Subject: The North American Tour, Oct/Nov, 1996

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Subj: American tour Date: 96-10-20 21:34:52 EDT From: Suzanne Vega Hey gang -- so tonight is the eve of the American tour. so far, some shows are doing really well. New York and Chicago are sold out, but others are doing badly -- Philadelphia, for example. I wonder why? We had a great in-store, but the tickets aren't selling at all. Is the ticket price too high? Is the venue out of town? What is the ticket price? How does it compare with the others? I have really enjoyed meeting you Undertowers on the road -- I met David in Paris before the show, and U212 in NY , and Wendy! in LA -- usually if you let me know you are an "Undertower" I will say hi and chat as long as I am able to. My schedule is going to be even more hectic than it has been, so I won't be able to talk for a long time each time, but I really love putting the faces with the names and thoughts. We played the show in Paris and Germany. It runs about an hour and a half -- so far there isn't a section where I tell stories formally the way there has been in other shows. I will be trying some things out though, seeing what the show needs. So I'll be seeing you! Affectionately yours, Suzanne Subj: Suzanne in Owings Mills, MD, 10/21/96 -- Setlist Date: 96-10-23 00:28:46 EDT From: bobking@gate.net (Bob King) Back from my 24-hour trek to and from the greater Baltimore area. Somebody asked for a setlist, so here's one. It's the best I could manage while scrawling in the dark. I'll say more -- much more, trust me -- when I've had an hour or two of sleep. Here's the Reader's Digest version: Magical show, all one could have imagined it to be. And yes, I got to meet Suzanne, who was as wonderful and friendly as humanly possible, especially considering how many people wanted part of her time after the show (at least 25, I was told) and how incoherently babbling one of those fans (myself) turned out to be. I could easily believe it was all a dream if not for the tangible evidence (one signature, four photos and one $5 wooden 9OOD apple keychain). I'm sorry I missed meeting the other undertowers who were there. All I can say is someone showed me the way out on the way in. Anyway, here's the list: Stockings Rock in This Pocket Caramel Thin Man Casual Match Small Blue Thing Marlene on the Wall Headshots No Cheap Thrill Fat Man and Dancing Girl Neighborhood Girls Queen and the Soldier World Before Columbus Room off the Street Woman on a Tier Blood Makes Noise In Liverpool Luka Birthday 1st ENCORE: Tom's Diner Men in a War 2nd ENCORE: Gypsy Good luck to everyone else catching this tour. You don't want to miss it! -- Bob!!!!!!!!!!! (exhausted, happy and borrowing from Wendy) * I think it's called my destiny that I am changing. * Subj: Suzy V. ROCKS Charm City!!! Date: 96-10-22 01:26:51 EDT From: ccbosley@UBmail.ubalt.edu (Chris Roland) Much like the New York Yankees, who came to Baltimore two weeks ago and blew away our beloved Orioles in the ALCS, Suzanne arrived in the city tonight (also from New York, I assume) and rocked the house at the Gordon Center. If the opening show portends anything for the rest of the tour, all of you in the lucky cities are in for a real treat this go around! This was the third concert at which I have seen Suzanne perform and, indeed, the third time was the charm for several reasons. The previous two concerts I attended (in support of 99.9 and Days of Open Hand) were in Washington D.C., at the Lisner Auditorium and Kennedy Center respectively. Unlike those large halls, the Gordon Center is smaller and MUCH more intimate. The feeling of closeness was compounded by the fact that I was fortunate enough to have gotten front row tickets :) Still, even the furthest seated persons seemed relatively close to the stage. Suzanne's only complaint with the venue was the large amount of space between the stage and the first row of seats, as she had apparently entertained thoughts of stage diving at some point during the show ;) Alas, we were simply too far away to accomodate this novel request. Suzanne opened the concert with "Stockings", "Caramel", and "Thin Man". I think the first of the older material she played was "Small Blue Thing" (the clarinet added an elegant touch). Other highlights for me were: "Marlene on the Wall". Just Suzanne and her guitar. The different intonations and inflections of voice which she used gave new meaning to parts of the song. "In Liverpool". Having not listened to 99.9 in