More briefly, in relating this last night, because it wasn't such a good show for me. I couldn't see well, which is odd for me (I'm no Amazon, but I normally have a pretty good view over the people ahead of me), and I couldn't sing or cheer. Felt kind of like a limb had been amputated, to keep trying to use my voice and failing. It was funny, yeah, but--it's hard for me to enjoy a Fruvous show when I can't really participate in it.
Tory was, for the third night, wonderful, powerful in his quiet way, and very sincerely amazed about the reception he was getting from what he considered to be the fans of another band. I'd begged for "Time" again, and he obliged, but no matter how much we clapped and cheered--we even rose from the floor in what was clearly a standing ovation--he couldn't give us an encore due to time restrictions.
The performer following Tory was, thankfully, quite talented, whimsical, and far, far better connected to her audience than her predecessors had been. I think her name was Heather Eatman, a.k.a. the sixth Spice Girl ("Spikey Spice," she joked, referring to her retro-80's bad-glam-rock-fuzzcut), and she did a marvelous job of NOT blaring out her music at the audience. I kept thinking she was about to really let loose and make her electric guitar beg for mercy, but she kept holding back, taunting us as it were, and giving us an impish grin that equated to a wink. The lyrics were. . .hmm. . .well, I kept having the feeling like I'd heard her songs before, like I was just on the edge of being able to sing along (not that I could, squeak squeak), but I don't mean by that that she was predictable, but rather, that her audience very much reached out and touched something sort of universal in me. The audience was quite taken with her, standing quietly, dancing gently, and applauding with pleasure.
Fruvous, to my surprise, didn't do *any* of the new versions of songs; and though I loved the set they did, I do love the new songs so much that I wouldn't have been disappointed with them, either. It was a more intellectual, let-down-your-hair show, Jian speaking seriously of the political situation in the Gulf and elsewhere, to clapping from the audience. To that effect, we got Today's the Day That We Fight Back, Gulf War Song (with mics), and the first Stuck in the 90's that I've heard in a year. They opened with Peace of Mind, with the lyrics being not "buy our disk!" but "after these three nights, we're gonna get drunk!" Lazlo's Career segued into It's Too Cold and King of Spain segued into GE&H (the tightest version I've *ever* heard--absolutely NO talk in the middle). We got the Ballad of Marion Fruvous (with lots of explanation and lead-up--and I have to say, a bald Marion with facial hair is quite a sight), and they faked us out by putting on the derbies--and then giving us Minnie the Moocher! Fordy especially was *really* on, dashing about during Spiderman, threatening to beat up his audience, and throwing lyrics into Love Potion like "Cal the Soundman can really rock, and merchman Marcus has a 12-inch. . ." He didn't complete it, but the audience screamed madly nonetheless.
The audience cleared out pretty quickly after the show--few but the Fruheads stayed after, this time. Jason, Rob, and I were among the last to straggle out, saying goodbye to almost everyone else who was heading back home. I talked with Jian briefly about the Fruhead show ("convention," he called it, which led to plenty of joking about panel discussions led by Chris O'Malley, Jason, etc, on various aspects of Fruving): he said it was likely going to be combined with a Fruvous and Friends for Choice show in February. Mike's wife Terri (Terry? I hope I spelled it right) was there and I talked with her a bit about massage tables and reflexology and such. Jude and her sister were still bouncing around when I blearily stumbled out the door--more first-time-in-NYC-Canucks gone wild--and Susan and Zard still had some reserves of energy, but THIS little Fruhead had had enough of a weekend, having to catch a flight out in 6 hours.
Well, this is, in a way, the end of the Fru-year for me. I wish I were going to the NYE show, but I haven't seen my family in the last year, and I've seen 19 Fruvous shows in that time. Not that the Fruheads feel like any less of a family to me--far from it, I've felt more and more like this community is the strongest and most loving I've ever known--but I can't really afford to fly to see both. And really, how can I complain? When I went to Cleveland last September, I thought I'd see maybe one more show before the Fruhead card expired; I didn't even know why I was bothering to get it stamped. Instead, I've been welcomed to a score more, all of which have been wonderfully unique in atmosphere and Fruhead friends to jam and babble and hang with, let alone in what was on the set list. :) It's been the best year of my life, and because of all the traipsing I've done in following Fruvous, I've learned where I want to be and, a little more clearly, what matters to me in life. This weekend was right up there as the climax to all the joy and communality and music that have gone before, and though I'll miss all of you whom I've met, and can only look forward to meeting a lot more of you, I'm far more blissed out at what I've gotten than at what I'd love still to get.
ceecee, concluding her stint as reporter from the front and letting Tom Waits sing her away: "And it's time, time, time that you love. . . And it's time, time, time. . ."
From Zard Snodgrass:
Here's the setlist, verbatim:
Unnerst ("buy our disc" but w/ "bunch of fucking drunks" instead)
BJ
Lazlo-2 Cold
Tureen-Sauce
Marion (woo-hoo!! Sounded great inside! :-))
Spidey - Ass
Raja - Stuck
Moon
Minnie - Fly
Medicine
Today - Michy
King - Green (on Dave's setlist it said "Green (Rock)" and it was the short version)
Psycho
E1
Boss
Potion
E2
Gulf
But neither the audience nor the guys had the energy to deal w/ a 2nd
encore, so they just tacked Gulf onto E1. Beautiful version!
Some other tidbits from the performance include:
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