What a show...that's all I can say. This marked my 6th time seeing the boys (tonight will be 7, if you know your math) and I can't wait.
First up, Martina Sobler (sp?) was the opening act and very enjoyable. She has a beautiful voice and is a very beautiful woman. At one point, she broke a string on her only guitar, and keeping her poise, she just switched over to her keyboard. Very nicely done.
I met the infamous Tobey for the first time. An extremely nice guy, and I was very happy to meet him. I look forward to seeing him tonight. I feel like I'm finally becoming a true "Fruhead" in every sense of the word.
The boys took the stage, and it was all I hoped and knew it would be. I'm not going to be able to give a firm setlist, but among the highlights were an incredible jam that included snippets of "Super Freak," "It's Tricky," and "Ice, Ice, Baby." There was also a banjo-inpsired "You Shook Me All Night Long" which was priceless. Later in the set, perhaps during the 1st encore (I can't remember now, everything is blurring) was "Hard Day's Night" intermixed with the Marilyn Manson "Sweet Dreams." It was a sight to hear, let me assure all.
Jian was trying to tell us that this was an older crowd, and would therefore be a quiter, more mature show, with less goofy tunes and more introspective ones. That led to slowed-down, polka-ized versions of "MBLABOA" and "Splatter," among others. I loved it. The boys also had this slightly-"Fiddler on the Roof"-type of thing going on for a bit that was fantastic.
Among the selections this past eve were(in no particular order):
Boss Saucepan Ash Hash Heatseeker Boy (what a great track this is) River Valley (YES!) Early Morning Rain Pisco B.J. Horseshoes Greatest Man in America Fly Spiderman I Will Hold On My Poor Generation (another fantastic track) Get in the Car Mich. Militia You New Boyfriend 1st encore: the disco Bargainville 2nd: Drinking Song (as moving as always)
Now...if they play "Half as Much" and "Jockey" and the elusive "Gord's Gold" tonight...and I'm dying to hear "Jared (The Wild Boy)," since my name IS Jared and I never in all my life thought that there would be a song with my name in it.
This has been a incredible few days. I wish they didn't have to go, but alas, I suppose the guys have to live their own lives too, sometime, huh? I'd like to meet some other Fruheads, so if anyone there tonight sees a guy with long, cury hair, wearing a blue hat, near the stage, dancing like a fool, come up to me and say hi. That way I know I won't be alone. Many thanks.
From Trace:
Whew, what a fun night. First off, since my news server hasn't spit out any posts about this, I'll charge right ahead. The Campfire Songbook is finished and available for 15 Frumiles stamps or $20. It has the lyrics and chords for 12 songs and is liberally sprinkled with Mike's artwork. It is entitled, "Fireside Fruvous."
Ok, here's the setlist, followed by some comments on other stuff concerning the show, and the setlist was only half the fun.
EMR River Car Shit Heatseek Horse Fly Boss Spidey Pisco BJ Mistra Rush Ash IWHO MPG Michy Sauce Dance ----------- Hard Day's Night (improv) Video ---------- Drinking
The guys seemed to be having a lot of fun last night, and were throwing improvs all over the place. The setlist Colin tossed to me after the show bears only passing resemblance to the actual show. In addition to Jian complaining about how the audience quieted down, folded their arms and waited for a song to be played during the first encore, which led to them improving "Hard Day's Night," they also played "Saw Her Standing There" earlier.
In the first quarter of the set, Jian explained that they played most of their funny, fast paced songs the night before, during the all ages show. For the older, more mature audience Tuesday, they were going to play their slower stuff so that the over the hill audience wouldn't get over-excited and hurt themselves. In fact, he said, they planned on playing some of their fast songs, but with a really slow tempo. They then proceeded to play slowed-down "Jewish" versions of some of their songs. I remember them playing snippets of MBLABOA, Splatter Splatter, a sing-along KOS, a long version GE&H tease, and a Jian song that I'm forgetting. The problem was that the slow tempo threw them all off and none of them could remember more than two lines of any of the songs. :-) They said they planned on rounding out the evening by playing side b of "Dark Side of the Moon," or rather their DSotM, which is that really crappy album called "Wood" which should only be listened to at 3am when you're having trouble falling asleep.
They broke into cover song medleys at least twice during the set. I can't remember song order, and I know I'm forgetting a bunch of songs, but here's what I can remember being included.
Funky Town Sweet Dreams (are made of this) The Wall Planet Earth Notorious View to a Kill Goldfinger Ring My Bell It's Tricky You Can't Touch This Too Shy (audience member requested)
We learned that Jian was caught between Murray's desire to have the tempo of Mistra slowed down, and Dave's desire to have it sped up, but Jian was sympathetic to Dave because when Jian gets the tempo right, Dave's hips start swinging. A demonstration followed.
During the intro to Boss, Boss Type A (Murray) forced Jian to take off his shoes. Boss Type B prompted Jian to recite a monologue from "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and Boss Type C wanted to know what Jian *really* thought about Boss Type A.
Bad blood erupted onstage between Murray and Jian, but Mike stepped in to remind everyone about their last $140 session, in which they were told to stop arguments by focusing on their point of commonality, which is that "Dave is a dick." Because Jian's "twin poles" were conflicted - his AC/DC you might say - they went right into a turbo boosted banjo version of "Shook Me All Night Long." I know the words, but couldn't sing along because it was so fast. I was impressed with Dave's, um, oral gymnastics. :-)
I recall Lou Reed claiming that Gene Shay likes to hump inflatable dolls. Uh huh.
Finally, I remember Mike and Murray having a guitar/bass duel during the middle of Video. I remember the audience chanting their names to cheer them on. I also remember Murray transforming into Mr. Cool, unbuttoning the top of his shirt, putting his bass on the floor and then literally *stomping* on it. Too funny.
What else can they *possibly* do tonight?
Some other tidbits from the performance include:
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