Yet another pointless injoke-laden Stupid Little Concert Review - visit the website - http://members.xoom.com/jkalyn/reviews.html

[SLCR #44] Moxy Fruvous, Sept 27/99

or

Your Emotional Nature Is Strong And Emotional

Haha, I bet you all thought that I didn't go to Regina since this review is so late, huh?

Actually, I bet y'all just didn't give a crap. Such is the problem with being a writer when nobody reads your material. But I digress.

Yes, of course, I did make the drive down to Regina to check out the Fruvous crew for the second time in two days. I left school at 6:00, and made it to Regina around 8:45 or so. My classmates all thought I was retarded, and really, so did I. I had been unable to contact the venue (The State) to ensure that I would be there in time for the start of the concert, or indeed, that tickets were still available. These are the kinds of things that ruin my already-retarded plans.

Well, Phase 1 worked, I made it to Regina intact. Of course, there were many hurdles left... I stopped to fill the car, figuring it would be better to do that then rather than wait until after the concert. While paying, I asked the dude how to find Hamilton St - after much deliberation, he decided that all I had to do was drive down Albert and turn onto Hamilton.

When I was clear across to the other side of Regina, I figured there had been an oops somewhere. For the Saskatonians, consider driving a straight line from Confed Mall to Circle Park. There ya go. Northgate to Golden Mile, same thing. This pleasant drive did give me time to notice, however, that Regina now has an A&B Sound *and* a Taco Bell *and* a Tony Roma's *and* TWO decent radio stations, and I had to ask myself, when did Regina become so damn cool? I hope their water still sucks.

I was still lost, mind you. Out comes the map! Turns out I should have turned off Albert St way back in the downtown area. Simple enough. I make a u-turn and am on my way again!

Downtown, I find the bus station. On the street that supposedly houses The State. To the map! There's a Hamilton St North, you know. I sure as hell didn't know. Meanwhile, some DJ is broadcasting from The State, saying things like "Moxy Fruvous will be taking the stage in about ten minutes time, so hurry down here!" I drive like a crazy sumbitch and make it to The State with about 12 seconds remaining.

Walking in, I stop to peruse the merch booth. The Fruvous merchandise guy - who I later learn is named Toby - unless I'm wrong - recognizes me from the other day, so we chat a bit.

"I hope this is a better crowd than Saskatoon," says I.

Toby casts a glance around a room roughly the size of my basement holding about 30 people, and says "It's already a better crowd than Saskatoon." So at least I wasn't imagining things. Toby stamps my FruMiles card, then cancels it in exchange for a beautiful green Moxy Fruvous keyring.

"So I missed Tory Cassis, then?" I inquire - seeing as how Fruvous was theoretically seconds away from taking the stage.

"No, I don't know what the DJ was talk-" but Toby cut himself off, as Tory Cassis was taking the stage.

I wander over to get myself a Coke, and finally relax. I made it! In celebration, I tipped the guy $1.50 for a $1.50 Coke. This worked out well for both of us.

The chance to see Tory Cassis a second time was what really finalised my decision to go. Fruvous are great, obviously, but to see two great acts? Why the hell not? What else was I gonna do with a Monday night, the 7,412th consecutive Monday night spent watching WWF Raw is War is Raw si War FWW?

Digressing again. Tory Cassis was great in Saskatoon, and he was great in Regina as well. Just one guy with a guitar, but he's a very talented musician, and he is blessed with a great singing voice. Some excellent songs - take it from me, this guy's gonna be famous. And I told you so. I picked up his CD in Saskatoon (it's called Anywhere But Here! order it from somewhere online!), and the CD is just as good as the live performance, albeit different - more instruments on the album. For that matter, he usually tours with a full band.

Does it count as digressing if I kinda stay on topic?

MY POINT IS, the guy is great. If you get a chance to see him, go. And buy the CD, you won't regret it. In fact, buy the CD now, because then you can pretend you're cool for having bought it before everyone else did. 'Cause that makes you cool, see. Len? I liked that song way back in April. I heard that Sunscreen song all the way back in 1997. I saw Great Big Sea in 1996. And they all suck now. Sellouts. Yeah. I rule.

After Tory's set, I wandered over to congratulate him on a great performance and great CD - he seemed really flattered and struck me as being a really nice, down to earth guy. Then back for another drink - it was FREE! Lovely bartender. I tip him $2, which is the cost of a drink and a fifty-cent tip. Hey, I was gonna spend it anyway.

I didn't have much to do during the break. I was standing in a nice kinda spot, so I could see into what was passing for a backstage area. So looking back there, I could see Dave from Fruvous! Then... Dave again! And there's Tory Cassis, talking to Dave! And now Jian! And now Jian and Dave! And that might be Mike but I can't tell from here (Mike being neither bald nor brown). The guy sitting in front of me looked like Mr. Dressup. There was a table of diehard Fruvous fans sitting right up close. Such was the fun I had.

Of course, the Fruvous Crew (Fruvoids? Fruvi?) took the stage - to slightly more applause than in Saskatoon, though the crowd was still a little silent. Immediately, they launched into a long percussion set that led into Sahara, which is a great song that they didn't play in Saskatoon, so I was digging it. Next up was Jockey Full Of Bourbon (not featuring Tory Cassis this time - I think he had left early). The show was underway, and it was great. By the second song, the crowd was digging it (even Mr. Dressup! he bought Thornhill!). The show was a marked improvement over the Saskatoon show. I don't know if it was just the crowd or not, but I had a much better time in Regina. Damn, I never thought I'd type those words....

