wow. and i thought going to see fruvous at an *instore* performance was fantastic... this was *spectacular*. of course, take my glowing words with a grain of salt: this *was* my first official concert. i received my first frumiles card and got my first frustamp. but regardless, this was one amazing show. better than the tmbg performances i've seen... hence this *extremely* long-winded piece of work i've written. so don't say i didn't warn you. :)
having gathered a carful of frufans, we started out from dayton a little after six o'clock, with _live noise_ pumping from the cd player and myself behind the wheel. we had a few *heh* close calls en route (i think i need to work on my defensive driving skills), but we found ripley's with little trouble. however, finding a parking space proved to be more difficult, and i ended up parking in front of someone's house. i'm not too talented at parallel parking (something else i need to work on ;p), so i chose a spot big enough for two cars, but tried to position my car so that no one could park behind me. by then it was around 7:15, and i finally informed my three companions that fruvous wasn't supposed to be onstage till 10. they began to whine about why we'd left so early... until we crossed the street to ripley's and saw a large gray van pull up with jian seated in the passenger seat. we said hi to the band as they went inside, and i pointedly told my friends that if we'd gotten there any later, we'd've missed seeing the frubus arrive. after pictures in front of a fruvous poster and the van itself, we went to stand in line. my friend eric and i met & chatted w/ josh (who might even be reading this now - don't think i didn't notice that a.m.m-f button :), one of about 8 fruheads already there. and it was just we twelve or so for about forty-five minutes before anyone else arrived. we heard fruvous doing a sound check (i remember "sad girl," "signed," and "militia," specifically), but the doors didn't open till the line reached the corner (around 8:30, i think). elizabeth and i grabbed some posters off the walls, to match the posters we purloined at borders two weeks earlier. we then went up to toby and pondered which t-shirt to purchase, when he asked if we wanted our frumiles cards stamped -- and i had to admit that neither of us had been to a paid concert yet. but we got our hands on cards, so now i'm all set for their next venture into ohio. the guys with us got involved in a game of pool, so we sat on stools off to the side for awhile, wondering where to put our posters so that they wouldn't get crushed. i then convinced eliz to take our stools down and sit near the stage, so that we'd be guaranteed a good seat for the show (since my pictures from columbus turned out so-so, i wanted to be sure to get some good shots this time). we positioned ourselves in front of where murray would be standing, and i must say, i've never been to a concert before where i could put my stuff on the *stage* to keep it safe. :)
sooo... around 9:20 or so, some fellow with a guitar came up onstage and told us that he was the opening act (due to some sort of contract agreement, apparantly, moxy has to have an opening act. *shrug*). he only'd learned of this function the night before, however, and the rest of his band couldn't make it, so we were to call him "white lightning" and imagine some drums and a bass player. i believe this gutsy person was making up the songs as he went along, which was amusing in and of itself. (he had the entire bar singing that famous tune "corn, corn, corn on the chicken..." ;p) he was really terrible, but he knew it, and played off of that, so it wasn't as miserable as it could've been. perhaps this was just to make fruvous look even better...
so, white lightning left about 9:45. the bar was getting really warm, and the minutes slowly passed... and passed... and passed... until finally, after much chanting and anxious chatter from the crowd, fruvous came onstage at 10:30. set list:
sahara (extended): wow. there was a dawn of comprehension as to why that key on the keyboard was taped down... i could've listened to the guys jam for half the show.
jockey full of bourbon
BJ don't cry: i think it was after this song that jian yelled, "no one knows my plan!" much to the delight of the tmbg fans in the room. does he randomly yell tmbg lines often? or is this reserved only for the end of BJ?? ;p
bargainville: by this time elizabeth and i'd abandoned the stools and were dancing with the rest of them. kept my eyes open for photo ops for jian...
frat boy (improv): they commented on how there were a lot of guys in the audience yelling comments at inappropriate times, so they must've had an audience of frat boys. they didn't go off on this topic for very long, but it would prove useful later in the show. i think dave did his stevie wonder impression here...
sad girl: i love watching jian sing this one. :) can't wait to have it on an album, altho' it'd lose something in not being able to *see* the lads on their alternate instruments.
sleepy drinker: my first time hearing this... kind of made for a slow section of the show, right after "sad girl." but it was *really* hot in there, so i'm sure a bit of a lull was needed. it might've been before or after this song that murray asked the audience if cincinnati was a big ska town. my boyfriend tony, a ska fanatic, went nuts cheering. dave said that he looked like he could be auditioning for a ska band, but he just needed a hat. tony, whipping off his hat, shouted, "here! here!" he tossed it up onstage, and dave went at it, skanking around the stage. hilarious. :) tony got the hat autographed after the show: "ska is not dead -- dave matheson"
boo time: lessee, i know some of the lines in this one included "live at ripleys" and "doin' a couple shrooms in the dressing room," but for the life of me i can't remember any of the other cinci-specific quotes. oh, well. entertaining nonetheless.
