Why did i do this to myself. Is my need for live Fruvous really this bad? I decided last minute (after finding out from my brother that he and his friend would come along) to make the trek from binghamton to Alfred (2+ hours, not too bad, but considering the ticket i got last week on the way to rochester...pushing it). We couldnt leave till 7, so i knew it would be close....well it was TOO close...
after seeing the signs for the horse and buggy we decided we had gotten ourselves lost. it was now 5 of ten and we had no idea where we were. there wasnt even a place to ask for directions, only the "killbuck inn" and none of us were wearing a carhartt and we were not driving a pick up, so we opted to make our way back. ANYWAY...we finally found the place...got there at 10:30 so forgive me if i say anything that the first half hour contradicts....
when we arrived i was really surprised at the way the room was set up...many people were on the sitting on the floor, with some in chairs around the outskirts of the room, we found a spot to stand..."stage mur" if you will...(keep in mind both folks that were with me were fruvirgins at the time...) the guys were very talkative...i guess at these small venues it is easier to do so....but at times it did seem a bit forced. murray was sporting the infamous "cantalope" shirt ive heard so many of you talking about...is it just me or does he seem to be getting smaller??? anyway, the topic of elders in space came up again...as well as a little ditty about martinique, catcy (do i know you from deck 3?)... im a banjo lover, so dave's verse of easy chair was pretty nice...
jian talked about an article from a buffalo paper, which indicated canada's installation of "operation abacus" which brought to mind the "great snapple abacus" where the little girl says "i just cant get these figures right"...again off topic...and how can i forget the jimmy stewart segment...both jian and mike do him well...all in all, it was a typical show, much like those we have been hearing...new songs included "i will hold on" and "pisco banditio", my new favorite...oh, medicine show was played, i dont think i had ever heard that one live before....murry really surprised me on that one....he looked like such a rock star...
so the band played on, and we left, i have successfully converted two more ordinary people...ya gotta love that...two shows in a week, now i gotta wait 17 days till ithaca!
From Tom Smith:
Being my first show, I have nothing to compare it to, other than the CDs. It rocked, to say the least. The 10 people that I lugged along are at least marginally Fruheads, now. The only down side to this performance was that there were some unruly college students giving the fruboys a slight amount of problems, but the lads put the offenders in their place. The opening band, in my opinion, was just bad. The crowd seemed pretty geared to the band, some of whom had seen Fruvous in concert prior to last night. The inter-song banter of the band was outrageous. "The canadian military is fighting this year 2000 bug with a plan called "Operation Abacus"." Also they did a bit about nasa sending human remains into space to observe the effects of a 0-g environment. (George Burns, and Thomas Jefferson were chosen for this fatefull journey.)
From Angie:
Just got back from a weekend out near Little Falls and wow... 111 msgs to read from ammf. What a way to spend a Sunday!
There were so many things I wanted to go back and respond to, but my eyes are killing me from night-driving last night so I'll save it. here are a handful of comments, though:
Kelly w/the FruSignal - I was standing behind you when Murray was playing with it at Alfred (unless someone else shares your creative vein). It _was_ pretty cool, too bad the venue wouldn't allow for it.
Thank you so much Taryn for letting me take up space in your car! I'm so glad I went... even though I've now completely lost my voice... no rehearsal for me tonight I guess.
