Tim's set Thursday in Mpls was excellent. It was a really, really fun nite all-around.
He played as part of an ongoing Thursday nite series at The Acadia Cafe/Theater (Franklin & Nicollet) sponsored by DEMO, a non-profit org designed to, among other things, promote "emerging artists." DEMO rose out of the ashes of DAMF and features a brain trust led by First Ave. guru Steve McLellan. The Acadia, it turns out, works very well for this series. Most of the performances in this series are solo acoustic kinda things, a format perfectly accommodated by the intimate setting. There's a cute little theater (capacity = 100) right next to a cafe that offers food, coffee and lots of beer. They even have Shiner Bock -- since i'm heading to Austin in a few days, i felt it appropriate to drink a bunch of that to acclimate my system to Texas water. The vibe was kind of a cross between a coffee shop, bar and theater. You could catch some music in a quiet, sit-down setting and then head next door for some schmoozing and refreshments. BTW, I eventually discovered that combining caffeine and alcohol (aka a "poor man's speedball") can be a dangerous thing. The next morning, I mentally recast one of Kris Kristofferson's most famous songs as I reeled from a really bad case of the "Friday Morning Coming Down" blues.
Tim had played a few low-profile sets with Jim Boquist over the last few months but this was his first appearance with a full band. In many ways, this was his "proper" local debut as a solo artist. Tim's band featured Frankie Lee (an up-and-coming local singer/songwriter) on bass, drummer extraordinaire Peter Anderson (aka the hardest working musician in town) and the Rev. Boquist on various acoustic & electric 6 & 12 string guitars. Tim switched between 2 acoustics: a beautiful old black Martin and a shiny 12-string. Jim & Frankie frequently sang harmonies -- their sterling work really helped the tunes from Tim's new album come alive on stage. The lil' theater was packed to the rafters with a crowd chock full of friends, scenesters (including Postcard celebrities Rob & Karla) and an impressive host of local musicians including Gary Louris, Marc Perlman and Kraig Johnson.
A little background: Tim and Jim used to play occasionally around Mpls as a pseudo-"folk combo" back in the early '90s, in the period after the demise of The Leatherwoods (Tim's old band with Todd Newman) and before Tim hooked up with The Jayhawks and Jim joined Joe Henry's touring band. Their shows always seemed to pop up at the last minute; i remember seeing them a few times at First Ave. / Entry, as well as several appearances at the old Loring Bar. They were usually booked with some unwieldy name like "The O'Reagan/Boquist Band," or something like that. Actually, "Tim and Jim" has a nice ring to it. They played some originals and, predictably, a whole bunch of really cool covers, including "Walking in the Sun," a Jeff Barry tune that many people first heard on the huge Rufus album "Rags to Riches" in the early 70s. I was greatly surprised when the Jayhawks performed a couple of superb versions of "Walking in the Sun" a decade later in the middle of the 2002/3 "acoustic trio" tour. BTW, early during that same tour, a nice version of an old Leatherwoods song that Tim used to sing ("Tinsel Town") was uncorked, much to the amazement of the few people familiar with that song.
On Thursday, Tim & the boys played a compact 45 minute set that featured several songs from the new album (highlights included "These Things," "River Bends," "Highway Flowers" ), a few obscure covers (songs by Stealers Wheel and the Everly Bros.) and a particularly interesting song in the middle of the set that turned out to be a resurrected original from the aforementioned "Tim and Jim" days. The only nod to Tim's most recent former band was a mesmerizing reading of "Tampa to Tulsa" – a bit sadder and slower than the original but still breathtakingly beautiful. The band sounded awfully good for a "debut" performance – they were reasonably tight and, to nobody's surprise, Tim sang like an angel. Jim's gtr work was pretty much riveting throughout the whole set -- he was doing his best Steve Cropper / soul-man licks and had a number of great solos. Most people outside MN – i.e. those who only know Jim from his years playing bass for Son Volt – have no idea that Dave isn't the only Boquist who plays a mean axe.
Tim was palpably quite nervous early on; this recent transition to the other side of the drum kit has to be quite a jolt for him. In fact, the entire live component of Tim's new solo career will likely be something of a work in progress. There was absolutely no banter for some time until he finally blurted out between songs while tuning his guitar, "I dunno about this bandleader stuff..." After some awkward silence, Jim played along, "what don't ya know…?" Tim then looked up towards the audience and asked, "Gary, how did you do this? Were you shaking all the time?" After a few more seconds of silence, Tim muttered "he probably left." Jim quickly retorted, "No, I can still see his glasses out there," a reference to Gary's penchant for distinctive designer eyewear. The crowd had a good laugh as a big chunk of tension evaporated. It was a cute, charming little moment. After the show, I thought how lucky Tim is to have seasoned vets like Jim and Peter behind him – talk about heading into the breach with a good back-up team.
All in all, a memorable night on many levels, as well as a useful tune-up for the chaos next week in Texas. I know one thing I'll be doing for sure on Friday night…
Saturday, March 11, 2006
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