K, this one _will_ be quick...honest.
Frankie's is a small club, with a tiny stage tucked over in the corner. There was just enough room for the instruments to be set up, still leaving _some_ space for their normal shenanigans. Your standard bar, you know the type...
We got to Toledo around 8:30-ish, and were surprised to find out that the guys didn't go on until midnight. *shudder* Well, you can kiss _our_ beauty sleep goodbye for the night, since there was no way that we were going to drive 2 hours from East Lansing just to bail because of a little time problem.
After a coffee-run to Wendy's just down the street, where we played with the Porpoise-Cycle from their kids' meal (it doesn't take ramps well, for future reference), we were off to Frankie's again. Why? It was only 9:00; the opening band didn't even come on until after 10. *shrug* What else was there to do in Toledo at that time of night? Even the grocery store across the street closed at 10.
Opening band does it's schtick. As my friend Alex put it, they were good at what they did. Unfortunately I didn't like what they did too much. But as far as carbon-coby Seattle-bands go, they were in fact quite good.
Ma Reigny (sp) left the stage and we descended to our spots in front of it. Had many a bonding moment with many a ng'er in the crowd. Joe Navartil, his girlfriend Debbie, their friend Shell(y?), their other two friends The People Whose Names Start With 'D' (sorry, I just can't remember), Marty Cosgrove (always a pleasure, Marty) and his girlfriend Lisa, A.J. LoCicero and his wife Lisa, Sandy, Mike Powers (after the show, though after seeing his 'Assassins' shirt we probably should have met before the show and bonded). A good night as far as mingling was concerned. Many Altoids were consumed and there was much rejoicing.
The guys hit the stage and you could tell that they were in the mood for a little fun. We weren't disappointed. This show was full of great energy, both from the guys and from the crowd. It was, IMHO, rather exceptional. Things got a little goofy on stage (gee...that's so out of character) at several points, but try as I will I don't seem to be able to rack my brain enough to shake out any of the many sound-bites that they provided for us last night. I'm sure something will come to me after I logoff.
I didn't write down the setlist, but Alex rattled it all off after the show. Hopefully when he gets back to his desk on Monday he'll still be able to provide me with a list (since he can't post yet himself), else you fine folks may have to wait until Joe, Marty, Mike, or some other person posts one. Someday I _will_ get an accurate setlist for you, honest!
Let's see if I can remember any highlights, music-wise...We got a Love Potion #9, though at the moment I can't remember if it was an encore or at the end of the set. There was a _lot_ of impromptu jamming, which I must admit is probably my favorite part of any show. Boo Time was much fun to hear live. I'm still waiting to hear 'Lee,' but for some reason I think I might have to remain satisfied with my disc for now.
This was a highly enjoyable show all around, and I'd like to take this opportunity to publically thank Megan for taking me to it for my birthday gift. You're great, lady!
--V, who's _got_ to start cutting down on the length of her posts...
From Joe Navratil:
A couple of interesting notes: yeah, the guys did a ton of spontaneous jamming. At one point, a friend of mine (one of "the D people" -- Dave) turned to me and asked if "all of this" was impromptu. His eyes about came out of his head when I explained that everything but *most* of the music was on-the-spot stuff :-)
As far as random pieces went, after they explained to us that the recorded music playing in the basement would lead to Mariah Carey (there's a connection there, something about people who can't actually perform live), followed by Mike making a reference to a TMBG song, we got a Talking Heads cover (I think)... uhm, "I Am The DJ"?... and a few other songs in a mini-medley that I recognized even less of. The medley was finished with Jian commenting "that that last one was one too many," and Murray contributing the sage advice that "having one too many is what Friday night's all about!"
Could someone explain something to me? Murray's contribution to a dicscussion of choices was: "Cagney & Lacey, Kevin Spacey" with a rather odd hand movement. What?
There were a bunch of other things, but I've forgotten most of them -- oh, quick question for those of you who can remember the original: when Murray was jamming at the beginning of Love Potion #9, he was playing "Popcorn" on the bass. Has that always been the bass line, or was that something Murray just added himself, or was that just another piece of randomness?
-Joe
Some other tidbits from the performance include:
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