The Mavericks and Mary Chapin Carpenter
Dan Bahr
Carpenter at New York's Westbury Music Fair. The Mavericks disappointed much
of the crowd; it seemed that they didn't want to sing much, they jokingly insulted the
audience (even after standing ovations), and they refused to sing the original
version of some of their hits and changed the tempo so that the material became
almost unrecognizable.
Fortunately, Mary Chapin Carpenter was phenomenal. Her voice was beautiful
and the band had some of the most talented musicians I have ever heard, The
management finally had to tell her to end the show because she had stayed on
stage so long. I'd pay to see her any time.
Adam C Schneider
>Last week I went to a concert with The Mavericks opening for Mary Chapin
>Carpenter at New York's Westbury Music Fair. The Mavericks disappointed much
>of the crowd; it seemed that they didn't want to sing much, they jokingly
>insulted the audience (even after standing ovations), and they refused to
>sing the original version of some of their hits and changed the tempo so that
>the material became almost unrecognizable.
I can't defend them insulting the audience, but as for rearranging their
stuff and playing "almost unrecognizable" versions of their popular songs...
That's why I go to concerts! If I wanted to hear it played exactly like
the recorded version, I could save 30 bucks and stay home. I hate going
to concerts where it's just a recitation of the "normal" versions of
someone's Greatest Hits. I want to hear new arrangements, old stuff,
rarities, and covers.
Oh, and mistakes. A concert that goes off without a hitch is just
no fun at all. (I'm serious.)
Adam
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Adam Schneider schn...@maroon.tc.umn.edu Minneapolis, MN
If you want guitar chords for Mary Chapin Carpenter, Indigo Girls,
Mary Karlzen, Lucinda Williams, etc., go to my World Wide Web page:
http://www-bprc.mps.ohio-state.edu/cgi-bin/hpp/acs.html
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Christie
Mavericks in particular were wonderful :) MCC was wonderful as well :)
Christie
>
Gilbert Baron
>dan...@i-2000.com (Dan Bahr) writes:
>>Last week I went to a concert with The Mavericks opening for Mary Chapin
>>Carpenter at New York's Westbury Music Fair. The Mavericks disappointed much
>>of the crowd; it seemed that they didn't want to sing much, they jokingly
>>insulted the audience (even after standing ovations), and they refused to
>>sing the original version of some of their hits and changed the tempo so that
>>the material became almost unrecognizable.
They were recently in Rochester and both of the groups were great. The
music was great. I have to agree with the tendency of the Mavericks to
insult the audience though. They were at the Country night on the
streets of Rochester several years ago and there was a place in front
of the stage for dancing. Some people were line dancing and they told
them to stop, that they were probably bothering others, etc. They
thing had been promoted as a dance and concert. The dancers certainly
were not bothering anyone that I know of and I think the Mavericks
were OUT OF LINE with those comments.
Gil Baron W0MN gba...@sparc.isl.net, finger for my pgp key
"Bailar es vivir" pgp2.6 key http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/~bal/pks-toplev.html
"Cuatro caminos hay en mi vida. Cual de los cuatro sera el mejor"
DCHAYNES
relationship with the audience was not all it could have been. After
repeatedly remarking that they "already had [our] money", they had made it
clear that the audience's opinion of them wasn't important. Raul Malo was
the main offender however. He made several snide remarks about the hall
and stage and even decided (rather pointlessly) to insult the song "Back
Home Again in Indiana". When he said "that song sucks" the hall was
deafly silent. The bass player tried to recover the moment but they had
lost the audience. It's a shame that an artist with the talent of RM--his
voice among the best ever in any kind of popular music--has this obvious
contempt for his audience. It will be a awhile before I cross the street
to see these guys again. Perhaps someone ought to tell that there may
have been people in the audience (like me) who were glad to see them in
addition to MCC, but everyone was there to see her.
BTW, even though Mary-Chapin's voice was obviouly tired from a number of
shows in a row, her performacne was wonderful. She is one of the best
ever.
