KeithD
First Class Scout
Posts: 231
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Post by KeithD on Nov 18, 2003 9:18:04 GMT -5
Finally got around to watching the DVD last night (on my Mac; still won't play on my DVD player).
Anyway, on the in-store where he plays Unsatisfied, I have to admit, I wasn't satisfied.
I think the beauty of that song from the original album, is that he was, what 23? 25? and his voice was so incredibly youthful, but sung with the anguish of someone twenty years older.
Now, with his voice twenty years older, I think it loses some of the poignancy.
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Post by ClamsCasino on Nov 18, 2003 20:08:33 GMT -5
Yeah, I remember people raving about the Unsatisfied performance at the L.A. in-store, but when I heard it for myself on CD-R I thought it was pretty bad. He whines out the chorus, skips the verses and actually slows down the tempo as the song drags on. He clearly wasn't into it, but I sort of gave those who saw him in person the benefit of the doubt seeing as how the moment that seemed to grab everyone was the "look into my eyes" sunglasses move. Well, seeing it now on the DVD it looks like that was more of a joke than a big emotional moment. It looks like Paul just wasn't into the song at all, so he decided to end it with a goof.
Everytime I saw the Mats do it live, it was pretty much the same story. Paul just never seemed at all interested in doing the song. It's like he knew that there was no way he'd get close to the raw emotion of the album version.
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DirtyWindow
Second Class Scout
Broken hearts and dirty windows.... make life difficult to see (J. Prine)
Posts: 34
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Post by DirtyWindow on Nov 19, 2003 19:24:44 GMT -5
I agree. I didn't find his performance of Unsatisfied to be very emotional or "satisfying". But I did like the pun he did with the shades. He almost looked pissed off for a second, but he turned it around and made the situation quite humorous.
I think "Unsatisfied" belongs in the vault and kept there for archival purposes only. To ask Paul to play it would only reduce the song to a meaningless tribute to his hey day. I think for most Westerberg fans, he's weening us away from the Mats stuff and making us listen to his solo work. I find it to be a more enjoyable experience and we know he's in a happier place in his life than how he was with the Mats.
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Post by A Regular on Nov 21, 2003 19:14:18 GMT -5
Would agree with CC that the performance at the LA in-store was completely uninspired, but I think the song still stands for 40 somethings. I hit the mark awhile back and it often sucks even more to be unsatisfied deeper into a life span.
Anyway, he also played Unsatisfied at the Indy show, but the version was much different...electric, and raw. There is a picture on the DVD that was taken during that performance, as again, his glasses were tossed off, more violently, during that show. It was the 4th show I saw of that tour, but the first time he rolled out the song..and it was rusty..he butchered up the intro pretty badly.
After the show during signings, I thanked him for playing Unsatisfied, as the song always gives me chills. He actually apologized for messing up the intro, and in a tongue tied manner, said "that's ok, and it doesn't sound like an easy piece to play" and added, "besides, its the emotion of the song that counts". He paused a second and said "yeah, you're probably right".
Hearing the brief discussion of this song seems to confirm that...if done without emotion it sounds trite, but done with purpose it can still chill...at any age.
And the conversation displayed an unreasonable amount of humility..apologizing for messing up an intro to 20 year old song. Still floors me.
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