It just doesn't get any better than this...

Moxy appeared at the Jubilee Centre in Sudbury, Ontario as part of the Northern Lights Folk Festival. This show, the trip up to Sudbury, and everything else that happened that weekend, was easily the best fruhead experience of my life. Read on...

Let's see, where did this Fruhead journey begin? Oh yeah, now I remember. :-) I left Rochester on Saturday morning around eight and met up with Laurie Addenbrooke in Buffalo at around nine. We left for Toronto at ten, where Chris Traugott and Zard Snodgrass were awaiting our arrival. Chris and Zard were visiting Toronto for the weekend, so we all decided to make the trek up to Sudbury together.

The newsgroup fruhead buttons hadn't arrived yet, so we reverted back to the original plan of using flowers to identify ourself to other newsgroup fruheads. Zard bought us four roses, right before we left downtown Toronto at around one in the afternoon.

Sudbury is a long drive from Toronto, but we made pretty good time. Including stopping for gas and a visit to a diner that was straight out of Pulp Fiction, we got to Sudbury at around 6pm. Many times on the drive up we experienced the "Fruvous mind-meld", where two or more of us were thinking the same thing, quoting lines from bootlegs, etc... It was so nice to be with people who understand!! :-) The Days Inn Hotel was described as being "staggering distance from the venue", so we got a room there for the night.

We went to the venue early (doors didn't officially open till about 7:30), and hung out in the lobby while the guys did their sound check. Jian and Mike came out and chatted with us for a bit. A gentleman named Mike (can't remember his last name, but he organized that night's concert for the Festival) approached us and asked us if we wouldn't mind just waiting in the lobby until we were allowed in the venue. Well, then he realized that we were from the U.S. (since we had to buy tickets in advance, they knew we were coming) and asked us, "Are you the fans from America?"

From then on it was like VIP treatment. None of the four of us were expecting this in the least. Mike was the absolute nicest guy in the world. He let us go in and pick seats ahead of time, which was very cool. The venue was small and intimate. He also told us that the media wanted to talk to us since they were interested in the fact that we came all that way to see a show. I guess the idea of Americans coming to Sudbury for a folk festival was big news up there. We were all like, "OK?" :-)

The opening act was Kevin Kloss, a guitar player/singer who was joined on stage by his brother, Darcy, who also played guitar as well as a couple other instruments. They went on stage around 9pm and were excellent. The music had a strong celtic feel, and the songs were beautiful. They played for about an hour, after which we had a half-hour wait until Moxy took the stage.

Well, during that time, we were interviewed by a local TV station (I think it was "BOX" TV). The guy asked us where we were from, why we came up here to see the show, stuff like that. I think all four of us were somewhat uncomfortable, but it was still kind of exciting.

Moxy came on, and did a great set. As Chris and Zard mentioned, they definitely looked rested and well-fed. :-) They played for about two hours, and were just totally in the groove. They were very tight, and did some of the new material that will be on the new album. The lyrics for the new songs were most likely exactly they way they'll be on the album. People stayed seated mostly, with some dancing here and there.

Trevor is doing their sound again, and John won't be joining them on tour dates from now on. I guess there was a lot of hassles with him crossing the border with the band so often, so everyone involved thought it would be best.

After the show, we hung around with Marcus, talked to Jian and Murray (Dave and Mike had to split early). We also talked with Tara Full of Bourbon (from Toronto) and her friend (can't remember her name), and finally left the venue around 2am.

Back at the hotel, we hung with Marcus (they were staying at the Days Inn as well) and gabbed away till about five in the morning. (I was soooo tired) Sunday morning we left Sudbury around eleven (talk about lack of sleep), and dropped Chris and Zard off at the Toronto airport at four in the afternoon. After saying my goodbyes to them (see you guys soon!!), and then to Laurie in Buffalo, I got back to Rochester around seven on Sunday night.

I had so much fun during this weekend. I finally got to meet Zard, and see Laurie and Chris again. Moxy shows are definitely something to be shared with friends, and we had the absolute best time.. This was definitely the greatest Früvous evening I've ever had since I've been seeing the band live.

