I think my reviews are not so much reviews anymore, as they are short stories of my life... (o; Sorry about the length, folks.

October 30, 1999... Denver, CO:

Saturday morning, we were rather rudely awakened around 8:45 by my too-shrill telephone. Stupid telemarketers. Ah well... I had to inform my guests that I had no breakfast foods to speak of (OK... so maybe that should read NO food to speak of, period...), so Donna, Becky and I went off to King Soopers. We wandered the store for a bit, trying to decide what sounded good, when what did we run across but a Pez display? Karma, I tell ya. So Becky got a Pumpkin Head Pez dispenser for Tobey, while Donna and I got Pez refills for him. On the way home, we were discussing the “dude” banter from the previous night, and I wondered aloud whether we (Coloradans) REALLY say “dude” a lot. So when we got back to the apartment, we were getting the goods out of the trunk and Becky said “Dude...” but I didn’t even hear the rest of the sentence as we were all pretty much rolling by then. Guess that answered the question... (o;

Then we ate and just basically hung around the apartment like bums for much of the day. I felt kinda bad that we didn’t DO something, especially since Donna, Joe and Debbie had never been to Colorado. But, hey, now they have a good reason to come back! And stay longer than two days, right Joe?

I was very excited for the Bluebird show, because my mom was going to go. Becky and I had been planning this for MONTHS, without Mom’s knowledge, of course... until a few weeks back when I just sort of asked her out of the blue – “Hey, Mom, Fox or Bluebird?” She said “I don’t know what you’re talking about...”. Becky chimed in, “Just pick, Fox or Bluebird?” So Mom said “Fox”. Well, we ended up inviting her to the Bluebird instead, mainly because she wouldn’t have been able to get off work in time on Friday to get to Boulder, and I thought it’d be easier for her to make the Denver show. Well, she called Saturday morning and was sick... very sick. She sounded terrible. I was bummed... and I tried to talk her into going anyway, but she said the way she felt she wouldn’t have any fun, and she wanted to go when she was feeling better. She kept apologizing to me and telling me that she had really been looking forward to it. Keep in mind that this is my mom who calls me a groupie. Needless to say I was totally psyched about having her go to a show so she could see firsthand just WHY I am compelled to travel all around the continent to see these guys... Ah, well, I told her next time they’re in town we’d go for sure. And we were still going to drag Cindy, our older sister, to the show.

Sometime after noon, we actually started moving... considering there were five of us who needed to shower and all. And since Tom’s birthday had recently passed without proper Frühead celebration, Tom, Kat and Laura came over to have munchies and chocolate cake that had traveled all the way from Ann Arbor. Tom brought his book “Would you Rather” (I think that’s what is was called) and we played that for a while. For some reason, the only one I can remember is “would you rather have a forehead that reflects light like a disco ball, or have the ability to puff up like a blowfish when you sense danger?”. Very amusing. Joy called around 4, and since she was staying in the Boulder area, we were just going to meet her at the Bluebird around 6.

We left my place at 5:30; Donna, Becky and I rode in my car. Donna observed that Coloradans run a lot of red lights. This is true. In Denver, a red light basically means that it’s OK for two more cars to go through the intersection. Don’t ask me, I don’t get it either. Anyway, we popped in the tape that Joy had just given me of the June 10 show in Boulder. So we headed out, and I can’t even remember what we were talking about, but something made me go “woo!”, then Donna and Becky said “woo!”, then on the tape, Murray went “woo!”. God it was so funny. OK, so maybe you had to be there. I was laughing so hard I almost had to pull the car over. Haven’t we talked before about channeling Früvous? Hee hee...

We arrived downtown, where we met up with the rest of our group (Joe, Debbie, Tom, Kat, Laura and Jane) at the Singapore Cafe, a Chinese/Thai place across the street from the Bluebird. Becky and I went to wait for Joy and Lorene, and while we were waiting, we decided to get our pictures of the Bluebird marquee (Jordan, I’ll send you a copy as soon as we get them developed!). Joy and Lorene were late arriving, due to traffic and downright STUPID directions that they’d been given by the Bluebird Theater people. Joy got out of the car, and while Lorene went to park, we started devising our plan to get Joy and Becky out of the balcony and onto the floor. While we were scheming, this guy walked by, looking at the marquee. Of course, we were the only people in front of the venue at that point, and he asked us if we’d ever seen the band. We gave him an emphatic “YES!” and he asked where they were from, and then said he might come back and catch the show. We assured him that, yes, he SHOULD come back, but I didn’t see him later. At least we tried... (o;

