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A Photographers Tale
Text : Andy Scheffler
Flying by the seat of my pants again (in
true rock n' roll fashion, indeed…) I made the risqué
trek to Richard's to see if the Dandy Warhols (certainly
one of my top bands of the decade) would grant me on-the-spot
media clearance for their show that evening. Uncharacteristically,
the back of the club was shut up tight. So I wandered around
front, and who should I walk into but none other than the
one and only, vocalist Courtney Taylor-Taylor, along
with drummer Brent DeBoer and their road manager, who
I know only as Mark, noodling around by the tour bus,
signing a pair of shiny white boxer shorts, of all things,
with a jiffy marker. "Just the people I wanted to see!" I
exclaimed. After ducking behind Brent, Mark declared that
he did recall me from the last show here, and gave me a general
approval to come and shoot. He ran off, and Brent ran off,
and there I was with Mr. Taylor-Taylor, witnessing some of
his characteristically bratty rock-star traits that I had
heard so much about in the past. Yet, he's far more amusing
than offensive. He spent a couple minutes whirling about in
the middle of Richard's street, complaining how hungry how
was, asking where he can get food, and then cursing at himself
for having left all his Canadian money locked away on the
tour bus, beyond "many keys." With final resolve, he returned
to the sidewalk, and stalked towards the club, muttering about
getting inside from the cold. He stopped abruptly, invited
me inside with him, and proceeded to hold the door open for
me, which is somehow not what I would have expected. With
his fuzzy-lapelled, cape-like black jacket swirled about his
shoulders; he looked like quite the dapper doorman.
Inside, the final prep was underway for
sound check, and I was shortly joined at the bar by bassist
Zia McCabe, who also recognized my face. The band thereafter
emerged from their various hiding places (Courtney having
apparently eaten half the rider backstage to quell his hunger),
and began what would be the longest sound check I have ever
witnessed (and believe me, I've been to a few…). I'm still
not sure whether they're perfectionists, or just too damn
picky, but since it was pretty well an hour and a half long,
I more or less was treated to my own private concert, albeit
with more quips and odd moments, more chatting, and some repeated
songs. Quite an enjoyable glimpse into their true characters,
and since I was one of three people there who weren't part
of the band or crew, I decided I was fairly lucky to witness
this sort of thing. Courtney was unhappy with the drum mix
coming out of his monitors, though everyone else seemed okay.
A few defining moments of his true front-man character… during
the band's rendition of "Little Drummer Boy," Courtney became
upset enough with the mix to make them stop playing the song.
Second run through, he got sufficiently angry enough to yell
that they just could not play that song. So Zia chimes in,
"But I want to play it at the show tonight!" He relented;
they went on. One of the guys from the opener was carting
a camera around, and was using the flash from the upper balcony
to take some shots of the proceedings. When he came down to
the floor and took some shots, Courtney, still playing a song
and singing along to the tune of it, starts telling the guy
not to use flash from that angle, because of how bad it makes
him look. He told me later on that anything at least four
feet in front and four feet above him was fine for flash.
And that's it.
After they were as satisfied as they would
get, I joined Courtney and guitarist Pete Holmstrom,
to let them have a look through the photos of their last Vancouver
gig. Comments like, "What was I wearing?" and "wow, look at
my hair," and "of course Brent looks great" were standard.
They then had me give them some directions to a good sushi
bar nearby, and they dashed off for dinner. Arriving back
later, Zia was helping her boyfriend and on-the-road merch
guy, Travis, set up the swag. What was my prize for
being the photographer? A covetedDandy Warhols pin.
Open doors, commence festivities.
Under the impression that the Dandys were
to go on early, rather than an opener, the place was packed
in minutes. Many a local notable was around, much as last
time. Lily Frost took the stage about 9:00. True to
her name, she seemed a cold individual, both in conversation,
and on stage. While strong-voiced, she lacked a certain sincerity
that her brand of music definitely needs. But alas, she is
cute, and she's local, so people paid attention. Speaking
with a few people afterwards, I found that not too many were
very impressed with her show. They all agreed it lacked that
necessary warmth, but also agreed that she is backed by an
extremely talented band. Courtney was spotted as mentioning
that she's "really good," but it was also apparent that he
had a bit of a thing for her, so we'll assume his judgement
was somewhat impaired at that time.
The changeover was quick, and I took my
spot perched on top of a row of amps they had lain at the
front of the stage to provide a barricade for the crowd. I
was placed between Courtney and Pete, and it was prime position.