We'll always have Sudbury...

• Laurie, Zard, & Chris in front of the venue
• The guys get ready
• Jian took our candle! :-) (from "I Love My Boss")
• Caught Murray!! (from "I Love My Boss")
• King of Spain
• Jian waves (from "Green Eggs & Ham")
• At the end of the set
• The Drinking Song

• Fly
• Gotta Get a Message to You
• Grunge of Spain

• Chatter
  • Jian comes out on stage and says "It's great to be here in North Bay!" A gentleman quickly responded "You're in Sudbury!"
  • Mike asks for a volunteer from the audience to try spinning on the ground like the Harlem Globetrotter guy.
  • Jian explains that he was joking when he said "North Bay", and that the guy who yelled at him is a nice guy, but he's just pissed off that he's going to have to watch two hours of sarcasm and assholes. "He was here to see a nice show, and what happens?"
  • Murray: "He didn't see a nice show."
  • Murray: "Well, we need to switch to toilet humor now."
  • Mike intros the band.
• Lazlo's Career
  • At the end, they immediately segue into "It's Too Cold".

• It's Too Cold
  • For whatever reason, they remove the second verse.
• Chatter
  • Jian remembers how they did "It's Too Cold" on Rita & Friends, and how Rita doesn't always meet all of the people she has on her show. However, she'll always introduce them as "Here are some good friends of mine..." Jian exclaims, "We never even met the woman. Whaddya mean friends of yours? It should be called Rita and a bunch of fuckin' strangers!!"
  • Mike: "It's great when she has the grunge band on, and she says 'Now, here's some really good friends of mine, Stinking Sex Grunge Punk Monkey. We've been getting together lately...'"
• B.J. Don't Cry
  • "hooka and a brush"
  • "every Thursday hit the Roxy"
• Video Bargainville
  • Jian teases the audience with the first line.
  • Jian messes up the second verse, saying "There's a smoking section in the back, um, video on the track".
• Chatter
  • The guys come off stage to perform the next song.
  • Jian talks for a while about how the smokers in the audience are in a separate room (there was a balcony-type room in the back of the venue). Murray dubs it the "smoking gondola".
  • Jian asks if they can turn the lights on, and when they don't, he takes a candle off our table and sets it on the floor. "We'll do 'Lion Sleeps Tonight'". The lights finally come on, and Jian proclaims, "Now we don't look good anymore."
  • Jian, looking up at the 'gondola': "There's children up there!"
  • Dave: "Start 'em young."
  • Jian: "Sudbury's got some weird shit goin' on."
• I Love My Boss (off mic)
  • Right after "He can't stand a loss", Jian stops and asks Dave if he remembered the shaker. He presents it, and they continue the song.
  • "I answered with...rage"
  • "He said, 'You're gone!'"
  • "Who knows what Inco (the local mining company) will be bringing?"
  • Instead of "example", Jian says "Des exemples".
  • Jian teases the audience with the final "I Love My Boss".
• Chatter
  • Dave says the next song is about the future.
  • Jian: "You should punch the 'Will'".
  • Dave: "You WILL Go to the Moon".
• You Will Go to the Moon
• Chatter
  • Mike, after YWGTTM: "That is what we call Punk Rock".
  • Jian talks about how the B album is an "in between two records record", like the Duran Duran mix album.
  • Standard intro for the next song, the guys talk about how the song is about Canada's constitutional crisis, and how a certain group was excluded from all the question asking.
• The Kids' Song
  • "Barney!" instead of "Jurassic Park"
  • "when you eat too much crayons!"
  • "squirt gunning my pablum!!"
• Chatter
  • Jian: "Thank you humans, and smoking gondola denizens."
  • Murray: "I'm waiting for it to detach, and float off over the city."
  • Jian thinks people should be banished to the smoking gondola, otherwise known as Denmark. "Everyone smokes over there."
  • During the intro for the next song, Jian stresses the word 'Gotta' in the title.
  • Murray: "What word do you punch in that one?"
• I've Gotta Get a Message to You
  • Dave had the 'wah' guitar going for this one.