i love my boss: *heehee* i love this song, especially after seeing it live. it's a riot.
spiderman (on the setlist -- kids): before this song started, jian held up a shirt that some guy had given them earlier in the show. it was a homemade frushirt, from the looks of it, and they lauded francis, the artist. during the song, mike commented that the world needed a hero, and that hero was francis! at this, francis jumped up onstage and started flexing muscles, gyrating around, and trying to sing mike's lines. he wouldn't leave. once they finally got him offstage, they launched into an improv about the frat boy francis who dances... either he didn't care that they were blatantly making fun of him, or he was drunk, or both, but he kept up the frat-boy fanatics. tony commented that he and eric'd beaten him in pool before the show...
michigan militia
present tense tureen
johnny saucep'n: i'm certain my face turned bright red from singing along to this. ;p left me winded...
i've gotta get a message to you (a capella): mmm. magnificent. i love this song, and i not only had a fantastic view of jian, but his "backup" vocals were right above me. :)
king of spain: used the "australian republicans" intro again, and referred to dave as "puppy-dog eyes". very entertaining.
somewhere in this part of the show (sorry i'm not being more exact on the improvs) jian divided the crowd into thirds and pointed at us, to say "yeah," "yeah yeah," or "yeah yeah yeah," depending on where we were (i happened to be at the "yeah" side of the room). it was later modified to be "dave-o", which provided for some interesting opportunities for jian ("who do you want to have sex with?" "dave-o! dave-o! dave-o!")
green eggs & ham: lots of fun, especially watching dave & jian's facials. they *really* went off during the "not the beatles!" section, talking about all these songs that the beatles wrote that became really popular (like "i can see clearly now") and that pretty soon, people were going to start talking through fruconcerts like they did beatles concerts during the _revolver_ era...
river valley: ohh, this was fantastic! i'd never heard this live, and it's one of my favorites. quite a treat.
get in the car
signed, sealed, delivered / papa was a rolling stone / rio: high-energy, great songs... and eliz got jian's setlist, while i got murray's. we cheered, and cheered, and cheered...
encore 1:
my baby loves a bunch of authors: murray said "my crucifixion" again, 'stead of "short works o'fiction"...
psycho killer
encore 2:
drinking song: my first experience with this song live, as well. i linked arms with the people i knew, as well as a friendly blond girl next to me, and swayed and sang. the hand motions were a pleasant surprise. the wonder of having a roomful of frufans singing as one made me wish the song had several more verses.
so, after bolting to the bar to drain a pitcher of water, we got in line and purchased t-shirts (i went for the blue definition shirt). we wandered outside, and around to the back door, in the hopes that the band members would come outside and sign autographs. it took a moment to realize they were already *there*, just inside the door. i approached dave first, commenting that he did a great job on the drums, even if it was his "first time" (during that "yeah yeah yeah' improv). i got a picture with him, then went up to jian. when he was done talking to the person in front of me, he turned to me and said, "hi, kat! good to see you again..." i was floored. before the columbus instore, i chatted with him at the cappuccino stand, and he asked me my name... i'd absolutely no expectation that he'd remember it. i'm sure this has happened to others of you -- is this just a special talent of his? regardless, i gushed about the wonderful performance, and got a picture with him, as well (2, actually, 'cause he said he blinked on the first one... then my film ran out. so much for mike & murray.) mike mentioned that they liked performing at the canal street pub in dayton, so they hoped to return there before too long (yay!). murray was nowhere to be found, so we began the trek to the car.
and lo and behold, someone had parked behind me. i had literally 2 inches behind and 4 inches in front of my car in which to maneuver. i jockeyed around for awhile (lots of fun on a hill in a stick shift, with no room for error), until at last we were free. driving by ripley's again on our way out, i glimpsed murray out front signing things. turning the corner, i parked quickly and ran back to the bar, completing the evening with my fourth autograph. we began the drive home, content, sleepy, and still singing.
all in all, a wondeful night. especially for my first frushow: autographs, pictures, setlist, t-shirt, poster... and one heck of a fantastic time. oh, if you were there, i was the crazed girl in front of murray with the scarf around her neck. and a smile on her face. :)
treasuring memories until next they arrive in my area,
^kat^
From Miriam Libicki:
I brought only one fruvirgin to my latest concert, but my five-for-five conversion rate holds steady..... My brother Daniel got home at five-thirty Tuesday when I was already in low-grade freakout mode & said did I still think he should come to this concert I said YES DANIEL & he said ok. After this two pacingfilled hours passed as my family ate an oblivious dinner & did miscellaneous. At the stroke of seven forty five my mother, my little sister, my older brother, my Hebrew teacher (a convert from earlier this month in Columbus) & I set out in our minivan stocked with Coke & mixed nuts.