some time, I had forgotten just how good this song was. In fact, because Suzanne's first album is SO strong, it is perhaps easy to forget that her subsequent material is excellent as well: her concerts often bring that point home for myself. "Woman on the Tier". This was the only song she played which I had not heard before tonight (I never picked up the soundtrack, so sue me). It was definitely the funkiest and grooviest song of the set. I might just have to finally break down and buy it. "Birthday". This is my favorite from the new album and was the last song of the main set. Suzanne obviously saved the best for last, as the band just kicked everything into it. The crowd initially had a little trouble with the first encore, "Tom's Diner". Although one of the the best known songs, either the audience wasn't aware of its participatory nature or was so used to the original version that they froze at the first opportunity to sing along. The second time around, while certainly verbalizing the words of the chorus, what was offered could hardly be characterized as singing. But again, the third time was the charm and the first encore ended with "Men in a War". The final encore was an acoustic rendition of "Gypsy". All in all the best show I have seen thus far. Afterwords, my friend and I hung out and talked with Suzanne a bit. She is just as great as you could or would expect her to be. Although I am a law student by day, my hobby is writing songs and mixing records as a club d.j. I have remixed a couple of Suzanne's tunes and wanted to see about getting her a copy to listen to. She was cool about it and I will be giving them to her Friday at the D.C. show. I could say that I hope to be the next DNA, but I aspire to be a little bit more creative. :p (N.B. If anyone happens to run into the tour manager, Jeff, be kind to him as he is really a great guy.) Friday's show will be doubly significant for me because the building into which the 9:30 Club has moved is the same building where some friends of mine threw the first raves in D.C. back in 1992 and this will be the first time I have been back since. Weird, huh? I think it will be much more conducive to dancing (and stagediving as well) than tonight's venue. :) Here's hoping everyone else's concert experiences are as fulfilling as mine! Chris P.S. GO BRAVES!!!! From: yaman@sensor.com" Date: Wed, 23 Oct 1996 09:44:28 -0400 Re: Owings Mills, MD, Oct 21, 96 (**** SPOIL ALERT ****)" --> It was great to see Suzanne Vega in concert with the full band in Owings Mills. I drove from around DC. I got there in about 2 hours in rush traffic and I managed to park just 5 mins before the opening act began. I had been to the Tower Records acoustic session in DC about a month ago. That was excellent, but Owings Mills had a different level to it. The band was in good shape and 99.9 material really came through well. The drummer and the bass player were most innovative. The most moving song of the night for me was Queen and the Soldier, perhaps because it was able to paint its picture somewhat better than the other songs. The mood just was everywhere, from the large red slide with flowers on the movie screen to the perfectly clean sound of the steel strings. Casual Match, Neighborhood Girls and Room Off The Street were very well done as well. I was hoping to hear Fancy Poultry, my favorite song from the five albums, but it wasn't played. When I arrived home, I sat down and started teaching myself the Fancy Poultry verse on a six string. Yaman ** Fish of the day ** An interviewer threatened with a microphone. From: RNeilson@exchange.intactix.com Subj: Atlanta show, ramblings Date: Thu, 24 Oct 1996 11:25:07 -0500 I'm new here, so if I say things that everyone else has said 50 times then ignore me. I thought the Atlanta show was great! It was my first SV show since I first fell in love with her voice in 1985. She did two encores, the last one being a solo 'The Queen and the Soldier' (my wife's favorite song). I was really shocked to hear everyone in the audience singing along with her since my wife and I were the only SV fans I knew before the concert. She only played two 'bad' songs, both from 99.9 and Days. Almost everything was from the new album and the first one. Does anyone else not like 99.9 and Days? They just don't have the same quality (simplicity) as her first album. Solitude Standing was almost as good as the first, but not quite. I will say that I'm very happy with 9 Objects. Did anyone else hear that she was going to have the