Saw VDP tonight

[bgas]

 It was an interesting show. Started with the opening group "The Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra" playing musical backround for a Buster Keaton short " The Balloonatic". a short break, then VDP came on with two sidemen: Don Heffington on Drums and Jim Cooper on Stand up bass. I'm not all that familiar with his music, other than collecting things here and there, so I don't know that I have it all down( I didn't take notes)  He's got some lively stage banter, and he pushes the sales of his recordings, any number of times. " I carted these thru airport security, so you should avail yourselves of the opportunity to buy them"
All in all, he was very entertaining and quite a hoot! 
I think, from checking setlists, this was probably a close to normal appearance.  he played these tunes and possibly a couple more( i think these are the titles, and no, I don't have them in order) : 

Sail Away, Orange Crate Art, Wings Of A Dove, Delta Queen Waltz,( at least I think that's probably the title; a John Hartford tune; he waxed eloquent on John. later he talked about how much he loved him, as John had coached his son thru his high school paper on Bluegrass about 5 days before he passed, by having his( John's) wife hold the phone up so he could talk), (He spoke about Mark Twain's appearance before congress in 1905 talking about copyrights; and he spoke a bit on censorship) Opportunity for Two, A Brer Rabbit song in here somewhere, I'd swear,   Danza ( written by Louis Moreau Gottschalk, in either 1854 or 1834),  Cowboy,   The All Golden ( he talked about Steve Young first)
 He had ended his set and then quickly returned sans his backups to perform two more songs( part of the setlist above) total performance was just about an hour. He then walked to the front, sold his merchandise, signed things including, but not limited to that merch, and carried on conversations with all that presented themselves. I had him inscribe my sheet music of "Come To the Sunshine"; my fiance, Debra, gave him a "Seed of Happiness"(a mini-sculpture by a local artist) and we purchased "An Invitation" by Inara George( Lowell George's Daughter) with VDP, which he also inscribed.
A kiss for luck from Van, and we were on our way.

[hypehat]

He's a proper motormouth when he gets going, isn't he? Glad you had fun!

[bgas]

OOPS!
Knew there was something else, but it's mostly too late now. VDP said he was going to be in San Francisco tonight( Friday) for Dan Hicks' 70th BDay party and then Saturday night he'd be in Detroit for  a show. Then on to Wash DC for a show...

[Roger Ryan]

The Detroit show was similar to what you described in terms of the set list and anecdotes. There were two opening acts (a chanteuse who performed with guitar, bass, piano, drums, trombone and trumpet accompaniment) and a trio who performed primarily ambient music to accompany a light show (performed in a separate space - the show was held at the Museum for Contemporary Art - Detroit).

The drawback of this was that there was a sizable faction of the crowd who had little-to-no interest in Parks; the result was a steady, low roar of conversation throughout Parks' entire set in the packed room. Fans of Parks would consistently try to "shush" the crowd in between songs, but Parks eventually remarked with resignation "Oh, let them talk". I suspect he curtailed some of his patter since he had trouble being heard anyway (no Mark Twain comments for instance).

Parks was also adamant at the beginning of the set that no photos or recordings be made ("YouTube represents the nadir for those of us who value high fidelity" or something to that effect) and actually stopped the performance during the first song when he spotted someone recording him. "Turn that off or I'll leave!". Towards the end of the set, he noticed someone else taking a photo and responded, almost under his breath, "People are born to disappoint"!

Parks appeared to be in a much better mood when signing autographs after the set. I had him sign a copy of his "Arrangements Vol. 1" and took a picture with him. I thanked him for coming to Detroit (his first performance in the city ever) and he commented that he told his wife "If I don't do it now...when?!"

[meltedwhiskeyinmyhand]

Thats very cool to hear that VDP had a connection with John Hartford. John was one of my favorite performers, love his music!

[bgas]

The Detroit show was similar to what you described in terms of the set list and anecdotes. There were two opening acts (a chanteuse who performed with guitar, bass, piano, drums, trombone and trumpet accompaniment) and a trio who performed primarily ambient music to accompany a light show (performed in a separate space - the show was held at the Museum for Contemporary Art - Detroit).

The drawback of this was that there was a sizable faction of the crowd who had little-to-no interest in Parks; the result was a steady, low roar of conversation throughout Parks' entire set in the packed room. Fans of Parks would consistently try to "shush" the crowd in between songs, but Parks eventually remarked with resignation "Oh, let them talk". I suspect he curtailed some of his patter since he had trouble being heard anyway (no Mark Twain comments for instance).

Parks was also adamant at the beginning of the set that no photos or recordings be made ("YouTube represents the nadir for those of us who value high fidelity" or something to that effect) and actually stopped the performance during the first song when he spotted someone recording him. "Turn that off or I'll leave!". Towards the end of the set, he noticed someone else taking a photo and responded, almost under his breath, "People are born to disappoint"!

Parks appeared to be in a much better mood when signing autographs after the set. I had him sign a copy of his "Arrangements Vol. 1" and took a picture with him. I thanked him for coming to Detroit (his first performance in the city ever) and he commented that he told his wife "If I don't do it now...when?!"

