Ok, this is my first ever review, and I'm hoping someone else can fill in the holes.

Bloomington, Second Story. First off, they were NOT checking ID ( I know this totally sucks for the under 21 crowd who may've missed the show --- Sorry Sheryl!); I arrived with Josh and Joanna and none of us were carded, even though I look like I'm about 17. Second Story is a small, intimate club with a low stage that was oddly decorated with green and red christmas lights.

The opening act was a local band called the Ballroom Roustabouts (I think) who played some interesting, twangy music. Very eclectic, but maybe I'm just too East Coast. They weren't set up on the stage, so when they finished it was a short wait for Fruvous.

The Set: (Courtesy of Murray's "Certified Setlist")
Down From Above 
Horseshoes
Sahara (NOT the extended jam)
Boss
PTT
Johnny Saucep'n
Message
Authors
BJ
Jockey
Sad Girl
Kids
Boo Time
Mistrah (wasn't played due to time constraints *boo, hiss*)
King/Green
Michy
Car
Psycho

1st encore: Dancing Queeen (yay!)
2nd encore: Drinking

It was a fairly standard set, but well done. The crowd was quiet but very appreciative for the most part. There was one a**hole who felt the need to ruin the intro for the Kids Song by yelling out "The Kids!" before the guys could do their parts, but enough said about that.

After the show, Jian chatted briefly with Josh, Joanna and I, and told us about how we were ALL getting the lyrics to I Will Hold On wrong (I posted this earlier tonight to set the record straight, sorry Jian).

From Chad Maloney:

Not to replace my full review later, but here are some additions to what
Traci wrote...

Trace wrote:
> 
> Ok, this is my first ever review, and I'm hoping someone else can fill
> in the holes.
I'll try =)
 
> The opening act was a local band called the Ballroom Roustabouts (I
> think) who played some interesting, twangy music.  Very eclectic, but
> maybe I'm just too East Coast.  They weren't set up on the stage, so
> when they finished it was a short wait for Fruvous.

They were actually pretty entertaining to the geek side of the Fruvous
duality. They set up on the floor in front of the stage, so Cal didn't
have to deal with realigning sound and such afterwards. When Andi and I
came in, there was a bass drum with a kick pedal on the floor. The kick
pedal faced towards the wall, so to play it, you'd be facing the wall.
Plus there were some make-shift PA stuff.

When the people came out at first, there were 4 of them I think (sorry
if this description isn't really great - Andi and I were off to the
side over by Toby through the opener). One had geek glasses and was
had the typical nerd look popularized by the Revenge of the Nerds.
He had an accordion and a kazoo and later pulled out a banjo. Another
guy, more of a larger lazlo looking guy with a butler from Rocky Horror
hat (at least that's how I think of those hats - I could be completely
wrong about that). He had a clarinet and a banjo. Then there was a lady
with a floppy baseball hat who sat on the bass drum facing the audience
and played the kick pedel with her heel. She had this silly percussive
stick (not to be confused with TMBG's Stick) which could do a lot of
things: various cymbals, the Murray's fish scrape sound, and a small tom
on the bottom. She had a multi rod that she'd use to "play" the thing
by fish scraping, toming, shaking the multi-rod (which gets a kind of 
short lived shaker sound), and pounding the stick. Finally, there
was a bass player playing an acoustic bass guitar (oh, the sanity of
it all). 

They started into their first song and once the novelty wore off,
it was pretty entertaining. They were good musicians and had talent
for their instruments. We were guessing they were a bunch of poor
music students (though I don't think you can major in banjo or
kazoo or backwards-bass-drum-multi-rod-hitting-percussive-stick
playing). 

After the first song, a new lady walked in the door and setup her
washboard (or warshboard if you are from Kentucky (Hi Andi)). The
second tune the accordion kazooist (yes, at the same time) and
the clarinet banjoist (not at the same time) paraded around
the audience. After the second song, a trombone player walked in
and joined them and played on the third song. At this point, I 
wish I had my tuba so I could sit in. Andi had a comb, but there
was no tissue paper to be found. We were out of luck.