lead role in 'Pretty in Pink' until they decided to go with Molly? That would have been a wonderful role. One last thing, I know that she was once the boss of the frontman in The Smithereens. Did she sing with him on 'In a Lonely Place'? It sure sounds like her. [Yes, she did -- song is on the album "Especially For You" -- Ed.] Thanks for reading. Russell (no fancy signature yet) Subj: Phila review Date: 96-10-27 09:04:07 EST From: JJENIK@aol.com The cavernous Electric Factory space, with its airplane hangaresque ambience did Jason Falkner no good at all, but did not serve Suzanne badly. Thankfully, the stage crew removed the gothic poster of Marilyn Manson from the backdrop curtain before SV took over. (Manson is playing there tonight.) Suzanne did a wonderful, long show, perfectly mixing songs from throughout her career. the band absolutely *ROCKED* on all 99.9 and 900D songs and she sang animatedly and beatifully. when I spoke with her later, she noted that she could not hear herself because of the size of the space, which was frustrating, and explained the change in her voice (from the normal textured softness even when loud, to a rawer, more strident sound. Not bad - excellent, even - but most noticeable in what had to be the best ever version of In Liverpool.) Fat Man and Dancing Girl was also incredible, with an extended improvisational break for Mitchell and the band, in which Froom seemed to have more than two arms. Small Blue Thing was heartrending, and absolutely gorgeous version. Marlene on the Wall was very popular and deservedly so. the biggest audience response was, of course, for Luka but also for the Queen and the Soldier at the third, last encore. Ruby was also present for the first two songs (Stockings and Rock in This Pocket), Charming to see such a small person with a backstage pass/hangtag. Probably 400 people in attendance, including the more crowded upstairs bar area. There was limited seating, and my husband and I were able to get into the third row, even though we showed at around ten of 8 for a show that started promptly at 8:30. this show would have been perfectly suited to our smaller TLA theatre, but Ray Davies has apparently taken it over for five days of storytelling. Go figure. Merchandising included the apple-green t-shirt with Suzanne's name and 900D title in script over the breast pocket area, a calendar for $15.00, an apple keychain, and the new CD. Jason Falkner had 2 t-shirts and 2 CDs available. Of course, proving once more why I rarely venture from my living room to hear music, I was sitting in front of a rhythmically challenged fan who insisted on clapping in what she thought was 4/4 time to *every single song* even Caramel. Aiyee. Repeated requests could not stop her. She sang on key, at least. there was what I presumed to be good audience participation on the Tom's Diner encore. During one story between songs, Suzanne explained how during the day's few hours before the show she had a chance to walk through Phila. After asking directions at her hotel to the Art Museum, she followed them only to arrive at the abandoned Eastern State Penitentiary. She made an interesting connection of this as a metaphor for life some days: "You start out looking for the art museum and end up at the jail." We waited after the show for about a half hour, and she saw a whole bunch of people, some with passes, some not. when I introduced myself and said I was in undertow, she said she recognized my name and thanked me for some Phila information! She was sooo gracious and very cordial, asking questions about the Jonatha Brooke show the night before and just being absolutely casual and nice! she signed my 900D liner, which proves that that big blank space around her photo on the back is good for something! ;) All in all a phenomenal show -- i'm sure everyone left completely satisfied. I think I skipped all the way home! enjoy, Boston! --jocelyn Subj: The Boston show... Date: 96-10-28 00:44:39 EST From: chduryea@husc.harvard.edu (Christopher Duryea) Okay... I'm exhausted but I'm gonna get the impressions down while they're fresh... It was great, but you guys already know that. I didn't write the set list down and I can't remember the sequence right now. Maybe one of the other Undertowers will get it down--but it seemed fairly similar to the set lists posted from the other shows. Anyway, she was wonderful, sounded great and was funny and dry between numbers (as always). And Mitch & Pete rocked the house--they were really mixing it up out there tonight