Terry Lee Hale
Concert Reviews
by Johanna J. Bodde


                                                                   

TERRY LEE HALE TRIO   Musiktheater BAD, Hannover on May 12th 2004 and De Tichel, Amsterdam NL on May 21st 2004 www.terryleehale.com Terry Lee Hale has a birthdayparty When you go to concerts in Germany, you land at interesting places sometimes... Musiktheater BAD is a swimmingpool with building from the 30's to match, a fascinating spot where Terry Lee Hale celebrates his birthday tonight. My friend Christa booked this gig, so a big part of the afternoon we're busy together, taking care of the catering and dressing up the dressingroom. The young musicians of Locas In Love are raised with Terry Lee's music, they offer to play for free and to sleep on the floor if necessary, as long as they can open for him! The voice of their singer reminds of Reinhard May, he quotes Bob Dylan and with the ode to Mo Tucker is nothing wrong. He plays lapsteel during one song, a red Gibson with the rest. Terry Lee and Joseph have naturally more eyes for the pretty lady-bassplayer! Joseph? Yes, Joseph Parsons handles the bassguitar during this tour and Tin Ostres, the talented Croatian drummer, is third man in the trio. Terry Lee's birthdaycandle is lit on the stage when he starts the concert in presence of about 45 fans, with an instrumental followed by a new song. Now, with band, he can prove himself fully with long guitar solos in his own flamboyant style. Referring to the special day he says: "My wish will always be, play music with friends, in the home of friends...", then he introduces Joseph and Tin. Terry Lee's intention to dust off some old songs is carried out. We hear "Life's The Time", "I Don't Know", even haunting "Sam DTs" ("It's a chain of fire, dungeon days") and of course the perfect dobro song "Cheyenne". The other half of the intention was to play new things, as the early Spring in France was fruitful. He wrote "Three Days" thinking of Hank Williams, Joseph sings with him on the fast "work-song". Terry Lee and Joseph are two/fourths of Hardpan, so it's obvious that "Black Cloud" also will be performed. Inbetween everything we're entertained with Terry Lee's usual jokes and after an endearing story about his little granddaughter, who, in his opinion, gets spoiled tremendously, he states: "If you deny your children everything, musical instruments, pen and paper, they'll become musicians and poets, if you give them everything, they'll become secretaries!" Of course the beautiful songs from the new album aren't being skipped, "Blues Walk" with effects on the drums, "Take It Back", "Eye Of The Moon" with a remark about the reviews being more enthusiastic in The Netherlands than in Germany! After Joseph, Tin is also allowed now to go away and smoke a cigarette, Terry Lee asks for Grand Canyon-reverb and plays "Ragged Caravan" with slide, which supplies him with a stormy applause. The Blind Doctors-version (fast & loud & astoundingly good) of "I Still Want You" and then "King Of The World" are closing off. Terry Lee takes pictures of the audience and doesn't let them beg him long for an encore: "I'm easy!" He wears the white shirt he bought for the wedding of Chris and Anda Eckman, he also sings "Fire Exit", which he wrote for the occasion. After the first encore, consisting of three songs and the sincere "Thanks for travelling long distances!" a second one follows. "High Noon", where Tin uses his shakers with such virtuosity that Terry Lee advises him urgently: "Remember this shit for tomorrow night!", "Celebration What For" with dobro and harmonica, in conclusion Joseph, who behaved the whole evening like the modest bassplayer, gets the guitar in his hands, while Terry Lee plays bass in Joseph's prize-animal "Crocodile". And then it's time for champagne and birthday-cake! --- Ninethousand kilometres further No, I don't want to miss the chance to see Terry Lee Hale again, with Joseph Parsons as the bassplayer and with drummer Tin Ostres. After carefully counting the available Euri I step on the train to Amsterdam and land in the middle of a nightmare... The awful trainaccident has just happened, the paged announcements don't sound so alarming yet but outside the trainstation I get really scared when I see how the police-officers freak completely: screaming, pulling and pushing to clear the square. Along constructionsites, streetcars not being able to move back or forth and panicking travellers, I just manage to get away into the direction of the citycenter. While all emergency-vehicles speed by, sirens blaring, including motorcycle-cops and riot-police, even a helicopter circles overhead. Somewhat shaky I decide to walk directly to De Tichel, at least there will be people I know. Indeed, Terry Lee is doing his soundcheck! To my surprise I also see Katy, his French girlfriend and Chris Eckman, his best friend. Chris will play the following evening at the Paradiso, not with The Walkabouts but solo, he brings his sidekick