I had a chance to sit and enjoy the entire show with an unobstructed
view, and without being jostled while doing photos. They used
their typical low lighting, with random imagery projected
on a white sheet behind them. They had pretty wacky patterns
dancing across their faces the entiretime.
They have an incredible show. On top of
the fact that they are marvelous musicians, and have a very
strong, I-don't-give-a-fuck-what-you-think-we're-doing-this-my-way
onstage presence, they also have a wonderful spontaneity and
are really personable and interactive with their crowd. They
have a tendency to completely ignore their set list. I looked
at the list after the show, and while they played most of
the songs on it, they played them in an entirely different
order, and played about a dozen more on top of it. I remember
last time, when Zia had seen me trying to copy the set list
off her monitor, she told me they don’t follow the list, and
then spent the breaks between songs scribbling all over hers
so I would have an accurate one. Taking valiantly-offered
cigarettes and sunglasses from audience members, leaning over
between songs to comment on someone's lip piercing, asking
people to bring them a particular drink - they never exclude
the crowd, but are always associating with them in a much
different and more personal manner than most bands would.
None of that "Helloooooo Vancouvahhhhhhh!" bull.
I finally had a better look at "The Mysterious
Troy," the well-hidden, rarely talked-about fifth member
of the Dandy's road band. I maybe shouldn't even be saying
this, but I did meet him before the show finally, all secretiveness
cast aside for a moment, and he is a wonderful human being.
Didn't forget to tell me to not publicize any photos of him
without the trusty "Mystery Cowboy Hat," which effectively
hides his eyes from the crowds and keeps his true identity
a secret. "Keeps it fun, you know?" he said. He's low-key
on stage, as I guess he is supposed to be, but he is incredibly
talented, playing bass, additional guitar, bongos, slide guitar,
trumpet, and vocals on various tracks. Another amusing instrument-related
tidbit is Pete's pedal board (or rather, pedal boards). How
this guy can keep track of what's what, I'll never know. Don't
believe me? Check out this:http://guitargeek.com/layouts/display.php3?id=413
This GuitarGeek guy has far too much time on his hands, and
you can look through the pedal setups of just about any guitarist
you can shake a stick at.
They played most songs off their newest
release, Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia, as well
as favorites from Come Down, and classics from Rules
OK. Peppered here and there with rare, old, unreleased
tracks, and yes, they did play "Little Drummer Boy."
It's amazing. They have that Christmasy thing recorded on
a ten inch, and where I would usually shell out for such a
treat, I found the cost of that little thing for one three-minute
track a bit steep. I'm sure much of the crowd had not heard
most of the show before, having only been exposed to newer
songs like "Bohemian Like You" and "Godless". As well, I'm
sure a few people were waiting for them to play that damn
heroin song ("Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth") and
what a relief they didn't. Expose those sadly sheltered people
to something new, because that is quite possibly the worst
song they have ever recorded. Isn't it typical that it would
be their most widely acclaimed hit? They also didn't venture
into the "Every day Should Be A Holiday" territory, that little
gem of a single that sparked them much recognition from the
There's Something About Mary soundtrack.
Possibly two hours into their playing time,
Zia removed herself from the keyboards, whispered something
to Courtney, and scooted offstage. So Courtney announces,
"Zia has to go pee, so we'll take a little break here, you
can go get yourselves a drink, and we'll be back in a few
minutes." They all grab the drinks that littered the front
of the stage from adoring fans, and take a seat wherever they
please on the stage and begin chatting like they're at a coffee
shop. Zia comes back, and they continue to sit there, discussing
what songs they might play and whatnot. Then, up and at 'em,
and they played for another hour almost. The show ended on
a very cute note, with Courtney introducing Zia ("Isn't she
cute??") who proceeded to take the mic on the now-empty stage
and sing a little a cappella ditty about the daisy tattoo
on her toe. And that was it.
Waiting for the crowd to file out, I chatted
with them all briefly again, and my general feeling was that,
with one more day to go, they just couldn't wait to get home,
but they had a good time in Vancouver. Plenty of happy smiles
from the departing crowd showed everyone was pretty satisfied,
Lily Frost all but forgotten by now. Zia resumed her post
at the merch booth, cheerfully signing autographs, posing
for photos and just conversing with fans. Courtney was, of
course, surrounded by a mob of girls, and he did look to be
enjoying the attention. Pete seemed to attract the somewhat
dignified male contingent of the crowd, and strangely, Brent
went fairly unnoticed. I find that odd, since his enormous
head of curly hair capping his tall frame can be seen from
across the room. Maybe it's a drummer thing, who knows.
No matter, the Dandy Warhols are
a band to see if they ever come to your neighborhood.
— Andy Scheffler
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