The State is actually a great venue for concerts - there are two floors, so while it's a tiny little area, with only me and fifty people, there are actually a bunch more that you couldn't see, 'cause, y'know, they were upstairs. The gist of it is that it feels nice and cozy and intimate. It could hold a couple hundred people, but you're so close to the stage, it feels like the band is playing in your living room. Great place, I'd go back, especially cause I can find it now. It did have one drawback, though. The bar was small enough that we could all hear any noise. Tory Cassis seemed distracted by some guys playing pool, while Moxy Fruvous stopped to listen to a guy play Terminator 2 Pinball, and Jian looked bugged by some people who wouldn't quit talking (as opposed to Louis', where nobody made noise at all). Actually, I *know* he was upset, that's just how he is, because his "emotional nature is strong and emotional" - so said his fortune cookie the previous night in Saskatoon.

The State has an unexpected pun-related benefit that I should point out before I forget - Jian got the line of the night by asking "So, does Roy Romanow come here often, or is he an enemy of The State?" (Some girls behind me got the inadvertant second-best line of the night by bitchily saying "Wow, about time he pronounced Romanow's name right.")

The playlist was markedly different from the Saskatoon show. Unlike Saskatoon, there was no sign of The Lazy Boy, Independence Day, or Psycho Killer. But thassokay - instead, we got Sahara, I Love My Boss, and could it be? Maybe? Yes, The King Of Spain! I was happy boy. The King of Spain *still* wants to date the poetess Jewel, it seems. Then KoS segued into Green Eggs & Ham, and it was awesome. I mean, they did just a killer version of it. The crowd ate it up (hah! get it? eggs, they ate the eggs... oh hell, nevermind). Then it got even cooler. You know the bit where the one guy (Dave? I think) insults the Beatles, and the other three are like, "Hey! Not the Beatles!" Well, first, one of them (Jian? Mike?) starts off by going "Hey! What have you got against Wide Mouth Mason?" which of course reminded me so much of a certain incident that I've alluded to way too often this week. They argued, then Mike took umbrage at the defamation of the Beatles and starts whimpering. Jian says "Look, what you've done, you turned him into a... a... A CHIMP!" Murray, ever helpful, tried to reinforce the blame.

Murray: "Who did that? Look at him! Who did that? You did!"

Jian (complete with falsetto): "You did baby, you did! Who put the chimp in the chimpanzee? You did baby, you did baby!"

Well damn, I almost hit the floor. Moxy Fruvous sings the Crash Test Dummies. I seriously doubled over laughing. I bet the 170 people there thought I was retarded (hey, why not, my classmates already do).

This was followed with the Love Potion #9 medley, so dammit, CTD reference and all the songs I wanted to hear from the Saskatoon show. Damn fine night. The medley featured LP#9, that "War dead in Ohio" song, Staying Alive, Love Shack, Alanis' Thank U ("Thank u India, thank u Moose Jaw, thank u Fruhead who drove from Oshawa"), Barbie Girl, Who Will Save Your Soul. No Wide Mouth Mason this time, which was likely for the best. For the encore, we got My Baby Loves A Bunch Of Authors, Get In The Car, and of course, The Drinking Song. Awesome show.

Afterwards, I hit the washroom, and then wandered back out in search of autographs. Hey look, there's nobody by the stage! I wonder if I might be able to grab a setlist? Naw, I'm sure they're gone by now... YES! Hot damn, setlist! So for those interested, here's what it says: Saha, Jockey, 1/2, Horse, Sad, Boss, Moon, Booty, BJ, Mich., Hold, MPG, Tureen, Sauce, King, GEH, Splatter, Poti. - encore - Authors, Car, Drink. Most of these should be pretty evident, though if anyone has any guesses to MPG, I'd love to hear them. Maybe it was Get In The Car, and the Car down after Authors is just a squiggle (it's not too clear on the setlist, though I'm pretty sure Get In The Car was in the encore). I distincly remember the scary line being very close to the end of the show (the scary line sounding like "we're having some fun/she's a trophy I won/Baby's in Hanson") which always kinda creeped me out. Though I do know the real line, so it's not like when I sang "he giggled in French/that's what he did/like a cat at Christmas" for like three years before figuring out that cats don't giggle.

After the show, Dave and Jian were the first two to come out. I tried to buy Dave a drink, but my friendly bartender beat me to it (he bought me another Coke too). Dave was very friendly, a nice guy. Signed autographs a-plenty. Next up was Jian, who actually recognized me, and like knew my name and stuff! Very cool. He signed my beautiful stolen setlist. Mike was third out, and I feel very bad for not wishing the guy a happy birthday. He was super nice to talk to as well, discussing the Saskatoon show, and how the Wash 'n' Slosh would be a better venue than Louis'. I reminded him of Toronto, so he signed my Thornhill booklet with "Blood Sugar Sex Fruvous," which was really cool. Murray was the last to come out, and was just as friendly and cool as the rest - he signed said Thornhill booklet with "Love the Peppers..." Both Murray and Jian mentioned to me that they were nervous about playing Regina (they hadn't done a real show there since 1993), but both agreed (as did I) that the show went over really well and was much better received than the Saskatoon show.

Finally, the time had come to take off. The band were all chatting with fans, so I just snuck out and made the drive back to Saskatoon. Got in somewhere around 3:30, which is pretty good, all things considered. And hey, the review may be late, but I kept the brown guy jokes to a minimum (I didn't think I'd need to spread'em out over three reviews in a month, I only have so many stockpiled at a time), and there were no signs of the ubiquitous u with dots on it - turns out that wreaks havoc with some people's mail readers. Oh well. You'll live.

Some other tidbits from the performance include:

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