So, between the three of us, we came up with quite a story. Before Mom got sick, we weren’t TOO worried; we thought with a parent we’d probably be OK. And Joy and Lorene had called the theater earlier, and apparently the Bluebird folks were impressed enough that they were driving eight hours from New Mexico for the show that they said Joy would have no trouble getting in. So, we decided that Joy was our cousin, Lorene was our aunt, and that Becky had actually made the eight-hour trip with them. But she was only going to school there, which would explain why she had a Colorado driver’s license.

And so, with our sob story ready, we went back to join our friends for dinner. I wasn’t all that hungry, since we’d spent the day eating Doritos and chocolate cake (ugh), so I settled for some soup (thanks, Lorene!). We were supposed to meet Cindy outside the Bluebird at some point, but neither Becky nor I could remember exactly when, so Becky was going to watch out the window for her. Around 7:30, I asked Becky if she’d seen Cindy yet, and she said “No... oh, wait, she’s out there!”. So I go to get her, then get yelled at because she’d been there for half an hour and we were supposed to meet her at 7, and she was inside the theater listening to soundcheck until they finally kicked her out and it was cold on the street. Oops. She was hungry, so Becky and I said we’d sit with her while she ate. Well, she wanted to order a Thai noodle dish, but was told by the waitress that she couldn’t order it because it took too long to prepare. Hmm... So she went with some soup too. Eventually, we went BACK to the Bluebird to finally stand in line. I saw “tie-dyed Dave” when I was waiting to get our tickets. Once Joy, Lorene, Becky and I were all together, we popped inside to find Katie (the house manager for the evening) and give her the story. Well, as it turned out, all the elaborate scheming went for naught, because all Lorene said was “We came all this way, can these girls please be down on the floor?” Katie said yes, and just to find her when the doors opened and she’d stamp their hands. So we got back in line, literally jumping up and down for joy while still in shock that the whole thing was so simple! We did, however, continue to call Lorene ‘Aunt Lorene’ all night... (o; Lindsay and Kent were behind us in line with Tyler and Shawn, so they sort of asked me if they could be part of the New Mexico group too. I told them I’d see what I could do.

Doors finally opened and we found Katie to mark Joy’s and Becky’s hands. They got right in. But before Kent and Lindsay got in, Katie disappeared. The guy wouldn’t let them in, so I went to find Katie again. When I did, I said I have two more underage friends, and could they please come down, too? She hesitated this time, then agreed, and told me that they weren’t allowed to leave my side (and for those of you who know Kent, you realize what a tremendously nice deed this was...) and if they were caught drinking, we’d all be kicked out. Since I know that Kent and Lindsay don’t drink, I wasn’t overly concerned. And they were thrilled. I’m kidding about Kent, btw... he’s one of the greatest people I know! I’m pretty sure Katie was totally sick of me by the end of the night, because every time I saw her, I thanked her profusely for letting the kiddies (j/k) in.

So we headed down to the stage, where Donna was saving some space stage Dave, because she knew that I made the deal with Becky the night before. Well, stage Dave was rapidly filling up, and stage Murray was just pathetically empty. So I asked Becky if she would mind terribly if we sat stage Murray again. She agreed, saying that she was just happy NOT to be in the balcony... besides, I sat stage Dave with her TWICE in Ann Arbor, so I figured she owed me... (o;

We got settled, then Becky went back to give Tobey the Pez. When she returned, I went back and saw that Tobey had put some Halloween-themed Pez on display. I didn’t see the one I’d given him the night before, so I asked him about it... he convinced me that he thought it was very cool, so he was going to leave it in the box so it wouldn’t get broken. What a sweetie! So I gave him the Pez refill and he told me that he had just been thinking about Pez the other night and that how nobody in the West ever gave him refills and he always ran out. And he gave me another big hug... (o; Then some guy came by (who I later found out was the opener) and asked Tobey how to pronounce Moxy Früvous, because he didn’t want to mispronounce it when he introduced them. Tobey said “Ah, just say those bastards will be out in a few minutes!” Hee hee... We chatted for a while, I introduced him to Cindy (who also thinks I’m pretty much insane, btw...) then we walked together into the room. Tobey commented that it was quite a crowd, which was interesting because I thought it was rather sparse, compared with the last two Boulder shows. But it was the first time they’d headlined in Denver, so maybe my expectations were just too high. I only worry that small crowds will keep them from coming back to Colorado again and again and again... *grin*. Plus, we figured that the reason we were able to get Becky, Joy, Kent and Lindsay in so easily was because there wasn’t a huge crowd.

