Michelle Shocked -- Review

[MJM <MJM@ZYLAB.MHS.CompuServe.COM>]

I saw Michelle Shocked last night in Chicago.
The evening was a long one.  The original bill of Shocked,
Taj Mahal, Uncle Tupelo, and The Band (what's left of it) was
carved down to include just the first 2.  Added was a Blues
Man, something something Brown (I knew I'd forget his name)
who played guitar and violin.

Holly and I arrived at the Park West at 6:30, an hour
before the show was supposed to start.  Despite the hefty price
of admission (28.50 plus bullshit charges), the concert was
sold out (and they added a second show!).  It seems that every
time I frequent the Park West, more and more of the seats are
"reserved", meaning you have to pay an additional $10 to sit in 
them!  Thus, getting there early guaranteed us the best non-reserved
seats available, which were actually pretty good.  The floor
in front of the stage, often filled with long mess-hall-like tables,
was for sitting on and standing on (and dancing, but there were too
many people for that).

Brown came on around 7:40 and played for over 50 minutes.
He had a band with him.  Then Taj Mahal came out around 8:50
and played for almost an hour.  The crowd (standing only)
was *very* *very* noisy, esp. for Taj Mahal, who is a one man
act.  I had never seen either Brown or TM before and thought
they were OK for what they were, but not nearly worth the admission
price.  But I figured this would happen.  At a few points in
his performance, TM played and sang so softly you could barely
hear him, thus forcing the noise level down, albeit temporarily.

Shocked came on a few minutes to ten and played until just past 11:30,
playing just one encore.  She is *so* at ease with the audience.
What brought this show together was her ability to play with both
Taj Mahal and Brown, in turn, using them to convey her new songs
(apparently they helped her record some of them) which for the
most parts were adaptions of old fiddle tunes her daddy taught,
with original lyrics by Shocked.  Some of her interpretations
were very stirring, esp. Cotton-eyed Joe, clearly the standout of
the show.  She got married 3 weeks ago, and alluded to having
had to "change" in order to tour (no details were supplied).
But she said she has grown alot.

She spoke of Arkansas Traveller being the final volume in a 5-year,
3-album trilogy, exploring musical influences on her from
childhood.  She played selections from each of these albums,
including VFD, and a follow up about Eddie, who really
did start fires.  She had various audience participation songs,
including a "dialog" between her band and selected audience members,
with musical interludes, the totality of which she claimed as the
"title track" of her new album.  There was one point at which she 
and some other audience members just danced the polka while
Brown and the 2 other band members played faster and faster.
When done, Shocked was so out of breath it seemed she might hve trouble
continuing! 

The other members of Shocked's band were a banjo-come-guitarist
(female) who's name I don't recall but who has just released a new
solo album herself.  She was marvelous.  There was also an
electric bass player (when I saw her a year ago her backup was
a bluegrass band with a real bass).  There was no drummer.

In all, she looked good, sounded good, related some fine stories
(including a follow-up to her Alaska song in which the protaganists
were found flown to her wedding at the very last minute), and embraced
Brown and Majal repeatedly, both musically and (esp.) physically.
It was great to see her bring all these people together and so
effortlessly at that.  She radiates much love and respect and goodwill.
And the encore was dedicated to George Bush to the glee of the audience.

Go see if you get the chance.
-mjm