The opening act (Amy Rigby): I could definitely see her being called the bitter woman. I suppose she had potential, but a lack of self-confidence will certainly turn the crowd against you (she kept having problems with her acoustic guitar volume, didn't really handle it well). There were times when I swear she was about to break down into tears or something, couldn't handle a lot of the heckling or people talking. I actually made an effort to listen to her songs. Some of her lyrics made me cringe (I looked in the rear view mirror- I didn't see anyone theer {she actually warped the pronunciation to try and make it rhyme}). She had this one song slamming on Drummers, with the end of the refrain saying "the Drummer's gonna get some," and in the middle went into a slew of Drummer jokes (What's the difference between a dead skunk in the middle of the road and a dead drummer in the middle of the road? The skunk has skid-marks) Oh, the crowd got real quiet for a few minutes. Since the Lads literally came in from the cold when they started, I figure they must not have heard her... or were being nice. Had a _lot_ of potential for banter (or so our little group thought)
The show itself was awesome. First time I had to sit for a Fruvous concert (lucky #7), and I was wearing the wrong jeans for it. Their performance area was on the same level, so we had to sit on the floor. The cool thing was, though... I was actually able to watch Jian's hands during "No No Raja" and answered one of my drumming questions. At one point they went into this "Futura theme song" bit, (Alfred being their first gig in the United States two years ago, and they thought all American campuses had these cool transporter pads from Star Trek) Then it digressed into a whole play on the "new Batman Spin-off, Alfred" (with first Mike and then Dave taking on the role of Alfred [or Manfred, his brother]).
The "martinique" ditty was awesome, and references kept coming up throughout the show (I believe there was a line about Martinique in "Boo Time), and I nearly lost it when they started going on about "Operation Abacus" (There's also a joke here at work among the instructors about one of the applications we teach, Lotus WordPro, v2.1 for the Abacus... scary coincidence).
--wow, this is longer than I thought... sorry!--
"The Kids Song" was hilarious (as usual), and they did "I will hold on" early in the set. Jian was consulting his set list and trying to decide on "Raja" or something else (I don't even remember what the other song was) and became the "Applause-o-meter." The answer was a resounding "RAJA!"
King of Spain, funny as always, segue'd into Green Eggs and Ham... the whole "Beatles" bit seemed much longer than usual with a couple of slams to Matchbox 20 (at which point Dave (?) started singing "Closing time," was corrected by Mike (?), and Dave shrugged it off saying "hmph, same difference)and Third Eye Blind.
Someone shouted out a request for a song and Jian said "no" and that person said "f@ck you," which Jian kinda laughed off, and became something of another recurring theme throughout the night.
I remember more, but I'm too tired to finish right now, and I'm sure there are tons others that can fill in blanks and correct my misquotes :^) They did also rekindle that "agrarian assault" schtick when commenting that Fredonia charged people to see the show and here they were at Alfred just down the road and their concert was free... and then decided that Alfred should march on Fredonia with pitchforks, etc. I think I saw a Fredonian cringe near me and heard her say later that she was afraid she'd be lynched since she was from Fredonia.
It was a good night, I promised myself I wouldn't scream but as soon as the Lads came in there I was, shrieking to high heaven... and now I've got barely a whisper (*sigh*). Seeing the guys afterward was cool, though Dave snuck out again. I can't wait for Clinton. I spent so much time talking to Tobey before the show that I didnt' really get a chance to try and mingle with people up front (though I did better, I was about 5th "row" back this time!).
If you read this far, thanks and hope I didn't waste your time. I gotta get home and drown myself in hot tea. Happy Sunday everyone!!!
From DASJr:
Sahara Jockey Full of Burboun Video Bargainville about "those Fredonia bastards", and Batman parody The Incredible Medicine Show You Will Go To The Moon Martinique The Kids' Song "cub reporter Jay", the new album, and Jimmy Stewart I Will Hold On guy requests "Lazy Boy", Jian politely says no, guy says "f@ck you" Pisco Bandito I Love My Boss Boo Time "operation abacus" Get In The Car Your New Boyfriend Take Me Out to the Ballgame audience decides between "Fly" and "No No Raja" No No Raja Michigan Militia Johnny Saucep'n King of Spain Green Eggs & Ham slamming Matchbox 20 and Third Eye Blind during the "Beatles" spiel B.J. Don't Cry Love Potion Number Nine (encore) Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors (encore) The Drinking Song
Some other tidbits from the performance include:
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