I see a trend forming...new album comes out, Moxy does an 'out'-store in Harvard Square. Hey, I'm not complainin'...
Joe Navratil and Donna Hunt were staying with Vika and me, so around 3:45pm we headed from our apartment and into the city. Traffic was pretty light, but it still took us till about 4:30 until we were actually standing in Harvard Square. The stage was already set up, Cal was doing sound, and a small smattering of fans were already congregating in front of the stage.
Spent some time, killing time. :-) HMV had Thornhill posters everywhere, and the color of some of the Harvard Square locals made for some interesting moments before the set began. During that time, Ben Cordes and Tom Salyers joined Joe and me, while Vika and Donna (the vertically challenged) tried to get spaces closer to the stage. Also, hellos go out to Josh, Moz, and others who I'm sure I'm forgetting.
Fruvous went on pretty much on time, at 5:30. They played for about an hour, doing mostly Thornhill songs. It was great watching people who were just walking by to stop and see what all these people were gathered around for. I overheard quite a few people saying "Who is this band? They're great!" I think these outdoor shows are a great way to attract new fans.
All together, a very solid performance. My only gripe was the sound system wasn't the greatest, but that's not Fruvous' fault. After the set, they went into the HMV and did the sign and greet thing. Jack Ross (Fruvous' manager) was there too, and while we were in line to say hi to the lads, Jack handed me a photocopy of a citation that Fruvous had received after the set. Turns out a cop decided to write them up for being too loud (past 80dB) and smacked them with a $25 fine. I should be putting a scan of this on FDC soon (keep watching the picture section below).
And that's it! Joe and Donna said their goodbyes, and headed to Passim to see Jess Klein, while Vika and I left Cambridge by 8:45 and headed home to Acton. What a fun, laid back show...can't wait to see them in NoHo...
From Neilbert:
Anyway, the HMV/Cambridge out-store was a lot of fun. As I never remember details, here's some vague impressions... saw Dave in the store wandering out as I was perusing the shelves, said 'hi' as I'm normally quite shy... saw Jian and Mike from afar (across the street and through a crowd) so just kind of hung around where I was. The set included (in no particular order) My Poor Generation, I Will Hold On (which is, without a doubt, my favorite song off Thornhill, for reasons that have since passed), Disco Bargainville (i dunno, after all I had heard, I expected a little more disco-y effects :-), Splatter Splatter, Michigan Militia, Independence Day, You Can't Be Too Careful and Johnny Saucep'n. I tihnk there may have been others, but that's what I remember. Good size crowd, too. As an aside, did Jian write "I Will Hold On"? I've noticed (as, I'm sure countless others have) that there seems to be a lot of emotion put into singing it and he seems a little different at the end; a little less smile in the eyes. OR maybe I'm reading too much of my own experience into the song....
Earleir in the day, maybe 2-3 hours earlier, I also caught the tail end of "The Jim Show" in Brattle Square. He was basically giving theme music to the people as they walked past his setup. If you get the chance, might be worth it to go check him out - I thought he was pretty funny. His website is www.smirk.com.
Well, ta.
From Mike:
From a longtime fan, firsttime reviewer....
I literally jumped up and down at the office the day I learned Fruvous was gonna play at Brattle Square...it’s a two minute walk away from work. The show was great - even if the sound system picked up staticky Sports Radio in between songs. The band played a dozen songs, half of which were from Thornhill (but no “Earthquakes”, alas...)
The guys were on fire with their between song banter. They presented themselves as the anti-Limp Bizkit, as they urged the fans to put out fires whenever possible. They also went on a thing about Woodstock, saying they should have had a mist tent for the show. Jian said something about a “great mist opportunity”, then predicted he’d wind up sleeping with everyone who got that pun.
They also did some really great stuff before “Splatter Splatter”, bantering about horror movies. Apparently Dave didn’t know Neve Campbell was Canadian, so the others put on their thickest Canuck accents and talked aboot what a great girl she was - they always saw her down at the general store, eh, and she’s a big Leafs fan.
The songs (I’m 99% sure I got the order right): Half As Much, You Can’t Be Too Careful, Disco Bargainville (first time I’d heard it), YWGTTM (Jian said it’s the kind of song that “makes everyone want to run forward ten feet”), I Will Hold On, My Poor Generation, Splatter Splatter, Independence Day, Boo Time (during which Mike made a crack at the BoSox...boo indeed), Michigan Militia, Johnny Saucepan, Get In The Car.
Afterwards about 200 (?) people scooted over to HMV to get autographs.
The band looked pretty pleased to see the turnout. Sigh...sans
automobile, this will be my last show till the Somerville Theater in
November.
Some other tidbits from the performance include:
Back to the tour dates 1999 page