Wednesday, February 16, 2000
Audience appreciates Cowboy Junkies' pace
BY CHRIS VARIAS
Enquirer contributor
Indulging in 105 minutes of mostly sad, mostly slow songs seems like an odd way to spend Valentine's Day. Yet a near-sellout crowd spent the evening at Bogart's doing just that, taking in the Cowboy Junkies' show.
These feather-light-rocking Canadians are not for everyone. How they've made a successful career of two novelties — super-slow tempos and lead singer Margo Timmins' Natalie Merchant-style singing — is a puzzle. The band has no chops, but it can play at two different speeds — slow and slower. And, no matter how unintelligible the words, it's a safe bet Ms. Timmins' is singing about something bittersweet.
But, judging by the turnout and the way everyone stood silently so as not to drown out the band, lots of people do get it.
Not a throat was cleared, not a request for “Freebird” was put forth. Ms. Timmins thanked the crowd for the silence, noting the band usually plays theaters, and for a club show the crowd was remarkably still. She was right — recording studios are louder than that room was.
Perhaps the silence was in reverence for the presence of Over The Rhine's Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler, who were playing in the band. The Cincinnati couple are occa sional touring members of the band, and each received a big hand during introductions. Ms. Bergquist sang backup, and Mr. Detweiler played organ and keyboards.
Like the Band, the Cowboy Junkies are Canadians who explore themes of Southern U.S. culture in their music. But the Band had something to say, and a Southern-born drummer to boot.
The Cowboy Junkies seem to view southern life as an excuse to play slowly and write in a patronizing fashion. Selections such as “Ring on the Sill” and “Southern Rain” exemplified their vague yet cliched Dixie captivation.
“A Few Simple Words” and “Five Room Love Story,” songs off the band's current album, Rarities, B-Sides and Slow, Sad Waltzes, were both well-received. So were “Bea's Song” and “Hollow as a Bone,” both of which Ms. Timmins sang accompanied by her brother Michael — the band's songwriter — on guitar.
A change in the Cowboy way could be coming. “I'm So Open” and “Bread and Wine,” songs on the band's forthcoming album, actually rocked.
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