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"Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are
sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Michael McDermott at North by Northwest 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
In varying degrees..."
...and an as yet unreleased tune, "Perfectly Imperfect"...
"You say, 'I know you don't
You swear to me someday
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
Spark the dark 'til it
Switching to piano (from onstage this time!) Michael next embarked on one of his newest works, "When It Comes To you"...
"Flowers fade and
...while fools are out,
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...
...after which the band once more returned (and Lance remained onstage) for the McDermott classic, "A Wall I Must Climb"...
"The road that's Is the one that
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
Or
say half the things
...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
...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
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... Oh, baby, I... Oh, baby, I...
...and ended with "Bells"...on which he was joined by Lance...
and
all the things that
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... ...soon!!!
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