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Yarn: 2012-4/20 & 4/21-Three shows in the Virginias

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    I'm working backwords on uploading the shows. The first one is the Clementine Cafe, which was the afterparty for the Rocktown Beer Festival.

    This recording is amongst the best I posted yet!

    Clementine Cafe
    Harrisonburg, VA
    April 21, 2012

    01. Intro
    02. Roadhouse
    03. Let Me In
    04. Annie
    05. NYC Found
    06. Abilene
    07. Sugaree
    08. Don't Worry about me
    09. Let Us Pray
    10. Shine a Light
    11. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down*
    12. The Weight*
    13. I Shall Be Released*
    14. Don't Break My Heart Again
    15. Take me First#
    16. 25 Years

    #Blake, Trevor, Rod
    * Levon Helm Tributes
    128:00 minutes

    http://archive.org/details/Yarn2012-04-21.Clementine
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    I had the pleasure of seeing three Yarn shows in two days, especially with the anticipation of an April 20th show and the possibility of Levon Helm tributes. Add the venues of the Purple Fiddle and Clementine Cafe and that is a pretty good Yarn run. The Purple Fiddle is about 3 hours due west and Harrisonburg is practically on the way home to Manassas. A nice circular route. Each show was very different in crowd and setting.

    Purple Fiddle Thomas, WV:

    I left work around 3pm and drove with the windows down as it was 70 degrees, sunny, and a beautiful spring day. The XM radio was set to Bluegrass Junction and the DJ played the classics from Del McCoury and Bill Monroe. Just a perfect afternoon ride without much traffic. I arrived at the Purple Fiddle, got my room, and returned to the cafe to get a table. All the center tables were already taken. Ben the sound informed me that the right speaker wasn't working so I should set go off the left speaker again. this time I decided to point both mics directly at the speaker and clamp at the other end of the table to get a little closer. I ran a sbd, plus I set up another rig onstage. The onstage rig was set directly above the monitors and I pointed the two mics at Rod and Andrew's amps. Unfortunately, one fan, who I dubbed magic fingers, spent the entire show near the front of the stage trying to channel Rod's guitar playing with some cosmic hand gestures and then screaming every so often that sounded like someone stepping on a cat's tail or the wicked witch of the west. Then she put her hat over the right channel at one point and when I removed the hat and explained that I was recording, she just made faces at me for the rest of the evening. Later, she offered Blake her moonshine when he called for some white wine, so that explains everything.

    The show was well played. The first set contained a great mix of new material and old classics. The second set, Yarn played three Band songs as a tribute to Levon Helm and had a moment of silence. Blake sounded solid on vocals. The songs played were The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, The Weight, and I shall be released. At the end of the set, yarn played I wanted to Get High for 4-20 and then did two encores. After the show, many people stayed after and hung out. I played corn hole with a few fans and then went to bed in anticipation of two more shows the next day and a long day at the beer festival.
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    Rocktown Beer Festival:

    The day began with breakfast at the Flying Pigs Restaurant in Thomas. Rod and Bobby joined me. At the end of our meal, the rain began to fall and we knew that it would travel east to Harrisonburg. It didn't catch up with us again for another 4.5 hours. Staying ahead of the rain, the drive to Harrisonburg was beautiful with a gorgeous view of Seneca Rocks.

    The Rocktown Beer Festival was sold out and I think attendance was around 500. The Rocktown Beer Festival featured local craft beers. It was a green festival with the cups being made out recycled plastic, plenty of opportunities to recycle, and fans encouraged to walk or bike.

    Conditions worked out well for Yarn. the first band took the stage and played for about forty minutes. During their set break, the skies opened up. All the fans flocked to under the pavilion and some of the vendors gave out free beer. Attendees were allowed 10 4 oz pours. The band returned to the stage and finished their set during the rain. The rain stopped before the end of the opening set.