and that was also a great joy to see. And hear. AFTERWARDS: I did the ever-popular Waiting-at-the-stage-door routine, during which time I got to shoot the breeze for about ten minutes with Pete and had a brief glimpse of Ruby, who is very cute. Then I *met her*... which was incredibly great and incredibly frustrating at the same time, as many of us know these fan/celeb encounters can be. Why is it that when you think you've got something very relevant and important to say to someone like Suzanne it comes out all garbled...? All right, Suzanne: Here's the unmuddied communication, now that I'm not completely tongue-tied. You didn't, completely, on your own, save my sanity during the summer of 1985, but the timing of your first album certainly helped. It was a rather dark period for me and the ten songs from "Suzanne Vega" helped me, I think, open up in ways that I needed to be opened up. Your words and music have had a beneficial impact on my life such that you are the only performing artist to whom I feel a personal debt of gratitude. And I wanted to thank you personally. That's all. Boy am I glad I got that out of my system. Now I can go to bed. I'll make some more remarks later when I'm more coherent. btw: anyone going to the Providence show next week? chd Subj: Re: The Boston show... Date: 96-10-28 10:34:40 EST From: Keith.Sawyer@FMR.Com (Sawyer, Keith) chd says ... >It was great, but you guys already know that. I didn't write the set list >down and I can't remember the sequence right now. Maybe one of the other >Undertowers will get it down Right you are! The Berklee looked sold-out and was very up throughout the show! Here is the playlist: 1. Stockings 2. Rock in this Pocket 3. Caramel 4. Thin Man (with a very Steely Dan-ish guitar intro) 5. Casual Match 6. Small Blue Thing 7. Marlene on the Wall 8. Headshots 9. No Cheap Thrill 10. Fat Man and Dancing Girl 11. Neighborhood Girls 12. The Queen and the Soldier 13. World Before Columbus 14. Room of the Street 15. Woman on the Tier 16. Blood Makes Noise 17. In Liverpool 18. Luka 19. Birth-Day 1rst Encore 20. Tom's Diner 21. Men in a War 2nd Encore 22. Gypsy As always, Suzanne had some charming asides during the big spaces between songs. I won't give everything away, but she did discuss her first performance at the Berklee 10 years ago, when the rhythm section was caught on a train and she had to cover for an hour before they showed up. She playfully reminisced about almost resorting to magic tricks to fill the time! She also chastized a man in the front row who claimed to be there - "How old are you?" He responded he was 15 at the time, which caused her to wryly note the she gets full grown men "with beards" who tell her that they "grew up with her music," to which she responds "I'm not as old as Pete Seeger!" We also got a nice discussion of the Queen and the Soldier and a story of Ruby's screaming fit during the same song at a previous venue. After Tom's Diner she congratulated the Boston audience on their deft participation, saying we were "much better than Philadelphia." She commented that in Philly one side of the audience was on completely different time than the other side, which led to an unpleasant circular effect - I believe she blamed someone named jocelyn for this aberration... :) Many thanks to Suzanne and the rest of the band for a memorable Boston show! keith keith.sawyer@fmr.com Subj: D.C. setlist and review! Date: 96-10-28 11:50:31 EST From: rwalters@lafayette.unocal.com (Rob Walters) Hello everyone, Back from my long trip and ready to give you the low-down on a *great*, great experience at the 9:30 Club Friday night. I did meet our own Eric S. and Diana, but missed meeting Jennifer and her husband before the show (sorry, guys...) Jason Faulkner opened and performed both new stuff from his solo album and two excellent songs from his work with The Grays ("Both Belong" and "Very Best Years"). Check these out if you get a chance. Suzanne and the band came out a little bit late, but looking and sounding excellent. Eric and (mostly) Diana teased me because I was faithfully writing down songs for the setlist - some even before they started playing, because I could anticipate what was coming. But, hey- someone had to do it! Here goes: (exclamation points for particularly good performances, IMHO) 1. Stockings - followed by introduction and mention that they had just come from Atlanta (brief mention of the Braves/Yankees, etc.) 2. Rock in this Pocket 3. Caramel ("imagine Uma Thurman in 'The Truth about Cats and Dogs'") 4. Thin Man (preceded by guitar solo) 5. Casual Match (with a cool percussion break) 6. Small Blue Thing (!!) - someone then handed her a piece of paper with a request, which she said they hadn't played in 9 years -she asked that they request something else... :) 7. Marlene on the Wall (solo) 8. Headshots - Suzanne attempted to whistle at the end 9. No Cheap Thrill 10. Fat Man and Dancing Girl 11. Neighborhood Girls (solo) - Diana called me 'evil' here because I started writing down the title from Suzanne's intro. ;) 12. The Queen and the Soldier (solo) 13. World Before Columbus (!)