Over the Rhine

It had been several years since I had seen Over the Rhine. I had seen them twice before under a tent in a cornfield in Illinois, but I had always thought they would be most in there element in a small smoky club. I kept my eye out for that small smoky club show, but they hadn't made it to Texas in quite a while. I almost gave in and flew to see the last year, but my patience finally paid off when they came to town last night.

We got to the club an hour early hoping to get decent seats in the "partially seated" venue, but upon getting there the room was already packed. Dallas certainly seemed to have a lot of pent up demand to see this band. I was a little disappointed to not have a seat, but it was great to see such a good crowd. Once they got into the set, I didn't think about it much though.

There were a lot of songs that I wanted to hear. I was a little worried that they would stick to songs from The Trumpet Child, which I admittedly hadn't gotten into very much. I never got to see them in the window of time around my two favorite albums Ohio and Drunkard's Prayer, so I was really hoping to get some songs from those albums. I was very pleased to hear a good number of my old favorites along with getting a good dose of the new stuff that I certainly have a better appreciation for. Linford's piano playing amazes me. It is never flashy, but it has a simple beauty that drives the music so well. Karen's voice is mesmerizing. The songs contain one great line after another. On top of all of that, it was good to see Jake Bradley up there playing bass, and the drummer proved his skills several times.

I can't really recreate the night. There is a quality to an OTR show that is hard to define. The first time I saw them, I had trouble describing it, and I still do. I will say that few bands are as captivating as they are. I hope the packed house will get them back to Texas quickly.