(TV) Television in Pittsburgh

[Maurice Rickard <maurice@me.com>]

TL;DR: it was good.  Tom was in a good mood, it seemed, and his solos 
were mostly inventive and in a couple cases transcendent.  "See No Evil" 
began a bit slower and less lively than I'd expect, and I was wondering 
if we were in for a night of mechanical-playing-of-the-hits.  ("I'll 
just pay attention to Fred and Billy," I thought.)  Then, when Jimmy did 
Richard's solo (very close to the record, with a few departures), that 
kicked things up a notch, and some life entered the set. The list: 

"See No Evil" 
"Elevation" (great to hear, though I wondered about front-loading songs 
where Jimmy would solo.)
"Prove It" (Jimmy hit some wrong notes on the descending bit, and then 
boom--Tom's playing sparked to life.  A brilliant solo on this one.)
"Torn Curtain" (Thrilling to hear this one live, Tom getting those 
dissonant harmonic-rich wolf tones from the low E on the solo.)
"Venus" (Tom called off a false start; he'd tuned for a different song.  
Chuckles all around, and a good performance of it. Local rock personage 
behind me goes off on an obscenity-laden tirade against the fact that 
the audience is seated. LRP insults someone in his row.)
"Friction" (Real life to this one, and some definite skronk in Tom's 
solo. LRP's date leaves him.)
"Guiding Light" (Another one I didn't think I'd ever hear live--a good 
performance only marred by LRP caterwauling along tunelessly.)
"Marquee Moon"  (Even LRP couldn't bring this one down.  Jimmy stuck to 
the Richard solo, but Tom took off.  Beginning with harmonics, bending 
the harmonic sense in different directions...it was a journey.  I'll 
admit to a tiny bit of disappointment when it ended.  A friend blogged 
that he saw God.)

"Little Johnny Jewel" (Another thrilling one.  Jimmy got a bit more 
effects-soaked, and Tom again took off with harmonic and melodic 
tension. Very, very good.  Tom used more of his voice on this one, too, 
and sounded great.)
"I'm Gonna Find You" (great fun, a bit countryfied as well.)
"Psychotic Reaction" (Big surprise--the front half was what we've come 
to expect, but then instead of Tom's solo, things quieted down into a 
gorgeous film-soundtracky ambient landscape, with Tom apparently 
improvising love lyrics...but no--it's still Psychotic Reaction, 
completely reimagined.  Heck of a great way to end things.)

Obviously Tom was in a good mood, and things worked.  Fred and Billy 
were solid--and Billy was relentlessly inventive.  

Jimmy-vs-Richard: Jimmy's playing was a touch less fluid than I'd expect 
from Richard--notes ending a few milliseconds earlier than Richard would 
have played them.  Generally in doing Richard's solos, he'd stick to the 
general shape and hit the recognizable bits, though occasionally depart 
from them, which was fine--invention is good!  Though I didn't sense 
that he stretched any--he kept to the recorded lengths.  

Well worth going if you have the chance. 



Maurice Rickard
http://mauricerickard.com | http://onezeromusic.com | 
http://snwv.bandcamp.com




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