I have to be up in a few hours for work, and to drive to Louisville after that, so this is just a quick mention about the show, with the promise of a review and setlist later (I left the setlist in my car, but Chad has a copy and should post it in the meantime). The scene was a little bizarre.. after help from an old librarian type and a couple nice "local" girls, we found the venue on campus. IiI have to be up in a few hours for work, and to drive to Louisville after that, so this is just a quick mention about the show, with the promise of a review and setlist later (I left the setlist in my car, but Chad has a copy and should post it in the meantime). The scene was a little bizarre.. after help from an old librarian type and a couple nice "local" girls, we found the venue on campus. We got there about an hour before the showtime, and there was no opening act, but yet the only people already there were Chad and Andi. So we hopped upstairs and found Fruvous' gear set up at floor-level, no stage. That was hint #1 that this was to be an odd show. The whole room felt like a school dance, but it was nice and intimate. I was a little concerned when the headcount was only 20 people about a half-hour before scheduled showtime. The locals ended up arriving around 9 for a small, but decent crowd, including a record-setting 12 BGSU folks who made the trek down to OWU.

They were only a half-hour late, not bad. ;) I called a Peace of Mind > Authors opener, but was wrong. They opened with a cappella Message instead, which was kind of a strange vibe in that room. I'll just brush over the suprises and save the full review for later. There was no Lazy Boy, no Your New BF or Fell in Love. We were instead treated to some semi-rare (for me at least) songs like Kids', and the ultimate - an off-mic Gulf War encore (there was only 1 encore, despite the VERY good attempt to get a second - it was Authors, Gulf War). One running joke was Jerry Springer.. including a very extended improv about the Springer show, in a hard-core rap style (reminded me of Fannie Pack from Ben Folds Five for those who know it). Plus, weaving Springer into Beatles' teases. :-)

Sorry that this was really rambling.. I should be asleep. And with that said.. good night for now, all. :-)

Josh's second post to the ng:

Ok, I'm finally getting around to reviewing this show. Once I found out that this was no longer students-only (thanks, Jude!), I started on my task of convincing every BGSU friend of mine to go. I may not have gotten everyone, but in the end, 12 of us made the journey down to Delaware, OH. Me and my travel mates would never have been able to find this place if it weren't for the nice local ladies who showed us where it was. We walked in, paid our $5, and immediately found Chad and Andi, who were the only ones who had arrived before us. We hopped upstairs where the concert was to be, and were a little suprised at what we saw. A medium sized-room, with no stage, and Fruvous' instruments set up on the floor. The lighting tree consisted of two colors. It was really sparce, and it felt like a school dance (in the cafeteria, of course).

The rest of the BGSU contingent arrived soon after that, but I was a little concerned because we were still the only ones there, and it was about 40 minutes 'till showtime (there was no opener). A few people trickled in, but I counted 20 not long before the show was going to start. I met Amanda Wass (I think she's on the ng), who seemed very cool but I didn't get to talk to her much. Other than that, none of the Ohio fans were there, which concerned me. Soon, before 9:00, the OWU contingent started showing up, which filled out the room a little better.

The show started a little late as always (9:25, if I recall). I had predicted a Peace of Mind > Authors opener, but they suprised me.

Here's the setlist, which I will break down: Message (A Cappella), BJ, River, Car, Horseshoes, Boss, Spidey, Kids, Booty, Fly, Michy, Tureen, Sauce, King>Green, Psycho / Authors, Drink

MESSAGE: An odd choice for an opener in this room, being students-only, I'd have been afraid that the signal-to-noise ratio for the students who had never heard of Fruvous would interfere. It didn't, and we got a great version, nailing the chord changes better than I'd ever heard. After this, I was all excited for Poor Mary Lane, but instead...

BJ DON'T CRY: Jian - "Good evening, humans from Ohio! Anybody know what BJ is.. what a BJ is? Fish (Phish?) Boy!" Fairly straight version, with "nemesis" and "buddha and a brush". Jian was having some fun with the rhythm in this, double-timing it and half-timing it at times. Mike - "...reflection told him he just don't care ... rather be hangin' in Delaware!"

