Home point for Tony's Patti reviews.
From: MX%"babel-list@eskimo.com" 16-DEC-1995 03:27:37.33
Subj: Bob/Patti at Electric Factory (show 1, Dec. 15, 1995)
Date: Sat, 16 Dec 1995 03:21:30 EST
From: "Anthony J. Rzepela"
In the first of three shows here in Philly, Patti was just
all that and a bag of chips. All audible traces of her Winter bug now
gone, she is full of the confidence and vocal strength necessary
to complete the picture left incomplete in Bethlehem, PA.
But with virtually no dead air, her set was barely 35 or
so minutes, and Bob's minions descended like locusts to have
the Boss on 65 minutes after the show time printed on the
ticket. She's learning economy, I think, and it serves
her well.
No 'piss factory' intros (her Mom was in attendance
again), nor 'land', but the _real_ land (ie the Horses version)
was played, almost all the way through, for sound check, and could
decently be heard outside.
The set opened with 'Because the Night', 'Wicked Messenger'
was moved to slot #3, and Oliver joined the proceedings for "Walking
Blind" (but not "About a Boy", which I got to hear in full-band
treatment finally).
Patti obviously forgot about Mom as she did some extremely
suggestive dance moves with Tony Shanihan after his "cadillac" line
from "Not Fade Away". It was actually pretty weird for _me_ to see
Patti do something so plainly flirtatious and "naughty", but they
cracked up, so I guess it was all good clean fun.
"Rock and Roll Nigger" is really just as arresting as
everyone has been saying. It's an excellent opportunity for the
band to show itself at its best, but unfortunately, I couldn't really
bring myself to "sing along" the 'nigger' part, which was just where
Patti chose to work the audience participation the most.
Other interesting and random notes/thoughts:
* Patti not really sure _when_ she should join Bob front and center
for "Dark Eyes", she consulted Bob's guitar player for his say-so.
After the duet, B & P kissed before she left, and she was less
visibly frightened than in Bethlehem, probably due to her congestion
clearing up.
* Lighting: Patti is never really lit up in this show, but
then, neither is Bob, which would explain his utter fixation with
the "No cameras" policy. We weren't even allowed to take photos
of the building outside. No, this was not a joke, unless it is
one of Bob's very (very) "in"-jokes. It's a shame, because I think
it would be interesting to see her work more closely. I was front-row
(up against the crowd barrier) and things could still be difficult to make
out. I can see why Bob doesn't like to be lit up - he has a
library of facial expressions he shares with bandmates
that _have_ to be a mystery to anyone not utterly familiar
with his working methods. I mean, there was one which _I_ thought
meant "Go pick up your check", but it apparently meant something
very different to the guitar player.
* Celebrity sightings: Did I see Dave Grohl (ex-Nirvana) and/or Sheryl Crow?
Can't be sure. Somebody let me know?!
+-- Anthony Rzepela ----------------------------- rzepela@XXX.XXXXXXXXX.XXX --+
"After fourteen years, you wanna know if I can spell 'Gloria'?
G-L-O-R-I-A. That's it. That's all you're gonna get." -- Patti, 1993
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
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