Dec. 9 Damien and the Orpheum Theater

[EskimoNo9]

I just got back from the show, and I must say that it was the most amazing show I have ever been to!! Every expectation surpassed!

I was wondering if anyone had recorded it, or video-taped it? And hopefully willing to share? It would be great to have a copy, this being my first show and all.

Also, any favorite moments from this show? I know mine was Cheers Darlin' story, everyone singing Happy Birthday to him (although people were talking shortly afterwards, so I was unable to hear his improv. thanks), Vivienne's little cello/Motorcycle thingy, and of course the rockin' out tunes when he just kept going on Rootless Tree/ Woman like a Man.

And the really long Accidental Babies was awesome.

I loved this Concert. YeAH! haha.

[1mug]

yeah. it was pretty amazing.

my favorite part was his hilarious story behind the meaning of Volcano, and the justification for Me, My Yoke + I. What a charming witty guy.

Plus, i thought the opening acts were fantastic. Damien certainly knows how to surround himself with talent.

[EskimoNo9]

Seriously. I think I finally understood some of his songs. His story for Me, My Yoke & I was funny. I can't believe how open he was about it! So silly.

Volcano.. That's the one about attraction, then real attraction.. Yeah, his stories were great.

Originally Posted by 1mug

yeah. it was pretty amazing.

my favorite part was his hilarious story behind the meaning of Volcano, and the justification for Me, My Yoke + I. What a charming witty guy.

Plus, i thought the opening acts were fantastic. Damien certainly knows how to surround himself with talent.

[bryce5.23.88]

looking forward to hearing more reviews, and these song explanations. :-)

[Soleillily]

This is my 7th or 8th time seeing Damien and the band and I must say it's one of the best performances I've seen (up there with the Troubadour)! He was in such good form and wanted to keep playing but ran out of time...

(p.s. I was the one who yelled "we love you Damien" at one point and he asked "what did she say" and I yelled it again and I don't think he minded....hehe..well, i do love him!)

(p.s.s. Swell Season...oh man, awesome!)

[EskimoNo9]

By the way, I just read that it's courtesy to wait 2 weeks before requesting for a copy of the show. I'm really sorry about that. I forgot about that rule (i'm kind of a newbie when it comes to requesting/trading). I guess I got way too excited.

[EskimoNo9]

Originally Posted by Soleillily

This is my 7th or 8th time seeing Damien and the band and I must say it's one of the best performances I've seen (up there with the Troubadour)! He was in such good form and wanted to keep playing but ran out of time...

(p.s. I was the one who yelled "we love you Damien" at one point and he asked "what did she say" and I yelled it again and I don't think he minded....hehe..well, i do love him!)

(p.s.s. Swell Season...oh man, awesome!)

AH haha.. I like how he took all the yelling "I loves you"s and other cheers really well. I thought he might have been mad at those because they were done during some of his playing, but I think he actually liked it. Maybe it was because we all sang to him?

I do think I remember your yell.. wasn't it during the begining of the show?

[Valentino]

If you don't mind, what exactly were the stories behind Volcano and Me, My Yoke & I?

[pintura714]

This is my third time seeing damien but the first one where its was his concert and it was fantastic. This is the best show i have ever been to he realy knows how to work a crowd. I loved when he sang blowers daughter because i absolutely love it. The theater was spectacular there was no bad seat in the house and everyone could see damien!THis show has intesified my love for damien rices music!, I also find it quite funny but i feel i and my friend were the youngest ones there since were only 17 and everyone seemed in their 20's or older just a random fact! i love damien and his music is phenomenal

[EskimoNo9]

Originally Posted by Valentino

If you don't mind, what exactly were the stories behind Volcano and Me, My Yoke & I?

It's kind of hard to explain it because a large part of the humor was in his delivery, but I'll try anyways (sorry if I kill it).

Volcano:
It's basically a story about how he dealth with attraction. He said it's when he first laid eyes upon someone, and he felt this intense attraction -- but for 20 minutes. It didn't last that long (but just a hormonal thing, as he described it). That's verse 1. Then the next time he gets an attraction (to someone else), he feels that it's real. BUT, the other person felt the way he did the first time (quite ironic). So he'll be into her, calls and texts. She'll respond, but only because she's nice. That's verse 2. Basically it was more humorous when he did it. That's kind of why I'm hoping someone had recorded it, because it's really a funny concert! w/ rocking moments. I loved it.

Umm.. his Me, My yoke & I story basically confirms what some have said the song was about. He mentioned that he had certain feelings when he was younger.. and well, you can imagine. I feel weird trying to explain it. He ended it by saying that we wouldn't have been given things if we weren't to use them? Really funny, but I'm sure someone else can explain it much better than I.

[EskimoNo9]

Originally Posted by pintura714

THis show has intesified my love for damien rices music!, I also find it quite funny but i feel i and my friend were the youngest ones there since were only 17 and everyone seemed in their 20's or older just a random fact! i love damien and his music is phenomenal

SERIOUSLY!! I felt so young because most of the people were couples in their late 20s. I even saw some mid-30s up in there. Nothing wrong with that; I just thought there would be a younger crowd there too.

