Submitted by Niella
Date sent: Thu, 10 Apr 1997 12:02:43 +1000
Subject: JBEL: jeff in memphis
I was working in the lab at school on Monday and decided to check my mail (I had signed up for this mailing list only last week) and much to my surprise found out that Jeff Buckley was playing in Memphis that night. It was 4 pm, and I had no idea what time he was going to play, but I called my friend Jimmie, and he and I decided to take the risk of driving to Memphis and getting there before he quit playing. We thought it would be worth it even if we only got to hear the last chorus of his last song. We left Birmingham at 5:11 pm and got to Barrister's at 9:30 pm, and luckily there was an opening band who hadn't even started playing. Jimmie and I sat at the bar right in front of the stage. When we got there, only about 8 people were there. The opening act was different but pretty good-they seemed to be heavily influenced by King Crimson. I think the name of the band was Seven Four Slide. I talked to their guitarist Ben and his ex-girlfriend Melanie. They were very nice. I think Jeff started playing around 11:30. I had never heard him before live. He was incredible. His voice is so amazing. He played Grace, Mojo Pin, Last Goodbye, and some new songs. I was completely mesmerized throughout the entire show, and only came out of my trance when he would joke about something. He sang a bit from the song "Nicky" from Purple Rain. We were yelling the lyrics out to him because he couldn't remember them all. It was great. He played for about an hour and a half. After the show he hung out talking to everyone. Jimmie and I stayed at the bar until it closed at three. Jimmie, Jeff, one other guy, and I were the only ones left at the bar besides Kevin, the owner, and Andy, the bartender (both are really nice guys). We listened to Led Zeppelin on the juke box, and I watched while the guys played pool. Jeff beat Jimmie twice. As a prize for winning, Jimmie gave Jeff a copy of his band's tape (the suburban love junkies). Jeff seemed sincerely appreciative about receiving it. Then Kevin and Andy kindly kicked the four of us out of the bar, and we followed Jeff in his white Dodge Neon to the lamplighter where he was supposed to meet some friends. The lamplighter was closed, so we said goodnight to Jeff and went to find a place to stay the night. We were so wide awake that instead we ended up driving back to Birmingham. We are going back next week, and I highly recommend that anyone in the vicinity of Memphis make it to one, if not all, of the rest of his shows at Barrister's. If I were a millionaire, I would send all of you plane tickets (NY, Connecticut, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, etc.), but unfortunately all I can send you are brief descriptions of the shows. Until next week...
Julie
gene004@uabdpo.dpo.uab.edu (juliej@uab.edu)
***
It was not a dream.
After borrowing a car and a microcassette recorder; after packing the camera and the CDs; after rounding up my friends--we left for Memphis yesterday at 4:30 PM. We weren't sure that we would be able to get into the bar, but we came anyway. Even if I couldn't get in, standing outside and listening would suffice, right?
We got to Memphis at around 7:30 and finally found the place ( Barristers') in a dark alley off of Second and Jefferson. When we approached the place, I saw a thin guy with a guitar walking in, and my heart started to race. I approached the figure, and to my dismay I discovered that the figure was just some guy named Jake of John or some other "J" name. Anyway, I introduced myself, and we talked for a minute. I was surprised when he said, "My band goes on at nine o'clock, and that other guy, Jeff, goes on at ten thirty."
"That other guy, Jeff?"
The man did not even know who Jeff was. It was really odd to hear him say "Jeff" with no "Buckley" attached. Yes, odd.
We went inside, and the owner just asked us for five dollars. No ID check, nothing like that at all. Nobody at all was there. The place had maybe four other people in it. I was hoping it would stay that way, too. We hung around for about five minutes, then we went to Beale Street and ate some barbeque, and then we came back at nine to find that the opening band had already started.
I didn't like the opening band, so I went outside to get some air. I saw the owner of the place, and I must've talked to him for an hour and a half. We talked about the internet (he posted the announcement on AOL) and how effective it was for this sort of thing, and we talked about Jeff a whole lot. It was really neat to talk to someone who seemed to know Jeff personally, I must say.