[Banter]

J: Good evening, hippies and geeks! Collective hippies and geeks.. if you don't like to own up to one of those labels, then leave the room, you're too cool to be here. [...says that it's their first American gig of 98]

D: We're not saying to walk in the footsteps of former female superstar Heart by calling it "Leather & Lace Tour". We're calling it the "Hippies and Geeks Tour".

Mu: We're happy to say, this early into the show, we've conned a new phrase which has never been heard before: "would rather spend his time in Delarare!"

D: So, here we are on the "Kibbles & Bits Tour", and I'd like to play you one called "Cheesys and Gum".

RIVER VALLEY: "Dreaming of yesterday" was staggered by Jian for a cool effect. Other than that, a very straight version. The only odd version of this I've heard was "Squeegie Valley" from last year..

[Banter]

J: Thank you very much, friends and enemies.

Mu: That song featured the first broken string of 1998.

J: ...of Moxy Fruvous! First American broken string was I think the Eagles on January 2nd, in San Jose.

J: [...] You know what's weird, is we walked out, and you know what it reminded me of? Cuz everyone was sitting down all comfortable and stuff, and then [we come out and] they all felt like they had to stand, it reminded me of Jerry Springer. Which is like a horrible metaphorical experience, especially when you're Springer. [...]

D: Don't sell us short; I was going to tell the people what I did before I was 18, between the ages of 16 and 18..

J: What did you do?

Mi: [English Accent] Would you like to shoot your husband now?

[Jian starts a rap-like rhythm on drums] GUEST ON SPRINGER (impromptu):

D: [spoken] I got in a lot of fights.. I never took my clothes off! [..?] I was an exhibitionist! Sure, my dad was a Nazi! [..?] [rapping, with Murray on bass] I did my best to bring home the bacon. [J: Dave's Youth!] I did my best to bring home the bacon. [...?] shakin'.. [J: Dave's Youth!] [bacon repeated] Now they got me on TV!

Mi: [sung] He's a guest on Springer.. he's a guest on Springer. He's a freakin' home-breaker.. he's a guest on Springer [5x, rest repeat]

D: [incomprehensible verse]

[the song breaks down to bass, chorus, then becomes swingy]

Mi: That [?] show.. you gotta earn that nasty dough. You gotta talk the trash, gotta talk the dirty. Gotta talk that American trash if you wanna make cash. Hey, Jerky! Gotta talk that American trash.

J: [repeats] I like turkey, I like turkey.

[segues into..]

GET IN THE CAR: A good choice after the hilarious Springer segment. The energy level on this one was way up for the first time in the show, powered by Jian and Mike going nuts most of the song.

[Banter]

An audience member remarks about Dave's "Columbus Battery Company" jacket.

J: Now, how many people here go to Wesleyan College? [a small number of people in the back of the room scream. Jian laughs] Well, I know there's some Fruvous friends here because I'm seeing some familiar faces, but you're also from Ohio. [Jian goes on to tell how a friend of his in NY bashed Ohio and Wesleyan. Jian "sees where she's coming from", sarcastically of course. :)]

Mi: [tells about a trip from Toledo to Dayton, and a food stop along the way where every placemat has an adversitement for bee pollen: nature's miracle cure.]

D: The funny thing was, I was a sucker, and I bought into it. And I tell ya', before I went on the bee pollen, I had a full head of hair. Be careful.

J: [explains they are sarcastic about bashing Ohio] But just give me this.. you could lose Toledo. [thunderous applause] It's a great state that would be a better state without Toledo.

Nu: If you get into a war with Canada and you lose, offer Toledo first.

Mi: I think I would describe Toledo as Cleveland without the glitter. [..] The funniest thing in Cleveland is the cabs. On the side of their cabs, there's a picture of their big tall buildings and stuff, and it says, "I Like Cleveland." What is that? [...]

