...Club's attention.


The set started off with the song Leipzig.
This is one of his rarer tunes that appeared on a couple of the numerous and different (sequence/tracklist) releases of The Golden Age of Wireless. Deemed appropriate as the story of the bored with current life character kind of represented Dolby's urge to return to the stage.

The rest of the set's material was pulled from the following albums...



...in varying doses.

Other tunes included:
Europa And The Pirate Twins
Flying North
Windpower
One Of Our Submarines
Budapest By Blimp
I Live in a Suitcase
Hyperactive!
She Blinded Me With Science
Airhead (encore)

About 1/2 way through the set he said something like, "At this point I should probably play some new material but i'm too chickenshit."
For some insight into his thought process in choosing the material, there's a blog entry he wrote here:
http://blog.thomasdolby.com/?m=200603

Here's the comical ending comment...
I’m anything but prolific! Most artists have a much higher output.
By comparison, Prince, who first hit the mainstream round about the same time I did, has released something like 23 solo albums compared to my 4.

The cat really had to work the whole show. There were no pre-recorded super-produced tracks that he was playing the occasional keyboard part against. As a matter of fact, on Hyperactive! he recreated the arrangement on the spot from the ground up. He stood the whole time and only sat down to play Budapest By Blimp. This may have only been to show off his cool electric keyboard stand that raised and lowered via remote control.

The projector images...



...added some visual spice to the performance.


See if you can tell what's being played by the overhead image...




...Europa, Flying North and of course Blinded.


The only constructive criticism I have on a technical level is that the mix of all the different parts of each song could have been better.
The songs are well arranged with realtime multi layered musical parts that make the tunes sound very full.
Since this was only the 2nd full show in this one-man format, i'm sure they'll work it out over the course of the tour.

I enjoyed the show and he seemed genuinely pleased...



...at the appreciation he received from the audience at the end of the night.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431
[Edited 4/15/06 14:53pm]

Did he play this jam too ?

I was there too. It was a great show. I liked how he would do the drum beat with his fingers at the beginning of most tunes and then just loop it. I just wish it had been longer but it was still great to see him.

He's awesome. Wonder if he's coming through Canada.

100MPH said:

May The Cube Be With You didn't make the setlist.
Nor did anything very obscure...

It’s very hard for me to make choices, because an enormous amount of work goes into preparing each song for live performance. How did I select these few songs from among my ‘extensive’ repertoire (a whopping 50 titles*)? And how did I go about choosing which additional ones to add in April and May when I go out and play a full set of an hour or more? Well, my main aim with this tour was to reconnect with my musical roots and my core audience. So they had to be songs that are fundamental to me; songs that I still feel good about, 20 to 25 years after I wrote them. They have to be ones I can sing comfortably, five or six times per week (I’m no Vegas seasoned professional when it comes to vocals.) I also had to play ‘the hits’ because everybody will expect them, and a large proportion of people at my gigs will be unfamiliar with the more cerebral tracks. And I know that my most fanatical fans, the ones that travel thousands of miles to see my concert, have their own favorites–often the least commercially successful ones–and I’d love to be able to make those fans happy by performing those songs for them in an intimate setting.

~T.Dolby - http://blog.thomasdolby.com/?m=200603


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

pkidwell said:

Aah, too bad I didn't know. Would've said hello.

What area of the venue were you in?


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

CinisterCee said:

Doesn't look like it at the moment - http://www.thomasdolby.com/tdtour.html


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Aliens Ate My Buick is so funky, it's sick.



.
[Edited 4/15/06 11:41am]

thanks for the review tA. you're a man of details, i like that. i see i have something to look forward too and hopefully he'll extend his set a bit by the time he arrives in chitown. i'll be seeing him a day before my birthday!!!

if he decides to play The Flat Earth i might just rub on some girl's booty. ahh, i might do that anyways, though i don't think there's gonna be too many babes at a Dolby show.

Dolby's take on The Key Club...

The Key Club went very well. When I arrived at the club I was given a choice: (a) set up at the front of the stage, then strike my gear after soundcheck so the support bands had space or (b) set up on the drum riser at the back of the stage. I opted for (b) because that meant we would draw a curtain across my rig, so I could keep programming on headphones while the other bands played. I felt I needed the extra time so I was willing to sacrifice being close to the audience. It must have been a bit strange for the folks who had waited patiently in the front row, but at least the whole club had a good view.


It looks like Thomas Dolby had a very famous fan the following night at his Canyon Club gig...

I was honoured by a visit last night from Paul McCartney who knows Colin Hay and has a house in Malibu not far from the Canyon Club. I’d heard he was going to be there–didn’t really believe it–but sure enough, after the show I walked into the backstage VIP area and there he was. I guess I must have cast my eyes around for an old guy but Paul looks fantastic. Mick Jagger could be his grandad! It was a bit weird because I don’t think he realized I was the guy he just saw play a concert. But someone else told me they saw him grooving and singing along to ‘Hyperactive’.

http://blog.thomasdolby.com/


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

ThreadBare said:

i used to love that song..i think he is playing in SF at the independent..i might just check him out, if i can...

sinisterpentatonic said:

He said that he'd consider adding new material later in the tour. That'd be a nice present.

As for waiting to hear The Flat Earth before the booty-rub , you know that's gonna happen during the 1st 3 notes of Leipzig.

You might be surprised, there were a fair number of females in attendance.
Nothing like The Beatles at Shea Stadium but you gotta play the cards you're dealt.

Looking forward to your commentary.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

I dig Dolby man.....

i'm going to the Alexandria, VA show at the Birchmere in May. CAN'T WAIT!!!!!


i hope he does "Airwaves".... i'll cream if he does.

NorthernLad said:

...


I'm trying to go to that show, too!



...
[Edited 4/17/06 12:37pm]

Thanks for posting this info. I always thought it would be interesting if P and T worked together. Now,it may not work,but back in the day....

NorthernLad said:

That's one of the few fan-favorites that's not in the setlist.

There must be some technical/physical reason for the exclusion.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

i was in the back of the club.....it was strange to see people talking the entire way through the show.....and there was a severe lack of women....but i loved the way he filmed himself while performing so we could see it on the big screen above him....it was hard to believe he was the only one up there performing working all those computer gadgets solo...and his voice sounds great!

paligap said:

awesome! I hope you can make it. That is a great place to see a show.

theAudience said:

Yeah, i'd figure that would be a definite in the set. But i'm happy to see Flying North getting some play. And of course One of Our Submarines is one of my faves.

he was also very funny and nice to the audience.....at one point he joked about being able to hear the audience applause through his monitor....and then said that he could even hear some conversations going on....and then he pointed to a few people and said something like "and I know my ass looks odd in these pants.....forgive me"

pkidwell said:

I had a completely different experience.
From the perspective of my photos you can see that I was in the front and to the right of the stage.
Everyone there was giving the performance their full attention.

What a difference your spot in the room makes.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

sosgemini said:

Yeah, and hey, I meant the whole album. Tons o' funk. Made me go .

rockwilder said:

NP.

Based on his blog statement, it would be hard to see that happening...

"I’m anything but prolific! Most artists have a much higher output.
By comparison, Prince, who first hit the mainstream round about the same time I did, has released something like 23 solo albums compared to my 4."

...They obviously work at radically different tempos.



tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431