september 2000 - the diary |
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Thursday 28th On we go with the journey towards tonight's venue, the Tune Inn in New Haven. I've decided to try and make a visit to Cape Cod on the way. Looking at the map I haven't been able to ignore the fact that driving south of Boston will take me really close to another small city with a lot of Juliana significance. I am of course talking of Duxbury where she spent most of her youth growing up. After a bit of hesitation I decide to make a quick drive through. Hesitating because when you think of it, what does visiting this town really has to do with appreciating Juliana's music? Well during the last 7 years I've read a lot of interviews where this place has been mentioned again and again, and it is kind of obvious that "Feelin' Massachusetts" has to be about Duxbury. Had she still been living there I think I would have stayed away though, it would have felt too much like stalking. Did I mention the weather? It's another beautiful day with lots of sunshine, and under these circumstances driving through Duxbury leaves you with the impression that this is simply a perfect place on earth. Lots of magnificent old trees sets the scene where beautiful wooden houses are nested, not too close to another, but close enough to make it a community. And at the same time it's so easy to imagine that growing up here can be far from perfect. It always amazes me when you read about a place and once you get to visit you only need 2 minutes to make everything make sense, and this is very much the case with Duxbury.
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I've also read about Cape Cod that this can be a very busy place in the summertime, but obviously the bathing season is over and I get most of the beautiful beach areas to myself. Nice place but I have a long journey ahead of me so I only have about an hour to spend here, and it becomes more of a "been there done that" thing. |
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The Tune Inn was the one place where I wasn't able to buy tickets on the internet, instead I'd been on the phone and talked to this guy Fernando who I believe is the very enthusiastic owner of the place. I think I gave him a bit of a surprise by phoning and telling him that "Hey I'm from Denmark and I really need to buy a ticket for the Juliana Hatfield show next week!". But no problem, he gladly reserved a ticket for me, and since he's also at the door he of course remembers me when I pick it up.
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Well I was in a hurry since I'd promised to pick up the ticket before 8, but once inside it's obvious that nothing much is going on at this time. Eventually a local band plays a short set followed by Ben Kweller who's the second opener tonight. Finally it's time for Juliana to go on stage. The audience is rather young and noisy, especially the guy standing to my left who does his best to make me go deaf by screaming his lungs out again and again. This is only interrupted by his and his girlfriends countless cries for "Feelin' Massachusetts". Not that I would mind if she played that song, but when you've asked for it ten times without getting any response you might as well shut up and enjoy the great songs she plays instead. |
Still Juliana manages to put on another great show, and this time with a revised set list starting out with "Hotels" and "Live it up" (yes yes yes - another favorite of mine), and including "Don't Rush me". The start is a bit shaky, but after a couple of songs they're right on track again. Juliana has entered her talkative mode again and even gives a guy in the audience a rough time when he shouts that "You're great at what you're doing". She replies that this is what you tell musicians after a set that you really didn't like, so this is like the ultimate insult. Tongue in cheek of course but you can't help feeling that she might not be all that pleased with the crowd. The biggest surprise of the evening is a fantastic version of "As if your life depended on it". I've never found the "Please do not disturb" CD all that interesting, but now I may have to revise my thoughts upon that.
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