John and their car has gotten a wheel-clamp immediately! When promoter Robbie also comes in, enthusiastic as always, it becomes real nice and cosy, then all eight of us go for a bite to a restaurant around the corner. The concert starts at a quarter to nine, community center De Tichel is rather full and the livingroom-atmosphere feels pleasantly, so Terry Lee says: "It's good to be back!" The big birthday-candle from Hannover is actually lit again on a "little things"-table next to him! In the first set songs are played that I also heard during the German concert, there's of course less variety possible with a band than there is solo. Terry Lee seems a bit tired, after some 9000 (!) kilometres driven during this tour, that's no surprise... Joseph and Tin take care of the funny note during the tuning of the guitar, Joseph knows amusing jokes and Tin makes amusing sounds behind his drumkit, "Is that you?" Terry asks somewhat out of focus. While introducing his trio, he honors again his reputation as a "stray cat": "I don't know where I'm from, I'm all over the place..." Until just before the second set starts, the fans who were delayed by the train-accident, keep coming in. Fortunately nobody has to miss the spendid new song "One Last Time", "Where The Weeds Grow" is a request and for "Ride Hard" the band comes on stage "to wake up the neighbors". Terry Lee tells about "Sam DTs" that he brings this song as his tribute to Kurt Cobain who died ten years ago. When later his story, beginning with the hotel in Volendam, starts to ramble a bit too much, Joseph and Tin look at him. "Play music?" "Yeah..." the twosome says significantly. Highlight of this show is for me again that fast version of "I Still Want You"! The encore, after a long series of thank-you's consists of four pieces, of course Chris his weddingsong "Fire Exit", the catchy instrumental "Gypsy's Minor Swing", a not yet on album recorded song ("What about you...") and closing off Joseph's pet "Crocodile". It's a quarter past eleven then, almost everybody walks around with newly acquired CD's and the organizers of the concert are so kind to call for information about the trains. I'm invited to ride in a taxi heading for station Sloterdijk (Thanks, Leo!), where the one & only train departs to Rotterdam. Luckily I still have just enough time to say bye-bye to everybody and to hand Terry Lee his package of "stroopwafels" (Dutch syrup cookies)... Yes, he luvs those! --- Written by Johanna J. Bodde, Dutch original of this review previously published on Real Roots Cafe, The Netherlands ===== Photo Copyright by Jeroen Hansen

TERRY LEE HALE   De Buut, Eindhoven NL on October 20th 2003 and Cicero, Haarlem NL on October 23rd 2003 www.terryleehale.com Terry Lee Hale is back in the country and his concerts are always worth the travelling! Just like in the Spring, I choose the one at music-cafe De Buut in Eindhoven, as there's nothing planned any closer to where I live. Too bad, Ad (The Watchman) and Ankie (The Very Girls) who organize this concert series, are not present themselves due to an American tour, so there's no opening act either. At half past ten Terry Lee appears on stage, wearing his trademark leather jacket, his hair is shorter than ever! He just starts with the acoustic guitar, "Tornado Alley" and then pulls out several picks and the slide for "Texas Rose", while he welcomes us. German fans are attending, even a Japanese gentleman! "Toss" gets pretty harmonica solos and Terry Lee plays "Freak Show", I never heard that passing by, played live. As he drove a borrowed car from France, he was also able this time to transport his favorite instrument, the vintage dobro. Our hectic traffic deserves a joke, we apparently have a lot of "little babycars" here. "Cheyenne" is a song that you like more and more, everytime you hear it. Now it avenges itself that Ad isn't there, the noise in the back proves a little too much for Terry Lee, he pulls the plug from the dobro, slaps the microphone away and finishes the song like that. Ad would have brought a bit more quiet, with a friendly remark, as an artist isn't too fond of functioning as a human jukebox. More dobro songs follow: "The Orphanage" (with slide), two new ones "Eye Of The Moon" and "Take It Back", the Hardpan-hitsong "Black Cloud" is greeted with applause, even in the back. But it doesn't turn out right again, after an emotional version of "If You Want" (my favorite song!) Terry Lee excuses himself and leaves the stage with an instrumental already after an hour. --- Music-cafe Cicero in the city center of Haarlem recently started programming live-music and the lady who owns the place thinks that's really exciting. It's cozy here anyway, Terry Lee plays on a small stage with a wooden balustrade in the corner where a lit poster of Marlene Dietrich hangs on the wall. When he calls out: "Here we go!" at half past nine, there are about 25 people inside and that number grows gradually. Terry Lee first picks the dobro for an