- really excellent; started off solo, then the band joined in (where the piano kicks in on the album version) 14. Room off the Street (!)- with handclaps, of course 15. Woman on the Tier - hadn't heard it before; not bad 16. Blood Makes Noise - really rocking on this one 17. In Liverpool (!) - followed by band intro, "thanks for coming" 18. Luka 19. Birthday - band (and Suzanne) rocked out - mucho energy, dancing, etc. Encores: 20. Tom's Diner - crowd did a nice job with the between-verse singing 21. Men in a War - another high energy closer 22. Gypsy (!) - same story about camp counselor experience, but it was good to hear again anyway 23. 99.9F Wow - what a night! Suzanne didn't have many stories to tell, since "it's only our third show" (in the U.S.), but she pointed out "various members of our family in the balcony", including Ruby who "threw a screaming fit in the middle of TQATS". :) I got to meet Suzanne after the show and had her sign my 99.9F LE! She was distracted by Ruby and other things, but she was very gracious. She mentioned other Undertowers she'd met, which was interesting to hear about. Also met Ron Fierstein, who was wearing a Shawn Colvin tag in addition to his SuzyV tag around his neck. Nice guy. Again, a great show, and the experience was definitely worth it. It was nice to finally meet Eric (thanks, Eric!) and Diana too. If you get a chance, by all means, go see this tour! -Rob Subj: The New York Show at Irving Plaza Date: 96-10-30 02:33:16 EST From: Unique212@aol.com Hi gang, Well, she's done it again -- once more Suzanne put on her best show. She's always given excellent concerts, but this one was amazing, and she keeps on outdoing herself. She was in superb voice and looked very happy. The setlist was almost the same as the Boston show, opening with some film-noir-type music that turned into Stockings. After the second or third song, she said how great it was to be back in New York which has the best audiences. "How about them Yankees! The band asked me to tell you that we were in Atlanta when the tide turned. Just before we went on stage, the Yankees were losing, and when we started to play, they won." Massive cheering from the sold-out crowd. She then mentioned having been in an evil mood earlier in the day and being in a much better mood now, by way of introducing Caramel, 'which is about something not evil but very sweet.' Casual Match, Fat Man and Dancing Girl, Woman on the Tier, and Blood Makes Noise all ROCKED. Neighborhood Girls was introduced by the now-famous 'ho' story, with the additional information that she never knows how audiences will react to that story. Apparently last summer at the Stephen Talkhouse on Long Island, which has a very fancy clientele, one of the women in the audience started howling with laughter, which struck SV as being somewhat unexpected. After Small Blue Thing (a very effective half-solo and half-band arrangement), she said that the song reminded her of playing many years ago at the (now defunct) Speakeasy in New York, which had about six steps down to the main room with the stage in the back; one night as she finished the song a waitress promptly fell down the stairs. She was not very impressed with the response to her question "How many people here play poker?," so she also asked "How many people here DON"T play poker?" before launching into No Cheap Thrill. World Before Columbus was very beautiful and affecting. Room off the Street (my vote for best individual song from Days of open Hand) came off wonderfully, with Pete Thomas playing the bongos instead of the drumkit and Suzanne providing perfectly timed handclaps throughout. (Thankfully the audience did not feel obliged to chime in!) Birth-Day, the last song of the main set, was very powerful and exhilarating, and Suzanne danced around with her guitar (as she did several times throughout the show). Birth-Day is still my vote for next single. The