Adam C Schneider
>I have to agree. I saw the Mavericks with MCC @ Purdue on 4/1//95. Their
Hmmm...this is at least the third person who has commented on the rudeness
of the Mavericks toward the audience. Which is very interesting to me,
because when they opened for MCC in Minneapolis, they made a point of saying
_wonderful_ things about the Twin Cities and the audience. I wouldn't have
even noticed, but both Malo and the bass player came right out and said
things like, "we love coming here; it's been great to have a couple days
off and hang out around here, and we appreciate all the support from the
fans." I had never heard a performer say such glowing things about a tour
stop, and it seemed quite sincere.
Maybe they've been having internal problems on the road that have cropped
up recently, and they're cranky. Or maybe they just like us better. :)
Gilbert Baron
>Hmmm...this is at least the third person who has commented on the rudeness
>of the Mavericks toward the audience. Which is very interesting to me,
>because when they opened for MCC in Minneapolis, they made a point of saying
And maybe they have learned their lesson. They were also very nice to
the audience in Rochester, MN this time around. I hope they have
changed because they make GREAT music and I would hate to see them
fail but fail they will if they can't keep the nasty remarks out.
Patrick Knight
>From: dcha...@aol.com (DCHAYNES)
>Subject: Re: The Mavericks and Mary Chapin Carpenter
>Date: 15 Apr 1995 20:57:06 -0400
>I have to agree. I saw the Mavericks with MCC @ Purdue on 4/1//95. Their
>relationship with the audience was not all it could have been. After
>repeatedly remarking that they "already had [our] money", they had made it
>clear that the audience's opinion of them wasn't important. Raul Malo was
>the main offender however. He made several snide remarks about the hall
This was, I assume, the Elliot Hall of Music? What could be wrong? It's a
fine hall (and I wish I could have been there).
DCHAYNES
It was the Elliot Hall of Music. I agree that the sound was wonderful.
Their complaint seemed to be the wide expanse of stage between them and
the audience (the removeable orchestra pit that is for stage shows). I
think--just judging form my own theatre experience--that they had to
remain behind the proscenium for the purposes of monitors and lighting.
When they shut up and played, it was a great show.
Sharon L VanFossen
Ohio on 4/14.
This was the 3rd time I've seen the Mavericks. The first time was in a large
bar in Lancaster, Ohio. The band was excellent. The *crowd* was rude to them.
At least that's how it seemed to me. Seemed like very few people were paying
much attention to the band. And one guy was even heckling. The second time
was in a theater in downtown Columbus - place holds about 850 people. Again,
the band was excellent. The sound system was excellent. At first I was
concerned because it seemed as though the audience was not into the show.
However, over time the Mavericks really won the audience over. That stands as
my favorite Mavericks' show.
I knew that seeing them as an opening act would be different, because they
would not be able to do their usual 2-hour plus stint. When they opened with
"What A Crying Shame" and followed it with "There Goes My Heart", I was really
worried that this was going to be a straightforward performance. However, I
was wrong. Raul and Robert do most of the talking, and said that since it was
Friday night they were going to rock -- and they did. They played parts of
various rock songs. They cut the songs off after a few lines, but if the
audience applauded and wanted more, they continued that song. Raul suggested
that they do a little bit of every song they knew. It looked like they were
having a blast, and from what I could tell, so were the audience. They did a
great job with "I Saw Her Standing There". I couldn't tell you how long this
digression lasted, but it was fun! Then they went back to doing their own
songs. As for performing different variations of songs -- I'm with the person
who posted saying that he enjoys it when performers do that. I wouldn't pay
$27 to hear something that is exactly like the CD! Plus, varying the songs
must make it more enjoyable for the band. The Mavericks did not say anything
that could've been construed as rude to the audience. Raul was pretty
surprised at times when the audience wanted him to continue with a few of those
rock songs, and had to admit that he didn't know the rest of one of them - and
it was evident that he didn't *care* to know the rest of that song!
My view is that the Mavericks are guys with rather caustic senses of humor.
And I can easily see how one may not be sure how to take their sarcastic
comments. For instance, at one point, during the goofing around, Raul said,
"That's OK. The professionals come on after us." I suppose someone could've
considered this a slur on MCC, but everybody just laughed.