I really enjoyed their show. It was really entertaining. They
have a CD coming out soon it sounds like and if I get it, I'll
have the crazy image of them opening for Fruvous while listening.
They had a song that, at the beginning, they asked if any knew
anything about music. At this time, I was walking up to the bar
to get s'more drinking and I raised my hand and said a small yeah.
They then asked if anyone could name the 4 types of contrapunctal
motion. I quickly put my hand backdown, mumbled about only being
a bass player, and walked over to the bar. After the song, we
could remember 3 of 4 types: Parallel, Oblique, and Complimentary.
Any help on the 4th type is appreciated.

At the end of their set, they thanked the venue and advertised
their next show in the basement of a church up the road. They
then asked everyone to stick around for . They laughed that off and tried again, eventually
getting the name right. The opener also stayed around and watched
the Fru-set too. I hope they enjoyed it.



> The Set: (Courtesy of Murray's "Certified Setlist")
[...]
> Mistrah (wasn't played due to time constraints *boo, hiss*)

I didn't even catch the fact that they skipped this at all. Ji
whispered a bit to Murray and they laughed, but I figured it was
a joke or something. Needless to say, there are certain songs that
can be skipped in a set list. There are also certain songs that
can't be skipped in the set list. I don't think anyone needs a hint
as to which kind Mistra Know-it-all is. Of course they made up for it
in Highland Heights. They made up for a lot in Highland Heights =)

> 1st encore: Dancing Queeen (yay!)
> 2nd encore: Drinking

Actually, on my scorecard (you don't score at home when you see frushows?)
I had those both on the first encore.
 

> It was a fairly standard set, but well done.  

I didn't see it as standard at all. It was a nice treat and very
different from the shows lately. I hadn't heard Down from Above (one
of my favorites) in a long time and they enjoyed Authors so much on
stage =)

>                                              The crowd was quiet but
> very appreciative for the most part.  

That was one thing I noticed. All those polite Indiana people just
ate up all the cheesy jokes. All the jokes that I chuckle at for a
second or two because I know they are gonna be there, crowd in
Bloomington gave a good sized laugh-out-loud. Ji false starting into
Boss. Mike's improving in Boo Time. The King of Spain intro. The
crowd was just eating it up and it felt good to be there. Very
enjoyable.

                                      There was one a**hole who felt
> the need to ruin the intro for the Kids Song by yelling out "The
> Kids!" before the guys could do their parts

It actually wasn't that bad. Jian cleanup that up really quick and he
didn't push it. Ji just did the "there was one group that wasn't asked"
intro and paused a bit. He said: "Who was the group that wasn't asked"
and then paused before asking Murray. The guy in the crowd thought Jian
was asking him and he answered. Jian laughed a bit and said hold on
a second, we'll get to that. Then he asked Murray (who answered something
like "the pointy people" or something). Then he asked Mike (who answered
those guys who get up in the morning and say "Honey look, I pitched a tent".
Then entire crowd blew up at that one and Mike added "camping enthusiasts.
F**king people. What were you thinking". Then he asked Dave (who toked
a bit from a virtual-joint and said "Snowboarders" to which Jian
answered, you mean Canadians?) The intro was a good one (though I
heard my favorite into on a Fredonia tape last night.

Paraphrase of course:

Jian: Who was that group? Murray?
Murray: No, no. It wasn't me. I was asked. And actually, I'm not really a
        group. I'm more of an individual.
Mike: I was asked too actually.
Jian: Me too, that leaves Dave I guess.
Dave: I don't think they were talking about us. They were talking about a
      group. A group of kids.
Murray: Ah, Dave. What kind of group of kids, Dave? The tall kids? The
        young kids?
Dave (trying to get out of the hole he put himself in): Umm... all of the
        kids. The group of all kids. Um... here's a song called the Kid's Song.

)

Boy, do I get rambly when I post. Anyways, Bloomington Review coming
eventually. I just moved all my furniture around in my apartment, so
maybe tonight...

