This show took place at The Wheelhouse Tavern in Narragansett, Rhode Island, during the Back To School Bash, thrown by U.R.I. students on September 20, 2003.
It was a magical night, imbued with the fineries of typical Slip beauty. Brad was soulful in Smurf Trucker Hat, sportin' the stash... Marc was tight in coordinated blue jeans and bright green top, while Andrew sweated his salmon button-up shirt into oblivion. Initial "buzz" (probably from the Boomerang) was tweaked and the night was off to a raw, honest "Po' Boy"... They introduced "Headshot" as a number off their new album ALIVELECTRIC, which was offered in pre-release as it will not drop until later this week. I thought this rendition was more inspired than the one on the album (which I was lucky to obtain), but who is to say? They played a frighteningly beautiful "Children Of December". The father of the Barr brothers being in attendance at the show made this a most touching and powerful song selection. The searching, haunting quality of the forgotten, those born on those special days which are eclipsed by the ritual society's ceremony, was clearly expressed in the intensity and raw, emotional honesty of the singer, whose voice expressed, it seemed to me, all the pent up rage, wonder, frustration and twisted pride which mystical circumstance (coincidental or otherwise) helps to sustain. The band was in good spirits, looked somewhat tour-lagged coming off a healthy dose of the good ole West Coast, and sometimes exchanged meaningful looks, nods, smiles and poses with each other and the audience. There was a warm, confident, professional vibe in the air, which was salted by the Gallilee Pier, and which carried the scent of those who are ocean-born, Children Of Atlantis, indeed. Nelly Jean was a sweet encore. The promoters of the fund-raiser were at hand with nifty T-Shirts, and the conversation levels were quite low compared with the music due to the Bar being in another room. Brad said he enjoyed playing in a room with wood floors. When pressed upon the issue he conceded that concrete floors were just terrible, or flat, or mean or ugly , or something like that. He said wood floors gave the room a human quality, or words to that effect. When questioned about Tinseltown (and their recent forays into the Los Angeles culture) he smiled quite boyishly and said he appreciated the sophistication of the room/s/crowd/s he has played for, there. Marc's bass strap came off while playing his red, fret-bass. He just shimmied and wiggled his way through the song and straight into another with no re-strapping. Brad gave younger brother Andrew very visible "yes" / "no" cues during the 'Headshot' and ensuing jam. And I dared witness Andrew's psychic ability in fielding unspoken, barely articulated quivers of varying attitude to the experience. I hope this is of use to you. I will always love The Slip with all my heart... ^___^ TANO a.k.a. Stanley Gemmell, poet Temple2 http://www.angelfire.com/il/surlsone T2 List http://www.topica.com/lists/temple2/read --------------------------------------- ** How do you enjoy the Pleasant Presence of the Present Tense? ** Web archive at http://email.theslip.net ** To unsubscribe: Send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'signoff theslip' in the body of the message
