Hungrytown 12/15/08 Boston House Concert

[mad baggins]

Nields, Strangelings, Winterpills, Hungrytown in 4 consecutive
nights. Had I ever seen 4 straight shows like these 4? I don't think
so. Could the 500 Weekend possibly have gone any better than it did?
The 4-day weekend was like a dream come true, and the 4th of the 4 was
as sweet as could be.

When I saw the Strangelings Saturday night in Vermont, I'd been seeing
Chris and the Kennedys all fall, but I hadn't seen Rebecca & Ken since
Falcon Ridge.

Stephen & I walked into the Hall's in Boston on Monday just as
Hungrytown was taking the stage. I was literally still munching some
of Rebecca's parents' holiday goodies when R&K asked me onstage to
help them with their second song.

Let me qualify the term "onstage." R&K introduced me as sort of the
"third Hungrytown" on account of my doing the 3 songs I sometimes do
with them. The quarters at the Hall's were so tight I could barely
shoehorn between R&K without knocking over the microphone. Hungrytown
was playing right in front of a Christmas tree at one end of the
living room, that hadn't been there when Jeni & Billy played there in
November. I was literally bumping into Rebecca's guitar just by
breathing, so I almost had to hold my breath not to do that.

Lucille Lucille
On the Other Side (w/ Bruce)
Rose or the Briar (w/ Bruce)
Don't Cross That Mountain
Going North
Darkest Hour
O Lord
Come Around
O Come O Come Emmanuel
Hungrytown Road (w/ Bruce)
1816
Cold Winter Nights

Hard Way to Learn (encore)

I'd just heard "Don't Cross That Mountain" in Vermont for the first
time, and this was my first time hearing "1816" and "Cold Winter
Nights."

"1816" was a tale of love's woe revolving around the "Year Without a
Spring" caused by the explosion of a volcano in the East Indies in
1816, whose ashes thrown up into the atmosphere blocked the sun's
light for many months in a freakish year. Leave it to Hungrytown to
come up with yet another novel angle for "Love Gone Wrong." What a
metaphor for tainted love. "Big Blow Up darkens Love's
Prospects." :-)

"1816," too, is a real charmer, right out of the tradition, a surefire
winner.

Rebecca's singing and Ken's arrangement on "O Come O Come Emmanuel"
was just spellbinding, breathtakingly beautiful.

Hungrytown at the Hall's! What a great way to wrap up a weekend
beyond compare.