Todd Snider At The Triple Door 4.20.2012

Todd Snider

Todd Snider played The Triple Door in Seattle on Friday, April 20, the second of a two-night event.  Although it was 4/20, Todd was under heavy instruction (threats) by the management not to smoke anything green in the green room.  Okay, so what did the managers at The Triple Door expect when they decide to book a show on 4/20? Not that Snider smokes dope; he just needed a word that rhymed with “Pope” in his song, “Alright Guy”.

A Nashville transplant (make that East Nashville) originally from Oregon, Snider is most widely known in Seattle for his deliciously funny take on 90′s grunge with a song called “Talkin’ Seattle Grunge Rock Blues”, although this song was missing from Friday’s set.  He made up for its absence with a fine set of old favorites, other songs that appealed to the local crowd, new ones from Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables as well as a few surprises.

See the full review on Randomville!

Reed Foehl, Opening for Todd Snider

Eric McConnell, Paul Griffith, Todd Snider

Todd Snider

After six years of seeing his show throughout the Seattle area and a pilgrimage to Sparks, Nevada in 2009, I am blessed to say I have finally met the Elusive, self-proclaimed Evangelical Agnostic, Mr. Todd Snider.  There is a god!

Todd Snider at the Triple Door

I wrote this as a diary entry March 7, 2009.  I made a few edits recently, but tried to keep true to the original format.

   

Friday, February 20, 2009

Todd Snider (solo show) at the Triple Door, Seattle

 

“Take me home boys, I think I’m drunk!” [This is a line from Todd Snider’s song, “Double-Wide Blues”] I will try to write to the best of my ability about my crazy night out with P on the 20^th. Now it’s the 7^th of March. I’m already longing for the past. So hard to get over that week! Nothing to look forward to in March. I need a goal; I need a show; we have nothing planned. I’m empty inside! But looking back on that week in between Reno and the Triple Door…ugh. Too much to handle. It’s like we go from nothing to everything all at once.

 

Friday afternoon at lunch I had to run dog to the kennel; pick up the boy (he was on mid-winter break); after work, deposit boy at daycare several miles north in Maltby for a sleepover; then drive back home because I’d forgotten the luggage; drive to Ballard and pick up P at the office, but Ballard was a mess due to rush hour traffic. P then forgot the directions/address to the hotel, so he went back into the office to print them.

 

We stayed at Executive Hotel Pacific, a very old hotel across the street from the Seattle Library, 400 Spring St.

 

I was very crabby and hungry by the time we arrived at the hotel. P went downstairs and purchased some sandwiches to go while I got ready for the show. We had standing-room-only tickets, which was a bummer; but we didn’t order them till Wed or Thurs this week, so what could we do.We got to the Triple Door way too early, not knowing exactly when we should arrive. We went in the Musicquarium lounge and ordered appetizers and some drinks. Then we settled in a bit, ready for our fun night.We knew it wouldn’t be the same as Reno; it was just a Todd acoustic show tonight.

 

As the drinks and food settled in, I got into a friendly conversation with the man next to us at the bar. He was going to some Russian show at Benaroya Hall that night. Something about Russian music played and interpreted by several different artists. Oh, how exciting. I told him he really needs to go to a Todd show sometime. He hadn’t heard of him before, so I explained that he’s a modern-day folk singer, and very funny. I’m pretty sure we had much more fun than he did, plus I believe he was alone. Poor guy! I can enjoy and appreciate a good symphony and classical music, but sometimes one needs to diversify and see what else is out there. He would have had a good time; he just didn’t know it.

 

We decided to sit and watch a fun little band in the Musicquarium with some young people (I really felt OLD). The band covered a couple of Beatles tunes and some fun rockabilly stuff. They were ok, entertaining. We then stood up to go in to the Triple Door and got ready to stand for the rest of the evening.

 

We met a nice man right outside the host area and before we went downstairs. He mentioned he’d seen Todd before, and we told him we just came from Reno last week. He instantly bonded with us when we told him we’d seen Todd a few times and knew of Will. Funny, talkative guy.

 

Well, we parked ourselves right in front of the sound booth, and just decided to stand our ground. We did have a railing in front of us and a place to put our drinks on a little ledge. The crowded place was overflowing with people, so there was no chance of us getting any cancelled seats. We ordered a drink and one for our new friend, who planted himself next to us. He was the official bootleg recording engineer for the night. He was really nice, and told us about going to his daughter’s wedding and how he took her to a recent show at the Triple Door, and they played the same show by that artist (someone from the early 70’s I don’t remember who) at her wedding reception.

 

Kristin Ward opened the show with a guitar accompaniment. She was from Spokane. I liked her voice, real mellow, very folk. The best song was one about growing up on Division Ave.

Todd came on, and here’s the set list (not in order)

Talkin’ Seattle Grunge Rock Blues, then included a verse from Bob Dylan who stole it from Woody Guthrie

Train Song

Prelude to a Heart Attack

The Devil You Know

If Tomorrow Never Comes

Story of Tony Bennett, not THE Tony Bennett, but a homeless guy at the car wash

Old Times

Kingsmen Ballad

Tillamook County Jail

A couple of songs I haven’t heard of before

DB Cooper

Tension (gay weddin’s, Michael Phelps)

I’m sure there were more songs…Todd was ok, but not the best I’d seen. I think his show in Reno was much more polished. Seeing him play with a full band was much more energizing and just plain fun. He seemed a bit tired. He goofed on one song, seemed to forget his place. He warmed up as the crowd warmed up to him, though. It was a big place, and with everyone seated and eating dinner, it was much different from in Reno and certainly different from the Tractor, which is such a rowdy, dirty place. [I do remember at one point just standing there soaking everything in.  It might not have been the best show, but here we were, in the moment, watching one of our favorite musicians play in a beautiful theatre, with the crowd laughing and singing along.  That's what it's all about, isn't it?  Everything else went away at that moment.  No annoying distractions, no worries, no past, no future; just right now.  Listening and enjoying.]   There’s really no comparison to a full band show. The solo show just didn’t have the same energy. But overall, he was funny and sly.

We also had a good time talking to our new friend before and after the show. He kept telling us he’d send us some CD’s of live shows he and his buddies had recorded, and that he wasn’t a flake! I knew he wasn’t; I told him it was a Todd Snider thing! He actually did stop by P’s office and dropped off some CD’s.

We also met up with L from Bellingham at the t-shirt stand and talked to her for a little bit. It was a little hard to hear in there. Hopefully we’ll catch up to them in Bellingham sometime if Todd gets up there this summer.

After the show, we walked out to find something to eat. We were hungry! We walked a block or so out and around, and finally settled for Rock Bottom, which was the only place around serving food after 11:00. We had some yummy chicken quesadillas and water.

Got back to the hotel and crashed.

Next morning we had to get the hell out and go pick up the dog before 10:00 as well as the boy. Dog puked in the car a block from the house. Had to clean up the mess, then go pick up boy in Maltby. Talked to his daycare mom for a while, then had to go pick up the truck in Ballard, since we forgot to stop by there on the way home. How does one forget a truck?! Drove all the way from Maltby to Ballard, lost P on the way home, and ended up taking a different route, while he waited for us to pull out of parking lot. It was a miscommunication nightmare. We were both so forgetful. Just tired, I guess.

So that’s the end of the crazy week. It went by too quickly. Now I’m bored again. Hoping to schedule another show soon!