[dar-list] Dar at Monmouth University

[Dennis Whelan]

I was at the show last night and it was just a great time.

I did get to speak with Vincent (momentarily as I was in a conversation with
a fellow Poco fan- also a Dar fan- else at the time) and his Father, Robert
(a bit longer with him actually).

Esther and I were actually at both nights of the Songwriters In the Raw
Show.

The first night was OK but not great. The moderator was Pete Fornetale of
WFUV and also well known in the NYC area for his years on WNEW. He also does
the mixed Bag show on WVFU and has introduced and interviewed Dar in the
past (Outpost In the burbs, etc)(He also was and is a big supporter of my
other fave- Poco)He is also teaching some classes at Monmouth University at
this time.

The panel of artists the first night was Esai (Jane) Siberry- (she has
changed her name), Melissa Ferrick, Dan Bern and Cheryl Wheeler. We went
mostly for Cheryl Wheeler as we were either not very familiar with or not
fans of the other three. We love Cheryl's music as well as her personality.

The setup for this night was all 4 artists on stage together with Pete
asking questions and suggesting a theme or type of tune to play in each
round. They did 6 rounds in the first set which lasted two hours. and then
Dan Bern who was listed as the headliner for the night came back for a set
by himself. Esther and I did not care for most of the tunes done by Esai,
Melissa and Dan and we did not stay for Dan's solo set. The commentary by
the individuals about the song they were doing or the specific question
asked by Pete was more interesting for us than the performance of the music
by them. I'm not saying they wer not good- just that we didn't care for
their sound or style that much.

The show on Saturday night was a bit different from the start. The moderator
that night was Bob Santelli who has been a columnist with the Asbury Park
Press and has written several books about music including a book about Bruce
Springsteen and the E Street Band with their cooperation. The first set
started with Vance Gilbert, Lucy Kaplansky and Susan Werner on stage in the
same format as the previous night. The big difference- and a bit of a
disappointment- was that Dar was not on stage with them. This became less of
a disappointment later for two reasons- the first being that Vance, Lucy and
Susan did a spectacular job up there without Dar. The second reason was that
Dar did join them for a round near the end of their set.

The other big difference for Esther and I was that we are big fans of Lucy-
solo, with Cry, Cry, Cry and her work with others on their albums- like
Richard Shindell, John Gorka, Shawn Colvin and many others. I was familiar
with Susan's music and knew some of Vance's' music.

The trio were genuinely enjoying each other's company on stage- they
admitted that they were all personal friends with each other. They did
several rounds of songs - along with some great insights and a whole lot of
humor along the way.

Dar joined them late in their set and did a tune with Lucy- who she said
that she had been in a group with her and introduced both Lucy and herself
as Cry. I don't remember the name of the tune but they did a lovely
rendition of it. I even checked the track listing and I can't remember it.
Hopefully Vincent has a better memory than I do.

Dar then did a segment of a tune she is working on which I think has the
working title of "I Didn't Take It"- I could be wrong on this. She said she
had just those words as part of the chorus and then worked back to the rest
of the song- which isn't finished yet. It sounded like it will be another
Dar classic when finished. Vance tried to help by finishing the song on the
spot in a very serious and humorous vein. He even said that somebody would
probably go on to Dar's blog site and say that he ruined  the song, etc. He
was joking of course- Dar in turn joked that "she may steal- borrow- parts
of his rendition".

Dar left the stage after this and Susan did her last tune and then the three
did one last tune and left the stage.

Dar came back out by herself and did a set of just over an hour. She started
with The Babysitter's Here. She also did a great renditions of 

Teen for god 
If I Wrote you
Spring Street
The Hudson
Mercy Of The Fallen
One Who Knows
Christians & Pagans
February

I'm sure I'm missing a couple of songs. She finished with a very nice
version of When I was a Boy with Susan Werner accompanying her on the piano.

It was 11:30 by this time and Esther wanted to leave as she needed to get up
early this morning and we had been roaming around NJ all day Saturday. I'm
sure Vincent can tell us the song done for the encore.

Bottom line- two nights of great music. Saturday was definitely the better
of the two but I'm sure that there were some at both nights who felt the
opposite as the music performed by all was done well we just don't care for
some of it on a personal level.

Dennis