Barristers' advertised this show, so people started flowing in at about ten o'clock. I'd say there were about 75 people there altogether, though I'm not sure how accurate that estimate is. Anyway, the owner and I were the only ones standing outside when Jeff pulled up. He drove up in a white Neon at about ten-thirty, and got his guitar and amp out of his trunk. I asked him if he needed a hand, and he said no. I was disappointed, but I knew I'd see him again. He threw his things onstage and then came back outside to move his car. When he came back in, I introduced myself, and we talked for about five minutes. I asked him if I could tape the show, and he said "No, no, no, please don't...well, okay." We talked for just a few more minutes, and I asked if I could get some autographs after the show. He said "Sure, Doug," and then went inside. A few seconds later, he came outside and asked me not to tape the show, but said that it was lovely for me to ask. He said that it was just too dangerous, and started telling some story about the British mafia and bootlegging. I was disappointed that he didn't want me to tape the show, but I just couldn't find it in my heart to press the record button afterward. He asked me not to--I wasn't going to.
He went inside, and even though the place was relatively crowded, no one approached him at all. Either no one knew who he was (that wasn't the case), or nobody had the guts to approach him. He went over to the pool table and began to play pool with a guy I had met earlier in the night, so I followed and watched. The guy he was playing was really bad, so about halfway through the game, I asked Jeff if I could have next game. He said an emphatic "Yes," I guess because the other guy was just so bad. They finished up (Jeff won), I put in 50 cents and Jeff the remaining 25, and Jeff racked the balls up. I won't tell you the play by play, but I won the first game, Jeff the second, and I the third. I didn't quite know what to do. I beat Jeff Buckley in pool. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Who knows. Anyway, we talked some more and then he went onstage. I was really the only one to talk to him, strangely enough. I didn't hover or anything, I was just friendly. He is really very approachable.
He popped onstage at about 11:15, tuned up, and launched into the most amazing version of "Grace" that I have ever heard. It was just him and his guitar, of course, so that made it even better. He cracked a few notes (not the really high ones, though), and afterward told us all about how smoking will make your voice "suck." He proceeded to play (I don't know about the titles of the new songs, but I'll take a guess) "The Sky is a Landfill," "Witch's (????something)," and a GORGEOUS version of "Morning Theft." That song was by far the best of the night.
After that, it was time for "Last Goodbye," and then he went into a really long Prince (back when he was Prince) imitation, and he talked about "Purple Rain" a whole lot. It was quite funny, but then he brought us back into our trance with "Mojo Pin." He finished off the set with a song I hadn't heard before, but I think it might have been called "Wild is the Wind." It was wonderful...the whole show was beautiful and it was my first.
After the show, one or two people approached him asking for pictures , but he asked them not to photograph him. After they left, I asked him for one autograph, but he signed (defaced is the word) the covers of "Grace," "Live at Sin-e," and "Live at the Bataclan." On "Bataclan," he signed it "Le AAARGH!" He drew sunglasses on his picture on "Grace," and signed "Take me with u!" I was thrilled. We talked for just a second more; about the book I was keeping my CD covers in--Hume's "Dialogues on Natural Religion," and then I left. He had remembered my name, thank goodness, and as I left he said, "Catch you later, Doug." He will. Next week, hopefully.
You need to come to this place. There's no carding for entrance or at the bar, and though it may be quite a trip; it will be worth the mileage. He only played about an hour and a half, but I would have driven three times as far as I did just to hear him. I would have driven 10 times as far if someone had told me that I would get to meet him and to play pool with him. The show was short but beautiful, and I'd love to get it on tape next time, or at least get some pictures if he'll allow them. If you're going to boot the show, ask him first. Don't boot it if he doesn't want you to--don't take what isn't yours to take.
I hope to see some of you there next Monday. Let me know if you plan on coming, and maybe we can meet up there. Come. It's more than worth the gas money.
If there's anything I left out (I doubt it, considering the length of this post), just mail me and I'll fill you in. Rock on, etc.
After borrowing a car and a microcassette recorder; after packing the camera and the CDs; after rounding up my friends--we left for Memphis yesterday at 4:30 PM. We weren't sure that we would be able to get into the bar, but we came anyway. Even if I couldn't get in, standing outside and listening would suffice, right?
