No where man Half as much Horseshoes (lawndarts) Wenchy Bose Mooin' Ash Hash Revert Get in the car BoyFriend Booty Jockey Tureen Saucepan Hold on MPG King Green Eggs and Ham Splat ----------------------- Encore 1 ----------------------- Michigan ----------------------- Encore 2 ----------------------- Believe Disco Barginville
If you don't understand any of these names sorry neither do i because this is off murrays set list that i got. So sorry if i don't remember all the songs they played. And the think that stank about the end of the show is that Dave never came out for like 45 min after the show. (which I gave up hope in seeing him and left. And for the review it was an excellent show I loved it although it is my second show.
From Angela:
Ok this is a first for me, so bare with me. The guys looked like the were very well rested. Before the show they had some Frank Sinatra playing and when the guys came onstage someone took quite a while to turn off Frank. Dave made a joke about how the whole show was going to be Sinatra Kareoke.Finally, they opened with Nowhere Man and followed that with Half as Much. They Jian was telling a story that I think was about gambling (not for money but emotional gambling) and hes was trying to relate it to "you know, that game where you throw things". Someone in the audience yelled "lawndarts". Dave picked up on it and said that Lawndarts was on their album, wood, and "Hey guys, why dont we sing Lawndarts" (with blatant are-you-understanding-what-I'm-trying-to-say eyes). So they sang Lawdarts (Horseshoes with all the 'horseshoes' changed to, you guessed it, 'lawndarts'). After the song, Jian said "We're only three songs into the new millenium and we've already given the fucken bootleggers something good." (I wonder if he forgets that they played on 1/1/00??) So, I'm too far into this review to turn back, but I can tell you now that I cant remember the exact order of the songs. Some one else will have to provided that. They played When She Talks, Ash Hash with Murray taking an especially long toke at the beginning and it was preceded by a story about how its apparently more acceptable (I guess) in England and that every time they played it they got plenty of offers after the show. They did a great Early Morning Rain. I've only seen this one twice (I think) and its becoming a favorite. They did PTT, Johnny Saucep'n, MPG, IWHO. They did KOS with Jian talking about how they had found a new Republican candidate, and then GEH. They closed with Splatter. The first encore was Michy. The second was Beleive, which I was so happy to hear. It seemed like there were very few in the audience who realized what it was until the boys were well into it. However, since I was lucky enough to hear it three times New Years weekend, I knew right at the start and had a bunch of people looking at me funny when I started clapping/laughing/screaming. Then Jian made a comment about how that song just prove that sometimes they just wanted to dance which led the into finishing with Disco Bargainville. I was pretty surprised that they didnt close with DS or GWS but, I guess thats what we all like so much about the guys.
The only down part of the night was that I waited after to talk to the guys and apparently waited too long. I wanted to wait long enough for the crowd to thin out a little and for all the autograph seekers to get their stuff signed and their pictures taken. But by the time most of them were gone Jian was tied up in Frucon business, Mike had split, and Murray was so deep into conversation with some people that I didnt want to disturb him. At the point where I was starting to feel like a stalker, the theatre staff said we all had to go. Oh well, I just wanted to thank all of them for just being Fruvous and I didnt want them to think I was just there to get them to sign stuff or get pictures. Not that theres anything wrong with that, because I've done that. I guess I'm past it and just want to be able to talk to the guys. I wanted to tell them my fish story (I'll save it for another post) and that my mom is meeting me in Toronto on Thursday and shes going to all three shows. Hmm, maybe some other time.
From Kal:
Well, I'd like to start by saying what a show! I'll go through the set list with my comments for each. But first, general stuff. I'd like to start by saying the lads were in rare form tonight. First of all, no opening group! I was surprised! Second, seemed like no major mishaps. not like the last time they were in Ann Arbor with Dave and his broken strings J. The venue was the largest they've played in this area. It wasn't full, but it was still a lot of people. The only problem with the Michigan Theatre was that we couldn't crowd the stage, of course.
Nowhere Man - Well, I love first of all that they opened with a Beatles tune. I hadn't heard them do this yet; the harmonizations were excellent. Maybe a little overbalanced by the instrumentals. But it was a good cover nonetheless.
