09-22-2004, 09:45 AM
Some notes from The Odeon:
The Venue & The Audience - Small and cozy....The Odeon is about as intimate a setting as one could ever hope for in a public performance by TTH. Unless I’m mistaken, this show didn’t even sell-out; I believe fans were purchasing tickets at the door, and there appeared to be a little more space in “the back” than there had been at the previous three Hip shows I attended at “The O”. In terms of the acoustics, The O is not the greatest. It is very loud, which is fine with me, but the sound is very brash and mashed-together. The crew always seems to tweak and noticeably improve the sound by about the mid-set point, but it never sounds great in these small clubs with poor acoustic design.
Kudos to the typically non-local crowd....it seems as if the fan-base is maturing along with the band itself. I’ve now seen over twenty-five Hip shows, mostly in small Ohio venues, and I must say that instances of tawdry patriotism were few if not completely absent from this affair. For maybe the first time ever, this Ohioan finally felt as if he were part of a family of TTH fans and not an “outsider”.
The Atmosphere - Unmistakably abuzz with energy, yet falling short of frenetic madness. Major props to Sam Roberts and his bandmates for jacking up the crowd with a steady diet of fist-pumping, high-octane rock’n’roll. Probably the best opening act I’ve seen at a Hip-headlined event - I will definitely secure personal copies of all their releases. It’s nice to know there are up-and-coming bands that carry the torch for good ol’ fashioned rock music.
The Setlist - You’d probably love it if you hadn’t seen TTH perform, or if this was your first small-venue TTH show. A good arrangement of selections, and more than I’m used to hearing, thanks to the bonuses of Fighter Fighter and a second encore. But as the band’s catalogue grows, those of us who’d rather hear things other than the singles from each and every album are finding fewer of the obscure gems being mixed in. I was very disappointed that they didn’t play a single number from Road Apples, and only played one cut off Trouble at the Henhouse (at least it was Springtime in Vienna and not Ahead by a Century). Looking for a Place to Happen (absolutely incredible) and Vapour Trails (also pretty sweet) were the only ‘wildcards’, to make the setlist, aside from the aforementioned unreleased tune (which I found to be rather mundane).
Of the IBE selections, Gus did not disappoint as a deliciously hypnotic jam. However, I was very impressed with the rendition of Are We Family - it sounded fantastic - clean, subtle, and delicate; a better song than I had previously given credit for. Vaccination Scar was impressive, as Baker bellied up to the pedal steel guitar. Summer Is Killing Us, one of my favorite IBE tracks, was somewhat lackluster, being the second song in. The sound engineers had thus yet to make the necessary corrections, and this selection was somewhat of a mish-mash of noise...I found it difficult to aurally isolate those killer guitar lines.
All in all, a great show, but I wouldn’t say it was quite as impressive as either of the Cleveland performances at the Agora Theatre (TATH & PP Tours)....
The Venue & The Audience - Small and cozy....The Odeon is about as intimate a setting as one could ever hope for in a public performance by TTH. Unless I’m mistaken, this show didn’t even sell-out; I believe fans were purchasing tickets at the door, and there appeared to be a little more space in “the back” than there had been at the previous three Hip shows I attended at “The O”. In terms of the acoustics, The O is not the greatest. It is very loud, which is fine with me, but the sound is very brash and mashed-together. The crew always seems to tweak and noticeably improve the sound by about the mid-set point, but it never sounds great in these small clubs with poor acoustic design.
Kudos to the typically non-local crowd....it seems as if the fan-base is maturing along with the band itself. I’ve now seen over twenty-five Hip shows, mostly in small Ohio venues, and I must say that instances of tawdry patriotism were few if not completely absent from this affair. For maybe the first time ever, this Ohioan finally felt as if he were part of a family of TTH fans and not an “outsider”.
The Atmosphere - Unmistakably abuzz with energy, yet falling short of frenetic madness. Major props to Sam Roberts and his bandmates for jacking up the crowd with a steady diet of fist-pumping, high-octane rock’n’roll. Probably the best opening act I’ve seen at a Hip-headlined event - I will definitely secure personal copies of all their releases. It’s nice to know there are up-and-coming bands that carry the torch for good ol’ fashioned rock music.
The Setlist - You’d probably love it if you hadn’t seen TTH perform, or if this was your first small-venue TTH show. A good arrangement of selections, and more than I’m used to hearing, thanks to the bonuses of Fighter Fighter and a second encore. But as the band’s catalogue grows, those of us who’d rather hear things other than the singles from each and every album are finding fewer of the obscure gems being mixed in. I was very disappointed that they didn’t play a single number from Road Apples, and only played one cut off Trouble at the Henhouse (at least it was Springtime in Vienna and not Ahead by a Century). Looking for a Place to Happen (absolutely incredible) and Vapour Trails (also pretty sweet) were the only ‘wildcards’, to make the setlist, aside from the aforementioned unreleased tune (which I found to be rather mundane).
Of the IBE selections, Gus did not disappoint as a deliciously hypnotic jam. However, I was very impressed with the rendition of Are We Family - it sounded fantastic - clean, subtle, and delicate; a better song than I had previously given credit for. Vaccination Scar was impressive, as Baker bellied up to the pedal steel guitar. Summer Is Killing Us, one of my favorite IBE tracks, was somewhat lackluster, being the second song in. The sound engineers had thus yet to make the necessary corrections, and this selection was somewhat of a mish-mash of noise...I found it difficult to aurally isolate those killer guitar lines.
All in all, a great show, but I wouldn’t say it was quite as impressive as either of the Cleveland performances at the Agora Theatre (TATH & PP Tours)....