went to see over the rhine last night. *sigh* my only complaint was that it seemed too short! over too quickly for sure. but let's not start at the end...we drove by the lyric theatre in stuart, florida and caught sight of the van & trailer with ohio plates..that got me smiling. the theatre is in a walk around downtown area, near the water and with train tracks running through the middle of everything. the lyric itself is a treasure..as we walked through the red velvet curtain to find our seats i was delightfully enchanted. the arabesque topped dusky yellow wooden seats, the wide dark turquoise proscenium arch rimmed in white, the dark simple stage, more red velvet everywhere, cozy and intimate..i cannot imagine a more wonderful venue to see this particular band in. i thought i had seen it somewhere before, perhaps in a tomie depaola book. the theatre owner came out to introduce the players and ended up giving a long repetitive gush and his otr story from first hearing them on the radio years ago, furiously scribbling while driving, to the time they recorded 'baby, it's cold outside', his father, frank loesser's hit from the 40's. at his exaltation of 'if you've never seen them live before, you're in for a real treat!' we applauded them onstage. karin immediately launched into 'i don't wanna waste your time'..could there be a better opening number? just walk out now if you don't like what you hear...as for the rest, lots of jazzy trumpet child, mellifluous drum and bass solos (jake bradley of vigilantes of love and mickey grimm, respectively), an oldie here and there...they did sing 'baby, it's cold outside', dedicating it to all their friends freezing back home. karin & linford banter, five 'o clock shadow ruminating, audience participation via swaying with k. 'don't wait for tom' had k banging on a cookie sheet with what looked like a faceless stuffed animal on a stick (forgive my lack of percussion knowledge) and was by far the most fun the band had all night. nearly twangy 'if a song could be president' rang oh so appropriate in the wake of our own primary here this week. 'i want you to be my love' so simple, so lovely. 'fever'..mm hmm hoo. doleful 'suitcase', k at the piano for a bold and beautiful 'ohio', for an encore, 'orphan girl', giving me shivers. delicious.