The Innocence Mission

[katefans@world.std.com (Chris'n'Vickie of Kansas City)]

                   The Innocence Mission

In some artice I wrote about a thousand years ago I said:

> I can't wait to meet Karen & Don Paris. I just hope I'll be able to
> actually TALK to them instead of just "hi,i really like your music &
> lyrics i like kate n jane too i play you on my radio show thanks for 
> coming" kind of thing.
 
I'm a prophet. That's EXACTLY what happened! I tried & tried to get
someone at the bar to call & tell me when they arrived so I could set
something up. No one called me. Then, I wanted to try to talk to them
before or during the opening band. No luck, their road manager was fairly
strict in who went back there. Ala, lead singer for the opening band The
Catherines, couldn't even put her coat & things backstage.
 
  About 15 minutes after the show ended Don & Karen came out to meet people.
I hung back until everybody else had gone and what's written above is
just about everything I said. I did thank Don for being responsible for
one of the few times that Jane Siberry's been mentioned on MTV. He said
he couldn't understand why she's not better known and that they are very
big fans of hers. I showed Karen my playlist book and she reacted immediately
to the words Suspended In Gaffa ("oh great!"), so she's definitely a Kate
fan. I tried to fit everything I wanted to say into 60 seconds (see above,
plus "i think you're a great role model, i'm glad that you like to listen
to other people's music (so many musicians don't) and that you have GREAT
taste in music and that you're not afraid to talk about the people who
influence you".) I gave Karen tapes of my shows plus a Happy Rhodes
sampler and she said that they would listen to them in the van they travel
around in. They were very, very nice and friendly. I'm so happy they came.

 Unfortunatly, there were two huge problems that the band actually
didn't have anything to do with. First, the weather was horrid. Sleet
and ice with snow on top. There were a lot of people there anyway, so I'm
sure that if the weather had been nice (just a few days ago it was 70
degrees!), the place would have been packed. Second, it was a bar so
a) no one under 21 could get in,  b) the "DJ" played loud, awful, grating,
boyz with guitarz & synths BOOM-BOOM crap before & between bands. I couldn't
get back to the DJ booth so I begged & pleaded with one of the employees
to ask to DJ to mellow out a bit. I requested Kate saying "the Innocence
Mission LIKE Kate Bush, it will probably make them happy" and tried to make
him understand that the people there to see the band were there because
they like sensitive, intelligent, meaningful music and couldn't he please
ask the DJ to find something fairly compatible? NOBODY appreciated Ministry
at earthquake volumes before an Innocence Mission concert! Well, just before
the band came out the DJ played "L&A" so he must have gotten my message.
c) I hate to see great bands at bars because there's this "bar mentality"
that some people have. They think that it's perfectly OK to talk as loud
and as much as they want to even when the band's playing. Hearing some
yuppie jerk talk loudly about this rad party he went to while Karen's singing
"Paper Dolls" is nearly enough to make me consider homicide as a lovely
human invention. The thought that I couldn't do my show from a jail cell
made me come to my senses.

OK, all that said, the show was WONDERFUL!!! The band was tight and Karen's
voice was beautiful. They did every song on the album except for Mercy
and Notebook. They performed quite a few songs that aren't on the
album so they must have enough material for a second album. Silly me, I forgot to ask when they would be going into the studio again. 
They come out for three encores, very nice! During one of the encores
Karen sang a very moving cover of "Both Sides Now". I'd never really liked
that song until last night. I didn't tape the show but I have a friend who
did so I'll be getting a copy from him. 

Even with all the problems, I had a great time and I urge everyone to go
see them if they come anywhere near where you are.

Vickie (one of Vickie'n'Chris)
katefans@world.std.com