From Donald Garner:

I just ended my weekend with the fantastic show in Lafayette at the Brewing Co. which was a restaurant/pub with a small room in front where they played (about the size of my mother's living room). The room was packed, and they were not letting anyone else in (you could see the people looking in through the window, and the band would wave to them every now and then). I didn't write down a set list for either the Bloomington or the Lafayette show, so I hope someone did.

I will start with Lafayette, since that is a little fresher in the mind.

Tonight they did play a few songs I have never heard live, they did an accapella version of the Roadrunner cartoon theme song, and I finally got to hear Spider Man, and The Greatest Man in America. They were in a great mood tonight---I guess that they get some time off now because they said they were going back to Toronto for a week, so maybe they were excited to see home again----they had a few technical problems (speaker monitors, mics) so they would just chat during the down time (Dave did a funny dancing bear impersonation, Mike talked about how he was going to throw up on this group of young girls right in the front, and how they were the future of America). There was a pole right in front of Jian so he was talking about how no one could see him because of this pole, then they sang a song about it.

I know they started with Bunch of Authors, they did Minnie the Moocher (with the Chelsa/Lesbian line), Fly, Horseshoes, YWGTTM, River Valley, Johnny Saucep'n, Sad Girl, I've Gotta Get a Message to You (amazing), Kick in the Ass, Jockey Full of Bourbon, the Present Tense Tureen, Michigan Militia, King of Spain, Green Eggs and Ham, Love Potion medley.

They left the stage, and came back for one encore, I was figuring Drinking Song but instead they did a rocking version of Brown Eyed Girl, it was amazing.

From Jordan McClure:

What a week. What a weekend. The week has been bad, the weekend far from it. Still waiting to find out what the repercussions are from one of the dumbest things I have ever done in life, I need something to cheer me up. So what better than reliving the weekend in the form of a review?

The tale takes us back to Friday morning. After getting a meeting and a class out of the way, it was off to home to pack. Time was limited, so packing involved very quickly throwing a bunch of things in bags. A note to fellow Fruvous travelers: packing quickly is not recommended. Somehow, I managed to pack nothing warmer than shorts and t-shirts for the entire weekend and it got cold. Very cold by Sunday. So pack I did and at 3:30, I was into the Purple Prix of Power and ready to go. But where was the handy cassette adapter that allows me to listen to DAT tapes in the car? It was nowhere to be found. I went back home to get another and was on trusty I-74 heading to Indiana by 3:50. After about 20 minutes of driving, I look down and, perplexingly, there was no car phone there. Pull off the highway - time for another full car search. No phone. That's two things missing from the car . . . even though all my CDs and such were still there. But I *know* the phone was in the car. It must have been stolen. Mysteriously stolen, at that, since I lock my car religiously and there was no noticeable damage anywhere. But no reason to get down a Fruvous-filled weekend was just hours away! After a quick stop for munchies and a call to the folks to disconnect the phone, I was cruising again, pulling in to Bloomington, Indiana roughly an hour before showtime.

The show was at a small club called the Second Story. It had a nice size stage, tables, and a floor that lights up over by the bar. We (including, but not limited to Chad, Josh, Andy, Traci, and someone else I am forgetting) managed to score a nice table front-left which we promptly decorated with Star Trek-like dicor as not one but three taping rigs were set up. At 7:30, out came the Ballroom Roostaboots. There have already been plenty of descriptions of them, so I won't bother with one of my own - I'll just say that they were really great! Especially as an opener for Fruvous! In fact, I'm pretty sure their washboard player was the best washboard player I have ever had the privilege of listening to. After the show, an interesting discovery was made: there was no dumdek on the stage. But there was one there earlier. It had mysteriously disappeared not entirely unlike my cassette adapter and car phone. Well one big difference: the dumdek wasn't stolen Cal moved it. Needless to say, I was a wee bit disappointed because, as those of you who read my last review know, my favorite opening song includes a dumdek as one of the major ingredients. Needless to say (again), the disappointment would soon go away as Moxy took the stage and opened with . . .

