23 September 2009 - The Crocodile - Seattle, WA

[lopsided]

Thank you guys for touring and coming to Seattle, Hope and the rest of the band. It was a wonderful time at a great venue.

Just a couple quick comments: perhaps, to avoid confrontations like last night, you should post prominent "No flash photography" signs inside and outside the venue? It was really terrible to see Hope walk off the stage. A lot of people were turned off and saddened by that turn of events. Perhaps a dim blue light on Hope's face could also be arranged? It was disappointing to not be able to see her at all. Just some thoughts.

[CherryLvx]

I totally agree with you. It was great to see Hope play since I missed her the last time she was in Seattle - and the last song before the encore was amazing.

BUT - couldn't she have bothered to say 'hello' to the audience. The only interaction that took place with the audience was her pointing out someone and saying 'YOU, can you NOT take pictures', and then stopping the next song to single them out again and walking offstage. It was a little bit of a diva moment. I saw Mazzy Star play in '88 and she essentially did the same thing except she threw a tamborine and stormed offstage. You would think 20 years would mellow someone out a little bit? Don't get me wrong - I can't wait to get Through The Devil Softly, but the attitude was a little bit much.

[DaveP]

So how long did she actually play?

[nil_by_mouth]

It's sad to say, that is her through and through. I thought it was shockingly rude the first few times I saw her (starting in 1994), but it's just how she is. She never speaks to the audience (hello, thank you and goodbye seem to be too much), but I have learned to just enjoy the performance for what it is and not expect anything more.

Oddly enough, she made a funny at one of the shows last week, and said two whole sentences. That was more than I had heard her say across a combination of half a dozen shows.

It is a pity that she does have that attitude...it does detract from the overall experience, but then again...there is THAT voice...

[DaveP]

There are few artists that I have seen that can be annoyed by small things like camera flashes or yelling from the crowd. I know Ryan Adams has stormed off many times and in KC he played a 70min set because he was annoyed by his monitor and just walked off. In San Diego he yelled at the crowd and stopped playing. Gillian Welch once stopped in the middle of a song and asked a person to turn their flash on the camera because it was blinding her. Everyone has a different temperment. I remember one time seeing Robyn Hitchcock and there were no seats left. He offered me a chair on stage to listen to the performance.

Everyone is different - so I would just say as pissed as you might get, you should expect it, especially going forward as we know how Hope is. Too bad, but people won't change, they'll just quit touring.

[nil_by_mouth]

Who's pissed? lol

[DaveP]

Of course everyone walked out happy - I just wish she was coming to KC - I don't want to travel 8 hours for a 90 minute show that could potentially be less - I still hold the hope that someone will record one and pass along.