Apollo roll call

[amyyhc]

Originally Posted by madhat181

Anyone going to the Apollo early? I don't know many places around there to hang before the show.

Also does anyone know where the back stage door is? I never been to the Apollo before and it might be in an obvious place, but just want to ask in case it isn't.

exactly my questions as well,
would love to meet some fellow eskimos before/after the show!

[madhat181]

I will probably be in the area around 6:30. I have to be in front at will call at 7Pm. The only place close is the Starbucks at 201 West 125 street.The back stage entrance looks like it's on 126th street.

[madhat181]

They still had a few single seats left. One was 15th row in Orcherstra!

[dawno]

image.jpg

[amyyhc]

My Bubba is opening the show right now!

P.S. Anyone Eskimos in right orchestra?

[signalfire]

My Bubba were cute. I managed to swap a nice couple to get a better seat. Definitely a lovely venue for him. Good crowd vibes.

[conanemily]

Truly amazing evening!!

[melodie]

The Professor/La Fille Danse
Delicate
9 Crimes
My Favourite Faded Fantasy
Elephant
Older Chests
The Box
Colour Me In
Amie + Outro
Cannonball (unplugged)
Volcano (with friends and crowd)

The Blower's Daughter
I Don't Want to Change You
I Remember (with My Bubba)
Trusty and True (with friends and choir)

More details later!

[Circa1992]

I'm having trouble articulating how awesome these NYC shows have been! While this was a pretty standard set list (I was totally spoiled by last month's shows!), it was still amazing! Let's be real though, with so many great songs I think it's impossible for him to even have a "meh" set list! This might sound melodramatic, but I feel blessed to have seen these shows and witness his immense talent in person...his passion and intensity continue to blow my mind!

And it was great seeing a few friends from last month's shows (madhat181, & signalfire) as well as meeting a few more (melodie & amyyhc)! Big thanks to Scott (madhat181)- I got a hug from Damien for my daughter Sarah (who is in Africa seeing elephants while we heard "Elephant!") Unfortunately, she has our decent cameras and memory cards so I couldn't get any videos. I sure hope somebody was at least able to record the audio! On the plus side, there was an empty seat in the first row of the lower mezz and I grabbed it after the opening act. Thankfully, the ticket holder never showed up and I was happy to have had a much better view!

So, how can we convince him to do a show in NYC every month?!

[carrroline]

Originally Posted by Circa1992

So, how can we convince him to do a show in NYC every month?!

No, sorry we need him in Europe too (preferably not jet lagged)
Great to hear you all had a great time!

[mikerennie]

I recorded the entire show. However I was pretty far back. I'm gonna listen to it while I'm on the train back to Boston today. If it's decent I will post.

-Mike

[signalfire]

The setlist was not really unexpected, but that live version of 9 Crimes (only guitar) was one of the best I've ever heard. During the first few songs, he didn't really say anything other than 9 Crimes was originally written on guitar, so I was worried he was in a bad mood. However, eventually he just started to talk and didn't really seem to stop! He mused about why it is that lately at theater gigs, people get up to pee so much, and he instituted a rule that people could only leave the aisle or come back between songs. The venue kept the lights on in the lower mezzanine during the entire gig (which gave me a headache I still have, frankly), and he asked the venue to turn those off so he didn't have to stare at a Coca-Cola advert. Of course, they responded by turning off the lights on the stage. I'm just grateful that he tried. Other banter included talking about self-love and facing your critics (like yourself, during The Box) and accepting all the crap parts of yourself rather than hide them (Colour Me In). He really waxed on a while between songs at that point, which was fun. He also stretched out songs singing into his guitar. At one point he sang something like, "Can't wait until tomorrow / Can't play at the Apollo/ Just give up, you piece of ****." That got a lot of laughs. I didn't note when, but he also sang a bit of "Walking Out" into his guitar. Nice surprise!

Shahzad Ismaily joined him on Volcano with a friend to sing. Damien separated the crowd into three parts to sing and get faster and faster, which was a lot of fun. Shahzad was there from I Don't Want to Change You on, I think. Definitely the last two songs, but I've barely slept. For Trusty and True, Damien told the story about wanting to scratch a Mercedes when he was a kid. Rónán Ó Snodaigh came out to play bodhrán on that song, which was absolutely sprawling. A great finish to the night. I told myself that it was a shame the show was so short, and then I looked at my phone and realized it had ended just shy of 11:30. So Damien played about two hours, and I've heard a lot of venues charge a fine if you go after 11. Even he'd said earlier in the show that where he comes from, people tend to play like three hour sets, and he was trying to do shorter shows. I'm glad he didn't.

It was lovely hanging out with madhat181 and Circa1992 to actually get a chance to chat briefly with Damien, even if we were all freezing. I can't complain about giving him a hug either. It was also lovely meeting amyyhc and having to endure late night train issues with melodie. I think Eskimos are the nicest sorts of fans I've ever met, and I hope at least a few of us will make it to the Artists Den show!

[signalfire]

Ha, it seems the board censored a certain word above, but I'm sure bright minds can figure that out.