D: It's like a bumper sticker that says "Jesus loves you, but he's not IN love with you."

HORSESHOES: I was concerned the whole night that the audience wasn't going to "get" the less-spunky songs. This, however, seemed to go over well. This version seemed a little heavier than usual. Mike was playing with some cool natural harmonics during the verses, but his cord came unplugged before the solo so he missed a couple bars. At the end, I wish Jian would have let the audience sing the quiet "Look straight at the coming disaster" line as he sometimes does.. nothing gives me chills more than hearing the audience quietly sing that alone.. ahwell!

I LOVE MY BOSS: A lot of talking during this was distracting. But the audience seemed to love it. Jian didn't say the final "gun". Mike screws up his part by forgetting to come in, so he speaks the first part: "That's right, I love my boss! An extremely fabulous boss!" and sings the rest, still flubbed :) - "I'd like to watch out what he's singing, but he's the boss. He's going out now with my sister, that's why I'm carrying this cross. I'd like to tell him watch out, Mister, but he's the boss".

SPIDERMAN: [on-mic]. All except Murray abandon the stage and run around in the audience for the first half of this one. Mike, in a fit of insanity, dives onto the merch table and sings from there. "Spiderman arrives just in time to congratulate you, and you, and you. Because you all live near, around, you've all BEEN to Columbus. And in Columbus, they have an NHL team on the way! And they could have named it The Shit [pause, laughs] The Shitknockers, right? They could have named it the Croqueclusters! They could have named it the Bowl of Turds! Instead they chose.. the Blue Jackets!"

[Banter]

D: [remarks about the dollar being at all-time low: 68 cents]

J: We got more metals in the winter olympics, though! Except for our snowboarding gold-metalist. He was caught smoking pot.

D: Which is funny because most snowboarders are straight-edge kind of people.

J: [remarks that his coach looked like a stoner on TV "dude, it was a really good jump, and i was like stoked"] I wouldn't think smoking pot would give him an advantage. It would give him a great mindset, you know, but. [Murray calls Canada "that drug country"] But Ben Johnson was Canadian until he got caught with drugs, then he was Jamacian. [explains that he may be appealed because he was in a room with pot smokers but didn't take a hit]

Mu: If you do get pot in an Olympic event, you get 2 one-hundredths of a second taken off your score, because it's that much harder to do it on pot. It's mathematical.

KIDS: A fun version as always. "something you like? Nintendo!" "I like Canada except that it is chilly [Gabby!]" A guy behind me was pretty proud that he knew all the words, and was proud to sing them at the top of his lounges. Ugh. After, snapping commences, and..

BOO TIME: [Murr takes awhile getting his bass up] Middle part: "Wesleyan College, Bags of knowledge, Trees of foliage, Aluminium foilage. Feelin' a little great in the Buckeye state!"

[Banter]

Mi: Feelin' a little great.

[Jian mentions that he had another one in soundcheck, something about a crate]

Mu: Importing by the crate in the Buckeye state, I don't know..

J: Some of these songs are going to appear on our live album. A lot of you have gone to the Ohio shows in the tour which this was... not recorded at. It was recorded in our fall tour. Anyway, Boo Time _may_ be on the album, Horseshoes, the song before it, _will_ be on the album. Because Dave got really pissed off at us and said, "I want Horseshoes on the album." Every once in awhile, you know, Dave's a really nice guy, good tempered, you know, but every once in a while he wants something, and no one's going to stop him. [Mu: He plays hardball] He said, "Horseshoes is on, I'm putting my foot down."

Mu: He said, "it's either me or Horseshoes". I don't think he had the logic down, but we knew what he meant.

J: [laughs] Anyway, this next song is also on the record, and it's on the studio album, Wood, and it's a song called Fly. [pause] And, it's a song that involves the guitar, there's a bit of bass and some drums.. and, uh, a tamborine comes in. [full intro to the song about "that moment of sadness" when a relationship ends]

FLY: Very nice. I had the feeling that we weren't getting a Fell In Love, so I closed my eyes and let this do the job for me.