Went back to my space and got ready for Früvous. Kent made Shawn go get him a Coke, and when Shawn asked him why HE didn’t go, he said it was because he wasn’t allowed to leave my side *grin*. So we waited, we chatted, Cindy and Lorene were getting along fabulously (they were behind us on the first “deck” so they could sit down). Then I saw Joe come bounding down the steps. He said “Look, do you see what’s over there by the drum set?” Well, I’m short, and I can’t see over ANYTHING, so he dragged me over and there it was... the DUMBEK! He had requested extended Sahara the night before. Woo-hoo!

Finally, finally, the opener came out. Everyone just referred to him as “Scott”, so I have no idea what his last name is. Apparently he owns the restaurant (?) across the street from the Bluebird. He was OK, kind of mellow. He was by himself, playing guitar and singing some. We thought he needed to sing a little more and play less instrumental stuff. Nevertheless, the crowd treated him very well.

So, (eons later she finally gets to the point!) on to the show...

Jian’s setlist:

(SAHARA)
***Yes, it was indeed the extended version.  It
had been a while.  This was nice.
(2 CAReFUL)
***Kat’s theme song.  She was thrilled!  And as
Donna said, she and I LOVE to sing the Murray
part at the end... You can’t!  You can’t!  You
can’t!
(HORSe)
(BOSS)
(SPLATTeR)
(MeDICINe)
***This is one of Becky’s favorite Früvous tunes,
and neither of us had seen it live since our
SECOND show last year in Carbondale.  It’s kind
of an awkward live song, but it was great, and
since there was no Pisco or Indy, Murray had to
get his moment SOMEHOW!!!
(SPIDeR)
***This was a request from the psycho guys the
night before, who weren’t even at this show! 
Mike even said afterward that it was a request
from some guys on mushrooms.  We were glad it
wasn’t the lounge version...
(WheN)
***I wasn’t sure if they were ever going to start
“When She Talks”.  Something Mike had said
beforehand got Jian going in a total giggle fit,
and for a minute, I didn’t think he’d be able to
recover.  He DID recover, though, and rather
nicely at that.
(MINNIe)
***Denver references aplenty!  As Joe said, they
were mostly about sports.  They mentioned
McNichols Arena, now defunct, and the Pepsi
Center, the new home of the Avalanche and the
hapless Nuggets.  I can’t remember anything else
specific about it.  Oh, he did the lesbian hooker
verse.
(BJ)
***I don’t hear this song often enough!
(KIDS)
***OK, this was absolutely, totally, hands-down
the FUNNIEST rendition of Kids’ that I have ever
heard.  And now that I’ve waited almost a week to
write the stinkin’ review, I can’t remember a lot
of the specifics.  But when they got to the Gabby
verse, “My mother makes a spicy bowl of...” Jian
started cracking up.  Dave began again... “My
mother makes a spicy bowl of...” Jian was just
laughing hysterically, I can’t even remember at
WHAT!  They had to start about 4 times, when Jian
finally grabbed this ‘bat-wing’ hat from a woman
in the front row (from Minneapolis!) and put it
on.  It must have been a magic hat, because he
was finally able to finish the verse.  After the
song, he went to give it back to her, but when
she told him that it lights up, he took it back,
but couldn’t get it to work.  She finally had to
take it back and turn it on for him.  It WAS a
pretty cool toy... (o;
(HOLD)
(NUITS)
***Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining in any
way, but this is the third time I’ve heard this
one since June.  Considering that before Ann
Arbor, I doubted that I’d ever see it played
live, I’m doing pretty darn good!
(MOON)
***Never, never, never will I get tired of seeing
them perform this song.  And every time I see it,
my brain involuntarily says “Way to go,
Murray!”...
(AUTH)
***THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!  All I’ve been hearing
from Becky since our first Früvous show is “Why
don’t they ever play ‘Authors’?  I’m never going
to get to hear ‘Authors’.”  As Donna said, hard
to believe, huh, Josh?  I told her again and
again that if she went to enough shows, she’d see
it.  Then in Ann Arbor, it was on the setlist,
but the guitar broke down, and she was crushed. 
Needless to say her night was made!
(CAR)
(PSYCHO)
***Jian took longer than usual to start this
one... thus inviting annoying heckling from
certain members of the crowd.  But it still
RAWKED!