High five to you!

I also feel a better bond with his music, now that I've seen him live.

[pintura714]

Originally Posted by EskimoNo9

SERIOUSLY!! I felt so young because most of the people were couples in their late 20s. I even saw some mid-30s up in there. Nothing wrong with that; I just thought there would be a younger crowd there too.

High five to you!

I also feel a better bond with his music, now that I've seen him live.

< you know what was funny when the romantic songs came up and damien was singing they were getting all touchy feely and theres was this couple and this guy was like caressing his girlfriends hair it was totally hilarious because she didnt respond to him because she was listening to damien, but some of the couples were making me uncomfortable because the was too much pda occuring!>

[Max]

What a rockin' fun show!!!

What an amazing night. Damien and the rest of the band were so much fun tonight. I still think the El Rey show might me my favorite of the three recent LA shows, but they really rocked out tonight.

Last night Damien didn't say much, but played an awesome set. Tonight he couldn't stop talking and just seemed to have such a good time.

This was my 12th show - but I don't think I've ever seen him in a better mood (apparently he got over the jet lag quickly)

Also it was my second time to go back stage and meet the gang afterwards :-) - and on a fun note I litterally bumbed into Penélope Cruz in the stairs by the ladies room right after the show.

[EskimoNo9]

Originally Posted by Max

What a rockin' fun show!!!

What an amazing night. Damien and the rest of the band were so much fun tonight. I still think the El Rey show might me my favorite of the three recent LA shows, but they really rocked out tonight.

Last night Damien didn't say much, but played an awesome set. Tonight he couldn't stop talking and just seemed to have such a good time.

This was my 12th show - but I don't think I've ever seen him in a better mood (apparently he got over the jet lag quickly)

Also it was my second time to go back stage and meet the gang afterwards :-) - and on a fun note I litterally bumbed into Penélope Cruz in the stairs by the ladies room right after the show.

Wow, how did you score a trip back stage? That's really cool. Oh, and thee Penelope Cruz? I just saw Capt'n Corelli's Mandolin the other day. She's one of my favorite foreign actresses (and I'm not just saying that because you mentioned her). I wouldn't have imagined celebrities going to Damien's show. How interesting.

[pintura714]

how in the world did u meet damien? I have been trying everything and i cant !i tried emailing everyone and no one ever responded!

[EskimoNo9]

Lol, we sound like such stalkers now!

Nah, I just think he's an interesting person. Very genuine. Not at all for the $$, yet still continues what he does. Not very many people like him.

[freeda]

the best ending to a concert i have experienced in my whole life. and i've been to alot of shows!!! Cheers Darling was a piece of theatrical art! He brought friends from backstage up and swell season joined them too for drinks (which damien poured and passed around himself). i've seen him before so i knew when the wine was being passed around that they were going into cheers. he proceeded to tell a story about a man and a woman who literally run into each other at a bar as they run from the rain and sparks fly and they end up having a drink or 4. everytime he would get to the part of the story where they would drink he would take a drink. but you must understand that he would down his entire glass. he drank 4 full glasses of wine (pretty much a whole bottle) during the song and you can see him go from pretty straight to pretty smashed. he ended up on glenn's lap and started making a sound of a phone ringing and acted out a conversation between a taxi co. and the sad man who needed to get home after finding out this woman he thought he was going home with had a beau. it was pretty hilarious the song already rips you to shreds but his performance tonight gave me goosebumps and tears of laughter all at the same time. Wow! I don't know how he'll top that.

[Max]

In LA all kinds of celebs go to his shows. I saw Jennifer Anniston at the Troubadur - and a couple of years ago I saw the last person I'd ever expect to see at a Damo gig - Britney Spears!!!

[zakurie]

Great, great show! WOW! Just amazing.

Highlight of my night...Unplayed Piano, followed by the abum version of Rootless Tree.

[freeda]

i can't remember the order of the songs or if my memory will hold up but here are the songs i remember them doing:
cannonball, the professor (love that lisa took a whole verse), 9 crimes, volcano, baby sister, blower's daughter, vyv's motorway song (adorable), rootless tree, woman like a man, yoke, animals were gone,unplayed piano (my fave moment- he had a beautiful montage of aung san suu kyi projected on the wall while they were doing the song, sniff), i remember (with a kick ass drum section/kinda solo thing), coconut skins (good story about not caring anymore about what other people thought of him), accidental babies, cheers darling
i was waiting for a solo lisa song but didn't happen

also, i saw sandra oh there. wonder if she was thinking about her scene in grey's anatomy when 9 crimes came on.

[Max]

That's funny - One of my best friends works on Grey's - I'll have to ask.