Half as Much - They went right into this from Nowhere Man. Great song, a good way to kick off the Früvous music.
Horseshoes - Well, this wasn't exactly Horseshoes. During the segue, Jian was saying something about standing out in the yard, throwing around. and he couldn't remember the word. An audience member yelled out, "Lawn darts!" and well there you go. "You keep handing out lawn darts." On the first chorus, Murray thought they were changing back to the original lyrics. Boy did the other guys prove him wrong! In keeping with the plastic projectile theme, during the guitar solo, Dave started to do weird notes bending from high pitch to lower, forcing him to explain the concept of the guitar sounding like a dart would if it were music. This in the middle of the song, before the third verse. J And it also prompted the question, Jian: "What is the difference between an indoor dart and a lawn dart anyway?" Dave: "About six inches."
There was some banter before the next song. Commenting on the lawn darts innovation, they made some comment about "This isn't a Früvous musical", not like the Dave Matthews musical. then they were talking a bit about the size of the venue, how nice it looked. They especially seemed to dig the peeling gold paint on the ceiling.
When She Talks - The performance on this one worked well for the stage. Very tight. I liked it.
I Love My Boss - The segue was good here. Jian gave the other Frülads as examples of three sorts of bosses. Funny stuff. Dave looking away from Jian, saying, "Del? Del?" into the mike. Jian says, "No, I'm Jian." Dave says, "Del? Never mind." The performance was good. I liked Jian with the prolonged pause at the end.
You Will Go To The Moon - Straight after boss was this one. Two good a cappella songs in a row; I like. Jian and Mike were having lots of fun on the backups, racing around the stage and stuff.
Ash Hash - A bit out of character, the band made it clear that they think hash is evil stuff. There was some banter beforehand, somewhere along the lines of, "This is Ann Arbor. isn't there a fraternity house made of hash?" "Yeah, they burn it down each year." Also tales of the lads getting offers of hash every time they perform this in Europe, but never in the states. I' m always amazed at the vocals in the beginning and end of this song.
Alanis - A cover of an Alanis song. I don't know the name of the actually song. I'm not a fan of the girl, but the cover was very well done, as usual.
River Valley - Yes! One of my favorites. Performed like it was straight off of Bargainville. I love it! This, by the way, was about where the audience really started to get into it.
Get In The Car - Good placement of the song, as far as the set list goes. The audience was getting into River Valley, and this one just pulled them in. From here it was green all the way.
Your New Boyfriend - Jian's intro: "You see, the problem is, my ex-girlfriend's boyfriend, three years ago now, he was a bit of a right wing. dick!" This is not my favorite song, but I still thought they pulled it off well.
Boo Time - Here we're getting into the juicy stuff. The lads whipped out the hats. Murray starts playing the bass rhythm. Mike sits down on the front of the stage while the audience gets into it. Dave is back on the keyboard, jamming a bit with the Mur-Man. Murray and Jian start to wander into the audience, Murray on the left near the stage, Jian on the right, way out in right field, so to speak. Then, Mike starts the animal sounds. Audience copies, as usual. Problem is, Jian got stuck in the audience! So Mike had to stall a bit saying "What time is it?" repeatedly while Jian made his way back. And then they were all on stage, Jian hit the drums, and boy did it ever rock.
Jockey Full Of Bourbon - And straight from Boo Time into another hit. I still haven't seen them do this one with Tori Cassis. I've heard it's something to see. Come to think of it, I still haven't heard the original version by Tom Waits. Ah well. In any case, I like the fact that Mike has changed a few of the lyrics since they put out Live Noise. It keeps the audience hopping. The piece went off like clockwork. Excellent.
