Share
Just returned home from a phenomenal show!
5 Dec 2008, 06:41
Thu 4 Dec – Hamell on Trial
I've been listening to Hamell on Trial for a year or so now. I know, I know - late in the game. Whatever; it seems like most of the world is even later than me... or at least, most of the Midwest. There were only a handful of people at the Mill tonight for this show - a dozen, 20 tops. It was a travesty in my mind... but Ed Hamell tore up the stage, and held the meager audience in his thrall.
His mix of spontaneous banter and cleverly planned rants is something that his recordings can't even compare to. I adore everything I've ever heard from the man (which admittedly isn't much,) but this show was better than I'd dreamed. He is a brilliant wordsmith, mixing humor and poignancy with a healthy helping of wisdom.
He is truly reverent in his irreverence, albeit to a different - perhaps higher - ideal than the philosophies he lampoons. My favorite moment was his story of when his son came home from school one day able to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and his mixed feelings in reaction. I lived that story not so long ago myself, and felt the same responses rise in me... but his solution was quintessentially Hamell on Trial. He wrote a *new* pledge to teach his son, one that I would be proud to recite myself, and one which I need to find so that I can teach it to my own children.
I am truly glad that I drove down to Iowa City to see this show. The lack of people was disturbing, and that says more about Iowa than about Hamell on Trial. He was a kind and generous performer, and intensely inspiring. I'll be feeling this late hour at work tomorrow, but it was more than worth it.
I've been listening to Hamell on Trial for a year or so now. I know, I know - late in the game. Whatever; it seems like most of the world is even later than me... or at least, most of the Midwest. There were only a handful of people at the Mill tonight for this show - a dozen, 20 tops. It was a travesty in my mind... but Ed Hamell tore up the stage, and held the meager audience in his thrall.
His mix of spontaneous banter and cleverly planned rants is something that his recordings can't even compare to. I adore everything I've ever heard from the man (which admittedly isn't much,) but this show was better than I'd dreamed. He is a brilliant wordsmith, mixing humor and poignancy with a healthy helping of wisdom.
He is truly reverent in his irreverence, albeit to a different - perhaps higher - ideal than the philosophies he lampoons. My favorite moment was his story of when his son came home from school one day able to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and his mixed feelings in reaction. I lived that story not so long ago myself, and felt the same responses rise in me... but his solution was quintessentially Hamell on Trial. He wrote a *new* pledge to teach his son, one that I would be proud to recite myself, and one which I need to find so that I can teach it to my own children.
I am truly glad that I drove down to Iowa City to see this show. The lack of people was disturbing, and that says more about Iowa than about Hamell on Trial. He was a kind and generous performer, and intensely inspiring. I'll be feeling this late hour at work tomorrow, but it was more than worth it.