(Mich)
(Fly)
(MPG) (this was MPG.com on Murray’s setlist...
(o;)
***I like My Poor Generation as a closer, but I
was kind of hoping for GWS... the venue was not
one where they’d normally do that song, but the
crowd was small and generally polite and
well-behaved.  I just got my hopes up too much, I
guess... )o:

I can’t remember much more of the banter and improvs, again probably because I waited so long to write stuff down. I’m getting lazy. Ah well!

Cindy came down right after the show and said she was going to head out. I tried to convince her to stay and meet the guys, but she was tired. Normally, that wouldn’t be ANY kind of excuse, but she’s pregnant, so we have to cut her a little slack. I did manage to talk her into staying long enough to meet Mike, who came out first. She said she had a good time, and when I looked back a couple times during the show, she was laughing and looked generally happy, but alas, she’ll never be a Frühead. Well, if I can get her to a show whenever they’re in town, that’ll be good.

We stayed for a bit after the show, but we were all pretty much wiped. I talked to Lorene, and we again regretted that Mom wasn’t able to make it, even moreso because of the setlist. When my mom DOES finally make a show, I’d like it to be heavy on the a capella, which this one was. Of course, I’d also like her to see a show that’s light on the cursing... which this one wasn’t *grin*. Lorene told me to tell Mom that she has three wonderful daughters who have excellent taste in music. I tell ya, I wouldn’t be able to find a better surrogate aunt ANYWHERE! We said our goodbyes (for now) and sadly left.

When we got outside the venue, we were rudely awakened by the COLD!!! Temperatures were in the 70’s all weekend, so it was hard to remember that it was, indeed, late October in Colorado. Incidentally, this was the first Halloween I remember in a LONG time where it didn’t snow! We hung out on the sidewalk for TOO long; Becky didn’t have her coat and was freezing, so we finally decided to go back to my place and order pizza. Donna, Becky and I rode together again, and while I can’t believe I’m admitting this, it’s just too hilarious NOT to! Umm... I got lost on the way home. Well, not really lost, I just overshot Monaco and had to take a roundabout way home. It was very embarrassing, let me tell you. Donna said, “Well, I’d help you, but I have no idea where we are!” God, how pathetic. So, anyone out there who may ever be relying on me to be a good hostess, just keep that little nugget in mind! We got back to my place to find Joe, Debbie, Tom, Kat and Laura huddled on the doorstep. It was pretty funny.

Well, you learn something new everyday. There are NO pizza delivery places open at 1:30 in the morning, yet strangely they still answer their phones! Tom called at least three places where someone answered only to tell him that they were closed. We finally had to settle on leftover Doritos, root beer and chocolate cake. We hung out for a while, but when Donna and I started to fall asleep on the couch (I DO have a comfortable couch!) everyone started to file out. But it was great to hang out; we don’t do this often enough. Of course, it’s not too easy when my some of my best Früvous buds live in the Midwest!

So that’s it. I’m in Früvous withdrawal mode again. Donna, Joe, Debbie, Joy, Lorene... I love you guys. You are some of the most wonderful people on this earth. I miss you already! Kat, Tom, Laura, Kent, Lindsay, Tyler, Shawn, thanks for hanging out. I love you guys too!!! You are some more of the most wonderful people on this earth. I can’t miss you too much, though, although we probably don’t see enough of each other! Thank you all for a wonderful weekend, I can’t wait for the next time.