• Chatter
  • Jian mentions how they're just getting used to their new set, and how they normally don't bring this "special guest star" out on stage so soon.
  • Some talk is given to Sudbury and the folk festival.
  • Mike: "That's right, it's the story 'bout a guy, when he's not wiling away somewhere in the Spanish prerequisite states, he's hiding the pickle in the big nickel, the King of Spain!!"
• King of Spain
  • "There's a light overhead..."
• Green Eggs & Ham
  • Jian: "Hey! Not the beatles! This is like the Sudbury folk festival, there's a lot of left over hippies here and stuff! You better be nice or they'll banish you to the smoking gondola!"
  • Dave: "Not the gondola!"
  • Jian: "Oh, it's a joke to you?"
  • Mike comes out and head slams Dave.
• Chatter
  • Dave explains how seeing everyone dancing is a real "human treat".
  • Murray, laughing: "Or just a treat to some people."
  • Well, the guys latch on to this, and make a bunch of jokes at Dave's expense.
  • Murray: "Dave is aware of all his past lives, and he spent 3,000 years as an insect, so human experiences are still new to him."
  • Dave: "I was a cicada".
  • Murray: "And now you're evolving towards John Secada. (pronounced 'sih-cayda')"
  • Jian: "On the way here, Dave had a coke, and said 'This is such a human treat'."
  • Murray: "My insect tounge couldn't have tasted this."
  • Jian: "You can't say anything slightly offbeat in this band, or you're abused on stage for the next four minutes."
  • Dave: "Try four months."
• Fly
• Chatter
  • After "Fly", no one claps right away. Dave: "You're all used to our songs having a comic break."
  • Mike, as Dave gets his banjo: "Any takers on what Dave's favorite instrument is?"
  • Some people in the audience yell out "Banjo!"
  • Mike: "No, it is in fact the Vulcan Lyriette."
  • Dave: "We're using the new banjo tones tonight." (the banjo is running through distortion)
  • Jian: "We should say, though, that playing a song for an audience is a real human treat."
  • Dave: "You know what this show needs? Less talk, more rock."
• The Present Tense Tureen
  • Right as the first verse comes in, everyone realizes Mike's capo is on the wrong fret, so the banjo and guitar are completely out of tune. Mike fixes it, and the song resumes.
• Johnny Saucep'n
• Chatter
  • Jian discusses the Harris government's plan for a new mega-city, and how the people have said time and time again during votes that they don't want this. The government is proceeding anyways, however. A CD called the No Mega-CD was released the Monday after this show, and Moxy contributed the following song to it.
• Today's the Day That We Fight Back
• Michigan Militia
• Chatter
  • Jian: "We don't have to stop, right? Everyone's comfortable, it's Saturday night, you can stay out a little later."
  • Jian: "How's the smoking gondola?"
  • Dave: "Can you throw me down a lit one please?"
  • Jian: "I'm thinking of starting smoking just so I can break the law."
  • Mike, looking at the balcony room: "Aside from that Mrs. Lincoln, how'd you like the play? Beautiful."
• Nuits de Rêve
• Chatter
  • Jian thanks everyone for coming to the show. Dave thanks the people who came from out of town.
• My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors
  • "My baby's hooked on..." Murray: "my crucifiction."
• River Valley

• Darlington Darling
  • Dave leads into the song with "Scotland the Brave" on the accordion.
  • Jian, before the accordion solo: "And from the hit series Frasier, Mr. David Hyde Pierce!"
  • Dave, during his solo: "I love my wife. I love my brother."
  • "Sports!"

• Grunge of Spain
  • A rock version of King of Spain. Amazing!! :-)
• The Drinking Song (off mic)
  • The guys stand at the edge of the stage, while the audience forms a big line, arm in arm, and sings along. Very cool.

Some other tidbits from the performance include:

• Mike from the venue told us that they're trying to get Moxy to come back for the July 4th festival that's held every year in Sudbury.
• Feel free to help contribute to this section!