We got to Memphis at around 7:30 and finally found the place ( Barristers') in a dark alley off of Second and Jefferson. When we approached the place, I saw a thin guy with a guitar walking in, and my heart started to race. I approached the figure, and to my dismay I discovered that the figure was just some guy named Jake of John or some other "J" name. Anyway, I introduced myself, and we talked for a minute. I was surprised when he said, "My band goes on at nine o'clock, and that other guy, Jeff, goes on at ten thirty."
"That other guy, Jeff?"
The man did not even know who Jeff was. It was really odd to hear him say "Jeff" with no "Buckley" attached. Yes, odd.
We went inside, and the owner just asked us for five dollars. No ID check, nothing like that at all. Nobody at all was there. The place had maybe four other people in it. I was hoping it would stay that way, too. We hung around for about five minutes, then we went to Beale Street and ate some barbeque, and then we came back at nine to find that the opening band had already started.
I didn't like the opening band, so I went outside to get some air. I saw the owner of the place, and I must've talked to him for an hour and a half. We talked about the internet (he posted the announcement on AOL) and how effective it was for this sort of thing, and we talked about Jeff a whole lot. It was really neat to talk to someone who seemed to know Jeff personally, I must say.
Barristers' advertised this show, so people started flowing in at about ten o'clock. I'd say there were about 75 people there altogether, though I'm not sure how accurate that estimate is. Anyway, the owner and I were the only ones standing outside when Jeff pulled up. He drove up in a white Neon at about ten-thirty, and got his guitar and amp out of his trunk. I asked him if he needed a hand, and he said no. I was disappointed, but I knew I'd see him again. He threw his things onstage and then came back outside to move his car. When he came back in, I introduced myself, and we talked for about five minutes. I asked him if I could tape the show, and he said "No, no, no, please don't...well, okay." We talked for just a few more minutes, and I asked if I could get some autographs after the show. He said "Sure, Doug," and then went inside. A few seconds later, he came outside and asked me not to tape the show, but said that it was lovely for me to ask. He said that it was just too dangerous, and started telling some story about the British mafia and bootlegging. I was disappointed that he didn't want me to tape the show, but I just couldn't find it in my heart to press the record button afterward. He asked me not to--I wasn't going to.
He went inside, and even though the place was relatively crowded, no one approached him at all. Either no one knew who he was (that wasn't the case), or nobody had the guts to approach him. He went over to the pool table and began to play pool with a guy I had met earlier in the night, so I followed and watched. The guy he was playing was really bad, so about halfway through the game, I asked Jeff if I could have next game. He said an emphatic "Yes," I guess because the other guy was just so bad. They finished up (Jeff won), I put in 50 cents and Jeff the remaining 25, and Jeff racked the balls up. I won't tell you the play by play, but I won the first game, Jeff the second, and I the third. I didn't quite know what to do. I beat Jeff Buckley in pool. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Who knows. Anyway, we talked some more and then he went onstage. I was really the only one to talk to him, strangely enough. I didn't hover or anything, I was just friendly. He is really very approachable.
He popped onstage at about 11:15, tuned up, and launched into the most amazing version of "Grace" that I have ever heard. It was just him and his guitar, of course, so that made it even better. He cracked a few notes (not the really high ones, though), and afterward told us all about how smoking will make your voice "suck." He proceeded to play (I don't know about the titles of the new songs, but I'll take a guess) "The Sky is a Landfill," "Witch's (????something)," and a GORGEOUS version of "Morning Theft." That song was by far the best of the night.
After that, it was time for "Last Goodbye," and then he went into a really long Prince (back when he was Prince) imitation, and he talked about "Purple Rain" a whole lot. It was quite funny, but then he brought us back into our trance with "Mojo Pin." He finished off the set with a song I hadn't heard before, but I think it might have been called "Wild is the Wind." It was wonderful...the whole show was beautiful and it was my first.
After the show, one or two people approached him asking for pictures , but he asked them not to photograph him. After they left, I asked him for one autograph, but he signed (defaced is the word) the covers of "Grace," "Live at Sin-e," and "Live at the Bataclan." On "Bataclan," he signed it "Le AAARGH!" He drew sunglasses on his picture on "Grace," and signed "Take me with u!" I was thrilled. We talked for just a second more; about the book I was keeping my CD covers in--Hume's "Dialogues on Natural Religion," and then I left. He had remembered my name, thank goodness, and as I left he said, "Catch you later, Doug." He will. Next week, hopefully.