Down from Above! Such a great song and rarely heard live these days . . . perfect for the small venue too. After Down, came Horseshoes followed by . . . SAHARA! The normal version. No extended intro and no megaphone reading outro. Yay! Still a fantastic song even in the middle of the set. After Sahara, some more songs were played, but what difference do those make after Sahara? Just kidding actually it was a great show and the crowd was generally quiet and really into the show. Highlights included a very silly version of Authors thanks to Murray, a fun Boo Time, and the lamest intro to any song I have ever heard, courtesy of Dave. The latter consisted of Dave telling a long story about how great college towns are In most towns, you see, you look over at the Suburu next to yours as you drive and you see Grandma Jones driving. In a college town, though, only svelty young 21-year olds driving Jeeps with the tops down. And then came the deadly words, "Speaking of vehicles we all remember the phrase..." prompting Mike, Murray and Jian to step back to keep out of the way of this segue. Yes, it was time to close out the show with Get in the Car and Love Potion. The band came out for their first encore and sadly, had to wrap things up quickly because it was "Swing Night" and they had to clear the stage for the swing bad. No worries though, because it was time for special guest star Lou and a rocking version of Dancing Queen, followed by the Drinking Song.

After the show, we hung around for a while... it was still early so we thought maybe we'd stay and check out this swing band. Well the swing band had one major flaw - no brass instruments. How can you play swing without brass? There was almost noone there either - good thing Moxy wrapped things up quickly :) We left after the first song and myself and three others, Brad, Mandy, and Al, headed down to a local bar for some drinks. We had quite a bit to drink over the next four hours (okay I'll admit them more than I but my complete lack of alcohol tolerance still left me a bit toasted). The talk was fun, with Mandy more than happy to fill in the gaps left in the conversation by shy demeanor (but in a good way!) Somewhere in there, I think I promised not to make the fact that a certain someone was obsessed with talking about posteriors and other assorted topics of conversation public. So the names (above) have been changed to protect the guilty.

The bar closed at 3:30 in the a.m. True, I am an engineering student, but this was late even for me. And I was heavily buzzed at this point. Three of us still had to drive home. No way that was going to happen so we grabbed a room at the Comfort Inn and woke up, well, not feeling so great.

From katydid:

Hi! I'm sure someone will submit a long, thorough review of the Bloomington show, so I'll just skip right to the point (especially since someone snagged the set lists within 6.5 seconds after the show, as Murray said, and i don't remember all the songs): it was a GREAT show!! (I think I sense a trend with all these live show reviews...) Basically, for the past four years I have gone to college in New York state. Needless to say, I was completely spoiled by the incredible (and plentiful) shows out East, such as Northampton, Boston, NYC, Utica, Albany... the list goes on. There was no better feeling than hopping in the car with a bunch of fellow fruvous fans, driving a few hours, and seeing an amazing show that drained all your energy for weeks.

So, now I'm "back home again in Indiana"-- I'm originally from here, and now I'm back here for medical school. I have been going through some serious withdrawal without the Moxy shows, but I knew they were hitting the midwest again this month! I went to the first Bloomington concert in July of last year, and while the guys performed as wonderfully as ever, the crowd just wasn't there-- mainly because Moxy hasn't been in the Midwest enough and I haven't been here to convert new fans. But that's rapidly changing. :) The show last Friday here in Bloomington ROCKED!! It still didn't live up to Northampton (on the part of the crowd), but there were at least three times as many people there, including some devoted fans like myself. Life was good. It was a great concert-- they played all my favorite songs and even some that I hadn't heard performed live before, like The Kids' Song. The night was perfectly topped off with a hug and an autograph from Jian-- quite the big deal to me since I have never gotten up the nerve to introduce myself to my personal gods before. :)

So, thanks for a great show, guys, and I hope to see Fruvous and many, many fans back here in Bloomington soon!! :)

--Katie Beck

Some other tidbits from the performance include:

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