Setlist
Tour Dates
10/22/13 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
10/24/13 Salisbury, MA Blue Ocean Music Hall 10/25/13 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom 10/27/13 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse 10/29/13 New Orleans, LA The Civic Theatre 10/30/13 Austin, TX The Belmont Read More
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Led by singer-songwriter Mike Scott and fiddler Steve Wickham; this incarnation, the so-called ‘American’ Waterboys (w/East Coast-based musicians Jay Barclay [guitar]; Daniel Mintseris [keys]; Malcolm Gold [bass]; Chris Benelli [drums]) delivered with a performance covering the gamut of their distinctive ‘Big Music’ blend of rock and roll with Celtic folk tinged origins, on their first proper U.S. Tour in over six years.
Freddie Stevenson
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“Nice place, I played here before – nice to be back with my confederates”, Mike Scott mentioned looking about the balconies of the Fitzgerald Theater after beginning their set with the quiet-tempo’d ‘Strange Boat’ next amping up into the swaying ‘Fisherman’s Blues’, then an early classic, ‘A Girl Called Johnny’.
Photo of Setlist
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The Waterboys: violins
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‘White Birds’, based on a Yeats “supreme love poem” started quietly and stretched impressively, with Scott following that by hopping over to the piano for the short-but-sweet ‘Spirit’, merging that into their biggest hit ‘The Whole of the Moon’. A massive ‘Mad as the Wind and Snow’ brought out facemasks on Barkley and Wickham for a waltzing, mock instrumental duel, ending with Scott himself in a three-faced mask, emoting Yeats’ poetry for a dramatic and epic ending. The trumpet intro of ‘Don’t Bang the Drum’ began to rapturous applause and the main set finished with the classic track from 1985’s This is the Sea.
The Waterboys Takes a Bow
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The two-hour performance purposely rose and ebbed like the tide, with Scott and co. slightly more reserved than I’d seen in shows past when everyone was younger. I also found myself occasionally missing a female background voice on some of the tracks that had featured one on the recorded version, but the six-year wait was in the end fulfilled by a triumphant performance from a visionary artist still producing relevant and moving music. You could say we were “over the moon” about it all.
The Waterboys at The Fitzgerald Theater, St. Paul (10/19/13) |
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