[FightthegdFight]

Originally Posted by Max

Also it was my second time to go back stage and meet the gang afterwards :-) - and on a fun note I litterally bumbed into Penélope Cruz in the stairs by the ladies room right after the show.

Very jealous that you got to meet Damien, Lisa, and gang. I tried sticking around after the Friday show, but security forced us out. As I asked around, one of the higher security guards told me that they had an after party for him so it would be quite a while before he would come out, if he did at all. My friend and I were freezing, and the Orphem isn't in the best of neighborhoods, so we decided it wouldn't be a good idea to stick around.

How was it meeting the band?

[SilentNight]

waking up to read these posts is like drinking from empty cup, j/k.

glad you all had fun

[eagle88]

It was an amazing show, every Damien performance seems to be. I was a little disappointed, though, that he didn't get to sing all the songs he wanted to...they ran short on time. I missed hearing "Eskimo Friend". My favorite performance is still the Henry Fonda Theater in LA when the sound system would work but he continued on anyway. That was a sprawling, nearly 3 hour performance. I think the difficulties made the performance more intense.

He commented at the end of the show last night that this wasn't an official tour, that they were just celebrating the new album being out. So I guess that means we'll be seeing him again next year.

After 3-4 years listening to 'O', knowing all the songs on that record so well, I was stunned again by "The Blower's Daughter" and how beautiful it is. That refrain, "I can't take my eyes off of you", over and over.

As for Me, My Yoke and I...I hadn't heard that story before, I may not have heard the song before. He told how he discovered his "dangling parts" as a kid, was guilty that it felt so good, and he figured that if he gave donations to charity, he'd be able to make up for that guilt. He eventually went broke. Wracked with guilt, riding his bike past a church, he stopped and kind of fell over, resting his head against the church. Which is when he got the idea that eventually inspired this song.

[Soleillily]

Originally Posted by EskimoNo9

AH haha.. I like how he took all the yelling "I loves you"s and other cheers really well. I thought he might have been mad at those because they were done during some of his playing, but I think he actually liked it. Maybe it was because we all sang to him?

I do think I remember your yell.. wasn't it during the begining of the show?

Oh, I would never have said anything during a song performance...I yelled when he was getting ready to set up for another song, on piano I think and then he let Vyv sing a song....the crowd was very respectful and I never really heard anyone say/yell anything during the actual songs only inbetween. You could hear a pin drop during Accidental Babies.

I saw Orlando Bloom in the smoking patio during the break right before Damien's performance..he was just steps from me and my friends.

I wanted to stick around to meet the band again but I've never been to the Orpheum before and had no clue where to go. Next time...

[pintura714]

i had no idea that celebrities liked damien!thats really cool i wish i had seen some but damien is enough! One day ill meet him ....i hope!

[Didactic Destiny Scemer]

Yeah, we met Orlando, soleillily You shoud've stuck with us the whole night. It was good meeting you again last night.

Yeah after he played Cheers Darlin, which I've been waiting to hear for years, my friends and i suddenly had an urge to drink a glass of wine. I have no idea why. sense the sarcasm?

Such an amazing show. He actually made fun of himself. telling everyone he's a "depressing f***er." He then went on to do an impression of him singing Blowers Daughter being overexageratedly depressed. Very funny. He also explained during the Me, My Yolk, and I story that he was 17 or 18, then struck that comment and changed it tyo 7 or 8 to make the story less embarrassing. I was blown away. That's actually the first show where I had a huge smile on my face for a big part of the show. He even waited to play Accidental Babies till the Encore cause he was in such a good mood. He let Vvivien play a happy and fun song while he went back and got "serious" so he said. Plus it was classic watching him chug 3 glasses of wine and sit in Glen's lap finishing the last few lyrics of the Cheers while and then go into a payphone conversation between him and a cabby. OH MOY GOD IR WAS SUCH A GOOD SHOW!

[AllThatLies]

unless somebody else taped it there won't be a recording. i have no clue in hell what happened but my tape didn't come out and i still can't figure out what went wrong.

[Max]

Oh man - I was so eager to hear your your recording from last night. I guess I'll have to put on the ol' El Rey gig again. I swear I've listened to it 20+ times with my Sennheisers wrapped around my head and just like it more and more.

Props again for that tape - it's extraordinary. Better luck next time and lets hope someone taped last night.

Cheers

[AllThatLies]

Originally Posted by Max

Oh man - I was so eager to hear your your recording from last night. I guess I'll have to put on the ol' El Rey gig again. I swear I've listened to it 20+ times with my Sennheisers wrapped around my head and just like it more and more.

Props again for that tape - it's extraordinary. Better luck next time and lets hope someone taped last night.

Cheers

yea, i really have no clue. it recorded basically 2 hours of silence with little static filled parts here and there. my best guess is the new 9v batteries i had were pretty much DOA somehow, though i tested them beforehand and they seemed fine. to my knowledge all of the connections were fine, but i suppose there's really no way to tell at this point. my 12/8 tape is fine though and will likely be out tonight.