[Banter]

D: Do you guys remember the Guest On Springer song?

Mi: [English accent] Dave's youth.

J: See, that's the problem, we always forget the good songs we write, and the shit songs end up on our records. Murray, you remember it, surely.

[Murray starts up the bass line, Jian jumps in on drums, and they try to sing the melody, but it's different] It's not exactly Penny Lane. [they, of course, go into Penny Lane, with revised lyrics:]

Mi: Jerry Springer, he's a loudmouth with a TV show. A lot of freaks and geeks and hippies he can hold. And when you tune in, you TUNE IN, tune into Springer.

Mi: My aunt was on his dirty show, a week ago. She talked about [?]. She used a large revolver, yeah! On his TV show.

D: Jerry Springer has got a show, and he's on the news, Mr. [?]

J: [music stops] Michigan Militia.

MICHY: I realized that the Springer song reminded me a little of Michigan Militia, same style in a way. Nevertheless, they were pumped for this, and it showed.

[Banter]

Mu: [asks Dave for a note on the banjo to tune to.. ugh!]

Mi: What's the mascot here called? [audience all yells at once] Jkdlei jnmfdk? [audience yells, less people] Natalie Bishop? This is a student, right? [..] The Bishop? [audience member yells] The Battling Bishop!

D: The Battling Bishop? Are they two plastic toys that are in all the [cereal] boxes?

TUREEN: A lot better than the last time I heard this, the flubbed version in Ann Arbor. This made up for it big time. Maybe I'm nuts, but this song really reminds me of the Dead sometimes, and this night was no exception.

SAUCEP'N: I tried the hand jive, which Chad had taught me before the show, and failed miserably. I managed it in Louisville, though. ;D

[Banter]

[a girl emerges to the front row, screams "GULF WAR SONG!", and immediately turns back around and walks back to her place. Jian, seeing this, cracks up laughing. He does her impression of her.]

J: Tommorow night, it's a full night of Rick Astley.

Mu: No, you read the schedule, tommorow night is Smash Night.

J: No, it's Moxy Fruvous. That's us.

Mu: I'm in the wrong band.

J: [says they'll be in Louisville the next night, south where there's more snow. Toronto, according to him, has been great weather, in the upper 60's. Murray laughs at him. Mike mentions it was in fact the high 60's, in the Kelvin scale. Then, plugs the F&FFC]

M: [Mentions that Lee's Palace was the site of their first release ever, the indie tape, on 2/28/92.]

J: '92, Murray was 12. [...] The next person to come on this stage.. is it Susan Anton? It it Susan Power? Is it Susan Galvin? Is it Susan Fisher? Is it Oh Susanna? No, Ladies and Gentlemen, Mike Ford.

Mi: Here's a story that touches both the heart and the genitals, that's right, a story about a guy who got out of the show this morning and realized he was the ORIGINAL Battling Bishop! The King of Spain!

SPAIN: "Oh, my unspeakable wife, Queen... Susan!" "A lesbian nun.. the nun with the gun!" "King, how are you such a genius? There's a hat on your head. AAHH!" "International Orchestra". "People want to know! [J: They don't want to know.] [Mu: I think they already know.]"

GREEN: The audience loved this one. A suprising number knew the callbacks. "Not the Beatles. They wrote Penny Lane! [Mu: They wrote Jerry Springer song]. And they like Ohio, except certain parts which will go unnamed. [Audience: TOLEDO!] Well, some parts will go named."

PSYCHO KILLER: Jian thanks the college for treating them better than most college gigs. A great version of the song.. I'm kicking myself for not liking this song at first, this is so much fun now. I still think the middle part after the French needs some work from the lack of flow, but that's ok.

ENCORES----

AUTHORS: I had expected this for the encore. I'm starting to get a little tired of this for some reason. I guess it's a necessary thing.. to catch the newbies and all, but I can't imagine playing it all the time.. for how many years? Eek. :) At any rate, this finishes up, and I'm expecting to hear a Drinking Song (a college gig with 2 encores isn't likely). I think they planned this, but the idea surfaces to ditch the mics and break out a..