instrumental piece, every show he does is different, so now he also plays "Tonight" ("as close to a love song as I'll ever get"). "Dangling" is recorded for the new album. When he switches to the guitar, he makes a few appreciative remarks about fellow Texan Ray Wylie Hubbard, before he plays "Ride Hard" and dedicates it to Johnny Cash. "Ah Love" follows and he notices that he never before played so close to a red light district, with a wink: "My life is improving! It's been a long tour..." Hardpan's "Bad Luck Hand" ends the first part of the show. After a too long intermission, a guitarstring had to be replaced, Terry Lee kicks off with "Rainer's Song", on dobro of course, followed by "Take Away" from the new Hardpan live-album. To my surprise something is also dedicated to me: "The Main Thing", a little gem that I first heard in the rough version at the castle of East German town Greiz. "Strange Love" is played with slide on the guitar, followed by a flamenco-like instrumental and the audience is getting more and more enthusiastic, during the last song they're even dancing! Of course Terry Lee is willing to play an encore and when I walk to the door on my way out at half past eleven (same old story: the train never waits...) I just hear him ask for a little glass of tequila! --- Written by Johanna J. Bodde, Dutch original of this review previously published on Real Roots Cafe, The Netherlands ===== TERRY LEE HALE   De Buut, Eindhoven NL on March 10th 2003 and De Tichel, Amsterdam NL on March 14th 2003 www.terryleehale.com Last week I discovered two important things: 1. How nice these series of live concerts are, just organized by music-lovers and 2. how far fans are willing to travel for a gig of Terry Lee Hale, from Belgium and even Germany, two hours of searching for the venue in a strange city... But is was worth all that trouble, for everybody. In De Buut we even got as a first part of the programme a concert of The Watchman, Ad van Meurs and his wife Ankie, who combined the singing of beautiful harmonies with taking care of the fine sound in this pleasant music-pub. Good set-up with a spacious stage, tables and chairs for the listeners, the bar for the whisperers in a way that nobody was annoying the others. Around quarter to eleven the moment came that Terry Lee, announced by Ad, stepped on stage, saying: "Not all Texans are assholes!" and then you know right away: a Personality is standing there!. Two brandnew songs were followed by his applauded statement: "I am one hundred percent against the war", after which a passionated "Slow Poison" was performed . Of course there was also room for some humour: with the song "Fire Exit" came a long story about Terry's daughter Lisa, who is going to marry an Italian American and a retrospective view on the wedding of his best friend Chris Eckman (The Walkabouts) in Slovenia. After this a few older songs by request, "Backroads" and "Time Bomb", during which it stroke me again how well Terry Lee can put himself in the place of his characters. Also the instrumental "Bluebonnets" and a song of "supergroup" Hardpan had to be played, the catchy intro announced "Edenless", followed by a melancholic "Unmet". A warm and long applause persuaded him to a flashing, expressive "Old Hand" as an encore. A kick-ass TLH-show! --- The show in De Tichel was just as good, but yet much different. A typical concert for listeners only, in a nice rented hall of a community-centre in the heart of Amsterdams Jordaan. Terry Lee writes his setlists depending on the situation and his mood. He had more time available for his show now and played two sets. His best-known songs like "Tornado Alley", "The Ballad of Molly and Shelley", as well as "First Get Over Falling" and "Ride Hard" were presented. "Toss" is his own favorite with a beautiful harmonica performance, "The Boys Are Waiting" is always evidently popular with all listeners. "Forget About Love" is the saddest song he ever wrote but even so, listeners always look for the album on which it is recorded. Terry Lee travelled by train so he could only take his 6-string guitar; he explained that "Take It Back" and "Eye Of The Moon" should be played on the dobro and apologized to the 6-string in his hands: "No offense, baby!" More new songs: "The Wish" (touching in the tradition of "The Orphanage" and "Dakota") and "King of the World", which could be just the right opening track of his new album. Around that time Terry asked for a tequila and one listener was nice enough to take care of that (by asking for it in two neighborhood pubs). "Michigan Weather" was giving us goose bumps again and after some fast stuff he ended with wonderful "Strange Love". He was quite happy with the undivided attention (even Ad VanderVeen came to listen!) and left us all happy. Come back soon, Terry Lee! --- Written by Johanna J. Bodde, translated by Yvonne Bohm. Dutch original of this review previously published on Real Roots Cafe, The Netherlands. ===== Photo Copyright by Jeroen Hansen