Jul

28

Looking back on how I looked back: A Farewell to Farewell Shows–July 25, 2008

Filed Under Music, The history of me 

Well, this is the first time I’m doing this here, but usually after a show, I wait a few days and write up how I felt about it. I used to do that on my MySpace blog because its music related, but seeing this is my main blog, well, its only fitting that I put it here…

First off, let me thank everyone for coming out. I honestly can’t thank you enough for showing up, even if it was for a short time… That’s all I could ever ask for: my friends there with me to share the final moments that I took to the stage.

So, as I had panned about it before, let’s go on the setlist and go each side of the setlist by each side. Sean Evan opened off the night starting around 8:40 or so, and played a nice rocking 45 minute set or so. Definitely looking forward to hearing his band and how things go with that as time progresses.

Early on in the evening

Early on in the evening

At about 9:30, I took to the stage for the first time of the night, and my first set was as follows:

Naked
Granny - Dave Matthews Band
Atlantic City - Bruce Springsteen
Orange (Remember My Name)
Everything is Beautiful
Gray
I Will Follow You Into The Dark - Death Cab for Cutie
Down (Alone Now)
Fifteen (Emergency)
Three Foot Voices
Running to Stand Still - U2
Found Out About You - Gin Blossoms
Growing
Second Rate Superhero

A few notes about this first set:
1) I botched up “Granny” hardcore. I completely forgot the “bridge/chorus” part of it on guitar, but I made up for it with the next cover. I should have started covering Springsteen a long time ago because I think that one sounded really good.
2) “Everything Is Beautiful” was sped up a little and rearranged, seeing I don’t remember all of the lyrics, but the way it flowed and sounded was fairly smooth and enjoyable as a whole. I like playing that one.
3) “Down” had its usual “live fade out” exit, and after all of these years? I’ve still got it.
4) “Fifteen” had a lyrics change from “24″ to “25″ on the opening line, I felt it was appropriate and the song sounded pretty good.
5) “Three Foot Voices” was more of a tease of half of the song as a lead in/intro for the U2 cover, seeing its the same exact chord progression.
6) During “Found Out About You,” I dropped my pick. In the process of heavy strumming, I bruised my right middle finger right by the thumb. Nice blood blister on the side of my nail. Its sorta funny and weird looking.
7) “Growing” sounded phenomenal. Or maybe that was just me. I’m looking forward to hearing input on that one because I have a lot of high hopes for that song.
8) “Second Rate Superhero” was by far the best close that I could have chosen to pull off for the first set. I haven’t played that one in ages, but it felt good.

After the 40ish minutes or so that I was rocking out there, there was a mini set by me, Sean, and John. See, Mikey D was supposed to be there that evening but he’s had some stuff come up and wasn’t able to make it, so we did an impromptu filler set for him:

Toast
Alone
Superhero

And it was completely unrehearsed. Sean and I split the vocal duties with Sean doing the vocals on “Alone” and I took the other two. Seeing Mikey and I have played as a duo in the past, I’m used to multiple guitar arrangements of his songs, and I think these sounded quite good. They were definitely a treat and I think that if Mikey had a chance to hear them, he would have been proud.

Playing Mikey D\'s \"Alone\" (from L to R: Sean Evan, John Ketcham, and me)

Next up on stage was Mr. Ketcham. While I’m disappointed that even with showing him his own chords to his song “Long Way Home” that he didn’t play it (which happens to be my favorite song of his), I always love hearing his set because of his technical prowess as a guitarist. Beautiful. Just simply beautiful.

And at about 11:30, I took to the stage again for the final time of the night and the final time in Orlando. To step up there and start? I had to start at the beginning, so I reflected that with my final set:

And I Said
Entrophy
Slide - Goo Goo Dolls
Echo
Tonic & Gin
Not Another Butterfly
Normal Life - July for Kings
Lucky - 7M3
Running Back to You
The Fall Of Autumn
Four
Orion
Pictures - Unsung Zeros
Radiance - Athenaeum
Don’t Stop Believing - Journey
Trying So Hard

And with this set, I accomplished a lot and have a lot of little notes to add to it:
1) “And I Said” is the oldest song of mine that I’ve written that I still play, so I think it was very fitting to put it in there; on the same note, “Entrophy” was played for the first time solo ever there. Not many folks are around who have heard it live in its original version, and I’m glad I could play it with a smile.
2) I wore my usual Kangol cap only once the whole night, during “Slide.” It felt appropriate to me. Also, if you didn’t notice, I was wearing a UCF t-shirt with Knightro on it. One of the few UCF shirts that actually looks very cool.
3) For “Tonic & Gin,” I used a slowed down intro on it that I’ve been playing often, and I really thought it was a nice one to use for it this time.
4) This was the first time that I can recall playing the acoustic arrangement of “Not Another Butterfly.” And the only recorded versions of it are electric. So it was a little treat for those out there to hear a new version of it.
5) On “Running Back to You,” no, I did not do the old school “running in place” that I used to do live. I was feeling sort of tired at this point.
6) I botched up the lyrics a little on “Four,” and completely forgot the second verse and adlibbed something in its place. Oh, and an interesting trivia note which I mentioned that night: the only album of mine that I played in its entirety on Friday night was “The Four EP.” And I didn’t even touch any songs on my “Running Away From Myself Again EP.” So there you go.
7) “Pictures” is a fun cover that I should have started playing much sooner in my time on stages, but even still, it worked well as a lead off of the final covers. Which is why I had to play “Radiance”–it wouldn’t be a farewell show without an Athenaeum cover. Oh, and during my Journey cover? Even the baristas were singing along. I like that one. Really really like it.
8) There was no other way at all that I could have ever closed out the evening other than “Trying So Hard.” And if you expected any other way, well, I couldn’t think of it, so please let me know for the future. But this version clocked in probably close to 15 minutes, with extended intros and outros… It was just right.

Jamming on \"Slide\"

All said and done, I ended my second set around 12:50am. A good hour and fifteen minutes since getting up there. It was all I could play, all I could do, and as soon as I had finished, well, I was done. Finis. I couldn’t have played any more because my voice went right after I got off the stage.

So, I’d like to again thank everyone who did come out, and thank you to my friend Katy who took all of the great pictures you see here (and if anyone else has pictures, please e-mail me), and to all who just have been around in one way or another in one capacity or another. It means a lot to me.

One final note: I had folks ask me about the tip jar that I was going to put out there. In my haste to leave, I didn’t bring one with me. So if you still wanted to contribute to that, please do so on my Discography page through PayPal. All the help on our move with paying for diesel is a help.

Thanks friends… Thanks for 6 great years of support on the Orlando scene and I’ll be seeing you…

Summing up 6 years with just over 6 chords...

Summing up 6 years with just over 6 chords...

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    About The Site


    Thanks for stopping by, folks! My name is Adam J. Cohen, and I'm a guitarist/songwriter in Champaign, IL, recently relocated from Orlando, FL where I'm a UCF grad. Here, you'll find vignettes on my life, setlists and show reviews, and whatever else crosses my mind. Enjoy!