GULF WAR SONG: _YES!!!_ This was my only Gulf War in 14 shows. In fact, it's been the only off-mic song I've heard, and the fact that they stood directly in front of me made the entire experience surreal. This was for certain one of the best Fruvous moments I'd ever experienced, and I think everyone in the room felt similarly. The entire audience was DEAD SILENT for this, the entire time, which was amazing. This was the indisputable highlight of the show, and worked out even though Jian was concerned the vibe wasn't there. A+.

The crowd DEMANDED a second encore. I'd never seen a crowd try harder, and longer than this. But, the music came up, and it was not to be. I think Mike's voice was going quickly, so they decided to conserve. Ohwell, you couldn't have topped the Gulf War ending. It was the end of the show.

Oh, dear. I've rambled a little long here, I apologize. I will really try to make the next review (Louisville) a little shorter. No promises, though. ;)

From Chad Maloney:

Hey everyone! Back at work (and tired) after a night of Fruvin' with the BG posse and Andi. Here's a quick setlist first:

(See Below)

Well, anyway, with those trivialities out of the way, now you get the real dirt. Just what you all want! A rambling account of yesterday in my life *grin*

So, I left work a bit early to make the trek out to Delaware OH. I left the boondocks at 4pm. Fortunately for me, "All Things Considered" starts at 4 and ends at 7 on NPR. So, I listened to ATC all the way to the show. Well, most of the way to the show. Finding an NPR station after losing the one before got harrowing sometimes, but I managed. I pulled onto Sandusky St at 7pm just as Noah Addams (I keep thinking Noah Wiley, but that's Carter) was signing off.

I ventured down Sandusky St. pretty much right on time. I was s'posed to meet Andi Fitzer (Louisville Truck Owner Extraordinaire) between 7 and 7:30 at the Memorial Union Building on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University. Okay, sounds straight forward. So, I pull into the school, following the signs for the admissions office. I ended up parking on the far side of campus and I wandered around looked for a union building. Eventually I went into a large building that turned out to be a gym with a basketball game happened. So I asked the ticket-selling man if he knew what the Memorial Union building was. He had no clue. He asked a friend. He apologized because he's a senior and should have heard of it. His friend asked their basketball sponsor or something and she narrowed it down to a couple buildings across the street.

So, I ventured forth in the rain across the street, far away from my car. I spy the first building across the street and inside it, I can see Andi visiting with some people. Ah! Found it. Andi and I sat around talking to the nice people from OWU. It turned out the Memorial Union Building (or MUB - pronounced MUB like tub) had been condemned for Asbestos after it was closed down. It had been replaced by some new union building which is cool and big. But the students like this place or something, so this is where the show was. It wasn't a bad place, though the water tasted funny (and later earned a signed warning "Don't drink the wa-wa" (special note: this wa-wa has nothing to do with the midnight dining experience at the Wa-Wa in New Jersey. They have ducks. The drinking fountain not so much).

After some gabbing and such, the first inklings of the Bowling Green Posse showed up. I spotted Josh right quick and we got to talking and eventually the posse, Andi, and I wandered upstairs to the place where the concert was. It was a small room with no stage (so the Frugear was setup on the floor), a portable sound system, and one lighting tree. Pretty cozy. Places like this are nice, but I always feel bad being so tall. I know that there is always this triangle of no people behind me because they can't see.

The first thing I notice, you ask? Of course, I spot the fender with stickers on the bass stand. I'm gonna have to have a talkin' to with Murray about this one. The Spector was back at New Years and now it is gone again. Oh, the adventure that is keeping track of the basses.

