Bumbershoot - Seattle - 9/5/10

[tanthalas]

It's not the same Erik, but apparently there's already a video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCfENdSjQMI

Sorry to have missed you at the show, SeattleNextDoor (unless we somehow all met you but didn't know it). Erik, Michele, Bob, and I were all sitting in front of the board that night, and the crowd probably made it impossible for anybody to find us - if they were looking, that is. ;o

(Though you might have seen us if you stuck around for autographs... we were the group that did gang signs with Alex and Ward for one photo. I think. But it's all somewhat hazy to me now.)

[SeattleNextDoor]

No worries. I was to your right then - sitting in the main left section facing the stage - about 5 rows back. So, actually, if I looked to my left, I would of seen all of you by the board.

I did hang around for the signing. There was some confusion from the FYE workers about only those with wristbands (which meant you had to buy something from FYE) would get autographs/photos/etc (and they blamed it on Vienna's tour manager). One lady was well pissed off and left. Another girl decided to stay and just see what happens. I did the same...then decided to buy the DVD since I didn't have it and I didn't want to miss an opportunity to meet Vienna. As it turns out, it didn't even matter.

My (low quality) video of the proposal and Harbor is up on You Tube as well.

Cheers!

[marathonmark]

I enjoyed the gig immensely. It was a pleasure meeting Vienna, Alex, and Ward as well.

Did anyone else stay for the signing?

\m/

Yes, my wife and I were among the last few in line. The experience had a dreamlike quality to it...perhaps it was the combination of a few beers, the heartfelt performance, and the generous spirit of Vienna, Alex, and Ward.

[SeattleNextDoor]

I enjoyed the gig immensely. It was a pleasure meeting Vienna, Alex, and Ward as well.

Did anyone else stay for the signing?

\m/

Yes, my wife and I were among the last few in line. The experience had a dreamlike quality to it...perhaps it was the combination of a few beers, the heartfelt performance, and the generous spirit of Vienna, Alex, and Ward.

They were definitely very friendly and generous with their time. I'm glad I waited.

[SeattleNextDoor]

My low quality clip of the proposal as well as Harbor...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePmymLGO9l8

[aaparallel]

My low quality clip of the proposal as well as Harbor...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePmymLGO9l8

It's actually a great video! Excellent rendition of Harbor. I'm quite happy it got all those views in the last couple of days. Thanks for posting!

[aaparallel]

The interviewer said she's the most intelligent artist he's ever met...Scroll down a bit for the radio player.

[Reileen]

aaparallel, thanks for pointing to that link to the interview! It's always really awesome when an interviewer is such a passionate fan of the interviewee...and it's also awesome when the interviewee is made of such epic awesome regardless of who the interviewer is. I do totally understand where Vienna's coming from when she says that a lot of her lyrics/songs came out of procrastinating on something else...the bulk of my current songs are based off "sketchings" I did when I was supposed to be paying attention in lectures or something, lol. So I'm sure we'll be hearing from her before long even while she's still getting her degree!

[aaparallel]

aaparallel, thanks for pointing to that link to the interview! It's always really awesome when an interviewer is such a passionate fan of the interviewee...

Seriously, the guy was pretty much ranting at the end about her life-change.

[micro]

Found another interview here, with a review of TMAV here. This quote was interesting:

Y Spy: Are you still gathering new songs?

Vienna Teng: Yeah. Recently I was at home for a while and started writing again. I have this idea for an album that’s in its very starting stages. I’m a very slow writer, so I think it’s gonna take a couple of years for all the songs to take shape. There will be a studio album in the future, but not yet. Maybe in the meantime I’ll release something a little lower pressure, like a holiday album or an album of covers, or a bunch of assorted songs that were co-written with friends over the years.

Maybe we won't be waiting as long as we thought.

[SeattleNextDoor]

:D The interviewer said she's the most intelligent artist he's ever met...Scroll down a bit for the radio player.

Thanks for the link - I had never heard of SMI before. Loved the interview with the mighty ANVIL as well!

[Walking Stranger]

Found another interview here, with a review of TMAV here. This quote was interesting:

Y Spy: Are you still gathering new songs?

Vienna Teng: Yeah. Recently I was at home for a while and started writing again. I have this idea for an album that’s in its very starting stages. I’m a very slow writer, so I think it’s gonna take a couple of years for all the songs to take shape. There will be a studio album in the future, but not yet. Maybe in the meantime I’ll release something a little lower pressure, like a holiday album or an album of covers, or a bunch of assorted songs that were co-written with friends over the years.

Maybe we won't be waiting as long as we thought.

an album of covers => I go for it !

[Fred]

Found another interview here, with a review of TMAV here. This quote was interesting:

Y Spy: Are you still gathering new songs?

Vienna Teng: Yeah. Recently I was at home for a while and started writing again. I have this idea for an album that’s in its very starting stages. I’m a very slow writer, so I think it’s gonna take a couple of years for all the songs to take shape. There will be a studio album in the future, but not yet. Maybe in the meantime I’ll release something a little lower pressure, like a holiday album or an album of covers, or a bunch of assorted songs that were co-written with friends over the years.

Maybe we won't be waiting as long as we thought.

an album of covers => I go for it !

Wow, nice catch! I thought I was good at Googlestalking obscure Vienniana (especially blogs), but I missed this. Or is it brand new?

Re:covers albums. Some call them desperation acts, but I say the proof is in the pudding. What it is is what it is. Not considering all-star tribute albums such as the recent one to John Prine, just considering covers by one artist, I can think of two this year that are really stellar: Peter Gabriel's Scratch My Back, and Carrie Rodriguez' Love and Circumstance. The former shows basically what an old master can do with great borrowed material, and the latter seems to be the album that finally establishes Carrie as a force in the Americana world, based on her ability to credibly tackle standards that lots of other people have done before, and show us something new & great. In both cases, artists have truly made other people's music their own. It's a totally different thing from singer-songwriter, where you get credit for the excellence of your writing. In a covers album, it's all performance. I'd be very excited to see Vienna pull that trick off. Sure she has done some great covers before, but she's never relied on them to carry an album, or a concert that I know of. I think she can do it and I'd love to see it.

I would never have conceived of Vienna doing a holiday album, but I guess anything is possible. (I would never have conceived of Aimee Mann doing one, either, but she did--nevermind Dylan!)

Now finished the interview. *Very* good, insightful interviewer. Scratched an itch of mine: how did Vienna get to self-release TMAV?

[Scot]

First of all, thanks for the setlist (and the associate creativity). I went ahead and added it to my site with the non-cover titles!

A new studio album in formation and a possible cover album? Oh boy- wouldn't that be fun?!

Any audio recordings of this show?
s

[Michele]

Any audio recordings of this show?

Yes, but it was cold out and there were a lot of oopsies from frozen fingers, so the show won't be released. It's up to you to provide some trio treats for our ears

It was really really good to hear Ward filling up some parts on songs again. His Seattle-centric audience participation request to make rain during Blue Caravan was a good call. The trade-off of a trio show, and with it being a festival, was that we didn't get to hear any of the new duo stuff. Hope that it shows up in December.