Saturday, September 23, 2017
Thompson’s Point, Portland, Maine
This was a lovely, easy Saturday. I hadn’t planned to go to this show, but a girlfriend had an extra ticket, and I thought it would be fun to spend an evening with some fabulous ladies I don’t see nearly enough. We enjoyed a leisurely afternoon outside on a friend’s porch in the sunshine, and had hours to really catch up. It was wonderful. We packed up and made our way over to the last show of the season at Thompson’s Point. You take a risk about the weather when you buy a ticket to an outdoor concert, especially one in autumn, but it was a perfect, comfortable night. We’d snacked all afternoon, so we skipped the food trucks and found our way to the front when we arrived. I caught a handful of songs from The Shelters from LA, but their music didn’t connect with me even though I appreciated their rock band finesse.
I sort of gave up on the The Head and The Heart years ago after seeing them at the State Theatre in March of 2012. I LOVE their music and listen to them often, but their live show left so much to be desired. I care a lot about a concert experience, but THATH barely spoke to the crowd at all. I’ve seen great videos of them on YouTube playing acoustic songs in beautiful places, but their live show was no more intimate or revealing that watching those, so I stopped seeing them live. It was too disappointing.
My steadfast concert companion, Colin, won tickets to THATH’s soundcheck in March of 2017 and invited me to join him. I hadn’t seen them in five years, but he has always loved them and seen them live and encouraged me to give them another shot. They were lovely in person, and stayed to take pictures with each and every one of us. They were so kind and engaging one-on-one that it made me a little sad that their show later that night was sold out and that I didn’t have a ticket.
I loved meeting THATH in March at State Theatre. Thanks, Colin!
The Head and the Heart were pretty engaging at Thompson’s Point. I was glad to hear so much of their debut self-titled 2010 album live. I appreciate the lyrics of those songs a lot. THATH played “Coeur d’Alene” early in their set, which cries–“Oh the songs/People will sing for hope/And for the ones that have been gone for too long/Oh the things/People will do for the ones that they love.” The crowd roared anytime Charity Rose took the lead and especially for “Lost in My Mind” mid-set. I always appreciate the line, “Momma once told me/You’re already home where you feel loved.”
THATH did a timely, beautiful cover of “Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Crowded House. It was amazing to hear how relevant those lyrics still are thirty years later–“Hey now, hey now/When the world comes in/They come, they come/To build a wall between us/We know they won’t win.” THATH wrapped their set with “Down in the Valley,” which was another crowd favorite.
I always end up behind the tallest person at the show. Don’t worry, I moved. Ten times.
THATH came back for a four song encore, and ended the night with “Rivers and Roads,” which Charity Rose dedicated to the legendary Charles Bradley. She spoke at length about meeting him at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. She told us “this guy was watching our set and was standing next to friend during ‘Rivers and Roads’ and he was incredibly moved by it, I guess, and I got to meet him afterwards and hug him. He’s a real inspiration, but I wanted to dedicate this song to him, Mr. Charles Bradley. For those of you who don’t know him, he’s an incredible inspiration–a performer and musician–who aspired his whole life and became kind of well known in the latter part of his life and we lost him today.” I was grateful to her for her touching words and it was powerful to be part of a group of thousands of people singing this tribute to him:
“A year from now we’ll all be gone/All our friends will move away/And they’re going to better places/But our friends will be gone away/Nothing is as it has been/And I miss your face like Hell.”
Rest in Peace, Charles Bradley. You were a light in the darkness.
This was a lovely, uplifting night. I’m glad I was there. THATH seemed charmed by Portland, and I’m confident they’ll be back soon.
xo,
bree
PS–Ally! It was great to meet a fellow polar bear! I’m so glad I wore my Bowdoin sweatshirt to the show! Go U Bears!
Jonathan Russell sported a Bissell Brothers shirt at the show and apparently took more garb on the road with them. I think he hearts Portland!
whatbreesees 