And lastly, I have to mention my little sister Becky. Anyone who knows Becky knows that she is just an absolute doll. She’s the one who travels with me to see Früvous when the rest of my family (and most of my friends!) think I am totally off my rocker. She will do just about anything in the world for the people that she cares about. She’s funny, smart, and very passionate about things that she believes in. And WHY, you may ask, am I going off about my little sis? I got a card from her in the mail today, just to thank me for picking her up from school, for letting her stay over, for feeding her, and for giving her “the best weekend”. And it touched me. There are plenty of things going on in my life right now that are causing me MUCH stress, and just opening a card that says “thank you for everything you do for me”... well, I’m almost in tears NOW, for god’s sake! So, anyway, Becky, you are wonderful, I love you, I’m glad we share stuff like this! And I’m going to end this NOW… See y’all soon! Love you lots!

From Donna:

Hello Chickadees!

As some of you may know-- I and Joe and Debbie, flew off to Colorado because Bridget is the Queen of Guilt Trips.

I'm still terribly tired and way behind on work (But I did get all my grading done!) but I wanted to throw out the setlist from Saturday with a few highlights, which will hopefully be delved into much more fully by Bridget and Joe. :)

As soon as Bridget picked us up from the airport (thank you, dumpling!) and took us to her abode, she presented presents from K@, a T-shirt tribute to our Detroit/Chicago/Milwaukee/Minneapolis/Manitoba/Pinawa tour--which Bridget and I both only completed parts of--but it's the bestest T-shirt. I adore it, and I wanted to make sure K@ got her @ss thanked publicly. You Rawk. ;)

Cal's Setlist:

Saha
        **This was super-exciting for everyone I knew there.  :)  Joe had never
heard the "extended Sahara opener" before, and when he spied the dumbek on stage
during the opener, he made sure to share with all of us.  We were speculating as
to whether it meant Raja or Sahara, but I put my money on Sahara, and I won.
:)  [always gamble responsibly, kids]  Yay.  I was jumping up and down in an
attempt to both celebrate and make eye contact with Joe, who was, of course,
hundreds of feet away.  :)  I love extended Sahara and now Joe's seen it live.
Yay!

Too Care
        **We were treated to Murray's "Can't!  Can't!" after the last chorus,
during the outro, which pleased Bridget and I, since it seems neither of us
seems to be able to  sing You Can't Be Too Careful w/o adding the "Can'ts" at
the end.  :)

Horse
Boss
Splatt
        **Despite Amanda's declaration during the 'Midwest' tour, Nachos *do*
come in a bowl, at least in some places.  Bridget's sister Becky made sure to
share the info that at her college, if there's nacho bar (or somesuch), they get
made in a bowl.  :)

Medicin
    **Ok, so it's not Bed and Breakfast, :D but Medicine Show is definitely a
treat!  I was pleased, I don't think I've heard it since the CWRU Cleveland
Frushow last November.  Yay!

Spidey
        **  This was played as a request for some exceptionally drunk, obnoxious
fans who were at Friday's (10/29) show.  These three guys were so drunk they
went beyond annoying to downright hysterical.  You wanted to beat them, but you
couldn't because they made you laugh somehow.  They kept screaming for Spidey (I
totally felt like I was in Cleveland ;) and to shut them up ( methinks) Jian
told them "Tomorrow."  A man of his word, it seems, Spidey made the setlist for
Saturday, but I don't think the obnoxiously drunk boys were there.  Too bad for
them.  Jian said after the song "We haven't done that for awhile" which made me
and Bridget laugh, because I (and she, I think) was just thinkin' the same
thing.  :)

When She
Minnie
        **I want to say something cool about Minnie, because I love it when it's
in the setlist, but I honestly can't remember anything exceptional about it, and
hopefully Joe or Bridget or Joy can pipe up here.  :)

BJ
        **Another one that I haven't heard in a while. I still haven't adapted
to how similar the drum intro's that Jian talks over are with Splatter
Splatter... so I wasn't getting my hopes up, but then I remember that they'd
already done S^2, so it *was* BJ!  :)

