootenanny version of the Stones' "Start Me Up" brought the house down. Also good for laughs was Todd Rundgren's "West Virginia Gals," which he described as "an admonition for West Virginia women to marry out of state. It must have been written by someone from a much more sophisticated place, like Kentucky." Other bright spots included the usually dour Marianne Faithfull doing a kick-butt gospel turn on "John the Revelator," the Pere Ubu frontman howling through "Fishing Blues," and, in one of the best received minisets, [[David Johansen]] -- formerly known as Buster Poindexter and now leading a band called the Harry Smiths! -- singing a soulful ode to "Old Dog Blue." | Not everything in these concerts was quite so morbid. The three principals of Spinal Tap -- [[Michael McKean]], [[Christopher Guest]], and [[Harry Shearer]] -- donned striped shirts and a cheerful, Kingston Trio style demeanor to take on the guise of the Folksmen, a put-on that's (at least in small doses) even funnier than the Tap. Their hootenanny version of the Stones' "Start Me Up" brought the house down. Also good for laughs was Todd Rundgren's "West Virginia Gals," which he described as "an admonition for West Virginia women to marry out of state. It must have been written by someone from a much more sophisticated place, like Kentucky." Other bright spots included the usually dour Marianne Faithfull doing a kick-butt gospel turn on "John the Revelator," the Pere Ubu frontman howling through "Fishing Blues," and, in one of the best received minisets, [[David Johansen]] -- formerly known as Buster Poindexter and now leading a band called the Harry Smiths! -- singing a soulful ode to "Old Dog Blue." |
Revision as of 07:27, 28 May 2011
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