Here Dave whips out the banjo. I am now livid with anticipation. Jian starts complaining about the way Murray abandoned him in the audience during Boo Time. "I get the feeling sometimes. that you just don't care about people. who have a resemblance to me." "Would you be referring to yourself, Jian?" And then Jian starts talking about audience members spraying popcorn from their mouths onto his shirt while they are cheering for him. and how disgusted he is by that. So now Dave starts playing the intro to Present Tense Tureen. But no, somebody starts singing to it something about popcorn. And then, Dave still on banjo, Jian breaks into Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Soon we have four-part harmony on that. And to make things even more interesting, Murray turns it into Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head. And soon, it turns into a full-blown improv with Mike singing about popcorn, Jian singing Over the Rainbow, Murray singing Raindrops Keep Falling, and Dave desperately trying to play banjo to match all three. Funny as hell. It's times like these when I remember why I absolutely love this band so much.
Present Tense Tureen - Almost an anticlimax after the preceding improv. Still a great song, though. One of my favorites from Wood.
Johnny Saucep'n - Straight into this one. Jian on pennywhistle, as always. And I am always impressed by this song. I always screw up in the line, "Pork hocs, side flanks, cantaloupe, sheep shanks." Too much of a tongue twister for me. Not to mention I usually run out of breath. How are these guys so good?
I Will Hold On - This got another long intro. Jian started talking about his Valentine's date - with a smoked salmon. Dave: "Did the salmon order the steak?" Jian later says, "Well, I have friends, I'm not a monk," and Murray counters with "What's wrong with monks? Monks have friends!" Jian's point was that he got a bunch of emails from people saying, "This day sucks!" And he was feeling bad for the day, I guess. He saw no reason Valentine's day should suck just because somebody has no significant other. (Side comment: "The audience is saying, 'This isn't what we paid for!'") So his point was this song, like Valentine's day, can be seen as happy even though it sounds bittersweet. This, by the way, is another favorite of mine as of late, and I thought it was done excellently.
My Poor Generation - I'm not incredibly fond of this song, but again it was done well. It didn't have the cute little percussion thingy in the background, though, "tchhh kt kt." I missed that; I thought it made the song kind of endearing on the CD.
Dave goes offstage here. Again, I am bathing in anticipation. The other boys start talking about the Republican nomination, and how they are entering a candidate. I am sure that some people here were fooled into thinking that they were going to do Greatest Man In America. But no, it was a song much better than that.
King Of Spain - I have finally seen this live now. Happy day! A funny lyrics change. Dave: "It's Laissez Faire, I'm wearing no underwear." Of course, King Of Spain segues into. Green Eggs and Ham - Which I also had not seen live until now. Even happier day! Jian, of course, got pissed off about Dave dissing the Beatles. Nothing too unusual here, although they seemed to be going a bit fast at a few parts. Either Dave was forgetting the lyrics at one or two places or he was mumbling horribly J.
Splatter Splatter - They finished their main set with this song. I love to see Jian drumming this fast!
Encore 1: Michigan Militia - Somehow this song seemed very appropriate. Dave didn't break the banjo strings this time! Imagine that!
Encore 2: Believe - It is very interesting to see the lads cover Cher with a banjo. The audience ate this up. There were even a few lighters waving to and fro.
Encore 2: Video Bargainville - Finishing off the show was the infamous disco version of Video Bargainville. There was one false start when not enough of the audience joined in on "Two!" the first time. But this was definitely a wonderful end to a wonderful show!
I thought the set was great this time. Only three grievances; I would've
liked to see Authors (maybe in the first half, it would have hooked the
audience sooner), and I would've liked to see Psycho Killer, and either
the Drinking Song or the Gulf War Song. I still haven't seen the Drinking
Song live. Anyway, after the show, the loyalest of the loyal audience
waited for a half hour or so before Jian came out, followed shortly by
Murray and then Mike. I got all three of them to sign my ticket stub
(which I will have laminated tomorrow!) and I also chatted with Jian
briefly. I mentioned that I arranged I Will Hold On for my a cappella
group, the U-M Gentlemen. He said he would love to hear us perform it,
and asked me to send him a tape once we made one. Bliss! He also
remembered my name when I shook his hand before I left. I admit. perhaps
I'm a bit star-struck. It's too bad Dave didn't come out; we all wanted
to sing him happy birthday, as his birthday will be Thursday. In any
case, that's my thoughts on this show. Wonderful stuff. I can hardly
wait until the next time they're in town. -Kal
Some other tidbits from the performance include:
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