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Capitol StepsAugust 14, 2006 They were performing in D.C. before I left in 1985, but somehow our paths never crossed, probably because they weren't on the women's music circuit and didn't play at feminist bookstores. Maybe three years ago I was listening to Rich Warren's wonderful "Midnight Special" show ("folk music with a sense of humor") on my favorite public radio station (WUMB-FM) and out of my boombox speakers came
Rich! You've gone too far! If Congress hears about this, NPR is gonna be SHUT DOWN! Not to mention some Patriot-Acting citizen might send the Tisbury cops to confiscate my boombox and wash my brain in Patriotic soapsuds! I was thrilled. "Osama come out tomorrow" was belted out by a member of the Capitol Steps. I immediately (or so I recall) ordered the current Capitol Steps CD, When Bush Comes to Shove. It did not disappoint. I learned the words to "Osama," and "Shoe-Bomb," and the song about Enron-ron. I laughed out loud at the Tom Ridge Bedtime Stories, especially the one about the three anxious pigs who turned off CNN and lived happily ever after. Since then I've been acquiring each CD as it comes out -- one for each year -- and at the same time adding one from the backlist. I'm now working my way through the Clinton administration in chronological but reverse order. I can't wait till I get to Newt Gingrich. This past Saturday the Capitol Steps -- rather, a portion of the troupe -- actually performed on Martha's Vineyard, and at the Tabernacle of all places. The Tabernacle is the heart of the old Methodist campground. It's run by the Martha's Vineyard Camp Meeting Association. Religious services are held every Sunday morning, community sings every Wednesday evening; inspirational quotations from John Wesley hang from the eaves, and there's a big U.S. flag at the back of the hall -- which isn't exactly a hall. It's a historic in-the-process-of-being-restored structure with an ornate roof (the cross on top is lit up at night and easily visible when you're driving into Oak Bluffs) and open sides, which are blocked off by heavy curtains for events that require tickets. It would be a great venue if the acoustics weren't so bad, or if the sound system were better. Two weeks ago I heard comedian Jimmy Tingle one night and singer-songwriters Christine Lavin and Vance Gilbert the next. Music comes across fine, but all but the most precisely enunciated-at-optimal-distance-from-the-mike diction turns into undifferentiated syllables. Which is to say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself because I already knew most of the words. My companions, who didn't, were disappointed. A particular casualty was Bill Strauss's "Lirty Dies" monologue. Strauss concludes each CD by reviewing the year, whipping his flords every step of the way. ("Lirty Dies" = "Dirty Lies" -- get it?) A sample from the current CD, I'm So Indicted:
Trouble is, if you can only make out a quarter of the words, not only do you miss the line-for-line funniness, the momentum can't build and reduce you to helpless hysterics before it's half over. I did love the visuals. The bedtime story about Jack Abramoff is told with illustrations, starting with a picture of the Capitol dome for "This is the house that Jack bribed." A zealous airport security inspector hassles a young woman with a baby while Darth Vader and other unsavory characters pass through unchallenged. And so on. I hope they come back and play somewhere else. Or maybe the Tabernacle will hire a competent sound tech to deal with the challenges of an outdoor/indoor venue. Meanwhile I'll go on collecting their CDs. Next on my list is Unzippin' My Doo-dah. Can't imagine what that's about.
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