You need to come to this place. There's no carding for entrance or at the bar, and though it may be quite a trip; it will be worth the mileage. He only played about an hour and a half, but I would have driven three times as far as I did just to hear him. I would have driven 10 times as far if someone had told me that I would get to meet him and to play pool with him. The show was short but beautiful, and I'd love to get it on tape next time, or at least get some pictures if he'll allow them. If you're going to boot the show, ask him first. Don't boot it if he doesn't want you to--don't take what isn't yours to take.
I hope to see some of you there next Monday. Let me know if you plan on coming, and maybe we can meet up there. Come. It's more than worth the gas money.
If there's anything I left out (I doubt it, considering the length of this post), just mail me and I'll fill you in. Rock on, etc.
-Doug "I beat Jeff in pool" Jennings
Doug Jennings <jenninda@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu
* * *
Submitted by Steven
JBEL: barristers show 5/26/97
Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 10:59:22 -0700
From: gaylekelemen<gkelemen@goodnet.com>
To: jeff-buckley-eternal-life@mail.usyd.edu.au
ok, here's my barristers post. i know that others that were at the show won't be able to get online till later this week (starting tomorrow) and/or next week, so i hope everybody tells us what they thought! set list (this is probably 95% correct, always giving for the standard deviation of .05 hahaha):
1. a song with the words "terminal cancer" in it. i think this was a cover. julie said that he played a neil young song, i believe, but i don't know neil as well as i oughtta....this song was pretty aggressive, and when jeff stopped playing it, he said, "this is how the guy from brainiac must have felt" or something like that. :( somebody from memphis says that jeff has been playing a lot of bad brains lately as well, so.... 2. hallelujah 3. morning theft 4. corpus christi carol---what a shocker, eh, to see this on a recent setlist!?!?! i was pleasantly surprised! don't know if he's playing this to get the voice ready for the studio or if he just wanted to play it. it wasn't quite exactly like the album, but it was damn good! 5. unknown--hadn't heard this before 6. grace 7. the sky is a landfill 8. a rockin' instrumental (neil young?)...i'd heard the song before, but i don't know where from... 9. an aggressive aggressive song with the words "your flesh is so nice" in it. ;) 10. a new song i didn't recognize...
i believe that's the entire setlist...the show was way over an hour...jeff talked a lot...surprisingly (with hallelujah and ccc in the set), the show hit me as very aggressive. not surprisingly, it was extremely intense.
just for the notetakers ;): my memphis friend was surprised (how many times can i use that word in one post?) that jeff was wearing a suit (with jacket, with tie) and fancy shoes (what do you call those black and white shoes with the big tongue?), as he's been dressed down (comparatively) for the other barristers shows he'd seen.
barristers was pretty crowded, but not packed per say. most of the people (including me) from the list sat in the first few rows in front of the stage. a lot of sitting at this show, with the standing people over at the bar. as i said before, jeff talked a lot before and after songs. at ten to 1am, he said that he'd play one more (to be done at/before 1am), and he finished that song at 1:10am or something like that. mash-o-matic, the opening band, was pretty good. the band after jeff played for a brief time...i don't know what happened, but i was standing outside, and the drummer ran out. ??? (perhaps due to the sound system...i don't know) the sound system was pretty off. at one point during his set, jeff asked the soundperson to sit the set out and go do something else. this was followed by about 10 minutes of jeff making the microphone feed back-both with his mouth and with his head. ??? jeff commented that his head fed back a lot and that he was used to it. ;)
jeff offered the audience free red wine at the bar, so we all got a free drink. :) there's lots more to tell, but i'll let the others tell us (most probably have a better memory of the show than me as well). it was a "different" kind of jb solo set than i've seen. parts of it were off-kilter due to the sound problem...and probably due to my intake, fatigue from the long weekend, etc. as always, though, worth the effort to get to the show. :) "intense" could be a key word...and my memphis friend thought the show was very different than previous barristers shows.
