Interval
SETLIST
Interval
Encores
COMMENTS/FURTHER
INFORMATION
Submitted
by John
Raffaele, the proud owner of Bruce's Flying V guitar, and the
Project's own Suzanne Myers, who reports:
February 4,
2004, Bearsville Theater, just outside of Woodstock, NY where art
and rock live on and on, a tiny theater, standing room only (not exactly
the
way one would picture it though, more on that later). Bruce and Julie calmed
the savage beast in us all and brought down the house. Waiting in line
in
cold
so cold it took your breath away if you tried to take a deep one, we watched
Bruce duck into the tourbus while we waited for the doors to open at 7.
As time
ticked and the doors stayed closed, the waiting fans rocked and chatted, and
did little dances in their places just to keep warm.
Once inside there was the 'dash to the open seating' because Bearsville has a curious habit of selling waaaay more seats than they have actually put out for people to sit in. After the crowd got wind of this there was the commensurate scuffle between the house crew and the fans when the light dawned that a good 50 percent of the audience, who paid the same as the people who managed to sit down, would NOT be sitting for the next couple of hours. Tiny little dramas burst out around the house as people holding seats for people not yet there argued with people who were there and had to stand, about the ethics of such practices. Before it got too out of hand some chairs (not nearly enough) were brought in and some got to sit down the sides.
But when the
lights dipped and Bruce and Julie walked
out on stage all was forgiven and the crowd mellowed into an appreciative,
responsive audience who remembered why they were all crammed together
in a tiny
theater in Bearsville, NY. Bruce rocked. Bruce crooned. Bruce dug deep
into
his repertoir and brought out a representative sample of his most engaging
songs. Julie rocked. Julie crooned. Julie provided the bass background
and
trailing accompaniments that filled in any tiny gap one might have imagined.
From
haunting harmonies on Lovers in a Dangerous
Time, to the jazz blast on
Mighty
Trucks Of Midnight, to the toe-tapping Wait
No More, to the jazz infused
licks of Trickle Down, the audience
tripped the light fantastic on each and every
selection they offered.
It was an outstanding performance by an outstanding duo and I think we were all very glad we'd gotten to share the experience.
James Holland took the photos with his name on.
Ben
Kemp took the other photos and contributes:
Other than a guy going off the wall about the seating just before the show, everything went well. The radio station did obviously oversell the show which wasn't very decent. Some even enjoyed a view of the show from the Bearsville Theater bar ,which has a wonderful view, through glass, of the stage. All eyes turned to Bruce though as he and Julie came on the stage.
A customer asked him about how he ate during his stay in Woodstock. Bruce commented that he never eats as good on the road, and if he did, all the audience would hear would be a series of belching. At one point, an audience member commented on Iraq. While Bruce did not go into depth on what he saw in his recent travels to Baghdad, he did let people know that the media is warped, and that the situation is, in fact, not very good at all there. He explained that in the Iraqis' point of view, and realistically, the US is there for oil, on behalf of large corporations. The frustration was evident as he spoke about how the US is not doing the Iraqis justice in the supposed reconstruction plan. The supposed overhaul of the education system, Bruce said, consisted of painting the classrooms, and that's it. As if that wasn't bad enough, he added, "they didn't even hire Iraqis to do the painting!", instead hiring a company from Saudi Arabia to do the job. He then said he believes that democracy is a good idea, but that no country in history has ever been able to get it right.
Trickle Down was a highlight of the evening, for sure, with an extended jazzy jam session by Bruce and Julie, who had a lot of fun with it. After The Rain was a refreshing song to hear; one that I personally have wanted to hear for a while. After coming out for a few encores, the evening left everyone feeling awed and inspired as usual.