My advice to any Mavericks' fans would be to go see them when they are at a bar
or theater by themselves, and can just go all out for a couple hours. Of
course, I thought this last performance was good, and being a big MCC fan, it
was a perfect line-up for me.
Mary Chapin Carpenter was absolutely wonderful. Great stage presence, super
rapport with the audience. She sounded fantastic. I've been looking forward
to seeing her for a long time now, and was not disappointed in the least. She
had a lot of fun, and so did the audience. She is amazingly responsive to the
crowd. I would go see her again in a heartbeat. She can make a 17,000 seat
arena seem as intimate as the club down the street -- and she can get the joint
hopping, too!
I found it very interesting that the poster who complained about the Mavericks
changing their songs did not complain about MCC doing that. "Quitting Time"
was about as close to "unrecognizable" as one gets! The slowed-down version
was well-done and fit the lyrics beautifully. She varied quite a few of her
songs, all in very enjoyable ways.
My sister is a new Mavericks' fan - bought "What A Crying Shame" not very long
before the concert. She does not own any MCC albums. I was worried that she
may not have the best time, since she was familiar with only a limited amount
of the material for either band. As it turned out, she had a great time,
thoroughly enjoyed both the Mavs and MCC, and said that this show ranks now as
one of her all-time favorites!
One last note -- I got to meet the Mavericks after their performance. I'm much
too shy in these circumstances (funny how that doesn't come across on the net,
huh?!), but I did think to ask when their next album will be out. They're
expecting it to be released in September, and don't even have a working title,
yet.
Sharon
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* Sharon Van Fossen Psychometrist The Ohio State University *
* ----------------- ------------- ------------------------- *
* "And if I can find my mind now, I guess I'll just leave." (D.Yoakam) *
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Adam C Schneider
>I found it very interesting that the poster who complained about the Mavericks
>changing their songs did not complain about MCC doing that. "Quitting Time"
>was about as close to "unrecognizable" as one gets! The slowed-down version
>was well-done and fit the lyrics beautifully.
Hey, no fair, she didn't do the slow "Quittin' Time" in Minneapolis this
spring!
She did it as part of the acoustic tour in November, though; it was absolutely
incredible, especially since Shawn Colvin happened to be in town that night,
and she sang high harmony in "Quittin' Time." It was chilling. (Colvin also
did backup vocals for a couple other songs, and they did "One Cool Remove.")
Philip444
the audience. Mavericks lead singer said "Chapin is frisky tonight" and
she was. She sang I Feel Lucky and instead of Lyle she sang of Charles
(Barkley) and Michael (Jordan), who were in town at the time. I'm not sure
if they were at the concert.
Jungleland
Overall, I agreed with what you said on the net. However, I was at the
show in Dayton also. This is one of your comments.
>>>She can make a 17,000 seat
arena seem as intimate as the club down the street -- and she can get the
joint
hopping, too!
Nutter Center does not hold 17,000 seats. Sorry. It holds about 12,000
at full capacity. They only used about 1/2 of the arena for the show.
So, that cuts it down to 6000 seats available. Then, they only sold about
3000 seats. The way you wrote this, it sounds as though it was really the
whole arena, which it was not.
I agree that it was the quietest audience I have ever heard when they
needed to be quiet on some of MCC's slow songs. I have never heard an
audience respect an artist by being this quiet. You could actually hear
when MCC would whisper some of her lyrics.
An amazing show. MCC writes her own music. That is what separates her
from many other country artists. She's not "just a singer or performer."
It is a shame that there weren't more people in attendance to hear MCC. I
think that the rest of her tour is selling better.
Take Care...JOHN
jungl...@aol.com
Linda B. Gordon
Regarding the concert in Dayton. We didn't get to attend the show, we'll catch
up with her at Jamboree in the Hills in July. But, a cousin who lives near \Dayton said he had seen very little advertising for the concert. He first learned
of the show when he saw it on the Internet. He said he only saw newspaper ads
about a week in advance. Maybe it the show had been better promoted it would
have sold more tickets.