Kids
        **This is the weirdest Kids Song I've ever been near.  In the first
place, when they got to "Should Quebec Separate?!" NOBODY said anything!  I was
so shocked, I didn't say anything either... all the sound was sucked out of my
body.  :)  They guys were taken aback, I think, and Jian retorts with "Duh,
what's Quebec?" [because we are all stupid americans anyway, y'know] and then
comments "Fuckin' Colorado" which, after all, you have to have expected to
happen sometime.  :)  So they repeat the line, and people yell stuff, and the
show goes on.
        Then they get to Gaby's part.  Jian's going along fine, when suddenly he
can't finish the line "My mother makes a spicy bowl of chili [or soup]" He gets
as far as "My mother makes a sp----" and starts to crack up.  I don't know why.
They had to repeat it 4 times, and Bridget wasn't sure he was going to make it.
But, he overcame, and the tune carried on.
    It's those little things that make a Früvous show a unique experience.  I
traveled halfway across the country, flying for the first time since I was six
(that's 20 years folks!  Do the math), and Jian stumbles through the Kids Song.
Totally worth it.
[not that I frütrip to see them fuck up... hopefully everyone here understands
that.]

Hold
        **Some couple I know is using this song for their "wedding dance song"
for their wedding in June  :D, and I've been watching Jian pretty closely when
they play this one so I can play a mean air-tambourine at the reception.

Nuits
        **Hopefully you all understand how incredible and powerful this song is
live.  Indescribable.  It blows me away.

Moon
Auth
        **Becky was extremely excited about Authors, because she'd asked for it
back in June at the Ann Arbor shows, and they were supposed to play it, and they
were going to play it, but there was some complication with the guitar, so they
skipped it.  She hadn't seen it live before Saturday (Can't believe it, can you,
Josh?), and so we were all very happy to bounce along.  "My Crucifixion."

Car
Psycho
        **I was disappointed that whoever was being the light guy wasn't playing
along with Jian's "Oh, it's so bright" pantomime.  The lights stayed up.

Encore 1: Michi **Michigan Militia is always one of my favorites, but it's always more fun for me when I'm far away from home so I can sing "That's my wish again to be back in Michigan" and mean it, kinda. :) I *know* I'm from Ohio, but you just ask Joe and Debbie how much time I spend in Ann Arbor. :)

Encore 2: FlyMPG **They didn't do these as a Medley, but Cal thought he was running out of room on his paper or something. It was nice to see Fly, I was getting pretty emotional for me at a Früshow, thinking about how my little adventure was almost over, and My Poor Generation always gets to me. Gorgeous.

That's my Colorado Adventure. Saturday, at least. Happy Belated Birthday to Tom! It was great to spend time with K@ and Tom and Bridget (It's *your* turn to travel! Come see the foliage!) and Becky and to meet Laura and Joy and Aunt Lorraine. :)

Thanks to all those who made it possible for me to get there. :) I needed it, and I owe you, big time. Thanks.

[I'm so glad that I warned y'all that I was too tired to write much]

From Jordan:

My buds recorded the first 74 minutes of the show (minidisc style) so if you want a more complete setlist you'll get it soon enough... My friends were somewhat dissapointed with the first part of the show - claiming "it was too slow, the jokes weren't happening, and dave seemed to be on an entirely different level" (this led to some smoking banter that just wasn't flying with the people). They did however, say that the last part of the show was totally rockin...

I tried to get a setlist out of them but that proved to be too difficult b/c they were more concerned with telling me what the lads *didn't* play than what they did....

Most entermusing part of the story i heard: Heh, apparently they started dissing on my hood (the bluebird is located on colfax "co-fak" st. - notorious for the shady nightlife, drugs, whores, and adult entertainment stores). Mind you, i grew up 3 blocks from the theater :P I guess the lads recognized that some of their jokes just weren't flying so they said: man you could've gone next door and gotten a video for $7.25 instead of this "entertainment" we're giving for $8. *grin* I miss home! :(

After the show apparently someone called my posse the "Jordanites" - to which my friends all decided that they'd sing Jordan Knight (yeahyeah NKOTB!) the whole rest of the evening at all the cheeseball saturday night denver parties going on after the show. mmm hmm.

heard a story about some fruitstripe gum and the grand tatoos - i'm sure kat can further that one.

apparently Jian said he liked the venue. it's a good thing too because the bluebird was my second home :) they said that they'd be back in spring-summer time so i'll be sure to catch that show and can only hope that they'll play at the bluebird again... cant wait to catch 'em there! :)

Some other tidbits from the performance include:

• Feel free to help contribute to this section!