We did some dancing to the Swingers sound track and visited and waited and waited and visited. I helped a guy from OWU put up a cool sign. we chatted with Cal about things when he showed. He explained to us who the temporary merch man for the weekend is. His name is Andrew and he is (I think this is right) Dave's roomate's fiance. I think that is right. About quarter-till-nine (official showtime - Fruvous mean time should put the show about 9:30 =), there was still practically no one there. There was maybe 20 people, maybe 10 from BG (that was the front row =), some OWU people, Andi and I. We were getting worried. But then again, cooler heads prevailed and about 2 till 9 all the students, who live distances measured in feet from here, started wandering in. The crowd thickened up nicely and the concert experience was looking up.

Fruvous came on about 9:30 or so, starting with a cappella message (starting from snaps). It went well. It was great to see the guys in action again. Next came BJ, with little or no intro. At the end of it, the guys start the banter for the show. Jian ends BJ asking the crowd if anyone knows what a BJ is. He then points out that it's a Fish Boy.

It was announced that this was the first show in 1998 and the first broken string of 1998. Well, not the first broken string, but the first Fruvous broken string. The first broken string was probably at some [insert name of band here - maybe the Eagles or some band like that] show in Burbank. The guys then proceeded to name california cities where this fictional show could have taken place. They then stress that this is the first US frushow of the year and you know where it is? In Ohio!

The guys start talking about Ohio and such. Jian tells some story about how he likes Ohio and eventually it is decided that Ohio would be better without Toledo. Someone yelled at Dave that he had a cool shirt. It said Columbus Battery or something. Mike pointed out that he's heard toledo described as "Cleveland without the glitter". His favorite anecdote about Cleveland is about the cabs. On the side, they have some picture of a tall building with "I like Cleveland" in an arc above it. Simple. To the point. Murray pointed out that Cleveland isn't cool a city (which Jian and Mike both jump him for saying they _like_ Cleveland). Murray says that that is his point. It is just kinda mediocre. It isn't I Love Cleveland. It is like, eh, we like Cleveland. Yeah. This brought Mike into the Jesus bumper stickers that say "Jesus Loves You, but He isn't "in love" with you" or something like that.

Dave, for no apparent reason, started an introduction out by baring his soul and telling stories about his youth. He started talking about when he was 18 or something and he ended up naked and the story went a little downhill from there. Jian started up a beat for Dave to speak to and Dave did a big spoken word bit entitled "Dave's Youth". This went on until someone mentioned that the show was turning into Jerry Springer. We were the audience and the guys were Springer (and that is the scary part of the analogy- we get to be Jerry). This caused Dave's Youth to morph into "Dave's a Guest on Springer" which brought in throwing chairs and scary nuns and such (causing Mike to sing a one line from Jenny Washington). Finally, as the middle section of the tune passed on, someone sang something and it was compared to Penny Lane (Beatles tune). Dave then forced a Penny Lane version of the Jerry Springer theme which turned into a couple verses verse of Penny Lane Jerry Springer improvs. When they finally quit, Murray complains that he only knew the bass line for the chorus, and they never got there, so Dave picks it up into the chorus and do a couple more verses and choruses of Penny Lane with Jerry Springered lyrics.

Before Horseshoes, Jian talks about the Live Album and the plans and whatnot for it. He talks about how some shows were recorded, but of course, non in Ohio. He also points out that they are in the process of choosing from all the material and that lots of songs are in the maybe category. But here's one from the album Wood that is definitely on the album because Dave wanted it. You see, normally dave is an easy going guy, but sometimes he just becomes unbearable. Murray says that Dave said "it is either horseshoes or me". He points out that the analogy was terribly screwed up, but we got the meaning.

Jian talked a little bit about the olympics. He guessed that the winter olympics aren't as big as in Canada here. He's right in my opinion. They joked some about the snowboarded who may get his medal taken away for smoking pot. I mean, he's a snowboarder! Mur told a little story about his coach talking about him being stoked and such. It was pretty funny.

The guys then complained about having to go down south where it is cold. Tomorrow they are in Lousivlle which had 22 inches of snow last week. Jian said the highs in Toronto have been in the sixties (Murray laughed at him) and so it is a chore to come down south where it is cold. Mike joked about people not wanting to come to Toronto because their parka isn't thick enough.

