[caedmonscall.net]

So you might have heard that I flew up to Philly on Sunday to hang out with Bryan. Oh, yeah, and some band was in town, too. ;)

1200 photos and a couple GB of audio later, I came back home to Alabama. And now, I present it to you: 2008-02-24: Philadelphia Biblical University, Langhorne, PA, USA (FLAC – AUD). Download it for free, check out the 200+ photos I posted, etc. Send money to my “I can’t believe Geof spent a lot of money to be in Philly for 15 hours!” fund if you like, but either way, enjoy.

[I'll try and write up a review in a couple days, but my brain is mush after not sleeping and then coming back to a very busy week at work.]

From the Nebraska show of the Overdressed Tour earlier this month, here’s Derek Webb performing “I Want To Marry You All Over Again”.

thanks to Dan Roesch and Lincoln Berean Church for the clip

Here’s a good looking video of CC performing “There’s Only One” during the Nebraska show of the Overdressed Tour earlier this month.

thanks to Dan Roesch and Lincoln Berean Church for the clip

Here’s two very different reviews of last night’s show in New Holland, PA

from Bob Cleaver

My first Caedmon’s Call concert tonight. I am acquainted with Chronicles and have heard some of their work on the radio, but I am largely ignorant of their mass of work. Show went 2:50 straight through without a break. Pretty rough on the seat if you know what I mean. A pretty sedate crowd; never standing until the end (before the encore). Sure glad they did the encore because Thankful received the biggest response of the night. As they started Thankful I looked around and didn’t see the crowd getting to its feet. So, since I was in the first row, I figured at least I would stand up and start the rhythmic clapping. Quickly everybody else jumped to their feet, and, yes, this crowd did know the words to the chorus. Again, not being the biggest fan, many of the songs were new to me so I was trying to listen to the words, but the volume of the music often got in the way. The bass was the strongest I remember of any concert I have been to; you really felt every vibrative pulse. Again, that may have had something to do with my seat in the front row. I’m not sure this concert has made me a bigger fan or not. I think I’ll just go on liking the several of their songs that appeal to me.

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from Ryan Baniall

I’ve been to over 25 Caedmon’s Call shows over the past ten years and last night’s was one of the best I’ve ever seen. Five reasons why:

1. Derek Webb opened and played 6-7 songs. His songs are more relevant now than when he wrote them, and i feel we’ll be saying that for a long time. Just great songs. He gets more out of a his vocal chords and 12 strings than most bands get out of multiple members.

2. Andy Osenga played a 3-song set in the middle of CC’s set which was amazing. I love how Andy sneaks up on first time listeners with his amazing vocal range and guitar-playing skillz.

3. Set length, which was close to 3 hours from Derek’s first note to the last bang on the trash can. That’s getting your money’s worth!

4. Set list, which for CC contained the perfect mix of old and new. Well, I shouldnt say perfect. Had they thrown in What You Want instead of Faith My Eyes, that would have been perfect.

5. The lineup. It’s amazing. Seeing Andy, Cliff, Danilelle, and Derek on the front line is awesome. Hearing them all together is even better. Add to that the backcourt of Miller, Bragg, and Buell and you got a freaking murderer’s row. Having Derek’s guitar there with Andy is the kicker. Derek plays all those acoustic solos from the old songs like he used to, and Andy makes his electrics sing on a few killer solos throughout the night.

I just dont see how anyone could walk away NOT being inspired and facerocked. I know I was.

When we asked for fan reviews of shows on this tour, THIS is what we were expecting. Wait, that’s a lie. This is much better than we expected.

Lindsay Myers, who was at the Greenwood Village, CO show on February 9th, was kind enough to send along this review of the show:

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About two hours into Caedmon’s set on Saturday I glanced over at the friends I was with and their almost-two-year-old Goddaughter was sprawled across their laps fast asleep as Andy and Derek wailed the harmonies of “Hold the Light,” and that moment encapsulates the beauty of the evening for me: the combination of love and familiarity mixed together with new things that fit as if they’ve been long worn in.

As soon as Derek walked on stage and picked up his 12-string to start playing I felt the expectancy in the whole room spill over and wash towards the front and it was like all of that energy was precisely funneled back in the howling acoustics of the songs. I thought Derek nailed his set 100%- reformed theology! wry humor! powerful vocals! intense guitar! convulsive twitches away from the mic! By merit of being a popular favorite I sometimes resent the seeming omnipresence of “Wedding Dress” as part of Derek’s set but hearing it Saturday night the sound was so fresh it was like walking in my homeland, along the Gulf of Mexico at night with the air so full and the pulse of waves at my side, it was that good.

