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"Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but more endear'd, pipe to the spirit..."
                                                                                                           John Keats

 

Michael McDermott

at

North by Northwest
Philadelphia, PA

5-7-04

 

As you may recall, when we last saw tour manager Jimmy on this site, he was being compared to something, shall we say, slightly less than human (The Cutting Room 5-6-04).   On this particular evening, however, he appeared a wee bit more conventional...

...but that still didn't seem enough to fully convince Lance of his safety...at least he seems awfully serious about something in this photo!  (You've gotta know by now that I'm only kidding, guys!!!)

Actually, it seemed something of another joke when the band appeared onstage without Michael...whose voice suddenly emanated like a ghost in the darkness on the lovely, "My Father's Son"...

"My old man, I don't understand..."

And, though it might be said his power and passion are indeed haunting, still in this instance there proved a very logical explanation to his seemingly simultaneous presence and absence...a piano in the back of the room...

"...and neither does my mom..."

Mystery solved...or rather, should I say, one mystery solved.  For, as Michael at last joined his band members onstage, he immediately launched into a song that speaks of another mystery...that of "Hellfire In The Holyland"...

"Listening to bullets talk...

Is a language hard to grasp, he said..."

...after which came a second selection ("Hellfire" having been the first) from Michael's latest album, Ashes..."Hold Back A River"...

 

 

 

 

   "You seem just a little crazy
                               sometimes...

 

     In varying degrees..."

 

 

 

 

...and an as yet unreleased tune, "Perfectly Imperfect"...

 

 

 

                      "You say, 'I know you don't
                                  wanna talk about it'...

 

                       You swear to me someday
                                 we're gonna laugh 
                                                    about it."

 

 

 

 

Yet another selection from Ashes followed..."Arm Yourself"...

                                                                    "A phantom jack of irons...

     

 

 

 

 

      ...scours the highways...

 

 

 

 

 

...while the swan and...

 

 

 

 

     ...the nightingale cry..."

 

 

 

 

 

 

...before Michael reached back into his repertoire for one of his older compositions... "Spark"...

 

 

 

 

             "Spark the heart in a
                          godless night...

              Spark the dark 'til it
                           turns to light..."

 

 

 

 

Switching to piano (from onstage this time!) Michael next embarked on one of his newest works, "When It Comes To you"...

 

 

 

 

     "Flowers fade and 
                   love is made...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                    ...while fools are out, 
                                    out on parade..."

 

 

 

 

 

Suddenly asking, "Where's Lance?", (who quickly took to the stage as the rest of the band departed momentarily), Michael (still at the piano) shared the lovely "Here Comes The Rain Again"...

"I want to dive into your ocean...
Is it raining with you?"

...after which the band once more returned (and Lance remained onstage) for the McDermott classic, "A Wall I Must Climb"...

 

 

 

 

   "The road that's
      less traveled...

    Is the one that
       leads right
       back to you."

 

 

 

 

As Lance left the stage once more, Michael again switched back to his electric guitar for a blistering performance of his recent hit single, "Everything I Got"...

 

 

 

 

         "I don't know why
                I do half the
                      things I do...

 

             

 

 

 

 

 

 

           Or say half the things 
                          that I say..."

 

 

 

 

...and another brand new song, "The American In Me"...

 

 

 

 

                              "Sometimes you find....

                               What you think is yours...

                               Sometimes you fight...

                                Little dirty wars..".

 

 

 

Next came "Junkie Girl" -- a song the band clearly has particular fun playing...during which it seemed Dominique had a sudden burst of inspiration to further enhance that playful spirit...

Easing herself off the stage while still wielding her bass...

...she enticed Rene into joining her out front, where the two put on a very entertaining display....

...that ended with a bit of inspiration on Rene's part, as he played his way backwards 'til he lay on the stage floor below Michael, who continued to jam with him from above...all of which the appreciative crowd enjoyed immensely!

What the crowd didn't enjoy, however, was the announcement that the next song, "20 Miles South of Nowhere" would prove the evening's last...

"Jimmy Moran and his one man band
played every note like it was his last..."

...and they, of course, therefore demanded Michael return for just one encore (which was again performed from the offstage piano)...hmm....onstage, offstage, front of the room, back of the room...talk about a setting to make "Around the World" particularly apropos!

"I went walking with a Bedlamite
down the Champs Elysees in Paris, France..."

Fortunately, even Michael himself seemed to wish the music might continue...and well after the show was officially over, took to the piano once again for a brief...well, after-show show (?), that began with "Baby, I...on which he was joined by Rene...

 

 

   "Oh, baby, I...
        I'm true and
                 dutiful...

     Oh, baby, I...
        I'm pure and
               beautiful...

     Oh, baby, I...
       Baby, I wish 
                  I was..."

 

 

 

...and ended with "Bells"...on which he was joined by Lance...

 

 

 

 

 

 

                      
                      "Ringing out for me...
                               ringing out for you...
             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    and all the things that 
               we've been through..."    

 

 

 

 

 

Interestingly, Michael was also joined on this final tune by an audience member who it was learned is a concert pianist...and who, after watching Michael quite intently for the first half of the song, suddenly began interjecting higher octave harmonies on the same piano Michael was already playing...you probably had to be there for that to totally make sense, but from a musical standpoint it certainly did, and proved a fitting conclusion to the always fresh, unexpected experience that is an evening with Michael McDermott.

And, on that note, I conclude, adding only...

As always, 

Thank You, Michael, Lance and band!

And, of course...

Please come...

(back)

 ...soon!!!

 

 

 

 

 

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