Spiderman was a surprise. Mike quickly flew off stage and back onto the Merch table in the back of the room. He was followed closely by Mike and Jian as a Spider entourage of sorts. This caused everyone to turn around and stare at the three singing at the Merch table while poor Murray, with his wired mic, sat on stage singing "Big Baboon, Big Baboon". He waved though when I started laughing at him.

The audience responds in Boo Time went pretty well. Everyone got into it. The only thing I remember is the last line of the improv was something like Feeling a little great in the buckeye state. At first I thought it was feeling a little faint in the Buckeye state. Then the next time maybe it was feeling a little grate in the Buckeye state. Afterwards, Mike pointed out what it was. jian said it was something different in rehearsal and each of the guys proceeded to make up a new line. Mur said it had something to do with a crate. It was about wine. It is always about wine.

At some point in the set, a young woman troopers her way to the front to announce in a stern tone "Play the Gulf War Song". She then proceeded to turn around, having said her peace, and return back to whence she came. Jian was very enthralled by this and did his best impersonation of her. Murray asked if she really made the same terrible face Ji did when she said it.

Before Fly, after everyone had gotten into the mood, Jian and Murray started screwing around. Something about being smashed to a pulp or something. Mike wasn't too happy about them ruining the mood and kept making Stop It faces at Murray until they quick and went off into the song.

Before Saucep'n, Dave asked the crowd what the mascot was for the school. Everyone started screaming stuff and the guys couldn't hear an answer at all. Mike picks out from the crowds ranting Natalie Bishop. He then hypothesizes that the mascot is a student named Natalie Bishop who shows up to games and such. Dave and Murray both attempt to work out what was really being said with tries like Heckling Bishop and such. Finally Dave asks someone nearby and it turns out they are the Battling Bishops. Mike asks if this is like one of those rings with the two plastic guys that you make fight (like Rock-em Sock-em robots I guess).

Jian did a flashback into the Jerry Springer theme, but couldn't remember any of it. He complained about it. Whenever they write the best songs, they always forget them, so they have to put the crap songs on the albums. That is what makes the live album so cool. He asked Mur if he remember it, and Mur started the bass line which brought the drum part back to Jian's memory. Someone from the front row started singing the "Dave's a guest on Springer" part and that brought back an encore on the Springer song.

The Bishop stuff came up on in King of Spain. Jian announced it as "Is our next guess Susan ? Susan ? Susan ? Oh susuana? No! It's Mike Ford" Mike then introduces Dave (with the introduction ending in the word testicles, but I don't recall more than that). During the beginning back and forth, Murray sticks on the Bishop thing with the hat. Dave replaces Queen Lisa with Queen Susan and the guys all kinda go what? Who's susan? Jian chooses the album lyrics with "King, why are you such a genius". Mur goes with "there's a hat on your head" and Mike just cackles.

KoS went straight into the short GE&H. It cooked pretty much. During Hey Not the Beatles, it was pointed out that the Beatles wrote Penny Lane along with the theme to Jerry Springer. And, also, Harrison had something happen in Toledo or something. Don't remember. Jian then very calmly observed to Dave that he doesn't like green eggs and ham, which brought the song back in.

Ji thanked the people at the school. It was a really well put on show, especially for a college show. There was a good turnout and everyone was really nice. He did a little bit of a plug for the live album and then they went off into Psycho Killer.

The first encore brought the guys back in Authors configuration for a good MBLABOA. Then they had a little pow-wow in the middle and decided to give in to the woman that came to the front to scream and so they did GWS off mic.

Before they did, the pow-wow lasted a while. They got into the mood and hummed the opening chord, when some loudspeaker downstairs said something. It was joked that it was a pizza guy or campus security or something. Then some jokes abounded before they brought it back under control for the song. It was pretty on and a good feeling. Afterwards, the most of the crowd tried for another encore to no avail. I was just pretty happy with Gulf War and I didn't they had it in them to do anything after that. Finally, Cal took control and turned on some music so people would quit screaming.