When the “small army that is now Caedmon’s Call” came out together there was a palpable rising of excitement which finally bubbled over when everyone stood up to clap and dance to “Two Weeks in Africa” which was great. I was so happy to be part of a crowd who seemed to feel the joy I did at getting to be a part of this tour- I bought tickets months ago which was just the culmination of my excitement that Derek collaborated on this album at all. My enthusiasm for Derek’s presence noted, Andy Osenga brings something undeniably awesome to the band.- he writes songs that are slightly different for them, he ROCKS and writhes with the guitar, when he hammers on a string you can’t help but take some serious notice, and when he talks he’s hilarious, to boot. As delighted as I was to hear Derek blended with Danielle and Cliff again, the truly thrilling thing for me (on the “Overdressed” album, too of course) was getting to hear Derek and Andy together. I already mentioned the wonder of “Hold the Light” but Andy’s solo set was superb too and made all the more elegant by Derek’s slightly wandering presence stage left nodding along, totally immersed in the music. Not to mention one of the hands-down highlights of the show was the power combo of Andy, Cliff, Danielle, and Derek totally soaring through the harmonies of “Expectations.” So hats off to Andy O.

There were so many other great moments though- there is something so lyrical and primal about Garett on percussion, as someone else noted Josh totally filled in when Derek was doing some crazy multi-tasking after breaking a string on “Faith My Eyes,” it blows my mind to have as much percussion as Caedmon’s does but what would the sound be like without Todd?! A few songs in I started to feel the bass through the pews and have to reiterate my earlier question in regards to Jeff who just manages to make the songs feel so much fuller. I agreed with whoever commented that Danielle seemed under-utilized. Her voice is so much that trademark Caedmon’s sound and I don’t think she actually spoke at all. Someone noted that during their first show Andy seemed to sort of be the extra guitar player on the side and I couldn’t help but feel like Cliff and Danielle didn’t get to carve their unique places. The trio of voices during many of the “old” songs was exhilarating but I would have liked to get more personality coming through. My most outstanding memory of Cliff during the show was his hilarious “transition” to talk about DFN and analogizing the possibility of forgetting the words of “This World” to when your kids run around the corner and you can see in their eyes that they’ve chosen the moment to poop. “Anybody been to India?!”

As others mentioned it was definitely a long set but I was engaged during every song and walked away in disbelief that I only paid $15 for the ticket- who gets a three hour concert for that!? Once again Caedmon’s established LIVE why they have remained one of my favorite bands for the past ten years. Two things would have made that show better (1) SANDRA (2) Far from stoning whoever suggested it, I agree that a song or two off of “Long Line of Leavers” (which I still maintain is their most underrated record!) would have rounded out the set- we’re not all married and settled yet!

Overall, though, left me thoughtful, joyful, and content- who can ask for more than that?

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Thanks Lindsay!

If you want to write up a review for a show on the Overdressed Tour (it doesn’t need to be this long or well-written), send it along to us at overdressedtour(at)gmail(dot)com.

Here’s the first song of the first show of the Overdressed Tour, which also happens to be the first song on the first CD that the band ever recorded.

This is also the first time that the word ‘first’ has appeared 6 times in one post.

thanks to Mike Terry for the clip

The second night of the Caedmon’s spring tour brought them to Lincoln Berean Church in Lincoln, NE. With over 1000 tickets sold in advance for a 16002500-seat auditorium, I’m going to estimate 1200 the official estimate is 1800 people in attendance for the show. Lincoln Berean is home to Derek Webb’s brother Brandon (that’s Dr. Brandon Webb, as we learned during the concert), and they had things well-planned and ready to go for the concert. My wife and I showed up in time for sound check around 4:30 and stuck around through the show.

First things first: the set list.

Derek opened with several of his solo songs; he played solo on his 12-string guitar.

1. Lover
2. Nobody Loves Me
3. A New Law
4. King and a Kingdom
5. Name
6. Wedding Dress
7. I Wanna Marry You All Over Again
8. Savior on Capitol Hill
9. This Too Shall Be Made Right

While the crowd most obviously recognized Wedding Dress, the real crowd favorite of Derek’s was I Wanna Marry You, where Derek managed to play that fantastic bass riff along with all the guitar chords. The song works very well live like that – without all the production the lyrics have a chance to jump out and shine.