Miraculously, we didn't get lost & arrived at Ripley's at nine fifty something. I got red Xes on my hands & squoze my way to the front right in front of the drum kit, where SherylJean & I screamingly jumpingly greeted each other. After securing my place with my backpack, I fought back to Josh's table & said hellos. After an hour or so (don't quote me on that, I wasn't wearing a watch but I know it was VERY long & sweltery) there was that one long note...Sahara, naturally.
I took pictures as each Frulad came on stage (another advantage of having Daniel along is that he always carries a camera) & feverdream danced a little bit. They had several songs before they said anything, including Sad Girl of which I am very fond. After that Sleepy Drinker! One I'd never heard before. They talked about what an energetic crowd (energetic, they said then, it later turned to drunk & noisy) this was for a Tuesday night, & how we were all willing to come out here & miss Frasier (a crowdnik informed them that it had been a rerun). After Boo Time (Oh me oh my oh/South Ohio, Jerry Springer/Cpl. Klinger, Doin' a couple shrooms in the dressingroom), it was I Love My Boss, always a lot of fun (Jian didn't do any exotic dancing, just some microphone stand innuendo), same intro as in Columbus, about working in a dog food store (except he was able to say "working" flawlessly).
About this time a frat brother a few rows behind me starts taking of his shirt. This must be one a them highspirited fratbrother hijinks, I think, but then he passes it onstage & it's got that trippy 1-point perspective image on the FDC pix page with spiderman hanging off of it & then he shouts SPIDERMAN & does not let up. It turns out his name is Francis & he is a (what the hell) artist & he wants them to sing Spiderman. Jian said, Francis, do you know what you need sometimes? (I shouted A shirt) Jian said No, sometimes you need a hero. After this & a coulpe more SPIDERMANs from Francis, they launched into Spiderman, calling upon Francis to stand up whereupon he got up onstage & started dancing. They said they bet he could play his pectorals, but it seems "pectorals" had too many syllables for him and he instead started singing at which point they prudently took back the mic. After this was a brandnew song about The Shirtless Frat Boy Francis (/He comes up on stage & he dances) with each lad contributing a verse.
After that they said "Well wer'e Moxy Fruvous from Toronto....& this is Michigan Militia." After Michy, I believe, is when they started talking about the new ska fad (& about how Dave, in appearance, could pass for a ska musician) & said Excuse us for dissing the new macho ska, but hasn't anyone heard of the English Beat? That got some cheers, & they did a "Mirror In The Bathroom" tease at which point my brother & I got many suprised looks for singing along. But it was really cool (it sounded totally different done by Fruvous, naturally). Dave launched into "Present Tense Tureen" by saying that the local paper had compared them to the Grateful Dead (more drunken cheers from the frat gallery) & here was something we could take home with us, on that subject. After Present Tense (with that lovely fa-fa-fouche that I always have to fill in on my own when listening to the album, also Sheryljean beside me was doing drug-abuse gestures to correspond to the *real* meaning of each line) they went straight into Johnny Saucep'n (I&my sister swung each other round & round in the chorus, although, here & throughout the show, we did a lot more jumping than dancing 'cause of the crowdedness).
I've Gotta Get A Message To You was a capella & pretty as ever (my dad [not in attendance] told me that the line actually goes "I laughed, but that didn't work" which makes more sense as well as rhymes & so I'm wondering why they do it the way they do, but anyway)
They closed with the mashed KOS & GE&H that they do of late, which is of course killer but pretty tiring to dance to & also I miss those first few lines of GE&H (every *word* in it I can't do without)..
Even though we were all hot & tired (my freakin SHOES were sweating) we all clapped & yelled & I shrieked until they came back out & picked up their instruments & started playing & oh my gosh can it be RIVERVALLEY it's an inordinately neato song & I'd never heard it live but the real thing was I'd recently visited my sister (older) who lives in Israel & bombarded her with all the Moxy I owned (only the first & second-to-last alba, then) & her favorite was River Valley she played it all the time & when she couldn't play it she made me sing it to her so at this point (the concert) I was like OH NaOmi should be heere...It was cool but also sad. After that was Get In The Car to which I danced so delightedly I beat (no pun intended) my personal record for jumping on other peoples toes (sorry!). Signed, Sealed, Delivered I hadn't heard since my veryfirst concert & it hit me just as hard & my sister Sheryljean & I threw our hair around & boogied.(Psycho Killer, though it wasn't on the setlist I stole, was in there somewhere. I hate people when they're too polite.)
Truly I was about ready to die but I scoured my lungs & we all grated our hands completely free of skin for one last encore, The Drinking Song of course. Awesome & moving (literally. I think I was in the most hyperactive swayline in the house).
I went & got another stamp (as my little sister got a first), met up with Josh some more, drank a lot of water, ate a lot of ice cubes, got kicked out of the building often & got a picture with Murray who was the only one out then before I had to drive back home.
This has been another twisty convoluted review by Miriam Libicki, queen of
the mile long digressive run on sentence. See y'all soon :)
Some other tidbits from the performance include:
Back to the tour dates 1998 page
