A grainy photo of Arthur Lee (on the far left) shourded in mystery. Love with Arthur Lee, live at the Warsaw Ballroom 8/23/03
"...If nothing else, the steep price of suds in Brooklyn kept me sober enough to find my way to the Warsaw Ballroom for the Love with Arthur Lee show that night. For those of you who weren't somewhere between Clark & Hilldale circa 1966, Love was the Los Angeles psychedelic outfit who were imitated in sound by the Doors and in style by Hendrix. In fact, if you listen to the claims of Lee, the self-professed "first black hippie," Love was imitated in everything by just about everybody. If you listen to his music, however, Lee's claims begin to sound plausible.
The extravagant, out-of-the-way Warsaw Ballroom made an apt setting for the event. Elaborate murals flanked the stages, and Zwyiec beer was sold in several locations. I saw more gay couples and older fans than college radio-heads, and as snobby as it sounds, it was nice to be around a crowd of people who knew Love's music from something other than the Inez/Luke Wilson motel love scene in "Bottle Rocket." Though Love's contributions are widely recognized today, the pre-concert atmosphere still held the thrill of an underground sensation.
After much adjusting of microphones and music stands, Lee and band began with "Your Mind and We Belong Together," the swaggering outtake from Love's 1967 masterpiece, "Forever Changes." Right away, the band's arsenal of trumpets, flute and a string quartet were unleashed to the fullest effect. Lee sported a colorful bandana under a black hat, only removing his sunglasses for 15 seconds of the whole performance. Lee remained animated the whole time, smiling, playing guitar and harmonica and even breaking into a jig later in the set. There were moments I could have sworn he was barely out of his twenties.
The set also featured a good representation of songs by Bryan MacLean, the late guitarist whose flamenco-inspired style gave Love much of its baroque sound. MacLean's "Orange Skies" is the day-dreamiest number on any Love album, and his composition "Alone Again/Or" (you know, the one with the lyrics "I think that people are the greatest fun") has all but become Love's signature song. The rest of the set ranged from Burt Bacharach's "Little Red Book," to "Rainbow in the Storm," a new song which Lee also announced would be the title of an upcoming autobiography.
Though it took him a few songs to warm up, Lee sang forcefully and convincingly, giving his lyrics a light-hearted lilt at some times and an ominous emphasis at others. Lee's lyrics have always sounded more prophetic than political, and seemed eerily relevant throughout the show. When this version of Love (which features no original members other than Lee) played "The Red Telephone" -- a reference to the president's direct office line -- the band stirred the song into a frenzy while Lee screamed, "I want my freedom!" Lee has a special claim to this phrase, having served seven years for weapons charges before a judge overturned his stentence in 2001.
Listening to something haunting from the past is one thing, but seeing it come alive this convincingly was stirring, to say the least. By the time Lee asked the crowd "Why does this feel like a historical event?" it sounded like a rhetorical question. "What's cooler than being cool?" asks the recent hit single by Outkast. Even in 2003, the answer was still Arthur Lee..."
Update: While checking a song title on All Music Guide just now, I saw their multi-authored write-up about Love's music. Worth reading, even though there's still no substitute for hearing it yourself.
The storm has passed, the rainbow remains.
2 comments:
Probably the best personal Love review I've heard. Wish I was there.
You know... your review made not only skim for Arthur Lee and his music on the internet, but, more importantly, it made me want to go to a record store, and physically own it on vinyl. Thanks, man.
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