[madhat181]

The show was great. I was in the lower Mezz and after My Bubba's set was able to make it down to the orchestra to claim a seat 5 rows back center. I guess the scalper wasn't able to sell the seats in the almost empty row. The crowd was pretty laid back for the most part and he didn't play rarities, but it was a great show nonetheless. The jam session at the end with Ronan and Shazad brought me back to his 2006/2007 tour.

At the end of the night a few Eskimos and myself waited backstage to greet Damien. He came out around 1AM, so we were in the cold for a hour and a half, but well worth it. I asked him to take a picture with an Eskimo Friends sign I printed, because I know he doesn't take pics with fans, but a sign might be ok. He said "no thank you". I chatted with him for a bit since the other eskimos were talking to Shazad. He told me loves coming to NY and that is way he does so many shows here. I was then able to take vids of CirCa1992 and signalfire talking and hugging Damo.

[mikerennie]

The conversation between Older Chests and The Box was hilarious.

"People think I'm depressed but I just write depressing songs cause I know they sell."

And then about his annoying friend he wanted to shake off so one day he sat himself down in front of a mirror and sang him the Box.

[poetess85]

If anyone got a video of 9 crimes on guitar please post! I agree that the version last night was one of the best I have heard. I'm glad a few Eskimos got to chat with damien after the show.

[amyyhc]

Hi friends
the show was amazing, as expected, and it was so good to see him in a good mood and giving the audience a few good laughs. I particularly enjoyed Color Me In and Amie (my absolute favorite of his old stuff) as well as Volcano with Shahzad on the drums. The crowd sing-a-long was also a lot of fun!

At the end of the show I finally got to meet a few eskimos for the first time, so glad to put some faces to the online screen-names. Hope to see you guys again at future shows.

Here are a few snaps from last night and vids are being uploaded right now

[srahman24]

I was there too! Wish I'd come up with more time in hand - would have been nice to meet some more eskimos

Everyone's given pretty good recaps so far, so there's not much to add except he said something yesterday along the lines of... "All these songs, people think I'm singing them to someone else, but I'm not. They're all about me..."

That definitely put a new spin on a few songs for me (like Colour Me In - he said it's not a love song, he wrote it to himself as a way to embrace all the bits of himself that he once maybe was ashamed of or tried to repress).

Really hoping a recording of the show pops up because he was close to flawless!

[dawno]

Great show, beautiful venue. Damo was really funny last night. I found the 'bladder people' to be very annoying, cannot even fathom how frustrating it must be for him.

Still so many people shooting pix with the flash on - when will they learn? Hope they enjoy their photos of the backs of peoples' heads.

I was further back last night than I'd been at The Box shows, didn't take a lot of photos and I was trying to be very discreet (not that they were stopping people)

Here are a few. Can't wait for the proper tour announcement!





With Sonia Kitchell


With My Bubba

[verenita]

Originally Posted by srahman24

"All these songs, people think I'm singing them to someone else, but I'm not. They're all about me..."

well said, damien!

shar! i´m telling you again... i´m very happy for you lovely pic!

thanks everyone for all that you´re sharing. glad that you had a great time

[amyyhc]

Wow dawno these are amazing pics, what camera did you bring with you?

[dawno]

Originally Posted by amyyhc

Wow dawno these are amazing pics, what camera did you bring with you?

Thanks, Amy. I brought my Canon G16 point and shoot. Still getting used to it as I just purchased it a few months ago. Wish it had a better zoom, but I've been fairly satisfied with its low light results as of late.

[mikerennie]

Here is my link to the full show audio recording. If anyone wants to chop it up that would be awesome!

Again, I was a little far away but I listened to it on my train ride home and it was pretty good. To bad there isn't some magic program that can remove clapping and crowd noise

Note: Cannonball is pretty quiet since it was unplugged.

Also I had a bad cold but i tried my best to only cough during clapping.

Enjoy.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...11-15-2014.m4a

[dawno]

Thanks, Mike! Can't wait to listen!

[srahman24]

Thanks Mike! This'll be a fun night to relive

[madhat181]

Much appreciated Mike

[DesoleInBoston]

Thanks for all the stories, photos and recordings! I'm so glad you all had a great time (and some of you got to meet Damien!).

I am absolutely kicking myself for not making this show work out for me. I have a terrible fear that the new US tour is coming just exactly when I'll be in Costa Rica next year. He already announced an April 2015 gig in Chicago, exactly when I'll be away, UGH! Oh well.

[mikerennie]

Despite being sick, train delays, and second to last row orchestra seat it was a pretty incredible show and thankfully there was no one with bladder problems in my row hahaha.

Wishing i had waited outside afterwards. Next time.

Heres to hoping many of us will be heading down to Brooklyn next Monday

DesoleInBoston... where in costa rica? I spent some time in Tamarindo and absolutely loved it there.

[DesoleInBoston]

Sorry you were sick, Mike! At least no mega-lines at the venue. I was in Vermont this weekend instead, still feeling like I made the wrong choice. It's hard to explain to other people; my friends kept saying "Um...but didn't you just see him TWICE last month?". Ha ha I might have a problem.

I'm going to Playa Negra, a little surf town just south of Tamarindo. Can't wait, but I'll be really pissed if he plays Boston while I'm gone...

[Circa1992]

I think we're all in the same boat with regards to having a problem! I'm envious about Costa Rica though! Fingers crossed you won't miss any upcoming shows!