Shank Hall, Milwaukee, April 3, 2008

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AndaleOrbea
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Shank Hall, Milwaukee, April 3, 2008

Postby AndaleOrbea » Fri Apr 04, 2008 1:40 am

Good Morning to you EP faithful!

Awesome show as usual tonight, or should I say last night.

For those of you interested, the show was at Shank Hall, most notably known for its place in the cult music film This is Spinal Tap, a place where the band allegedly played. But our story doesn’t start there.

Knowing that I was leaving work early yesterday, it turned out that a colleague had been given tickets he couldn't use to the Chicago Cubs/Milwaukee Brewers game at 1:20 pm today, so I bolted work earlier than planned, picked up Elaine and, well we were a bit late, but we got to see Kerry Wood close out the 9th inning and the Cubby’s won (not that I’m much of a baseball fan), then off to Milwaukee, where we dared not bring up the fact that we had just come up from the game… Anyway… on the way north, we stopped at the Lake Forest Oasis on I-94 for a Starbucks – and you’ll never guess who we saw walking out of the Oasis (rest area) to his car….. RADOSLAV LORKOVIC! :shock: In ILLINOIS! :shock: In the middle of nowhere Illinois! :shock: On his way to Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin for a show with Andy White! And Andy was with him. I called out to Elaine – ‘There’s RAD!’ and he looked at us like ‘Where do I know these people from? They look familiar.’ I reminded him that we’d seen him at the Club Passim for the 2007 New Years’ Eve shows. He seemed genuinely happy to see us. We told him that we were going to see Ellis in Milwaukee. He said that he saw on Ellis web site that he was going to play in Wisconsin this weekend and he said he was going to call Ellis right away! We were pinching ourselves! Paddy? What do you think about that as a coincidence? We’re hoping that Rad can meet up with Ellis during one of Ellis’ shows this weekend. That would be a lot of fun.

Anyway, we got to the venue at 7:10 for an 8:00 pm show. There was Ellis, the bartender, two people minding the door and two show-goers when we got there. Other than that, the place was empty. Ellis said that it looked like just a few of us tonight. I said, ‘Well at least we’ll out number you!’ He laughed. He said the rest of the chairs are full, but with ghosts, so we needed to be careful, or something like that. The rumor was that there were only 12 tickets sold in advance. There was probably less than 20 people in the audience for the show. I felt bad for Ellis and he seemed to be okay with it. He did a superb show, as usual. And Karen, I don’t know if you’ve ever hear Ellis play one of the songs in the set list below, but if not, you’ll have to ask for it. I can’t say I remember the song in a recent setlist, but perhaps I’m too forgetful. The whole show was fantastic. Have I used enough superlatives yet??? I only wish it could have lasted longer – it was a Thursday night after all…

Here’s the setlist:

1. Hurricane Angel (keyboard)
2. Jukebox On My Grave
3. Maria’s Beautiful Mess
4. Take All the Sky You Need
5. Once Upon a Summertime (keyboard)
6. The Hurt/Nothing Left to Take (complete with the story that no one likes Ellis’ name for the song)
7. God’s Promise
8. The Speed of Trees (requested by Elaine – Yea!)
9. The World Ain’t Slowin’ Down
10. Martyr’s Lounge
11. Words
12. I Can’t Make You Love Me (guitar)
13. If I Could Catch the Rain
14. The Day After Everything Changed (requested by me)
15. Calendar Man
16. Waking Up to Me (one verse)
17. Jamiel Shaw (one verse)
18. 3,000 Miles
19. Road Trip (Encore)

You probably remember that I Can’t Make You Love Me is a cover song of Bonnie Raitt’s. Ellis commented that it was written by an ex-professional football player (Mike Reid) turned country singer/songwriter, and singer/songwriter Allen Samblin. Quite a story about it on Wikipedia if you want to look it up. Anyway, Ellis did a remarkable version of the song. Karen: Have you ever heard Ellis play this? I wonder what other cover songs Ellis would be willing to play. And how many that we don’t know about?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Can't_Make_You_Love_Me

I can't seem to get the url to work here...

And I have to say that The Day After Everything Changed is a song that really moves me. :cry: It’s one of those songs that I could listen to over and over again. It just grabs ahold of me and won't let go. I really hope that Ellis considers this as one of the songs that makes it onto his next album. I asked him about it afterward, and he said there are a lot of songs that are competing for a place on his next record, so we’ll just have to see if it makes it.

Anyway, that’s it for Shank Hall – must go to sleep. We’re off to Verona tomorrow for Show No. 2.

I’ll write more later (as my computer connection allows…)
Dean (and Elaine)
Last edited by AndaleOrbea on Fri Apr 04, 2008 10:44 am, edited 1 time in total.