it was definately great hanging out with and meeting the others from the list. huey's (is that the name of the restaurant some of us went to pre-show and post-beale st. tap room?) was a riot, as i've never had the experience of trying to blow toothpicks into the ceiling via a straw. ! :0 (it's a "huey's thing") efia, your absence was noted, and you were missed. :( most of the memphis crowd was pretty mellow, with the exception of a few people at the side/front of the stage, who rocked out during the instrumental and other rocking moments. pretty young crowd as well. i asked my memphis friend what kind of crowd it was for memphis, and he said it was huge for a monday night and that it was the "hipper" crowd. not that it was new york city hip (ugh)...a different kind of hip. i was pretty bummed that jeff didn't play dylan's "if you see her, say hello" or the smiths' "i know it's over". or "so real", for that matter...but there are new songs that are new within the last few months (at least not performed at his january and february shows). special thanks from me to patti (for trying to find out how timmy died so i would shut up about it), jenny (sera) for kindly getting me some wine (very polite, eh?), julie for the beer, and kim for doing "the pose" even though i never got the chance to be there with you. ;) :0
barristers said that this monday was the show with the most online people there (ie: with reservations), so that's pretty cool. lots of people from new york. it was a very surreal evening for me, and that seems to fit with the surreal aspects of the trip that were woven throughout. the barristers guys (john!) are very nice. :) if i think of more, i'll post it, but i'm looking forward to hearing everybody else's thoughts and comments (and recollections)!
***
Hi all, so I dragged myself into work this morning after having been on a bus for 26 hours returning from Memphis, for 2 reasons only: to not waste a vacation day that could be put to better use in Memphis ;-), and to post about the show ASAP before my memory goes fuzzy--and mind you, it was pretty fuzzy to begin with considering I was quite sloshed for the majority of the evening...since Gayle did most of the hard work on transcribing the setlist, I’ll just quote her post and add my bits here and there.
The show was about 1-1/2 hours long, but Jeff spent ALOT of time in the beginning tuning and futzing around... <<1. a song with the words "terminal cancer" in it. i think this was a cover. julie said that he played a neil young song, i believe, but i don't know neil as well as i oughtta....>> Yeah, the lyrics kept repeating the line “the world has terminal cancer” but I thought this was a new original Buckley tune because the opening chords were very similar to parts of Eternal Life (live versions). <<2. hallelujah 3. morning theft>> actually, he did a short song between these two, which I think was a cover but I’m not sure. His phrasing on this song was very Joni Mitchell-ish, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a Joni song...He also stopped in the middle of Morning Theft (my fave new song, BTW) to berate the sound guy quite harshly and then started the song over again...Then Corpus Christi Carol absolutely floored me. (good thing we were sitting down!) <<5. unknown>> I couldn’t even understand the words to this one <<6. grace 7. the sky is a landfill 8. a rockin' instrumental (neil young?)...i'd heard the song before, but i don't know where from...>> #8 was most definitely an instrumental cover of Smoke on the Water, which is not by Neil Young but by, um, not sure but I think it’s a Deep Purple song? (the extent of my familiarity with this song is from late-night 70’s rock compilation CD commercials, but I also think the guitar intro of Smoke has been referenced on Beavis & Butthead...) <<9. an aggressive song with the words "your flesh is so nice" in it. ;)>> This one sounded familiar too, the lyrics were full of double entendres of the cat/woman variety. the song might be called “pussy”, since that was in the lyrics alot, and some more bits are: “gonna tell you a story”, “you’re flesh is so nice, gonna take a bite” and “take off my belt, go up the staircase”. Does anyone have a clue what song this might be? It seemed just a little too rude to be an original Jeff song... <<10. a new song i didn't recognize>> Actually, he did 2 different songs to close the set. The first one had lyrics that kept mentioning the word “politician”, and something about “I was mesmerized” and “stars was insane(?)”. The second song kept repeating the lyric “I’m not with you but of you”, and also had bits about “the special one” and “some other love becomes you”. And I have to agree with Gayle that there was a very aggressive vibe in the air throughout the set, though Jeff did mellow out afterwards...the only other solo Jeff set I've ever seen was the Mercury Lounge New Year's show, and the difference in atmosphere between that show and this one was like night and day.
