Aimee Mann & Medieval Madness
Early on in our exponentially expanding pinball hobby, I learned that Williams’ Medieval Madness (1997) is generally considered among the “best” and most sought-after of all pinball machines. It’s generally priced accordingly, so you don’t tend to see many around, even in collectors’ homes. I’ve seen two in homes, but they were both being repaired/restored when we were visiting. Dang!
And so it came to be that, driving along 316 to Athens, I called up my brother Scott for a favor: Could he use the Pinball Locator to find the Medieval Madness in Athens? We were late, and on our way to see Aimee Mann play, but I remembered seeing it in the locator and hadn’t thought to write it down before leaving. He found the answer for us: at Loco’s on Baxter. 30 minutes later we were taking a detour to stop by the Loco’s before the show.
We found the machine in the “Game Room,” along with a NASCAR and a couple video games. For games on location, they were relatively clean. Amazing. We coined it up and I started my first ball of MM, undoubtedly a moment I will remember forever. Tell our kids about. That sort of thing. I think I scored something like 78,000 before it drained. Damn. That was fast. Part of the problem with this particular game was that the flippers were more like a very forceful “Uhh!” than a nice, hard Snap! It takes some getting used to. A couple more balls went by with abysmal results (I was close to 800k at that point), and I stepped back from the machine, expecting the game to be over. To my surprise, ball 4 popped into the shooter lane. A game set on 5-ball is a real rarity.
I managed to destroy the castle with that ball, bringing my score up to around 5 Million before the end. Slightly more respectable. Then Jessica took over for our second credit and racked up something like 30 Million. Sheesh! She even won a replay (extra credit), which she very graciously allowed me to use. I think I managed 17 Million on my second game. I would probably have poured $5 into it to keep playing, but we had a show to go to. Off to downtown.
The show was at The Melting Point, a new-ish, trendy-ish (for Athens) venue at the Foundry Park Inn. We walked in as Amanda (of Tin Cup Prophette), the opener, was playing solo onstage and were immediately struck by the sound. Whoever designed the space and whoever was running sound really knew what they were doing. Her voice was clear and full as we climbed to the balcony overlooking the stage, finding a couple seats on the edge. Her live solo style was much in the style of KT Tunstall, employing looping pedals with impressive efficiency. For most of her songs she would put down a layered loop of violin, then add guitar or accordion or even a little xylophone. She had a really nice style, and was very skilled at what she was doing. (We listened to her album on the way home, which she plays on with her full band. Unfortunately it didn’t match her live performance. It was much cooler and detached, her voice pushed back amongst the rest of the instruments.)
Aimee Mann then took the small stage with two of her band members, the very talented Paul Bryan (bass, guitar, backing vocals, keyboard) and Jamie Edwards (piano/keyboard, backing vocals). The first couple of songs were a bit rough-going, but during Red Vines they fell solidly into the groove for the rest of the performance. There were several very cool moments where, in this rather intimate and focused venue (no chatter from the audience — none), you could see them really getting into what they were playing — really jamming. There’s a point that bands sometimes reach where everything clicks. Everybody’s on the same page, truly digging what they’re playing, and they can’t help but smile a little at it. I don’t think you get to see that all that often in live performance.
For all of the unhappiness in her music, Aimee’s a very personable performer. This is a big part of what’s kept me coming back to her shows over the years. Although, it was a little surprising to hear her, while taking audience requests, admitting that she didn’t remember how to play a few fairly prominent songs from her catalog. Maybe other performers are just better at brushing off the requests they can’t actually fill. We loyally applauded wildly when she attempted to play one request, ending up flubbing a chord and ultimately getting completely lost, cutting the song early. Her rendition of “Just Like Anyone” started with uncertainty, but ended up being the most beautiful songs of the show.
Now we wait for her to come back next year with electric guitars and drums and brow-raising fans who scream “WE LOVE YOU AIMEE!!!” And for another reason to go to Athens and play Medieval Madness.