All in all, the show was really great. All the Jerry Springer stuff was hilarious and I'm really glad I made the trip over to see it.

Afterwards, we stuck around, got some pictures and talked for awhile. A lot of people stayed around, which was surprising, but we persisted as usual.

[Ironic that only the people who survive reading the really long review get the skinny on what is happening in fruland =)]

Dave and Mike said they have been really busy with one thing or another. Lots of mixing and choosing and other stuff. Dave said they probably decided against a double disc live album. He said they have a lot of great stuff though.

And now the important stuff. WARNING: if you are sensitive to major upheavals in the Frubalance of the universe, maybe you shouldn't read this. It may disturb you. Especially if your name is Chris Traugott. Okay?

I grilled Mur on the Fender/Spector issue again. Got some interesting news. It seems he played a Thunderbird and loved the feel of the fingerboard. So, he had to choose between the Fender and the Spector knowing that he loved another - the Thunderbird that he can't have. So, he brought the Fender and is looking to sell the Spector so he can pick up the Thunderbird. I've never played a Thunderbird before, but Mur liked it, and that is the important part. As much as I love the sweet sounding Spector and the Fender with stickers, Mur needs a bass he loves. So, we are in a transition state in the bass watching community. Keep watching and we'll see what happens next.

We finally got out of there at 12:30am. All ready for a drive home, I got a ride back to my car from Andi (finally returning her Sunglasses that I had from Nashville/Asheville) and ventured forth in Fruphoria after a show. I stopped at a gas station for some caffein and some zingers before making it back to my bed safe and sound. Tomorrow, Lousville!

From Jen Lyons:

OK, so here's a post that is hopefully (slightly) more coherent than my last one. I went to the OWU show and wow, everyone's right: Fruvous shows kick TMBG's butt right out the door. I had a lot of fun, and I think I knew everyone in that room. Not really, but the Bowling Green contingent took up the entire front row as far as I could tell.

I was supposed to go with Josh and Johanna (for those of you who know either of 'em), but had to leave about an hour and a half later because I had to wait for my significant other to get out of class. :P The drive took at least forever, since we were already late, and when we got there we had a really hard time finding the building. We asked a guy where the Union was, and he kind of looked at us and told us where to go, and I guess Chad's posting would explain that look we got. :D We wound up getting there about half an hour into the show - right when Spiderman was ending. So when we walked in, we almost walked right into the band, who were in the process of returning to the stage. Anyway, from there on out it was great. I had a lot of fun, and it was pretty cool to watch a little boy (looked about 10 maybe?) in the front row singing along to ALL the songs and dancing. :)

After the show, we stayed around and I had Murray sign my Bowling Green student ID. I've gotten a few looks and a couple people asking me who signed it.

All in all I would say it was a really fun time, and I can't wait until I can go to another one....

From Phil Schwan:

I'll just append Josh's post quickly because I know he needs his sleep for the marathon of running around he has over the next two days. The setlist was as follows:

(See Below)

There were also some add-libs such as the Jerry Springer Song and a take-off of Penny Lane mixed in, but I'm sure Josh will get a more complete review out this weekend. It was a very intimate concert. Of the 15 I've been to now, this was the first time I'd ever heard GWS live. I can now die a happy man :)

Thanks to Josh Woodward for this one:
• Setlist

• I've Gotta Get a Message to You (A Cappella)

• B.J. Don't Cry
• River Valley
• Get in the Car
• Horseshoes
• I Love My Boss
• Spiderman
• The Kid's Song
• Boo Time (Jazz Version)
• Fly
• Michigan Militia
• The Present Tense Tureen
• Johnny Saucep'n
• King of Spain
• Green Eggs & Ham

• Psycho Killer

• My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors
• Gulf War Song (Off Mic)

Some other tidbits from the performance include:

• Feel free to help contribute to this section!