After Derek’s set and introduction of the band (“so, I hear this group coming up is pretty good…”) Caedmon’s came out to play. They managed to fill up a really big stage with lights, risers for two percussion sets, the bass player, and the keyboards, and then four microphones spread across the stage. The first half of the show went like this:

1. My Calm Your Storm
2. There is a Reason
3. Climb On (A Back That’s Strong)
4. Trouble
5. Expectations
6. Two Weeks In Africa
7. Share In The Blame
8. Hold The Light
9. Forty Acres
10. In God’s Country
11. Share The Well

Cliff did his little talk for the Dalit Freedom Network right before Share The Well. Cliff and Danielle then vacated the stage while Andy Osenga introduced himself and played a couple songs from his solo records:

1. When Will I Run (with Derek singing backups
2. Swing Wide The Glimmering Gates (w/o the band)
3. New Beginning (with Todd, Garret, Jeff, and Josh)

The band then came back out for the second half:

1. There’s Only One (Holy One)
2. Not Enough
3. Faith My Eyes
4. Shifting Sand
5. Hope to Carry On

Then they left the stage in preparation for their encore. This seems a bit ironic to me as I remember Derek’s tirades during solo shows about his dislike for encores. But then Derek was the first one out for the encore:

1. Ten Thousand Angels
2. April Showers
3. Thankful

So, pretty close to the set list from the first night, and amazingly loaded with old songs. And long, too. Counting everyone’s songs, 9 + 11 + 3 + 5 + 3 = 31 songs. A full three hours.

Now some comments on the show itself. As Andy has already admitted, the show was pretty rough. Andy had some serious equipment issues (a short in his pedal board and a broken capo about 20 Acres into the 40 – he just did get a different guitar plugged in in time for the solo), some of the tempos seemed off (mostly slow on the old songs), some vocal parts were forgotten (with Cliff, Danielle, and Andy looking at each other in embarrassment as they all realized it about the same time), and, well, when Derek tried to get the crowd to sing the chorus of Thankful, basically nobody knew it. Ouch.

It was really good to see Derek on stage with Caedmon’s again. Maybe I shouldn’t say again, since I’d never seen Caedmon’s before Derek left the band. He and Cliff have great chemistry on the stage, and it’s quite obvious that they’ve been playing together for years. But there was a weird vibe to the show with all four of them out front; it seemed often (especially on the old, pre-Andy songs) as if Cliff, Danielle, and Derek were doing their thing, and Andy was just left in the background to strum along on another acoustic guitar. Andy’s equipment issues may have contributed to that vibe, too – he didn’t seem very comfortable for the whole first half of the show. I can understand why he would be somewhat excluded on those songs, but it left me wishing that they’d found a way to bring him in more.

Lest I sound too harsh, there were some very good moments in the show. I think the best overall song was Share In The Blame mid-way through the first half. Derek and Danielle sounded fantastic on the vocals, Andy’s guitar solo was excellent, Josh’s organ was cranking, and it was about that point that the whole band felt really tight. Then to end the night everybody seemed to unwind on Thankful as the trash cans were brought out and everybody could let loose – with Andy ripping on the electric, last night’s Thankful was very reminiscent of the version that Derek has on his How to Kill and Be Killed DVD. (Aside: AO or Moak? Wouldn’t want to have to decide.) Cliff and Derek’s interaction between songs was quite funny, and Andy’s monologue between his solo songs was priceless.

So, all in all, a concert worth driving five hours to. I think once the band gets things tightened up a bit more and their equipment issues worked through, there will be some REALLY good shows toward the back end of this tour. Check the schedule and buy your tickets, folks.

[There are some more photos from last night's concert on my Flickr page. I only uploaded 18 of about 100. If anybody asks nicely I can probably up some more.]
[Thanks to Brandon for the corrections on room size and attendance.]

Here’s the setlist from opening night, courtesy of Mike Terry. (this doesn’t include Derek’s opening solo set)

here’s a great shot of some of the band with a few members of or Rumor Forum

(Todd, Garett, Andy, Cliff, Derek, David, Mike Terry, Katie, Jeff, and Michael)

The show tonight in Lincoln, Nebraska promises to be a fun one, as Andy O pointed out on his blog earlier today.

A little birdie just told me, in fact, that there will be as many as 7 cameras on location tonight to film the show. Rumor also has it that video footage of the event will be made available to caedmonscall.net at some point in the near future.

You know how rumor can be, so unpredictable at times, but as of this point we have no reason to believe that this won’t happen. By all means, we’ll keep you in the loop on whether or not this will be become a reality.

If it doesn’t end up happening, well, pretend we never mentioned it.

If it does, it will be pretty rad.

More on this story as it develops

…bryan

The Overdressed Tour kicked off last night in Arkansas, and rumor had it that the band was going to open the show with “My Calm, Your Storm”, the first song from the first CD they ever recorded. We hope to have more to tell you about it, but we have not received any reviews yet. (Though Rumor Forum member Michael did mention that the crowd was kinda dead last night…booo) When we do, we’ll pass them along.

Remember, if you are fortunate enough to make it out to a show on this tour, email us your review at OverdressedTour-at-gmail-dot-com and we’ll post it here for everyone to read. You can also share your show photos with the world at the Flickr Group we set up.