Paul A. Fournier
Aug-22-2010, 02:28 GMT
Unknown
 | Harper?s performance at City Winery last Thursday evening was excellent. Each time I?ve seen him perform in the past was with a band, so this was a pleasant change to see him play an acoustic set. He opened with a cover song (I can?t recall the band for sure, but for some reason The Buzzcocks come to mind?). He followed with what he referred to as ?a country song? which was Tennessee. I was surprised to hear this song played because I have never heard of it being played live in past shows. He followed with acoustic versions of great tracks from his CD. Before playing Ha Ha, he said, this was co-written with my Dad who is supposed to be here tonight. We looked around, but couldn?t see Paul, we figured if he was there, he was probably sitting in the raised VIP area in back of where we were sitting. We couldn?t see all of the tables in that area from where we were sitting. Harper continued with a beautiful version of Berkeley Girl, which was the first time that I have heard him play this in the style of the album version during a concert. He closed with a rollicking version of Wishes and Stars. Harper?s set really showcased his wonderful guitar playing. It was so nice to be able to share the experience of this great set with my friends, and fellow fans, Nancy and Barb.
After the set, I walked around the restaurant a little and noticed Paul standing near the front entrance area of the restaurant talking to people. Harper was also in that area talking to people. Paul started heading back to the area of his table, but a guy sitting at a table asked him to stop and the guy introduced Paul to a lady sitting at his table. I took this opportunity to walk over by where Paul was and, when he finished talking to that couple, I said hello to Paul. As I know many of you are very interested in specific details, I will do my best to recall exactly what we said. However, I should include a ?disclaimer? that I was obviously very excited about this chance to chat with Paul, so I am not sure that I can recall everything exactly as it was said, but I will do my best!
I started by telling Paul that I have loved his music since I was 13 years Old (that was almost 30 years ago now!). He looked great, he was dressed mostly in black, maybe a suit, and he was wearing a nice Fedora hat. I told him that on the train from DC, I listened to a song called ?Let Me Live in Your City? which I understand is an early version of ?Something So Right? he seemed interested, nodded and smiled, confirming that this was in fact the case. I then mentioned that this is a perfect example of the type of his music that I really Love. I then said that I heard that he was working on a new album. He said yes ?it?s done!? He went on to say something like it should be out in about 2-3 months. I must have asked him how it is because I seem to recall him saying something like, ?it?s fan-tas-tic!? in a very animated way looking at me right in the eyes. I asked if Love in Hard Times would be on it. He said ?that?s on it.? I then asked if Questions for the Angels is on it and he again said ?that?s on it.? He went on to say, I?m not sure when you last heard these songs, but the album versions will be greatly expanded. I told him that I last heard Love in Hard Times at the Beacon where it was performed as an acoustic version, and he nodded, yes, it is now much more expanded from that version. I then said that I heard that the new album has a bluegrass influence. He said, actually there?s a bluegrass vocal group that is on the album. He then asked me where I had heard this information. I said I had read about it on the Internet. I went on to tell him something like many people talk about your projects on the Internet. I then said, on that note, I should thank you for introducing me to Twitter because I did a search once and came across your Twitter page, but it later disappeared. I told him it was unfortunate that it is no longer there because otherwise he doesn?t have much of a web presence in terms of continual live updates of what he?s up to at any given time and
I found the Twitter posts to be very informative, such as including comments on how the rehearsals for the Japanese tour were going and various other things. He then responded ?that wasn?t me.? He said something like somebody was pretending to be him. I kind of smiled and said something like, well, I guess it?s good to finally know the truth about that. It seemed like the conversation was wrapping up so I thanked him for chatting with me and he walked over towards his table area. I am so thrilled that I finally had a chance to have a ?substantive? discussion to some extent with Paul about his work. It was so great that he was able to give me some exciting new details about his upcoming new album. Also, I was pleased that he seemed happy and interested to talk about it with me as well.
After our discussion, I met up with Nancy and Barb and we went over to say hello to Harper. When Harper saw me, he said ?you made it!? He must have an amazing recollection for faces because at the previous show that I attended of his in Alexandria, VA, he saw me and said ?hey, I know you,? and we had a pretty long discussion that night. I told him that I was so pleased to finally hear Tennessee performed live and to hear an acoustic set. We had some difficulty finding his ?merch? area, so he walked us over to it. Walking over there, I told him it was so great to see him again and I asked him about his summer. When we got to the ?merch? area, Nancy wanted an autograph, but there was some problem with her pen I think, so Harper went to get a pen and then came back over to the area to sign some items for Nancy. He gave Nancy a hug and a kiss and gave me a hug. He is really a great guy.
Nancy, Barb and I hung out for a while longer until Barb had to leave. Then, Nancy and I went over to Joe?s Pub to see Sean Lennon and his girlfriend Charlotte perform under the name of The Ghost of a Saber Toothed Tiger (?GOASTT?). I guess any report of that show will have to go somewhere else (Paul and Harper didn?t seem to show up there). However, I should note that Sean and Charlotte sounded great and it was so refreshing to hear their excellent new songs (their CD comes out in October 2010). Also, Yoko came in about half way through the show and sat at a table near ours. It was so cool to be able to glance over and see her watch her son up there on stage. She seemed so proud of him - smiling and clapping. When Yoko exited at the end of the show, she left surrounded by a group of what looked like handlers, but I was able to at least say, ?we love you Yoko!? She stopped and looked at me, smiled and said ?thank you!? Nancy and I then went over and chatted with Sean for a couple of minutes and Nancy asked Sean to sign copies of the new GOASTT single for her friends.
It was an amazing night in NYC. Here are some videos.
Tennessee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTRQjqguoBY
Berkeley Girl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7KuezaPTHM
Harper Signing Autographs for Nancy and Barb
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0YI9yKhaq4
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