first encore was Tom's Diner, with expert accompaniment provided by the audience. She then explained that Tom's Diner was about alienation at breakfast and the next song was about post-traumatic stress syndrome. Men in a War turned into a strumming frenzy. The second encore was a solo Gypsy, and the hometown audience got a special treat of 99.9Fo as the final song of the evening . At one point Suzanne said she was going to ask her manager if they can have the rest of the tour in NYC because it's so great to play here, and mentioned that she had seen many shows at Irving Plaza but had never played there until now. As usual, many amusing asides were made, including one where after an audience member shouted "YOU... ARE.. NICE", she said "so are you," to much laughter. She proceeded to tell about being in Germany where someone had kept on shouting 'you look like.... you look like...." until she asked 'well, who do I look like? Marlene Dietrich or somebody?' and being disappointed to hear "Shelley Duvall" as the answer! I went backstage with some friends afterward. Suzanne was very gracious in sharing her time with the various fans and record company types, as was Mitchell. Oh, one more thing -- she wore a black skirt, a black silk top with a black pattern, and a very dark brown jacket with pockets perfectly placed to solve the where-do-the-hands-go-when-not-playing-the-guitar problem. Cool outfit. And one more thing -- Jason Falkner was very good. Helluva guitar player, and the songs were interesting also, some very clever turns of phrase. There were a bunch of us Internuts at the show, including Davids A and B from Paris who happened to be in New York and stood with me in the second row, Moshe Feder and his girlfriend who stood in the very front row, and Alexito the chat-session wiz. Any others, delurk and add your thoughts to this review! Th-th-th-that's all folks, from U212 whose face hurts a little from smiling so much... Subj: Northampton review Date: 96-10-31 12:43:45 EST From: coop@ctol.net (John Cooperider) Hi Folks, Just now recovering from last night's concert. It was absolutely worth the hour and a half drive! Suzanne and the band put on a terrific show that was full of energy. It looked like the band was having a really good time. I did not get a set list, hopefully someone else did. (The roadies tossed it to the person in front of me ) Mostly the same songs as I have seen before except for a few. Casual Match had a really great arrangement that was a bit different from the album, as did quite a few other songs. Extended solo sections were fairly abundant and sounded great, especially Mitchell on the funky instrument. There is a picture of this instument on one of Bill's Electric factory pictures. :) Suzanne seemed to really enjoy playing Northampton again. (She has played at the Iron Horse there quite a few times.) The theater was really beautiful. Makes you wish there were more places like it. Suzanne even said she wished she could tour "This theater" for the rest of the 5 weeks. Sounds good to me! Another great moment for me was when Suzanne said she was going to play an obscure song, and played a solo version of Tired of Sleeping. (Not so obscure to me since DoOH is my favorite, but I don't want to get everyone started there again...) She also wanted to "surprize" the band and called them out for a final encore of 99.9F. The real highlight was getting to meet Suzanne albeit a short meeting since I had to drive back anhour and a half and work the next day. I am afraid that I sounded like a very generic fan, saying I was a fan since the first album etc etc. Since I look like I am 20 she probably did not believe me. :( Suzanne, I am 30, really I was telling the truth!!! So I left with just an autograph (and Pete Thomas' as well, since I *LOVE* the attractions) and a good feeling. I wish I could go to the show next week in Providence... Oh well. My $0.02, and apologies for any typos, I am still not quite awake, John Cooperider Connecticut coop@ctol.net http://www.ctol.net/~coop/ ********************** 1996 Newport Folk Festival Pictures are now at: http://www.ctol.net/~coop/folkpage/newport.html **************************************** Subj: Toronto Show November 1, 1996 Date: 96-11-02 10:46:41 EST From: Bruce_Miyashita@mckinsey.com (Bruce Miyashita) Gang: Here's my quickie concert report, focusing on things that I hope are different from the other, very good concert notes: The venue was a church, Trinty-St.Paul's -- not sure of the denomination ;) The church