Folks, one of our newsgroup/chatroom members has inadvertently made his way into a Fruvous show!
A good 75 or so people found their way to Shank Hall in Milwaukee friday night, to catch the latest midwest appearance by Moxy Fruvous. The crowd easily tripled the number of people who were at the last Milwaukee show, which was admittedly small but well enjoyed by the 25 or so fans who were there.
Shank Hall was set up with tables and chairs, cabaret style. Since most shows tend to be standing room in a bar, this contributes to a slightly more mellow mood. The room also has a great sound system (alluded to by the band more than once during the night). The FruFour were also right on their game. The show also sounded more "produced" with reverb and other sound effects. But this could have been just a combination of a good system, good hall, and an attentive crowd.
Hammel on Trial, the opening act, was a great guitar player. He also used his gutar as a percussion instrument, and had a very full sound for one person on stage. Worht checking out if he's in a twon near you.
He did mention he was having trouble getting people to sign up for his mailing list (which reminds me, I wanted to , but forgot agfter the show.) Perhaps he scared potential fans away with his extensive repetior of snail, turtle, and anal sex jokes. This may be best left unmentioned.
Once Fruvous came on stage, they made a few jokes about their last appearance there, and thanked the crowd from Madison more than once in jest. This apparently didn't get the natives worked up enough, so later in the show they said the perfect nickname for Milwaukee would be "Little Chicago" Of course, me, Mike, and the couple of other people from Chicago cheered the idea. The natives had solemn faces, as if you just told them that cheese isn't the healthiest food around.
There was anotehr moment in the show that may have been for my own, personal enjoyment. Between Hammel on Trial and Fruvous, Mike stopped in the restroom. When he returned, had had one of those odd but slightly amusing stories about running into Jian in the mens room. we had a little laugh, and then enjoyed the show.
Then, Jian started his "earlier today" story. (Is it just me, or does Jian always seem to have the odd story from earlier in the day?) He starts by saying, "Earlier, I was in the bathroom and I saw this guy..." At this point, I was laughing hysterically and Mike was sitting there saying " I can't believe this." Jian went on to say how he looked like a celebrity, and then changed the end of the conversation to make it a little more humorous. I told Mike I wouldn't mention the names in the review, to aviod embarrasing him.
They also told how they were one of this weeks picks in The Onion, a satirical weekly newspaper put out in Madison and Milwaukee, WI and Boulder, CO (and Chicago beginnning in January).
I'll leave you with a transcript of what they had to say. And remember, I'm just the mesenger.
Shawn
From "The Onion", Milwaukee edition, Nov. 19 to Dec. 2, 1997
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November 21: Moxy Fruvous:
Shank Hall, 10 p.m.
Moxy Fruvous is big in Canada, but it's hard to imagine the group's quirky
folk-pop catching on here: Its combination of four-part harmonies and satire
isn't exactly subtle, though adventurous fans of the more accessible Barenaked
Ladies might want to take note.
Some other tidbits from the performance include:
Back to the tour dates 1997 page