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Rudyard's, Houston, TX
Tuesday, 23 January 2001
with Ghostcar
So I am operating on 3 hours sleep, which is to say not very well. Drove to
Houston from Austin after work yesterday and right back to Austin after the
show. Forgive if any strangeness manifests itself in this message.
Low played at Rudyard's. It's a nice club on the second floor of a bar/pub
where they played the last time they were in Houston. I was accompanied by our
lovely webmistress Catherine Lewis, who was a sparkling traveling companion.
It's better to see Low with a fellow fan. The opportunities for knowing smiles
are greater. Tables & chairs were available so no need to sit on the floor.
Anyway, they went on really late (suck if you've got a three hour drive in
front of you) to a full but not packed room. They all looked great & well-rested. I shall endeavor to list the songs played. These are probably not in the right order.
Other moments:
---
Zak (after the show selling merch): You gave me too much money. Why do these Texans keep giving me too much money?
- st. denis (pulling for Hands So Small sometime in Texas)
Good club, beautiful show. I was lucky to be in Houston that night ...
enjoyed meeting a few fellow listees. Openers Ghost Car were a gloomy,
horn-fronted instru-rock group; maybe file them somewhere between Tortoise
and Squarepusher. I liked.
Midnight or so, the headliners. Alan played the first few numbers on a
12-string, then switched to 6 around "Two Step" or so. No organ to be found
at this performance. Just the straight-forward rawk we know & love. There
were two or three charming cover charge dodgers at the bar trying their best
to spoil the mood with incessant chatting and giggling, and I found myself
straining, eyes squeezed shut (particularly during "Below and Above"), to
send little silence-darts in their direction. To almost no effect ... but I
ended up going through almost the whole set just listening, not watching.
And it was gorgeous.
I'm the guilty party who yelled for "Hey Chicago" at encore time (which is
the only song I've ever heard Low play twice in one evening ... several
years ago at Schuba's in Chicago). They seem to like doing the "little"
songs for encores... And yup, "Lullaby" rocked even the boisterous folks to
sleep.
Got the new CD. Waited til I got home to San Francisco yesterday to put it
on.
- David Parrish
« back to the show reviews
John Prine (why isn't this on the album?! Dang shame)
Alan & Mimi's voices are strong & clear. The vibrato on John Prine was the cause of my first wave of goosepimples. Even Zak sang at the end. He should sing more. Yes.
Sunflowers
Medicine Magazines
Like A Forest
Whitetail
Two Step
Starfire
Below & Above
Dinosaur Act
Over the Ocean
Closer
In Metal
encore:
It's true, the most unexpected of encores. After huddling in a corner as many
stalwarts whooped & clapped, they returned to the stage to play Hey Chicago.
Someone had yelled it out but I think they dscided before that. Just really
random. Then the cries for Lullaby returned. See, earlier when Alan was taking
suggestions, this drunk woman (part of a group of annoying talkers) pleaded for
Lullaby. In the encore, she took up the cause again. Alan offered that they
played it the last time in Houston. Didn't want Houston Lullabye Syndrome (very
serious illness apparently). Drunk woman countered that it was her favorite
song
& that she'd give the band $20 to play it. This was bumped up to $40 in due
course prompting Zak to grimace & say "I don't want to feel slutty." Or
something like that. Catherine will remember better. The drunk woman scurried
up
front & laid the money on the stage. Alan thought it should go to the guy up
front that made some kind of whore comment. Maybe it was commentary on the
situation, maybe it was a request. So, they played it (can't believe they
remember how it goes) and Zak gave the drunk woman her money back.
Hey Chicago
Lullaby
Fan: Do you know any Galaxie 500 songs?
I think that's about a long enough review.
Alan: No. But those guys played our songs all the time.
Audience: laughter
Alan: I don't even know what that means.
pause
Alan: Led Zeppelin played our songs a lot too.
Alan's bad attempt at Stairway to Heaven intro.
Alan: Don't they know there's a recession?
saintdenis@hotmail.com
dave@malvina.com
« back to the 2001 tour dates