Ellis Paul Discussion

Folks,

Sorry that the EP photos didn't turn out as well as the ones of Darius Rucker. Sadly, EP didn't have the fancy lighting that Darius had! But it sure was exciting seeing him up there on that big stage with such a full-house of approving audience members.

Ellis Paul and Darius Rucker - Mar. 19, 2009

KarenZ

Great pictures Karen.. guess the lighting sure does make a difference....

Were Darius's songs country sounding, Hootie sounding, or both?

Did he thank the "opener"???? I almost hate to ask because if the answer is no I'm not going to like it.. especially cuz ya know how thoughtful the "folk" performers are at doing that... please tell me yes..

Patti,

Darius did NOT thank the opener. If he didn't get off his huge tour bus and come inside the theater in time to listen to EP, or didn't even know EP's name, I thought the very least would have been a generic "thank you to the opener".....so that knocked him way down in my book too. I know that's really judgemental.....let's hope it was a 1-time goof. I don't know Rucker's songs, but they sounded country. I think a few were Hootie songs and the crowd went crazy....up on their feet dancing and singing along. It was a spectacle. He threw a few guitar picks into the audience....and eventually his baseball cap. He ended with Prince's "Purple Rain". As I said to EP after the show..... "Darius Rucker is good...but you da best." In my personal opinion - and obviously many people differ - less is always more.

KarenZ

Patti wrote:Did he thank the "opener"???? I almost hate to ask because if the answer is no I'm not going to like it.. especially cuz ya know how thoughtful the "folk" performers are at doing that... please tell me yes..

arg.... I shouldn't have asked

Well it was great to hear your report of the cheers from the crowd.. at least they know good music when they hear it, even if they may not know it..

karen and patti....good morning banter to wake up to. saw this coming and would have been surprised to hear he had thanked or mentioned the opener...been my experience in that setting that it almost never happens. Opener has the spotlight to shine. Headliner, too.

Well then that makes Tim and Faith all that more special, because they gave big thanks to Lori M everynight of their tour!!

I knew of Darius when he was playing "tiny" clubs at 5 Points in Columbia SC... just hate to see that they forget their humble begininings... but like Karen said, maybe a onetime oversight.

And just to chuckle at the moment.. one of the silliest, yet clever songs, that I think Vance Gilbert wrote is Country Western Rap, comes to mind.. Maybe Darius would consider covering that...
Vance did that song the first night I heard him perform 13 years ago, I don't think he plays it anymore!

Maybe the thank-yous only happen when the opener has been hand-picked ala Faith Hill ~ Lori McKenna. I don't know.....

KarenZ

Patti,

We both posted about Faith Hill and Lori M at the same time!

KarenZ