Live From the Artists Den at Greenpoint Lofts Brooklyn
 

I originally posted this in the other board.

These are probably not in order and incomplete. MikeRennie has a recording and will probably post an accurate setlist later today.

The Prof, Elephant, MFFF, Woman Like a Man, Delicate, Blower's Daughter, Colour me in, The Box, Greatest Bastard, 9 Crimes, Back to Her Man, Amie, I Remember, Trusty and True( playing on his knees acoustic w/choir) And Cheers Darling at the bar with the story beforehand.

Damo wasn't particularly chatty and he did ask the lights to be turned down. I asked for What if I'm Wrong but no luck, sorry Marti.

Some Eskimos and myself went to the after party at a bar nearby. Around 11:30 we all left. Circa1992, InspirationDestination and I went back to the car parked near the venue and as we left we saw Damien about to get into an Uber cab. We pulled over called out to him and he stood by the car to wait for us. A little talking and the ladies got hugs. He was quite happy and buzzed.

Show will air in Feb March or April.

glad you all have fun! sounds like an amazing gig! He never seems particularly chatty/happy at these kind of pre-arranged things, but at least he did a full gig unlike the promo one in Paris

but how was the show taped if it was in the dark?? :D

do we reckon they´ll air it in full or just parts of it??

Ridiculous review compounded by wine and exhaustion.
 

So lucky to be able to get into show! The usual setlist, but with back to her man. He did the cheers darlin' thing sitting at an actual bar set-up for his theatrics. The bartender was pretty neat. He played a Lisa instrument-the horn with the little keyboard, at the end of cheers darlin'.

Damien was in an odd mood. No talking. He wanted the lights off, which is odd considering they were trying to film the thing. He stopped playing and they had to come with a ladder to turn off a bright spotlight. And, he did trusty and true, kneeling and unmiked, which might also make recording hard. I don't think the crowd was filled with die-hard fans, so the vibe was off. They certainly appreciated his talent, but it's not the same as a crowd of fans. Also, I think Joel Shearer was there. I'm about 95% sure it was him. He didn't play though. In fact he was trying hard to watch Damien's "acting" during cheers darlin'.

We were driving home and just happened to see his hat as we pulled down the street! We pulled over and he was kind enough to step out of his car. He recognized Liz (she happens to be beautiful!) and acknowledged it was odd in there.

Seriously love almost every Eskimo I've met at the ny shows and I tend to be very much in my own head in public places. It has been such a fantastic November. I might be cured of my damien obsession, so I'll have to find another clever lyricist to follow. I will always be grateful for meeting such fantastic people! Thanks for making the nites extra special!! Maybe awful drunk Damien karoake pre-gaming might be needed before the beacon show!

Hoping the next album is revolutionary. I cannot attend multiple shows in April filled with the same old setlist again.

Joel was without any doubt around. He just finished touring with Sarah McLachlan last friday

InspirationDestination- SO glad you were able to get in! And thank you for your overly kind words!

Despite it not being a great Damien performance (truth be told, not great Damien is still pretty darn good!) it was a fun night, and I'm grateful for the experience! I feel badly that Damien was obviously not really feeling it and seemed very uncomfortable- I don't think the extent of his talent will be obvious in the televised program. There was a sound issue (buzzing or humming sound) that irked him, especially during Elephant. He stopped playing in the middle of The Greatest Bastard to ask that certain lights be turned off (not all of them). The one that projected "The Artists Den" over his head was particularly annoying him and he called it a laser beam. Other than that, he didn't say a word the entire show.

In some songs, in places where he usually gets more intense, he kept it pretty quiet and almost spoke a few lines rather than singing them (2 that I can think of off the top of my head are Woman Like a Man and The Box I think...sorry, I'm tired). I had a little trouble seeing his Cheers Darlin act (I don't think the woman was pulled from the audience) since it was at the bar off to the side and other people and cameras were in the way, but it sounded funny. Oh, the choir that backed him during Trusty and True at the Apollo Theater also joined him here. Again, not the best performance for him to showcase his gift, but I hope others less familiar with him will not realize it was lacking the emotion and intensity we know he's capable of.

We went to the after party realizing it was extremely unlikely Damien would be there, however, I had hoped he would make an appearance nonetheless. I so enjoyed my time with the other people from this forum- madhat181 (and fiancé), InspirationDestination, Signalfire, DesoleinBoston, MikeRennie, and Wmacson! Everyone was super friendly and we all left about the same time (a few mins after DesoleinBoston). InspirationDestination was kind enough to give me, Madhat181, and his fiancé a ride to the subway.

She had parked near the venue, and as we made a turn to head to the subway station, we passed the venue and I noticed someone with a funny hat and asked the others in the car if they thought that was Damien (I was fairly certain it was, but hard to tell since his back was to the street).

