Having taken so long between the show itself and finally preparing this page reliving it in words and pictures, I think it best to merely offer here a very brief introduction rather than adhering to my usual format of expounding on a specific concept or other lengthy attempt to capture the meaning of this event...attempts that invariably might fairly be called inadequate anyway, since no description of art can ever really do justice to the experience itself. 

That said, I think the most accurate preface for this page is simply to make note of an amazing and real creation that unexpectedly served as a preface to the show itself.  After a tense and lengthy drive to the venue, hampered first by traffic and then by rain, just as the city of Philadelphia started coming into view, an enormous rainbow appeared.  

And that true, fleeting -- and yet indelible beauty is the finest analogy I can imagine to compare with this -- indeed, any -- all too quickly passing, and yet indelible experience that is an evening with the music of Michael McDermott. 

Here are a few colors from this particular evening's vast array...

Michael McDermott

at

The Kimmel Center
Philadelphia, PA
5-5-04

The set -- which contained astonishingly little commentary, compared to many of Michael's other shows I've attended in the past-- opened on piano with one of his newer creations, "My Father's Son"...

     "I see myself there
                          in his eyes...

      'Cause I'm my
                          father's son."

...after which Michael continued to allow the music to speak for itself through the glorious shades of "Bourbon Blue"...

      "Listen to the
          wistful sounds of
            morning coming
                   through...

       I keep holdin' on
           for my bourbon
                    blue."

Next came "One Way To Go" and "Arm Yourself" both songs from the album that brought about this show, the only acoustic stop on the East Coast portion of the tour for Ashes...enhanced on this occasion by the gorgeous guitar work and backing vocals of Rene Reyes...

"A phantom jack of irons scours the highway
While the swan and the nightingale cry..."

...which was followed by yet another of Michael's newest songs, the lovely "When It Comes To You"...

    "I'll re-write the greatest
                            poems of

      A dreamer's failure,
                           hope and love..."

After this Michael reclaimed his guitar from Rene to favor the crowd with a song comforting in its resolve, yet most unsettling in its wholly truthful presentation of the darkness that spawned such determined resolution..."Never Goin' Down Again"....

                        
                        "Babe, I don't need a knife

                           And I don't need a gun...

                           But I swear this time

                           I won't turn and run."

                           Man, I'm never goin'
                                                   down again."
                                            

It's certainly understandable that a bit of refreshment might be needed after such an intense musical journey...

...but Michael was quickly back in action as he pondered the  "Grace of God"...

          "Baptized in blood, 
                           fire and water...

           And you're wond'rin'
                         why you're never
                         feelin' clean..."

            You're boat's pulled out
                         from the harbor...

             And you're on the dock
                         abandoned in
                         between..."

...a big topic indeed... so big, in fact, it perhaps explains why the song that followed is entitled "Can't Sleep Tonight"...

"I can't sleep tonight,
How is it anyone can?"

Much to the audience's delight, Michael at last embarked upon "Everything I Got", the current single from Ashes...and a song whose frequency of play on WXPN proves it's one Philadelphia radio listeners simply can't get  enough of...

  
 
"You've given
             everything
                       you could...

     But I can't be
              something
                          I'm not...

    What you're gettin',
               baby, isn't
                         enough...

    And I've given
                everything
                           I've got."

Switching back to piano, Michael next shared several more selections from Ashes, beginning with "Sword of Damocles" and "Hold Back A River"...hmm, given how quickly he comes up with new material, it looks like maybe he's already a little tired of these songs...or maybe just plain tired, as this was the 5th show he'd played in the last 6 days...

"Ah, enough of this...time for a nap!"...

I'm kidding!!!  Of course, Michael never left the stage...well, at least not before calling Rene back for a far from tired performance of "Darkest Night of All'...including a bit of improvisation that included lyrics from Nine Inch Nails' "Head Like A Hole"...

      "Martha, I swear I know
                                   what you're thinkin'...

        And I can't say I disagree...

        You think that I abuse
                                and always confuse...

         The things you knew I could never keep."
                                

...which was followed by the both sorrow- and hope-filled "Baby, I" (on which, and for the remainder of the songs, incidentally, Michael actually played piano.  But since I have a couple extra guitar shots and not quite enough piano ones...let's pretend!)...

            "Trust in me,
                                  trust in you...

              I know we will
                                   make it through."
                              

 

Arguably the highlight of the evening came next...a completely reinvented "Hellfire In The Holyland" that included an unexpected and wonderfully fitting piece of "Here Comes The Rain Again"...not to mention some truly outstanding guitar and vocal accompaniment from Rene...

"I'm just looking for to understand
Why there's hellfire tonight in the Holyland...
Here comes the rain again...
 Falling on my head like a tragedy...
Falling on my head like a mixed emotion..."

After this it was announced Michael and Rene would play just one more song...a tune Michael had the privilege of performing recently as part of an opening set for the very "Van the Man" referenced therein...a well deserved night on which he surely found himself in a far better place than "20 Miles South of Nowhere"...

 "The Last Chance Lounge
      on the near North side...

  Everybody's watchin' 
                    the news...

  The music comes back 
    when Friends comes on...

  Hear Van the Man singin'
               the Irish blues..."

Thankfully, Michael reneged on that prior threat and stayed at the piano for an additional selection...one particularly appropriate in the midst of a tour that most likely left him feeling like he truly had been driving "Around The World"!

     
     
     "So come down from
                         your altar...

      And maybe I'll come
                  down from
                         my throne...

      I had to travel
             around the world...

     Just to find my 
                       way home."

Actually, I don't know about the coming "down from [his] throne" lyric in that song...after all, as you can see, Michael continued to "hold court" in front of the venue even after the show ended... 

And, as usual, the time spent under his "reign" proved most enjoyable and rewarding!

Check back soon for photos and commentary from the following night's full band show in NYC!

"til then...

As always, 

Thank You, Michael (and Rene)!

See you again soon!!!