Now for some non-setlist-related observations: The shoes were b&w wingtips with fringed tongues/flaps. For the sartorially curious, Jeff was wearin a dark gray suit with a powder blue tuxedo shirt and red tie, and was sporting a black hat as well. He was playing a big black guitar and at one point you could see there were lots of butterfly stickers plastered on the back of it. So I yelled out between songs “what’s with the butterflies?” At which point he looked at me, played a couple of chords and then Jeff (who I shall now refer to as 'Mr. Cryptic') replied: “what’s with the porcelain skin?”, ignoring my question and then started the next song...so you all can call me Porcelain Skin Girl now if you’d like ;-) Much later on in the evening (after the show) Jeff was saying something about having two jobs(?) in Memphis, one of which had to do with butterflies (catching them, I think), but I was so inebriated at that point that I don’t really remember what he said exactly or even how it came up in the conversation...I’m hoping Audrey can save my ass on this one, or else we’ll never solve the butterfly mystery! <<the sound system was pretty off. at one point during his set, jeff asked the soundperson to sit the set out and go do something else. this was followed by about 10 minutes of jeff making the microphone feed back-both with his mouth and with his head. ??? jeff commented that his head fed back a lot and that he was used to it. ;)>> like I said before, this was during Morning Theft, and he was really, really harsh towards the poor soundguy...it was funny but the tone in Jeff’s voice was also very disturbing, at least it seemed to me. Hey, at least we got to hear Morning Theft twice because of it! The mouth-induced feedback was quite amusing--think Madonna circa Truth or Dare with the water bottle and you’ll get the idea. I don’t remember any head-induced feedback/comments though, Gayle...was he rubbing his head against the microphone too?
The whole cop/paranoia tip that Jeff has been on lately in his recent show/posts banter was continued at this show as well: at one point he was raging on about cop shows on TV, and how he would film all of us and turn us into a TV show, I think. Just more grist for the aggression mill, I suppose. <<jeff offered the audience free red wine at the bar, so we all got a free drink. :)>> Yeah, and a free beer+wine hangover to boot! <<there's lots more to tell, but i'll let the others tell us (most probably have a better memory of the show than me as well). it was a "different" kind of jb solo set than i've seen. parts of it were off-kilter due to the sound problem...and probably due to my intake, fatigue from the long weekend, etc.>> Well, I think a few of us had the same alcohol intake problem ;-)...but here are some more moments that I can sort of recall from the post-show scene: Jeff displayed *lots* of aggression and evasiveness when I prodded about the Brainiac situation, which included him throwing a beer bottle against the wall (he didn’t break it though) but he cooled down soon afterwards and even graciously signed my LP jacket. He spent most of the rest of the evening shooting pool (kudos to Julie, the coolest aunt in the universe, who came all the way over from the UK with her niece *and* trounced Jeff’s butt at the pool table--you go girl!) and prancing around when he was moved by the selections playing on the jukebox. Especially when a Zeppelin song came on, and he climbed onstage and straddled one of the speakers while singing along. It was a sight to see, wish I hadn’t been so drunk that it didn’t even occur to me to take out my camera and document the scene...the booze was cut off around 3am, and we all ended up leaving Barristers around 3:30 (they were actually locking the doors as we left!) and going our separate ways... <<as always, though, worth the effort to get to the show. :) "intense" could be a key word...and my memphis friend thought the show was very different than previous barristers shows.>> I second both of those points wholeheartedly! I wonder if this intensity was a one-night thing...In fact, late June or maybe July 4th weekend might be a good time for another Memphis trek so we can find out! (I sure as hell am not doing the bus thing again, though ;-)) <<it was definately great hanging out with and meeting the others from the list. huey's (is that the name of the restaurant some of us went to pre-show and post-beale st. tap room?) was a riot, as i've never had the experience of trying to blow toothpicks into the ceiling via a straw. ! :0 (it's a "huey's thing")>> Yeah, it was Huey’s, and your honorary toothpick is up there as well! And I loved meeting all the other listees too--it made the show that much more special. I hope we can all do it again soon! A special thank-you to Audrey for putting up with my drunken incoherence after the show and for being a wonderful travelling companion throughout...And now I’ll shut up and maybe get some work done (yeah, right) Thank God the owner of my company is computer-illiterate: as long as I'm typing, he thinks I'm working!
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