Saturday morning we roused out of bed around 8:30. Can you believe it? Three f'in hours of sleep. Oh well...
After watching an extremely disturbing Barney video and relaxing till about noon, Mike, Kelly, Jen, Jo and I piled into Mike's new van (very nice!) and headed to Providence. It took us from noon til about four to make the drive.
Once in the glorious state of Rhode Island, we found the hotel in Pawtucket and all of us except Jo looked around for a place to have some dinner. After many failed attempts to find a decent seafood restaurant, and after leaving the state and venturing into Massachusetts to find a grocery store, we ended up at Chili's (back in Rhode Island). We headed to downtown Providence to find the Met Cafe, and after some aimless driving and trying to find a parking spot, we arrived just as doors were opening, around eight.
The Met Cafe is nothing like I would have pictured it. It's hard to explain, but I just thought it would be, well, umm, different. By this time, almost everyone had arrived, including Jason, Rob, Ella, Lisa, Susan Tanner (who gave me a *great* 50th card!), Clairice, Kimberly, Gordon, Dan, Jered, Vika, John Greene, Doug, Ofer, Zard and many others.
Hammel opened for Fruvous this night as well, and went on around nine, but the crowd didn't seem that enthusiastic about him. He played for a little less than an hour.
Moxy came on stage around ten and played till almost midnight. The crowd included some obnoxious drunk guys who caused the band not to come out for any more than one encore. I thought the set was great, but there were times when the audience just didn't seem into it.
After the show, we chatted with the guys for a bit, and then headed back to the hotel by one in the morning. All of us Fruheads stayed in the same hotel, so we stayed up and hung out till about five in the morning. The legacy of little sleep continues...
Until tomorrow!
From Gordon:
This is Gordon Elgart reporting from Fruvous Front Line in a special report!!
The story starts as I pick up my brother and Vika in Coolidge Corner at 4:15. We get to the Met early and we get treated in such a friendly manner by the help inside. The first two sentences were so dry....yuk.....let's spice this up a bit!!!
Anyway, no netizens there waiting for us and then some crazy person attacked us! No not really, just forcing some spice. It's late. Then these two people showed up, Dave and Cynda (Dave plays a part later in this story - stay tuned). We had never met them but quickly decided to get dinner at Finnegan's Wake (great choice - try the Clam Stuffies or The Irish Stew - highly recommended). Paged Ofer who never showed - I guess that's OK. (You know, normally I don't drop names in my reviews - oh well). My brother and I wandered around Providence looking for canned food. I finally found a place that had only peas and baked beans. I thought....hmmm baked beans for protein, but peas are vegetables....I went for the peas.
Walking back to the Met we ran into Zard carrying lots of food (way to go!) for the food drive at this show. Got to the door and finally got let in around 8. I mingled extensively, played some foosball with Mosh (he beat me twice, darn't), and waited and waited and waited for the show to start. Finally Hammel on trial got on at about 9:45. Ok so not expecting much, I was less annoyed by him. Also, he wasn't so loud on my (murray's) side of the stage.
Now....Fruvous...
A cappella Message - for some reason, this sounded better than the last times I had heard it.
Laika - well I'll be damned. A Laika!! Not as much of a surprise because they had played it the night before, but still. Laika!
Spiderman - a short loungy version - other than the fact that they were playing it, it wasn't particularly exciting.
Poor Mary Lane - what is this song about again?
Kissin Ja or Kissinger - a possibly improvised Mike sung reggae tune. I am counting it as a new song, because, well, it had potential to be a full song. Moxy Fruvous examines a new horizon!
Kids Song - Is there something you like? "Barney" Is there something you despise? "Barney" Now I am having vapor lock here but at some point in this song it something about eating something and Jian said "Barney" - HELP!!!
Stuck in the 90s - okeedoke i have nothing to say here
Fruvous Trivia Break....what U.S. state has the lowest highest point? Of course this brought a song and they took shouted guesses from the audience. Dave, the person with whom I ate dinner, shouted out the correct answer, went on stage to say it, and then was given the choice of anything free from the merch table....so what's the answer?? Keep reading and find out.
Michigan Militia - no the answer is not Michigan
Johnny Saucepan - someone, I belive John Greene (there I go dropping names again) started whistling it before Jian started playing it....
Lazy Boy - yes i have a stereo that rocks
Boo Time - it was this point I noticed the guy with the big green Muppet style puppet. It was a very nice puppet and all, but if I were behind him I would be upset. I also don't like it when people in the audience try to BE the show. Being part of the show is one thing - singing along, participating in any group gestures, saying something when asked to do so - but this whole trying to perform in the audience and upstage them...well...I have no patience for that. To me it's the same thing as the guy who crowd surfs and pumps his fists in the air to draw attention to himself. Leave the puppet at home next time. It's a Moxy Fruvous show. It is not Puppet Show and Spinal Tap....
Fly - what a nice song....
No No Raja - somehow these songs seem like lyrical cousins....
Jockey Full of Bourbon - first time hearing this apart from a tape Ceecee sent me (I can drop her name in at shows she didn't attend if she can write reviews of shows she didn't attend!)