is often used by chamber music ensembles such as Tafelmusic and is a beautiful space with a cozy main level right against the stage and a low, horseshoe-shaped balcony. Unfortunately the room has a very high, concave ceiling which created some reverb straight down to the spot Suzanne was standing. On a few songs earlier in the set, particularly Blood Makes Noise and Fat Man & Dancing Girl, Suzanne was visibly struggling to hear herself clearly through the reverb (e.g. walking to the monitors, moving to different spots on the stage, and looking pretty intently at the sound guys). Because these songs have so many rapid-fire lines one after the other, reverb would make it murder to keep things straight! Fortunately, by either combination of gutting it out, adjustments to the monitors, or perhaps just getting used to the sound of the room, Suzanne didn't appear the least bit affected by this problem thereafter. But I think the sound was one tough bollock most of the night for Suzanne on the louder numbers. After "Blood Makes Noise" she joked to the audience: "Some of you might be wondering right now about whether I know the lyrics! Well, the sound seems to go up, hit the ceiling, and float down in a different time and maybe key. So don't worry, I'm not on something!" On the positive side, the space is extremely well-suited to quieter music which added a warmth to the acoustic songs and the backdrop behind the band of the huge pipe organ, wood panels, and abstract-patterned stained glass was beautiful when lit by the gold-coloured stage lights. Remarked Suzanne after the opening number, "Stockings", 'Nice place you've got here.' The set list was identical to others posted (with the exception that Queen and the Soldier closed the show and Gypsy was moved up in the set and a few other minor changes in sequence) so I won't go into it. No merchandise was sold! (Oh, well, gotta dial the 1-800 number I guess). Suzanne talked a lot about Leonard Cohen and told the story about spending hours listening to his records in her room and using Leonard as a litmus test for friendships. "The idea was when you met someone in the library, or maybe in a bar (if you could get in) was to ask them the secret question: 'Do you like Leonard Cohen?' The correct answer, of course, was 'Yeah, I love Leonard Cohen, but only when I'm in a certain mood.' If someone said 'Who's Leonard Cohen?' you'd know there'd be no chance for you, that there'd be no way that it would work out. So one time I was this folk-disco counsellor at a summer camp and there was this guy who was into all kinds of Dadaist art and such and I was going to ask him the question when he surprised me and asked me first, 'Do you like Leonard Cohen?' I quickly replied with the correct answer 'Yes, but only when I'm in acertain mood. How 'bout you?' To which he said, "What moods, I always like Leonard Cohen!' So, I fell in love with him and wrote this song as a gift; and he gave his bandana." Suzanne then played "Gypsy." Told a story about being an Avon Lady (sorry if this is repeating well )known stuff but it was a new, funny story for me): "One tme I was an Avon Lady. So you can imagine me going door-to-door selling Avon with my hair cut short, my combat boots, and a military jacket. And on this jacket there's a picture of a Chinese woman holding her baby and a gun. And since I didn't wear makeup, I didn't have much success selling the Avon products." At one point someone threw a small stuffed bear on the stage. Suzanne picked it up and remarked, laughing: "Well here we are singing about mental illness and alienation, but what kind of gifts do I get?!" My friend joked "It's for Ruby, not you!" so Suzanne just propped it up beside her the rest of the show on the bongo setup to her right. All in all a great show and probably my once in a lifetime chance to hear her sing in such an intimate setting so close to the band. Speaking of which, I was floored by the Mike and Pete rhythm combo: what a great, full, melodic, pounding sound they make, especially on numbers like "Casual Match." P.S. The opening act was Mike Sexsmith, a singer/songwriter with at least one CD out that I'm aware of. He was backed by a very good percusionist, a bassist, and on a couple of songs, Michell Froom. Despite a rough vocal mix, I thought Mike was very good and I'm interested in hearing more of him. Hope I fairly captured some of the little vignettes at the show. It was a wonderful evening and a great treat to see some real professionals in action. Bruce.