We pulled over and mahat181 walked over to him, followed by me and InspirationDestination. We could tell he was about to leave and wanted to be respectful, so we barely took a minute or two of his time. We thanked him for the show and he said it was "weird." He was definitely in better spirits (most likely still buzzing from the wine he drank during Cheers Darlin) and he initiated a lovely hug. I'm bummed the rest of our crew weren't with us at that point. I just realized this second that I should've asked Damien for a lift back to Manhattan instead of driving to the subway with the others! :p Just kidding!

I appreciate the opportunity to have been a part of the taping, and hoping I'm not on camera at all looking like an idiot! :D

Evidently they have hundreds of hours from the 2-hr show, so they'll piece it together, based on what the can use.

I went to it expecting a beautiful room and a performance rather than the usual Damien show with banter and a chance for requests/rarities, so I wasn't disappointed. One of the spotlights was right in my face, and it left me feeling so dehydrated. I can't blame him at all for wanting to change the lights. Good for tv, bad for comfort. He said he wanted it to feel more like a concert.

I thought it was funny that so many of his choices did not seem PBS-friendly. US television does not like swearing, so starting with The Professor was a bold choice. It'll be interesting to see how they adapt that for tv or just let it go. Some of the performances were a little more subdued, but some were still full intensity, like the endings of Woman Like a Man and I Remember off the top of my head. It wasn't my favorite performance of all that I've had the luck to experience in the last month and a half, but it still sounded wonderful, even if I couldn't look directly at him sometimes due to the lights. Trusty and True unplugged was gorgeous, and the choir was lovely. I teared up and then tried to wipe my eye. Bad move since the lights were so bright that my hand was a little sweaty, so then I ended up crying! I kept thinking, "Well, it'll make good television if they see me..."

No fun Damien encounter for me since I went straight to the train to endure the late night delays, but like I said to Circa1992 when she told me, I got hugs from Eskimo Friends instead and am good with that. It was so nice to hang out, especially when more often than not, you meet someone at a gig and then don't see them for a year or so. We've had a lot of great experiences in a short amount of time.

I really need some coffee now...

Well said by all of you. I really don't have anything to add other than it was a real pleasure meeting you all....madhat181 and his fiance (Thank you again, Scott!) Circa92, DesoleinBoston, signalfire, InspirationDestination, mikerennie and a few I am sure I am missing! It was a fun night and I really enjoyed it. Hope we can get together before and after the Beacon show in April.

Here are a few pictures from the night. They asked us not to take out our phones during the show so I left it in my pocket. Most of these are before the show and hopefully gives you a feel for what it was like.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_8748.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_8751.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_8753.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_8755.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_8758.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_8763.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_8767.jpg

I didn't take this one. It was on the Artists Den twitter page:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B3QGxz6CcAAVyFi.jpg:large

When I asked the executive producer of the show how he planned to weave Cheers Darlin into the show, he said he didn't know but that it would be seen. He said the spend "days" with the artist leading up to the taping and that they usually have close to a "hundred hours" of footage to work with.

Joel actually played the drum and tambourine at the end of Trusty and True . He was hidden in the back so you might have missed him. I saw him go into the cab with Damien as well.

I don't know how long Artists Den usually is, but it was about a 2 hour show. Also I was told he was there since 2pm to sound check and record interviews.

Nothing much to add to these wonderful reviews except thanks to all the Eskimos for making me feel at home in New York again! I hope to repay the favor to all of you sometime.

Whoopa I need some SLEEP!

I was able to sneak in 1 pic of Damien when they were turning off the light he was bothered by.

http://i.imgur.com/NvE9xcEl.jpg

All the fellow Eskimos
From bottom left clockwise
Circa1992, wmacson, madhat181, signalfire, mikerennie and DesoleInBoston

http://images.phhhoto.com/2/S0UyOn1yi8h/gif

hahah, love that gif, glad i'm not in it :P

HA! What a fun night...do we really have to wait for April?! Hard to believe that over the summer my daughter and I were talking about how desperate we were to go to a Damien concert and we were about ready to consider flying to Europe if that was the only way. Crazy that 6 weeks ago I had never seen Damien live, yet now I have seen him 5 times! Life is good!

New York is the new Korea :D :D :D

you should add that picture on the pier in the IDWTCY video, so you can join damien in his twitchy dancing!

love this groufie! <3

So cool

You all look so happy for damo fans :)

Found a pic of his performance of Trusty and True on Instagram

http://i.imgur.com/rQ3YZWt.png

We just like listening to depressing songs, because they sell better. =)

love this one!

oooh, beautiful photo! i can't wait for a video of that.

I LOVE that black & white picture during Trusty and True (love the song too)!:icon_pray

Happy for the open bar! No, we all behaved ourselves since it was a work night.

wow so glad you guys all had such a great time!

I thought the venue was pleasantly rustic and charming, almost like a barn, with its ceiling beams and fairy lights. The outer surroundings made it seem like it was an abandoned hovel that was intended to be torn down.