Artist: Dar Williams
Date: October 1, 2000
Opening Act: Political Satirist – Barry Crimmins
Venue: Fitzgerald Theater
City: St. Paul, MN
Review by [Amy Lotsberg] Producer of Collected Sounds
She began with Calling the Moon.
I Won’t Be Your Yoko Ono – She wrote this while attempting to write a song for a film. She was reading the script and there was a mention of Yoko Ono and this song sprung from that.
If I Wrote You
Spring Street – She described this as a cautionary tale she wrote while living in Soho waiting for her personal growth sprut.
Are You Out There? – This is about a really cool radio station that only she knew about. She said it just made it to the suburbs, but wasn’t supposed to, “Really isn’t supposed to be there, but who could stop ’em?!”
Then she talked about Ralph Nader. She said her parents, via the Dar List, found out that she has been talking about him at her shows and they being democrats, are not pleased. She said her interest in him is strictly…romantic.
So she was trying something new. She thought she would talk about bondage instead to see if it got back to her parents. She said, “Maybe it’s a good thing because it gives you good hand eye coordination.”
It Happens – This was a dedication from a mother to son that I assume was in the audience.
Better things – A Ray Davies song
The band left and she was on stage by herself…she asked for requests then said, “Oh I have one!” and played You’re Aging Well. She told a story about singing it with Joan Baez. She was asked to be a part of a show that Joan was doing and thought them asking her to join in was just a token gesture. But then they asked her to join them on tour, then to go to Europe with her. She found it especially wonderful because she said Joan taught her how to shop!
End Of The Summer
I Had No Right – was “originally to be about an anorexic Christian teenager” then she found a book that her sister gave her about the Trial of Daniel Berrigan.
I think the book she was talking about is “The Trial of the Catonsville Nine”.
The liner notes (on the CD “The Green World”) says she took a line from a documentary called, “An Act Of Conscience”
After All
Playing to the Firmament
We Learned the Sea -After the song (during a pretty quiet time, someone’s cell phone rang. She said that the song is sort of a response to the Nursery Rhyme, Winkin, Blinkin & Nod. Three little kids sent off in a boat all by themselves wondering where the adults are….She said, “then the parents called on the cell phone!”
What Do You Love More Than Love – Dar mentioned that this could be a part two to “Spring Street”
Later in the show she said that with the new monitor thingys she wears in her ears, sometimes she forgets that she is not alone on stage and says really personal things. Like the other night when she played this song. When it was over, she turned to the band and said, “Man, I really can’t sing that song!” and they all looked at her with embarrassed smiles sort of said, “You’re fine.” And she went on to say, “No, really! It’s supposed to be ‘the single’ the one we handed out to the radio and it’s a really hard song to sing!”
Another Mystery – She wrote this how some people give labels to women like goddess, angel etc…and she didn’t want to be a part of that. I couldn’t help thinking of Sarah McLachlan (“Building a Mystey”).
Encore: Iowa – “I seem to get a lot of requests for this song the closer I get to a certain state”. Then she said she didn’t know how this would go over here with us Minnesotans (Lutherans) being so reserved but she wanted us to sing along to the chorus…”It’s entirely up to you…but you have to”.
As Cool as I am
Second Encore:
The Christians and the Pagans – Acoustic
It was a great show, she was silly and charming and the audience loved her