    I had got a great spot to record about fifty feet from the stage and dead center. The sound board was left of center and I was able to put my stand up without interfering with the line of site of the board. Anticipating the rain, I only put up the stand and set up my miniature taping umbrella. Blake and Trevor stopped by and got a kick out of the taping umbrella that I had purchased from someone off taperssection.com. the key to taping with the umbrellas it to place it about four inches above the mics, but also to place a clothe over the umbrella as well in order to keep the mics from picking up the sound of rain drops. This worked out well and I didn't here any raindrops on the tapes and the position was perfect. Listen to turn the Light Off on a set of earphones. Here's some pictures of my rig prepared for the rain:
    http://flickr.com/gp/jeff_prater/Pfz4HC

    The field was soaked and muddy. Yarn played a solid 1.5 hour set. During Turn the Lights Off, Blake changed the chorus to Turn the Rain on. The crowd was festive dancing and some sliding in the mud. here's a short video from yarn's set:

    http://youtu.be/GuZLSVsVreI


    After Yarn's set, the crowd thinned a little as the weather got colder into the evening. The last band The War on Drugs Played for about an hour and fifeteen minutes. Unfortunately, one mud slider broke his ankle. Yarn gave the guy an autographed cd via a friend at the Clementine show. The War on Drugs played well and at the end of the set the lead singer mentioned that this was the best show they ever played.

    Clementine:
    This show was the afterparty to the beer festival. The crowd was ready to party some more and yarn sure delivered. they did a great job of selecting different songs and only repeated "I shall be released." The Don't Worry about me is the funkiest I've heard yet and again Yarn did two encores. The Weight with Trevor taking the lead on a few verses is really nice as well. I was able to clamp to Rod and Andrew's mic stand and come away with a good recording.

    I should have all the shows posted by mid-week.
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    You're the man, EP! Thanks for taping and all the bonus goodies - your recaps are always great! Jumping ahead right now for a quick listen to Don't Worry 'Bout Me - one of my faves! :)
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    I finally found a media source with a headcount, instead of the other sources that listed "hundreds of people attended."

    The Rocktown Beer Festival did sell out with a crowd of 3,000. Nice way to start off the festival season!
    http://livehb.com/blog/rocktown-beer-and-music-festival-2012-some-pics-and-video



    Rocktown Beer Festival
    April 21, 2012
    Harrisonburg, VA

    with Trevor
    01. Intro
    02. Can't Slow Down
    03. Turn the Light Off
    04. That's Just Fine
    05. Christopher Street
    06. Tennessee
    07. Down on Your Luck
    08. Alone on the Weekend
    09. Almost Home
    10. All Over Now
    11. I Shall Be Released
    12. Bad Bad Man
    13. The Loner
    14. Music's Only Outlaw>Standing Outside A Broken Phonebooth With Money In My Hand (some verses)>Music's Only Outlaw

    This one turned out great as well with all the weather challenges. Listen to Turn the Light Off through some headphones.
    http://archive.org/details/Yarn2012-04-21.Rocktown
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    .....really dug the short Youtube Jeff. You can tell the crowd was really into Yarn~
    • CommentAuthorearlbny
    • CommentTimeMay 2nd 2012 edited
     
    Great work Jeff. I am digging these shows. Best band and fans in the whole wide world.
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    Thanks earlbny!

    Here's the first night of the run and of the Levon Helm tributes. I'll post the soundboard in a few days.

    Yarn
    Purple Fiddle
    Thomas, WV
    April 20, 2012

    01. Intro
    02. Christopher Street
    03. That's just fine
    04. Along the Way
    05. Dear Mamma, I'm So Sorry
    06. Schenectady
    07. Alone on the Weekend
    08. Almost Home
    09. NYC found
    10. Dirt road
    11. Annie
    12. Turn the Light Off
    13. Lies I've Told
    14. Tennessee
    15. Down on Your Luck
    16. Fussin and Fighting
    17. Can't Slow Down
    18. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down*
    19. The Weight*
    20. I Shall Be Released*
    21. Moment of Silence for Levon Helm
    22. Bad Bad Man
    23. I Wanted to Get High

    Encores
    24. The Loner
    25. Empty Pockets

    *=tributes to Levon Helm

    http://archive.org/details/Yarn2012-04-20.akg463
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