Video Bargainville - the crowd wouldn't cooperate so Jian started this three times. He kept waiting for everyone to shout out "TWO" as opposed to "THREE!" or "EIGHTY-EIGHT!"
Incredible Medicine Show - something happened here which I and my fellow fruheads picked up on, and Murray acknowledged. The band went to another level. The crowd (with the exception of some crazy people near the foosball table) did not. The band seemed to get upset - this great show with great playing, a terrific setlist, a decent venue was about to go sour. And it didn't need to be that way.
Nuits De'Reve (spelling is so wrong) was awesome. Singing along in French? Not me. I have no clue what they are saying, but it sounds so great. What a beautiful song in any language.
BJ Don't Cry. Now I had written new lyrics for this tune and presented them around, given a copy to the band....but they sang their own, which I completely expected!!
Get in the Car - this is strange, but I am liking this song less everytime I hear it.
Psycho Killer - I have nothing to say about this - they do such a great job! A lot of cheering followed. I joined in a small crowd banging on the wall to get them to come out, which of course they would....to play....
The long Green Eggs and Ham, which knowing that they were not into this show, was done extremely well.
Love Potion #9 is a nice part of the repertoire. It's a lot of fun. The teases are all documented in my setlist post.
And that was it. Odd having one encore and all, and the show was just over! Something About You by Level 42 came on the speakers and I sung along and all, but it wasn't Fruvous.
This was a great show - business like, professional playing, fantastic setlist - the crowd that did get involved was really involved, especially Dave, who knew that the lowest highest point in the U.S. is in Delaware.
Of course Mike did say that Mt Washington was in Maine, so maybe he doesn't really know geography all that well. For all we know, the answer could be Mississippi!
These reviews never come out the way I want them to anymore....oh well...until tomorrow night in Northampton (which actually already happened but in the case of the narrative) this is Gordon Elgart, signing off from the front.
Now back to you, ceecee!
From Moz:
Hello Moxy Friends,
OK, so here I am at 4AM in the morning typing a review just because I can't sleep until I type it. SO here goes...
Luckily for me, Moxy started pretty late. The doors opened at 8 and they didn't go on until 11ish. That's lucky for me, because due to a performance of Handel's Messiah which I had to sing in, I didn't get to the show until 10:50. Onward...
This show has several surprises in it. So keep reading.
First, let's quickly discuss Moxy's mood. These guys were crazy tonight! They were just being nutty, and foolin' around and changing things here and there and everywhere (Mike practically jumped on Dave during GE&H... More on that later). They did a good amount of chatter and it was a lot of fun. And none of it seemed forced. They just looked like they were having fun. They just looked like it was the second-to-last show of the tour. I suppose there's a reason for that... And boy did they slam on America! I've seen them slam on America before, but this was terrible... and yet, somehow wonderfully funny at the same time. I love those crazy cannucks!
They, of course, opened up with Message acappella style. This did not surprise me too much. However, it did make me extremely happy. You have to love a band that does a creative cover of a song off their own album, which in turn is already a creative cover of another song. You know what I mean?
OK, next (I think) came either Laika or Spiderman. Let's just say Laika. (My memory is not so good at this time of the morning). Ummm... Can I just say that it rocked? I actually couldn't believe it. I mean, I was one of the lucky ones who got to hear an impromptu 15 second clip of it at the infamous MIT show last year, but I was still surprised.
Surprise number 2 for me was Spiderman (non acappella). By now, I was feeling pretty special. Pretty darned special. (Still more surprises coming!!!)
Umm... the rest I don't remember in order. So I'll just tell you what they played...
Off the albums:
BARGAINVILLE
Stuck In the 90's. I've only seen them play this a few times (Not to give you the impression that I've been to a million concerts. It's actually only been 7, but that's not bad considering I started in March. Four different states (MA,NY,ME,RI)). Anyway, Stuck is usually fun to hear. And so it was.
BJ Don't Cry. What can I say? This was probably weirder than I've ever seen them play it. What made it weird was Jian's work at the drums. He just did some crazy stuff, from the regular drum patterns, to a polka pattern (you know-- boom chk boom chk boom chk boom chk...), to a sorta rock ballad pattern, to just weird stuff. It was really quite neat. And just for the record "Buddha and a brush" and something with a rhyme between Junior Mints and Providence (instead of Orthodoxy and Moxie).
Video Bargainville. The intro was a bit interesting. Jian did his normal hesitation thing before he sang (if you've ever seen them play this song, you know what I mean) and then he did up to the "One price for.." and the audience said "two", except one guy said "three." So Jian decided we needed to try again. This time it ended up being one price for two, or 88 according to yet another loud guy. So we started again, and continued this time.
The Lazy Boy. I love hearing this song live because it's just so fun to watch them sing it. They just have so much energy!
Laika. Previously mentioned.
Spiderman. Also Previously Mentioned.
