Damien Rice in Murray, Kentucky

So after class on Wednesday, me and two other friends piled into a Subaru and headed Northeast for three hours on a mostly two-laned highway stretching through cotton fields, cow pastures, and cute little towns where everyone sat on porches in their rocking chairs. Being from Southern California, it was a very romantic little road trip through my now-resident state of Tennessee. After getting lost on a dark country road (I know, cliche), we made it to Murray State University, where Damien was to play at the Lovett Auditorium. I was surprised to see the venue, big as it was, only slightly more than half full. Not five minutes had passed since we sat down when Damien took the stage with a dark wood acoustic and played "The Professor", a song from his B-sides ep.
The crowd was loud and rowdy (I suppose this is to be expected from a college town venue) but I was incredibly impressed with the performance. I had seen Damien play in Houston over the Summer, and don't get me wrong, it was amazing, but he really surpassed my expectations this time. The band backing him up was the same I'd seen perform with him before with the addition of a tall, lanky electric guitarist. The whole set was all big sound; plugged in, heavy distortion on songs like "Woman like a Man", "Me, my Yoke, and I", and "Coconut Skins". Normally, I prefer an acoustic set to an electric one, but he really pulled it off, really.
He did a couple mellower songs, "Professor", like I said, was just him on acoustic. "Rootless Tree" was a very toned down version, one I'd heard on his KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic performance, with him on the piano. For the encore, he came out with an acoustic and stepped in front of the mic to play a completely unplugged "Cannon Ball".
One of the highlights of the show was his performance of "I Remember". He introduced the song with a story about a girl he had dated, which he compared to "going to the grocery store and getting a can of peas, and then realizing, it's just a fucking can of peas." What was really different about the song (besides, unfortunately, Lisa Hannigan's voice missing) was a tag he did at the end..."Bang Bang (She Shot Me Down)" by Sonny Bono, a song made famous by the Kill Bill Soundtrack.
My camera was acting funny, so I didn't get any pictures, but I'm posting a video someone else took at the show. Overall amazing performance. If you have a chance to see him, I recommend it highly.


And the Rootless Tree Video:


Set List:
The Professor
Time
Delicate
Volcano
Me My Yoke and I
Rootless Tree
Amy
New Song Sketch (?)
Eskimo
Woman like a Man
Grey Room
I Remember (with Kill Bill tag)
:Encore:
Cannonball
9 Crimes
Blowers Daughter
Coconut Skins (plus big drum off)