Just to have an idea how the Artist Den shows are you can watch this video of Regina Spektor, quality is great (actually I think it's the best of her I've come across so far) and she performs 2 songs, the first one a very short one called Halikha LeKesariya (a.k.a. "Eli, Eli"), of course the second one is easy to identify, they're the only available ones from her set there for now.
Who got lucky and scored free tickets???. Yay!!!!. (actually I entered the "contest" twice, once in my name and another one in someone else's, and then HE got selected! -he hasn't heard a single song from JD!!!- thing is anyway I went...) Pretty exciting and special!. A pic from cell, will complete post soon...
They played for about an hour and a half, and played most -if not all- "Seeing things", and also some of The Wallflowers songs ("Closer", "Here he comes", "How good it can get", "Empire of my mind", "I wish I felt nothing"...). Jakob played two of them solo: "War is kind" and "Here he comes" (changed his mind, I peeked at the setlist before the show started and the one written down was "Josephine"...not in the mood, I guess). I wrote before that he also played "Here comes now" but I may have imagined that one...probably, little sleep (quite a stroll from NJ)...
Another pic (looks almost the same, though).
Regarding the music, since I've already done other 3 posts in the last year (2 of them in May), little more to add. They show the logic effects of months of touring....smoother playing...but not many changes. Some new arrangements I had not heard before (best of the night to me was Empire, really good version). But Dylan seems so be getting deeper into a more linear way of singing that I can't say I prefer.
Setting was really beautiful, sort of a Cambridge college dining room kind of thing, you can look at it at the
Desmond Tutu Center website. The night was gorgeous, perfect weather, sea blue sky, almost full moon, a breeze... so the little while we had to wait in the courtyard was even welcome. Then doors opened and it was time to register, later stop at the vodka post (2 kinds: pink lemonade and
kaipirinha - Grey Goose sponsored-. I don't think there were more than 3 or 4 drops of vodka on either, which was wise. Not fun a room full of too happy people for a
tv show!!). Then up to the venue. The lucky ones grabbed seats, the rest stood by the back of the room. Pretty good sophisticated
hors d'oeuvres passed around in trays (sushi, some sort of battered cheese thing, etc., I really don't know the name of these things in English,
mmm. Really good).
Audience was a mixture of cool manhatanites -or however you call them-, a few of his usual fans and a number or undefined ones. Getting dressed for this one was tricky, since you were asked not to wear white or light colors, or anything with a logo or readable words on it - for TV's sake. Guys would go for suits or trendy t-shirts with jeans and tattoos (haha at least quite a few), girls a bit of everything. Fun to watch.
And cameras were everywhere. Not thrilled about it but if you wanted to be there you had to take it. They'd film the wait, the registration and then of course the show. There was a specially spooky one that would hoover over our heads or appear by your shoulder when you least expected it. Made you hope they hadn't given a real Grey goose to the operator - apparently not, or at the speed that thing was going a few of us would have left the place with our heads in our purses!.
The only bad thing was the noise, the people by the bar were far too noisy and you could hear them above the music at times. The people seating were a different story -apart from 3 silly hens bathed in make-up and pls-look-at-me attitude that unfortunately were a few rows from me, they should have been kicked out. I'd have volunteered!!. Lol.
Sort of telling silly stuff here...no cool pro music blog this one- uff, I really try but...- not really. Anyway, it may be useful for others who attend the Artist Den in the future.
P.S. I didn't imagine it -I think-, they did sing "Here comes now",
somebody else remembered!
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