Laura , July 12 - Seattle, WA - Triple Door

[johnfoyle]

http://utopianturtletop.blogspot.com/2005/07/laura-cantrell-i-just-saw-her-down-at.html

Laura Cantrell

I just saw her down at the swank Triple Door dinner theater (that's what it is, though I don't know if they call it that). I'd seen her in Oct. 2002 open for Elvis Costello in Newark. She's singing more powerfully and flexibly now, and her band was hot -- 2 hot pickers from the Blood Oranges on guitar & mandolin and Jeremy Chatzky, who played on her first 2 CDs (and maybe her third), on electric and stand-up bass -- he's a great quirky melodic player who sometimes leaves 6 beats open until he plays another note. Laura's solid strumming held it all together. Nice 3-part harmonies from the pickers. As the beer started coursing through me the music seeped in deep. Nice to be in a sit-down joint. I should have taken notes.
' Utopian Turtletop'

[johnfoyle]

http://www.livejournal.com/users/aila76/30442.html

July 12/13 '05 -

aila76 writes -

We went to see Laura Cantrell tonight, it was really good. I ended up buying all her cds. I'm not usually into country, but these were some great songs performed well. The venue was a dinner and show place though, and the food was really not very good and overpriced. I had some lousy phad thai with shrimps. I'm really not feeling well (sick to stomach and sweaty) right now, some I'm hoping I don't have food poisoning. Anyway, other than the possible food poisoning it was a pretty good day.

[johnfoyle]

http://www.livejournal.com/users/revme/223342.html

13 July 2005 @ 12:42 am

Fuck This Bourgeois Shit Is This Really What You Want

The subject line is from a bit of graffiti in the men's bathroom of the Triple Door. (Remarkably, "Bourgeoisie" was spelled correctly.) And, uh, it seems to be a proper summing up of the venue. The sound-system was excellent, however, I don't really like the layout/ambience, and the food was:
a) Very Expensive
b) Not Very Good
c) Not Enough Of It[1]

I actually kinda felt a little illish. Not too awfully bad, but not really 100%, either. So, basically, if anyone goes, don't get the food if you can at all help it (it's sorta awkward, although they DID ask if we'd be eating dinner there tonight, so I would guess some people just show up, but I don't know, maybe you could just get away with hooch/coffee, but I assume the hooch is even more insanely expensive than hooch normally is.). But yeah.. I don't know. The layout is all like one of those 1970s Type Movie Nightclub where you have four people sitting on a semi-circular couch with a table in front, and the four people are usually two gross, middleaged businessmen with their arms around floozies drinking highballs with the hand that is holding a cigarette between two fingers.

We actually had a _really_ good seat, though. But it was a little annoying because when Laura Cantrell was talking about the genesis of "Queen of the Coast" the stupid server came in and started yammering at us and it's like "SHUT UP WOMAN BEHIND YOU TALKING ABOUT A REALLY AWESOME SONG THERE IS A TIME FOR DEALING WITH THE CHECK AND IT IS CALLED 'AFTER THE FUCKING SHOW YOU RETARD'" but I didn't actually say anything, since, you know, it's sort of rude, so I was just ultra quiet and sort of like "uh-huh, yeah, whatever" while staring at the stage. Also, some dumbass was behind me who kept yammering too. I know it's sort of a standard thing, but this is my first exposure to Dinner And A Show type places and it strikes me as a tremendously stupid idea, since people tend to think of restaurants as Places For Talking, so the fact that there is someone immensely talented a few feet away performing will not derail some people from this.

So I do not like the Triple Door. Part of this is due for my apparent distaste for the "Jazz Club" Format, but also because of the lousy, very expensive food.

HOWEVER: The set? AMAZING. Oh MAN it was good. She talked a lot about the songs, and it was really interesting and cool. Before "Do You Ever Think Of Me", she said they hadn't been doing that one on this tour, but someone requested it last night, so they did it, only it was arranged a bit more country than the album version, and that was really cool; she also did "All The Same To You" a bit more straight, which was really good, because I LOVE that song and could see covering it. It's very, very good. And the new stuff is awesome. Right after "14th Street", Aila asked if that was on the new album, and it was. Anyway, though, it was outstanding. Aila actually bought all the records (the three albums, plus the Hello EP) and Ben bought the Hello EP. I got a copy of the poster (and later gave Ben the poster I got for him yesterday, which she signed to him "Ben -- Where the hell were you?! Enjoy, Laura Cantrell"). So, yeah -- she told Ben she'd be back in October, too, so that is awesome. I love her so much.

Also, on a similar thing (and to make Ben's idea of getting Flans to sign the Hello EP come true, apparently TMBG are playing the Alki Beach Seattle Music Fest Thingy in August. So that should be pretty awesome. I would like to see that.

But yes. I loved that set. And Laura Cantrell came out and met people again, and she remembered me and Aila from last night. So that was cool. She seemed pretty impressed that Aila went from hearing her for the first time (aside from tracks on my mix cds) last night, to buying all the records tonight. I always feel weird when I'm at a show and have everything they've got for sale (I've got all the albums and the T-shirt they had, so...), but oh well. I would buy stuff if I didn't already have it, though, so, at least my intent is good.

[1] Yeah, I know "the food sucks and the portions are small!" is one of those complaints that folks make fun of, but it does have a point; the food wasn't awful, though I wouldn't go again, but I was still hungry for most of the set, and, well, when you pay 11 bucks for an entree and 1 buck for "flatbread" (which were actually lousy crepes), you shouldn't, you know, be hungry.