Notably missing from Bargainville: King of Spain and The Drinking Song or Gulf War Song (I was expecting at least one of these to be at the end of the show, like the last song, but neither of them showed up. Moxy however did not give a second encore, for reasons I'm not sure of (perhaps it was that one rude drunk who yelled out "Play some F'in (edited for the kids) music already!" during their intro to GE&H (Which opened their encore) Gosh did I want to beat the crap out of that guy.) So after the first (and only encore) Jian said "Sorry-- we'll play some music next time we come here" and left. So maybe that's why they didn't play a second encore. Or maybe they just didn't feel like it. But I bet that if they did do a second encore, The Drinking Song or Gulf War Song would have been in it. Either way, it was a wonderful show! So I shall continue with the review.
WOOD
Fly. Alright, this could quite possibly be my favorite song ever. So, of course, I loved it. Still hoping against hope, however, that they will one day sing the missing verse (check the liner notes if you never noticed the missing verse before).
Poor Mary Lane. Wonderful song, done wonderfully, of course.
AND BELIEVE IT OR NOT-- Nuits De Reve!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I coudn't believe it! It was SOOOOOO wonderful!!! Jian kinda mentioned what it was about too. This is how I understood it: It's about going away for a while from the one you love. Jian said it was like going on tour and leaving your lover home. And when you get back, after several months, you know things are different. And it's tough... At least that's what I got from it. Dave played an amazing guitar solo in it. I NEED a tape of this concert just for that one solo. The song was absolutely beautiful. Count that as probably the highlight of my year.
B ALBUM
Johnny Saucep'n. This song is always fun. How is it that they can sing all those foods so quickly so perfectly EVERY time???
The Kids' Song. Another one of my favorites. Several references to Barney in this one. Something you like-- Barney. Something you despise-- Barney. Also "Food that isn't Barney" instead of "Food that isn't Pizza".
YWGTM
Michigan Militia. I like this song more each time I hear it. Which is a lot since I own the CD ( =.
Get In the Car. Rockin', as usual.
No No Raja. The introduction of this song was about five full minutes long. It was so funny. Jian kept on saying stuff, and then when you thought they were about to start, he'd say "Let me explain it a little better..." and explain it again. To sum up what he said it's about wanting something but knowing you either can't have it, or CAN have it but shouldn't because you know its bad for you.
Incredible Medicine Show. Complete with comments on plastic surgery and Murray's butt before they started.
Boo Time (Blues style). I love this version of Boo. If you haven't seen it yet, drive to North Hampton on Sunday to see it. You gotta see it (or maybe it'll be on the live album).
I've Gotta Get a Message To You. Mentioned at start of review.
Very notably missing from YWGTTM: Your New Boyfriend!!! One would think that this song would be in every show of the Your New Boyfriend tour, but apparently not. I guess that WLUV just doesn't come in that well in Providence. Either that or it was off the air ( =.
And songs not on any regular albums:
Kissinger. Sorta improvised sorta not. Mike sang this song about Kissinger and republicans in general. I think he made up some of the lyrics as he went, but the band was too organized for the entire song to have been off-the-cuff. It took the tune of another popular song, but I can't recall it. Oh, and one thing-- this was reggae!!! And Mike is frighteningly good at singing reggae.
The Lowest Highest Point. Improvised song which involved the audience. Basically, Mike (I think it was Mike, or was it Dave? I'm not sure) asked a bit of trivia. What is the state with the lowest highest point? This became a full-blown song with plenty of room for the audience to yell out states. It went on for a good five minutes, and I quite enjoyed it. I LOVE Fruvous when they improvise. By the way, if you want to know which state has the lowest highest point, look it up. I don't want to give it away just in case they ever ask you.
Green Eggs and Ham. Full version. It was quite funny. The boys did some things I hadn't seen them do before. They fooled around quite a bit. When Dave insulted the Beatles, Mike acted like he was all defensive about it. He really got in Dave's face. He even threatened Dave with some "hat trick," which somehow would involve Mike ejaculating into his hat if I heard him correctly. Weird stuff I tell you. And then Mike pretending to punch Dave. It was great.
Jockey Full of Bourbon. Yet another great song. Gotta love any mixture of Tom Waits with Moxy Fruvous (however, I would love a mixture of Moxy with Elvis Costello, but unfortunately, the gods have not yet allowed me to see Moxy cover "Allison").
Psychokiller. This song rocked and rocked and rocked. Perhaps my favorite Moxy cover I've heard yet. I love this. Once again, I need a tape (more on that later).
Love Potion #9 Medley. Well, to date, this makes the third version of Love Potion #9 medley that I've seen. I really like the new Chumbawumba and Barbie additions. This song always makes me happy.
And that's all I can remember. I got some pics, so I'll probably send them to Chris at FDC as soon as they're developed and scanned. I think some of them should be real good. Speaking of real good, I noticed someone videotaping that performance. If the videotaper is feeling nice and would like to email me about maybe hooking me up with a copy, my email adress is themoesel@juno.com. I just had to say that. And with that, I wish you a Frufantastic night! I wish I could see you all in North Hampton, but this time the Messiah concert will definitely go too late (since North Hampton's a good deal away from Boston). Buh-Bye!
-Moz (Chris Moesel)
Some other tidbits from the performance include:
Back to the tour dates 1997 page
