Mark Gardener & Doug Yule live (review)
Will Dockery
live at Pianos, NYC, August 31, 2006
a review by Sal Mercuri
From: http://olivier.landemaine.free.fr/dougyule/dypianos.html
"Caroline" Doug Yule video:
http://Movies.Here.Nu/caroline.wmv
An appreciative New York audience witnessed the first area performance by
Doug Yule in over thirty years on August 31, 2006. The arrangements for
Thursday night's show came together in a whirlwind of emails and phone calls
over a mere four days.
Doug and Mark Gardener, former member of Ride would appear together in a
small club on the lower east side of Manhattan. The original idea was for
Mark to perform his set and then, in an acknowledgment of the Velvet
Underground's influence on his music, he would call on Doug to join him for
"New Age".
Doug arrived at Pianos on Ludlow street (coincidentally, a stone's throw
from Lou, John, and Sterling's old apartment) with his guitar and violin and
met Mark. After a brief chat, they quickly moved on to the business of
rehearsal. They seemed to click almost immediately and it appeared that the
performance of the one song would go very smoothly. One song would hardly be
enough though. So both Doug and Mark ran through "Two More Hands", one of
Doug's original tunes, and then "What Goes On"!
Mark then brilliantly suggested that since they were digging into the VU
catalog, why not dig a bit further and try "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'"? After a mad
scramble for the lyrics, they worked the song out beautifully. Mark sang
harmony and matched Doug's guitar with his own twelve-string.
Because the show came together so quickly, there was no time for promotion
beyond word-of-mouth and postings on web sites. The small room filled up
nicely however, and the audience was treated to Mark's lovely solo set and
then the shared set with Doug. I think what really surprised the audience
was how well Doug's voice has held up over the years. If you closed your
eyes, you'd swear it was 1970. Doug and Mark's voices and guitars blended
beautifully.
The set was as follows: Mark solo: Water and Wine, Snow in Mexico, Time to
Time, Beautiful Ghost, Story of the Eye.
Mark was then joined by Doug and Daniel Yule, Doug's thirteen year-old son.
They played violin on an Appalachian standard "Candy Girl" with Mark on
guitar. The trio continued with "Two More Hands" with Doug switching to
guitar for this original song from 2000, and then on to a great rendition of
"What Goes On" with Daniel replacing that song's distinctive twin guitar
solo with a lovely violin version.
Doug and Mark then proceeded to "New Age" which again highlighted Doug's
excellent and amazingly youthful voice, and closed with a majestic rendition
of "Oh! Sweet Nuthin". The delighted audience clamored for one more but
there simply wasn't enough time to have had prepared more. Doug and Mark
both expressed how much they enjoyed playing together and it's entirely
possible that we may hear more from them.
For me, it was like a dream come true to hear those great songs so
wonderfully performed. It was also great fun to meet Mark and find out what
a warm and extremely talented guy he is. Do not miss him if he comes to your
town! I must thank the staff and crew at Pianos who could not have been more
helpful and accommodating, and my partner in this venture, Steve Pestana.
The performance was taped by a crew from Grey Skies Films which is producing
a DVD documentary on Mark.
- Sal Mercuri
--
WRBL television spot on the Sam Singer Loft show, from:
http://tinyurl.com/y48fgk
"Ozone Stigmata" by Will Dockery
http://www.myspace.com/willdockery
Will Dockery videos:
http://tinyurl.com/yfmzeq