Okay guys, here is my review of the show. It was the first show of the Liberman tour and it was at the Ludlow Garage in Cincinatti, Ohio.
I'll try my best to write what I remember for each song, forgive me if it's not the most appealing review
So, to start off the evening, I arrived at the venue which apparently had just underwent renovations for the past year and let me tell you guys this was a classy venue. It was in this basement of this bar restaurant place and it was so cozy looking and just warm and inviting. When I arrived at the will-call, apparently they had been waiting for me (or knew who I was just from where I was coming from.) since I drove from Pittsburgh to Cincinatti. The girls at the will-call were so excited that I came so far to see Vanessa and I was super pumped they were all happy for me. Fast forward to before the show and what happens...?? I win the meet and greet with Vanessa! Soooooo crazy but it was fantastic! We spent a short bit of time backstage chatting and talking about her set tonight and her trip to Japan. She was kinda all over the place and changing outfits so she didn't say much but she remembered me from previous shows! Skye and I talked about the Japan trip. They played a show or two in Okinawa, for soldiers and sailors (I immediately thought she obviously had to sing More Than This.) and talked about what songs they were playing tonight. He mentioned playing Fairweather Friend (they didn't play that btw) and a few other oldies but goodies. So, wrapping up the backstage time, I was dumb and completely forgot my Liberman CD at home for her to sign but I said I'd see her out on the road again. She was radiant by the way, dressed in such a lovely black outfit with the cutest dark blue leather jacket (I pay attention to the small details like that).
Onto the good stuff... the set list.
OH.... before I forget, her opening act, Josh Hyslop was fantastic and a great singer (also very attractive haha).
Anyways...
Set-List:
Started off with some oldies but goodies:
Carousel w/Learning To Fly Intro- beautiful as always.
Handsome (Hands on Me but my set-list literally says "Handsome") she made a joke about it and so did Skye.
Tall Tales - Surprised to hear her play this. Nonetheless, it was wonderful and Skye was on point.
White Houses - New intro w/Skye was super cool. Always gives me chills when she sings this and also makes me cry a bit. She prefaced the song with the story about how she didn't write the bridge of the song and how it traumatized Edmund.
Vanessa invited us to fast forward into the future of her musical catalog, to the Liberman era and played a good bit from the album.
Take it Easy - she used the backgrounds from Liberman during the live performance and Skye did his cool techno violin stuff that was wicked as always!
Willows - No super long intro like in previous songs, but great performance. Talked about how this song was inspired by her parents and her home from her childhood.
7 Swords - Story behind the song is that everyone has different sides to them; like a sword and we can choose which side we want to be at any given time. I really love her concept behind the song. Trippy and awesome just like the record.
Operator - I was sooooo excited to hear her play this live for the first time and it was FANTASTIC!! She made it as close to the record as possible and the performance was great.
Blue Pool - great performance of the song. I think she was struggling to hear the reverb or something from the speakers so she could play with the backgrounds. At one point I think she stopped playing the piano so she wouldn't forget the chords to the song!!
Nothing Something - (shortened on my set-list) she talked about her grandfather and how he changed his last name from Liberman to Lee and how Ralph Lauren changed his last name from Lipschitz. She also talked about the infamous "boob" Liberman painting and how she wrote 8 of the 10 songs on the album staring at the painting.
River - I still wished she recorded the album version more similar to the live version, which brings me to tears and just makes me feel all the things. But love both versions obviously.
Bride - Talked about how she wrote this prior to getting married and having Sid. Also mentioned that John knows about the song.
ATM - Referred to this as "an old chestnut" because she wrote it at 16. She talked about how some guy wrote a review for Liberman at a big magazine company and said "This sounds nothing like ATM." Vanessa's response was "Of course not! That was Ballerina Vanessa, this is older mature Vanessa." Great performance as always
ENCORE(S):
Get Good- Didn't think she was going to play it but she came back on stage and said she forgot her nice leather jacket then sat down and dazzled us with this song.
Marching Line - Closing song was great as always. Such a timeless one and one of my favorites from ROTR.
The show was fantastic and I enjoyed every minute of it! I'll post my videos and pics/set-list once I get them all uploaded! Hope you guys enjoy! =)
Here are my videos: (I appreciate it if a certain somebody wouldn't rip them off as their own.) That's all.
To save on my phone battery, I didn't record Carousel, Tall Tales or Handsome. =) I also apologize for the shitty quality, my wifi blows at my house so I uploaded them from my phone. I'll try for better quality for future shows.
Enjoy!
White Houses -
https://youtu.be/TimmxjkcvjoTake it Easy -
https://youtu.be/59s2glMz5boWillows -
https://youtu.be/9s9YYG5LyGQ7 Swords -
https://youtu.be/3qHig3HtQbUOperator -
https://youtu.be/Hs7owAq3fYgBlue Pool -
https://youtu.be/4h9J391YW2oNothing Something -
https://youtu.be/OiWJeF6qXbsRiver -
https://youtu.be/n6AzqzrQlWsBride -
https://youtu.be/AYIwKOPUc-MATM -
https://youtu.be/cOhwtCOUY6MGet Good -
https://youtu.be/a92vQnyzLeMMarching Line -
https://youtu.be/M8vk9DO2feII posted my pics to the Phantom Friends FBOOK Page =)