Richard + Jela
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Postby Richard + Jela » Fri Apr 04, 2008 4:05 am

Dean - great stories, what a memorable day for you in so many ways, thanks, and have a good time at the next show!

Jela

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KarenZ
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Postby KarenZ » Fri Apr 04, 2008 6:23 am

Dean! Terrific report! I love when we have reporters in the field! :lol:

Yes, I've heard the "I can't make you love me" cover song and the story about it being written by two guys. I do love EP's version of it.

BTW....once while I was on the PA. Turnpike heading to Cleveland, I stopped for gas and WHO was at the adjacent gas pump? Don Conoscenti! On his way from NJ to Cleveland to play at the same show! I remember we both asked each other "where are you going?" and then both answered "Cleveland". :) That would have been in November 1999 for the show at the Brick Alley....when EP recorded the live version of "Holiday Song" for WKSU's "Ornaments and Icing" Christmas broadcast. Fun memories! It wasn't until you mentioned the Rad sighting that I remembered! :D

Carry on! :)

KarenZ
"Some people are born to make great art and others are born to appreciate it. It is a kind of talent in itself, to be an audience, whether you are the spectator in the gallery or you are listening to the voice of the world's greatest soprano. Not everyone can be the artist. There have to be those who witness the art, who love and appreciate what they have been privileged to see." -- Ann Patchett in Bel Canto.

paddyinthepub
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Postby paddyinthepub » Fri Apr 04, 2008 7:27 am

Dean

Fantastic report!!! Thanks so much for the detailed account and yes, that's some coincidence. :D I'll add one to the mix. We were driving east from Cleveland one summer after a trip home to see my wife's family and heading home to Philly. Driving along the Pennsylvania Turnpike and who do I see in a lil Black Honda Accord coupe but a long haired sunglass wearin speeding like a man on a mission Radoslav Lorkovic. :shock:

Honey, that's Rad!!! :D

Boy was it ever!!!! 8)

She said: WHO??? and I had to explain just what I was so excited about. Course it might not have been Rad...he was goin so fast and try as I may I could not catch up to his car to confirm my suspicions......but to this day I'd swear that indeed the man behind the wheel of that lil black coupe was RAD!!! 8)

Lovin these coincidences...... :D
"once we're inside, it's a carnival ride" ~ ellis paul
paddy

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KarenZ
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Postby KarenZ » Fri Apr 04, 2008 8:43 am

Dean,

Have you seen the thread where we've been discussing ideas for the forthcoming new CD? "I can't make you love me" has already been suggested in the cover song category. ;)

http://ellispaul.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?t=1132

KarenZ
"Some people are born to make great art and others are born to appreciate it. It is a kind of talent in itself, to be an audience, whether you are the spectator in the gallery or you are listening to the voice of the world's greatest soprano. Not everyone can be the artist. There have to be those who witness the art, who love and appreciate what they have been privileged to see." -- Ann Patchett in Bel Canto.

AndaleOrbea
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Postby AndaleOrbea » Fri Apr 04, 2008 10:42 am

Great fun guys! Thanks for the support out here on the road. It's turning out to be a nice day, too - mid 50's today, since we've been getting snow up until about a week ago.

Karen: Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing I Can't Make You Love Me on that thread, but when I saw the name of the song, I couldn't place it. It took Ellis to play it last night in order for me to remember which song it was. I now remember it from years ago.

Cleveland, Rad, DonCon, Ellis - sounds like a great time if we could put it all together, even at a rest stop or a gas station or somewhere in the rolling green of Ohio - or anywhere else for that matter. I wish I could say that I had more of those coincidences, Paddy, but it's that rare time that you get them that just shocks you tremendously. I still can't get over that random meeting of Rad...

And, we are just so excited to have Ellis play close by again. He said it had been 12 years since he last played in Milwaukee and he's never played at Shank Hall. He promised the crowd he'd make a return trip, maybe even in the next few months - I can almost see another EP Road Trip, Yea!

Time to do some back flips... Gotta go.
Dean (and Elaine)

paddyinthepub
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Postby paddyinthepub » Fri Apr 04, 2008 6:09 pm

My parents were never what ya might call mainstream music lovers....

But without fail, upon starting a roadtrip.......my mom would sing:

"on the road again.....I just can't wait to get on the road again"

Course that was all she knew of the popular Willie Nelson tune......

So I'd always finish off the chorus for them:

"The life I love is making music with my friends.......oh i can't wait to get on the road again"

Safe travels Dean and Elaine and keep the reports comin..... :D
"once we're inside, it's a carnival ride" ~ ellis paul
paddy


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