Duncan Sheik - Yardley Hall 2012

Duncan Sheik & Suzanne Vega

Yardley Hall - Johnson County Community College

Overland Park, Kansas
Saturday, April 21, 2012

Oh, what a night!

My cousin Shannon and I arrived at 

the Johnson County Community College an hour early. 

It was a nice, pleasant evening, 

so we went for a little walk around the school. 

I thought the most exciting thing about our walk 

would be the cute little bunny we saw eating some grass, 

but just as we came around the last corner to head back 

to the front of the school to go inside,

I saw two men walking toward our direction, still a distance away. 

One with platinum colored hair, the other bearded and wearing shorts. 

I was this close to yelling out to them, but didn’t.

[I didn’t want to disturb their conversation 

and also because they turned to go inside.]   

Apparently though my cousin didn’t recognize them 

and I had to tell her who they were. 

[That would be Duncan and Gerry.]

We picked up the tickets at will call and waited for the doors to open.

While waiting, I spotted the merch table. 

There were a bunch of cool t-shirts and CDs, 

including one that I did not have,

a preview of the Covers 80’s Remixes CD. 

It didn’t say what songs were on it, but it was only $10,

so I bought it to add to my collection. 

When the doors opened, we made our way to our seats,
which were close, but not as close to the stage as I'm used to being,

and anxiously waited for the show to begin.

I was excited about this show for a number of reasons.

1- Duncan would be performing a couple new songs, 

which I was quite anxious to hear.

2- Could this possibly be the first time in six years

where he wouldn't perform a song from a musical?

[I adore the musicals, by the way!]

3- As I mentioned, it was my cousin's first time seeing him 

and so I was feeling excited for her, as well as myself.

4- Ummm...hello?!? It's Duncan Sheik!!! 


Duncan's Set List

Kyoto Song

Lay Down Your Weapons

Memento

Stripped

Wishful Thinking

Half A Room

Such Reveries

Shout

3 songs w/Suzanne Vega

Barely Breathing

2 songs w/Suzanne Vega

The show started and Duncan came on first.
As he sang, I found myself forgetting where I was and
had to remind myself that I was not back in San Francisco,
where I had seen him perform numerous times.
However, I loved that feeling of "home" that his music brought me,
especially since I've been so homesick for California.

Duncan performed a few songs from his latest CD Covers 80's,
which led to some 'goth talk' a couple times during his performance.
Which made me laugh, because I was a 'goth wannabe'
during part of my teenage years.
[Yeah, I wore black a lot and listened to Depeche Mode, The Cure, etc.]

  

[Shannon and I back in the day.]

I enjoyed the two new songs he performed, especially 'Half A Room'.
It was just so hauntingly beautiful, as many of his songs are.

Duncan came out to perform during part of Suzanne Vega's set,
which was a nice treat. Especially to see him play various instruments,
including the glockenspiel!
[Isn't that a fun word? I just love that word...glockenspiel!
It must be the bit of German in me.]

Speaking of instruments...
Gerry Leonard played guitar for both Duncan and Suzanne and was
fantastic, as always! And I was so happy to see Doug Yowell on the drums
for both Duncan and Suzanne! I had a feeling that he would be.
The last time I saw him was in May 2007, at an after-show party
in New York City. So it was great seeing him bang away on the drums again.

They ended the show performing their best known hits, which was
Barely Breathing for Duncan and Luka and Tom's Diner for Suzanne Vega.

After the show, we waited out in the lobby for Duncan to come out.

The line got rather long, so we got out of the comfy chairs 

we were sitting in and made our way to the end of the line. 

When there were only a few people ahead of us, 

Duncan looked over and saw me. 

The look on his face was priceless. 

He waved to me and I waved back, grinning like an idiot.

When it was finally our turn, I announced, 

“Yay! The Duncan drought is over! It’s been two years since I last saw you!” 

He looked a bit surprised and said, “Really, has it been that long?” 

I told him, “Yeah, the last time was at the San Francisco Symphony shows.” 
[Which were back in April 2010.]

How time flies…

I introduced him to my cousin Shannon and informed him that 

I’m living in Dallas now and to make sure to stop there next time he tours, 

since I can’t afford to make it to all the California shows anymore.

And added how bummed I was to miss all the Yoshi shows in the Bay Area. 

“There were a lot!” he said.

Shannon then proceeded to tell him, how she told me he was coming here

and how I made plans to come out for it and that I flew in this morning 
to be here. So then I mentioned how she’s heard about my stories of all 
the fantastic Duncan shows I’ve been to and was excited to finally 
experience one herself.

I told Duncan it had been a while since I’d had something autographed 

and handed him my silver Sharpie and my Covers 80’s CD. 

I also took out the Remix CD I just bought and told him, 

“I bought this on blind faith, not even knowing what songs were on it.” 

He informed me that this CD is “the coolest thing out there!” 

I noticed that some CDs had a red design and some had a black design 

on the cover and wondered if there was any difference between the two, 

but Duncan said there wasn’t.   

He asked me who I wanted them made out to, 

forgetting that he usually personalizes his autographs. 

I told him that I wanted them made out to Tammy. 

He said I could have wanted them made out to someone else, 

[Which I have done once before, actually.]

and he didn’t want to make a mistake. 

This reminded me of a story, which I shared with him. 

I was at one of Duncan’s shows and had a CD to get autographed 

by the opening act and when he asked me what I wanted it to say, 

I turned to my friend to ask her what it should say 

and he started writing my friend’s name. 

Luckily, my name has the letter that my friend’s name starts with. 

“So it all worked out in the end.” Duncan said.

He signed Shannon’s program and as he was handing it to her, 

I said, “And that’s my Sharpie.” 

I remarked on how I’ve had Sharpies go 'missing' before. 

Duncan smiled and admitted he probably had kept them.

I told Duncan how much I loved the show,
'The Song That Changed My Life'
that he did an episode of.
[Do yourself a favor and click on the link...after finishing this post, of course.
Then you can come back and thank me!]

We were still chatting when I saw Doug heading back into the theater.
I told Duncan I was hoping to talk with him, since the last time I saw him
was five years ago in New York. He told me that he would probably be
coming back out.

Before saying goodbye, we posed for photos, because it had been
even longer than two years since we had a photo together.

First, I took a picture of Duncan with my cousin, Shannon.

And she took one with me and Duncan.
 

Which then led to the "It was great seeing you again",
"Great show", "See you later", "Good night" chatter.

We went outside to wait for our ride and I hung around
the stage door/loading dock, in hopes of catching Doug.
But if and when he did come out, it was after our ride showed up.

So, to sum up....
Great atmosphere + Wonderful performances + Good conversation =
Absolutely AMAZING night!

The only downsides were:
1- Not enough Duncan songs during the concert.
[Yes, I'm spoiled and used to there being more than 9 songs!]

2- I missed out on catching up with Doug.
[But that was mainly because I was too busy catching up with Duncan,
so I guess I can't complain too much about that one, huh?]

Can't wait to hear more new music from Duncan....

hopefully sooner rather than later!