Saw lots of familiar faces at the Fruvous in-store at Sam Goody tonight: Jason, Rob, Ella, Lisa, Craig, John. Also a lot of folks from my 'other' group of netfriends, those from the Idiots Delight Digest - maybe 10 of them. Oh yeah.... a couple of hundred (?) others showed up too, along with me and Jan and Ken!
Mike's set list, which Ken snagged along with a discarded pick, was written on a page from the Villiage Voice! I'll try to get it scanned and posted to FDC.
Oh yea - the CD was on sale, and EVERYONE bought at least one. I saw several buying more than one!
As usual, the after-show meet and greet took longer than the set itself. Always a pleasure to talk to the boys, and have them sign CD's, guitar straps, posters, body parts, whatever...
Next up... NYC, Bowery Ballroom. Anyone been there before, or know about their age admission policy?
From Shana Carter:
"...and now I'm jamming with Moxy Früvous."
[Posted by Rabid.Child on Wednesday, 20 May 1998, at 4:33 p.m.]
I had a spectacular evening last night, thanks in no small part to that tuneful Canadian quartet Moxy Früvous! Yes, I schlepped down to the West Village to catch their in-store appearance at the San Goody on 6th Avenue and 8th Street, and I'm truly glad I did.
I arrived at the store a few minutes after the posted starting time of 7 p.m., and I could hear the sounds of a guitar wafting down the stairs as I hurried up to the third floor. Fortunately, it turned out to be the opening act, Gerald B-something (I can't remember his last name.) He was playing acoustic versions of songs from his newly-released album "We All Fall Down." I managed to secure an empty spot of carpet - no mean feat, given how packed the place was - and then alternated between enthusiastic applause and cursing as I tried to set up my recorder.
As some of you may recall, I somehow managed to lose my original microphone before TMBG's show in Troy, NY, back in March (?). Fortunately, I was able to find an electronics store with a replacement in stock, so I was able to resume my activities as The Most Blatant Bootlegger in the World in time for their Seton Hall appearance. Last night, however, I felt like The Least Competent Bootlegger in the World as I struggled to attach the mic to the lapel of my jacket. At one point, the clip on the back snapped off entirely, and I couldn't even relieve my feelings by swearing because the guy onstage was in the middle of a quiet number. Fortunately it popped right back into its socket, and after another two minutes or so of grim, silent struggles I finally clipped the damn thing on.
Once Gerald had finished up there was a pause while the techs readied the stage for Früvous, which most of the audience took as a cue to buy drinks and MF CDs at a counter between the two large windows that overlooked 6th Avenue. Despite the resultant crush, Liz, a.k.a. GoodOmenz/ Schmuck in a Vacuum, managed to spot me. We exchanged hellos, and I gave her a dub of the 4/2 Mono Puff show that I'd been promising her for some time. I then fought my way up to the counter, got a copy of "Live Noise," and fought my way back to my bit of carpet. Finally, someone from the radio station that was sponsoring the show made his way to the stage, and the crowd rose to its feet in anticipation.
I'd heard enough of their stuff to buy "Bargainville" and "You Will go to the Moon" (thanks Liz!), but I'd never seen them live so I wasn't sure what to expect. Now that I've had that experience, I can see why there's so much overlapping of the Fruhead and TMBG communities - it was a high-energy show with great tunes, snappy banter, and a wildly enthusiastic crowd.
Here's the setlist:
An intro by George Evans from WFUV and the following cheerful greeting from Jain: "Good evening, American owners of the Canadian economy?[*very quietly*] fuckers."
A second intro by some guy picked from the audience - "Workman-like, efficient."
A short song urging its listeners to buy the new CD
"My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors"
A thank you to the crowd for picking the "Live Noise" release gig over the evening's poetry reading by Jewel
"Michigan Militia"
"Jockey Full of Bourbon" - "This is the rumba section of the evening."
Comments about the venue ("You'll go home with the satisfied feeling of having been out at a sweaty club all night, and it'll only be 8 o'clock"); claims that their so-called "improvs" are in fact lifted from Janet Jackson's back catalogue; "And here's the segue into a serious song."
"Fly"
"I Love My Boss" - We got a bonus in the form of a really good birdcall from someone in the audience during a dramatic pause near the song's end
"Spiderman" - The lead singer on this song, Mike, took his cordless mic for a little stroll through the audience, at one point commenting "Bootleggers, eh?" - but to someone in the back, not me. "Eight legs good, two legs bad! Justice for arachnids!"
"Boo Time" - The band gestured for the audience to clap, then asked "Who's the wise guy on the syncopation?"
A bit about their manager, Jack - "He's 107 years old, and he has a Jimmy Stewart fixation."
"I've Gotta Get a Message to You"
A plug for WFUV
"The Present Tense Tureen"
"Johnny Saucep'n"
"King of Spain" - They did a little fiddling with the lyrics: "My people say, 'King, how are you such a genius? There's a hat on your head, we love you King! ' It's laissez faire, I'm not wearing underwear, let's make Friday part of the weekend and get all of these people a chocolate eclair!"
"Green Eggs and Ham" - Murray warns Dave that because of his anti-Beatles comment, "You're gonna get your skull kicked in."
"Dancing Queen" - This song opened with Mike channeling Lou Reed, who led the band in a "Walk on the Wild Side" intro ("Doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-de doo?") to the ABBA hit.
Despite their prediction of an 8 o'clock wrap-up, it was actually about 8:40 when they finished the last song. Afterward, the band autographed things for the crowd. I was able to chat briefly with each of them as they signed my copy of "Live Noise," and I told them I'm looking forward to seeing them the next time they play NYC, on June 27 (my birthday!).
Once I'd bidden them a good night, I made my way to a nearby restaurant, Gray's Papaya, and bought myself two 50˘ hot dogs and a small cup of pineapple juice for a quick dinner. At this point it was about 9 p.m., and ordinarily I would have called it a night and headed out to Queens. Instead, energized by the food and the lingering Moxy Früvous vibe, I decided to try my luck by walking to the Avenue B Social Club to check out a small jazz outfit I'd heard good things about, the Hal Cragin Trio.
But that's a story for a later post. Until then, I remain
Your Correspondent in the Field,
Rabid Child
Some other tidbits from the performance include:
Back to the tour dates 1998 page