I'd forgotten  the photos remarks. He made them here also, and it seems everyone obliged (Or took  them without flash)
He was very friendly while signing; There were a few people with BW SMiLE stuff for him to sign, and he didn't seem to balk at those

Thats very cool to hear that VDP had a connection with John Hartford. John was one of my favorite performers, love his music!

Ahh, man! I was going to mention that when I talked to Van and forgot. Hartford was actually from St. Louis, went to school here, and I went to school with his (much)younger sister; I wanted to note all that, in case he hadn't realized the significance

[Heysaboda]

.......  Delta Queen Waltz,( at least I think that's probably the title; a John Hartford tune; he waxed eloquent on John. later he talked about how much he loved him, as John had coached his son thru his high school paper on Bluegrass about 5 days before he passed, by having his (John's) wife hold the phone up so he could talk).......

Yes!

The Delta Queen Waltz is a signature tune of John Hartford, first issued on John's Down the River album.

Great to hear that VDP is performing this tune.  I bet it suits him!

By the way, VDP also appeared, years ago, on some early albums by Mason Williams, who was also a close friend of John.

Thanks for posting this BGAS.

[the captain]

I saw him last Tuesday--the third, guess it was? Similar set list, same group. I was lucky to have an audience that definitely was interested in what was going on, no nonsense there. A (banter-related) highlight, when he said it was the first time he'd been to our fair city (Minneapolis), someone in the audience called him out as wrong. "You opened for Randy Newman in the mid-70s at the Guthrie!"

"Either you were too high or I was," VDP replies.

My quibble? In such an intimate setting as this venue, the fact that he played a digital keyboard through the small sound system magnified its non-pianoness. (Nice word, eh?) He switched to the glorious, not especially well tuned house upright for one tune and it was magnificent. Normally I am not a stickler for such things, but in that environment, I really prefer the natural instrument. (Last year I saw the Friedberger siblings do a "Fiery Furnaces - Duo" show, and brother Matt was on that piano. Amazing.) Still, great show. VDP was funny and a typically amazing pianist throughout.

[hypehat]

He's something else live, isn't he?

[bgas]

I saw him last Tuesday--the third, guess it was? Similar set list, same group. I was lucky to have an audience that definitely was interested in what was going on, no nonsense there. A (banter-related) highlight, when he said it was the first time he'd been to our fair city (Minneapolis), someone in the audience called him out as wrong. "You opened for Randy Newman in the mid-70s at the Guthrie!"

"Either you were too high or I was," VDP replies.

My quibble? In such an intimate setting as this venue, the fact that he played a digital keyboard through the small sound system magnified its non-pianoness. (Nice word, eh?) He switched to the glorious, not especially well tuned house upright for one tune and it was magnificent. Normally I am not a stickler for such things, but in that environment, I really prefer the natural instrument. (Last year I saw the Friedberger siblings do a "Fiery Furnaces - Duo" show, and brother Matt was on that piano. Amazing.) Still, great show. VDP was funny and a typically amazing pianist throughout.

I suppose he likes to be able to see his audience and communicate with them, without having to do an over the shoulder thing all the time; he was on Digital in St. Louis also. They had an old upright there, like for maybe if he really wanted to run with it, but he didn't. I had no idea what it was going to be like, but was hoping he'd have a baby grand or grand. But for this show that might have zoomed the costs and made it unworthy. or maybe VDP simply like the digitals for his own shows?

[the captain]

May well be (that he likes to see his audience). And believe me, I'm not complaining. With a week including both VDP (at the intimate Cedar) and Of Montreal (at the glorious, historic First Ave), it was a good span of days.

[endofposts]

The Detroit show was similar to what you described in terms of the set list and anecdotes. There were two opening acts (a chanteuse who performed with guitar, bass, piano, drums, trombone and trumpet accompaniment) and a trio who performed primarily ambient music to accompany a light show (performed in a separate space - the show was held at the Museum for Contemporary Art - Detroit).

The drawback of this was that there was a sizable faction of the crowd who had little-to-no interest in Parks; the result was a steady, low roar of conversation throughout Parks' entire set in the packed room. Fans of Parks would consistently try to "shush" the crowd in between songs, but Parks eventually remarked with resignation "Oh, let them talk". I suspect he curtailed some of his patter since he had trouble being heard anyway (no Mark Twain comments for instance).

Parks was also adamant at the beginning of the set that no photos or recordings be made ("YouTube represents the nadir for those of us who value high fidelity" or something to that effect) and actually stopped the performance during the first song when he spotted someone recording him. "Turn that off or I'll leave!". Towards the end of the set, he noticed someone else taking a photo and responded, almost under his breath, "People are born to disappoint"!

Parks appeared to be in a much better mood when signing autographs after the set. I had him sign a copy of his "Arrangements Vol. 1" and took a picture with him. I thanked him for coming to Detroit (his first performance in the city ever) and he commented that he told his wife "If I don't do it now...when?!"

I really like that line of Van Dyke's you quoted, "People are born to disappoint."  So true.  I've often thought that, but never saw it put into words.

[Roger Ryan]

I guess we were fortunate in Detroit that Parks was able to play a well-tuned grand piano for the entire set. I had just assumed he requested a grand piano be present at every venue, but I see that's not the case. The fact that the Detroit performance was at an art museum makes it even more surprising that they would make the effort to obtain a piano for him.