VDP live at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Wednesday, 15th December 1999
by Michael Kemp (e-mail: margaretkemp@lineone.net)
Caught the 5.50pm to Waterloo with Sooty & Fatih and, an hour + 10 minutes later, met Mick Stannard & Paul Hamilton in "The Hole In The Wall" just outside Waterloo Station.
Presented Mick with "The Last Tape Of The 20th Century" borrowing cover art from Marcel Duchamp's "Replica of Bicycle Wheel".
Paul Hamilton on meeting Fatih for the first time (F. in yellow trousers, lime green coat, maroon scarf & black flowerpot hat) bellowed out "So which one of The Simpsons are you then?"
Drank up and made our way in high spirits to the Queen Elizabeth Hall and found our respective seats in the stalls.
First on were the High Llamas - a multitude of them too - who effortlessly (or so it seemed) recreated the magic of albums such as "Cold and Bouncy" and the sublime "Snowbug". Mick Stannard said he'd like the vocals mixed a little higher and more of a stage presence, but I told him that Sean O'Hagan was an impressionist.
They almost caught fire (literally) at one point, one of their amps was malfunctioning. I thought it was the old dry ice routine until I heard Sean quietly enquire after the whereabouts of the St John's Ambulance Brigade...
They were wonderful, harmonious; everything that Francis Greene says they are, & they finished with an extended "Track Goes By" from "Gideon Gaye".
(interval)
A piano, 2 music-stands for guitars, a few potted plants and a lit standard lamp - turning the bare boards of the Queen Elizabeth Hall into the cosy intimacy of a Victorian parlour evening in the Deep South.
Van Dyke Parks came on to great applause and cheers, introduced his 2 accompanists and leapt into the opening instrumental from "Jump", attacking the piano with relish and gusto.
The set list followed more or less that of the "Moonlighting - Live At The Ash Grove" album, with the addition of "Opportunity For Two", "Summer In Monterey" and a new song "Paradise Hill" (not unlike "Orange Crate Art" I thought on first hearing).
All praise to Grant Geissman (electric guitar) and Leland "Lee"
Sklar (bass & extraordinary beard) who played so well and imbued the songs with so much light & shade that I didn't miss the strings at all
(the string arrangements being one of my favourite things about the "Ash Grove" album).
Van Dyke himself was as witty and charming as you'd expect, calling us all "Dear Hearts", kissing the hallowed ground of the QEH stage, perching on the edge of the stage to recite "In Lure of the Tropics" (a poem by Jack Nocentelli), playfully berating the critics ("Music critics? It's like the Pope and birth control: if you don't play the game, don't make the rules...") and the absence of a sustain pedal ("There is no sustain pedal on this piano - please do not imagine there is an elephant loose in the room...")
He mentioned Brian Wilson twice: dedicating "Sail Away" to him and later drawling in that wonderful voice "Hmm, I must tell my pal Brian Wilson about this..."
All in all it was a brilliant night: Andrew Wickham was in the audience, as was Nick Cave, Kirsty MacColl, Glenn Tilbrook, Sally Parks & entourage, John Porteous, and all of the High Llamas (who sat around Fatih).And one of our party got to meet The Man face to face afterwards! After the second encore (a barnstorming version of "Donovan's Colours" that sounded like it had escaped from a hoe-down) (Though I never met a barnstorming song that escaped from a hoe-down, I just cannot imagine it would sound like that thrilling, rousing encore. - the editor.) me and Mick Stannard wandered out to find the bar again, and what should we see but a long swirling line of VDP fans queueing up around the block to get their CD's and books signed by The Man. And at the VERY FRONT of that queue - staking her place as though it were the Wimbledon finals - was... Sooty!!
He eventually surfaced from the dressing-room ("My apologies for keeping you waiting - they forced me to drink their liquor...") and duly signed Sooty's copy of "Jump On Over" ("The Adventures of Brer Rabbit and His Family" by Joel Chandler Harris adapted by Van Dyke Parks) with what LOOKS like "To Michael & Margaret, Compose!" (he's imploring me to compose?) Or maybe it's something in Spanish or Mexican, like "Compadre"...
For her part, Sooty regaled him with the story of the antique wedding frame that we keep in the front room, but instead of the happy couple it has housed a picture of Van Dyke Parks (photocopied from the inside sleeve of the "Tokyo Rose" album & hand-tinted like a frame from a Georges Melies film) since 1989 - and visitors STILL ask: "Which side of the family is HE from?"
Van Dyke chuckled away at this and thought it a wonderful story.
Afterwards, grabbing Sooty, Fatih and the "Jump On Over" book (Mick Stannard had declared the whole evening "sumptuous" but had to rush off to catch his train to Beckenham), I rushed through the cold night air to the National Film Theatre bar where Paul Hamilton had thoughtfully reserved a pint of Murphy's for me by the window overlooking the Thames.
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Setlist (as posted on theVanDykeParks mailing list):
Jump!
Opportunity For Two
Orange Crate Art
Sail Away
Wings of a Dove
Paradise Hill (a new song!)
FDR in Trinidad
Danza
Summer in Monterey
Cowboy
The All Golden
Delta Queen Waltz
In Lure of the Tropics (poem)
Sailin' Shoes
C-H-I-C-K-E-N (first encore)
Colours (second encore)
