One view of the Kelly Willis show last Thursday: http://metromix.com/reviews/detail/1,1259,2500143,00.html (Warning -- skip his first paragraph if you have a low tolerance for big city writers trying to be clever about country music.) My view of the Friday show -- Kelly was real good, but Bruce Robison's thirty-five minute opening set was maybe a bit better. A well behaved crowd actually listened to his quiet little solo set. High point of the evening -- Kelly Willis suddenly standing next to me in the crowd, watching Bruce do a new song called "Just Married", then joining him on stage for "Angry All the Time". Second best line of the evening -- Kelly asking everyone to buy cd's and t-shirts, to help her pay for boarding her four cats (Baby, OJ, Francis and Twist). Best line of the evening -- see sigfile below. She and the band seemed a bit tentative all evening -- there seemed to be a lot of standing around between songs. And is it just me, or is Amy a bit offkey with her harmonies? Kelly played most of the new record, along with tunes from all her other records. And I think she played all four songs from the Fading Fast ep, which I wish someone would reissue so I don't have to pay forty bucks to buy it on ebay. A rollicking "Take It All Out On You." An intense "Not Long For This World." A perfect "What World Are You Living In." Regarding her version of "Time Has Told Me" -- my vote goes to the Nick-did-it-better side, as she and the band kind of trampled it. She's due back in June, for the Country Music Fest in Grant Park. I assume she'll be on the small stage rather than the giant stage. TWM -- "It was called 'I Didn't Take Your Fucking Baseball Glove' " -- Bruce Robison, on the first song he ever wrote about his brother Tom Mohr usually here: [EMAIL PROTECTED] sometimes here: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
