Ah. What a *show*. Yay.

So it was the day before my birthday (my birthday being today), and I headed up to my adolescent stomping grounds to see Früvous in a building the exterior of which I had oft admired in high school but the interior of which I had never seen. It was mucho nice.

The ceiling of the place had a stained-glass-looking thing on it that evidently had lights in it that moved or changed colors or something. It was a beautiful room, and they had a backdrop down straight out of "Into the Woods." Surprisingly, there were no comments in that vein.

The mayor of Collingswood opened the show saying that the concert was one in a series of actions to bring more cultural events to South Jersey. Way to go Mayor Maley. As I told Murray later, there's really not a whole hell of a lot to do in that area aside from getting drunk and going bowling, an activity that I recommended to him for his day off.

Anyway, after Mayor Maley, Michaela Majoun (wow, nifty alliteration) came out to say that because there was no opener scheduled, XPN had scrounged up some local talent to play. I knew immediately what was going on.

Mike came out and said "So, Y2K, eh?" He talked a bit about the end of the millennium and then launched into a hilarious tune mostly about beanie babies but really about people who buy collectibles and sit around waiting for them to be valuable. Wonderful.

Murray was next and said that he played bass in the band, and so anything on guitar for him was like "an away game." I beg to differ . . . his solo on Pisco is quite awesome, I think :). Anyway, he said that he plays guitar in a style he likes to call "ambitious." And then got a note from the low-E string and started "Bittersweet," accompanying himself. When he got to the solo, he kind of stumbled through it, but sounded fine. "This is the ambitious part," he said. It was a beauty nonetheless.

Dave came on-stage with a notebook and said "I'm sittin' down." He threw the notebook on the ground, and pulled up a chair. "Got a cheat sheet," he said. "Don't wanna use it." He sounded bizarrely like George Bush senior. That ended as soon as he started the song. It was a gorgeous song (an original, I suppose) based around a bluegrass-style fingerpicked guitar line. I guess I would call it "You Remind Me"; that was the repeated hook. I hope he plays it again so I can remember some of the lyrics . . . it was truly amazing.

Jian came out to some hoots and hollars, mostly 'cause he was wearing a black tank top. He introduced himself "Hi. I'm Jian. I boycott Starbucks." Then he told a fairly long story about how a friend had picked him up the night before and suggested they go to Starbucks. Jian refused, so they ended up drinking shit coffee at a diner. Anyway, once that was done, Jian said that the band gets a lot of letters, but some tend to stick out. Then he related the story of Kevin's letter and played a truly lovely, impassioned rendition of "I Will Hold On." It was a really great moment. He then said that Früvous would be on in two minutes.

The setlist has been posted, so I'll just stick in a few comments here and there.

-After Jockey, Jian said "It's an honor to be playing in New Jersey. You know what's great about the people in Jersey? Straightforward." He proceded to tell a long story (with backup music - first some folky fingerpicking then some electric blues) about having to go to the chiropractor and getting lost. As he told the story, he mentioned that he pulled into a gas station and (acting like a "man's man") asked directions to Route 73. He even did a little "man's man" walk :). He mentioned Route 73 and got some cheers. Then he mentioned a meeting with some "Jersey punks" (in Devils hats, which caused a group of people in Flyers hats with Flyers banners to stand up and scream for a while) and said that he had gotten lost by taking the wrong Church Road and was looking for Academy. My father and I exchanged a look and a laugh; my parents' house is about four miles from the intersection they were discussing, and we knew exactly what he was talking about [1]. -Boss and Spidey were performed in the audience. Jian borrowed an empty chair from the front row to stand on for the first verse. Then he jumped down and they took to running around the room, ending up back at the front. Before the song, they asked if the lights could be turned up, and the light guy did something with the stained-glass looking thing. They all expressed their awe and asked to see it again, but to no avail. Jian became transfixed on a thing in the audience that some kid had. Evidently, it was some sort of LCD device where you could type a word into a pad and swing a projector around in a circle in the air and display said word. He had it set to Moxy. He turned it off when it became evident that Jian couldn't take his eyes off of it. Murray introed Spidey by saying that all a guy needed to be a superhero in days of old was a tight blue suit and a cape that his mom knit for him. Nowadays, one needs a plasma ray and chains shooting out of his eyes. During Spidey, Mike made a pointed comment to the Flyers people that his favorite thing to do was kick peoples heads in. No one in particular. "Where's that dickhead with the flashlight?" he said. The kid went nuts. "Jesus," said Mike. "'I'm the dickhead, I'm the dickhead!'" "Spidey's got a plasma ray . . . in his pants!"

-At some point, Mike related the story of his search for a story on the CFL's Gray Cup in the USA Today Sports section. Hamilton was victorious, 32-21. Eventually, Mike found a story with a headline about Hamilton - but it turned out to be the last name of some college hoops player.

A lovely, lovely show altogether. *So* glad I made the trip. Also glad 'cause I got to drive my dad's new car :). See you in NoHo?

~~Kate

[1] It's probably the weirdest intersection in South Jersey. It's in Mount Laurel; Church Road and Church Street intersect. Medford-Evesboro Road also comes in. It's ugly.

From Eric:

Hi everyone,

I have never posted a review, or anything for that matter, but this show warrants such an action, and as I'm probably one of the first to get home after tonight's show in Collingswood, N.J., I feel it is my responsibility to give the Frupeople what they want, which is a semi-accurate synopsis beginning with a major run-on sentence.

Anyhoo, here's how it went down...

The short version: AWESOME SHOW, MAN!!!!

The uncut version: First Dave enters, says incognito as the mayor of Collingswood, and introduces Micheala (sp?) from XPN. I had no idea until later that it was him, and I suspect I was one of many. She in turn introduces 'local talent'... First Mike enters the stage, sings a delightful beanie baby song... He leaves, and Murray enters and does 'Bittersweet' solo with just a hint of awkward guitar.. It really was, well, a bittersweet version... Then Dave comes on and sings a nice country-ish tune, sorry I don't know the name but his performance was great.

At this point Jian enters and prefaces his song with a story about a letter the band received. A faithful FruHead wanted to take his Mother, who had recently become a FruFan, to the Troc show in February, but she was ill and could not attend. Some time after that the fan's mother passed away, and he wrote the band and asked if a song could be played in her honor. Jian played 'I Will Hold On', a beautiful solo version that captured the essence of his sentiment... Very special.

After a very short break, Jian again introduced the band and they launched into 'Half as Much', which i've heard live twice now and both times it sounded a little... off. Maybe because it's the first song?

Next was Horseshoes, very tight. I don't have a full setlist, but highlights for me included the off-mike 'Boss' and 'Spiderman', during which they raided the crowd and managed to snag a Canadian and a Flyers flag. The acoustics in the Scottish Rite auditorium suited these songs well, although I'm not sure how well the people in the back could hear. LOTS of banter followed with topics ranging from the bluntness of Jerseyans to the Flyers and their 'Frat-Boy' coach.

Other highlights included 'Darlington Darling' and 'MBLABOA', both of which I had not had the pleasure of meeting in concert before.

Mike also told a great story about the Canadian Football League's lack of coverage in USA today.

Other songs included (not in any order) Jockey, My Poor Generation, Michigan Militia, a French language tune about hockey stars and doctors migrating south, Greatest Man in America, Johnny Saucep'n, King of Spain (No GE&H!) Love Potion #9, Get in the Car, and Fly. And probably a couple more that I can't recall at the moment.

By the second encore the Frucrue looked tired (they had opened for themselves after all) but managed to come out and do a very energetic 'Splatter Splatter', and finished with the 'Gulf War Song' off-mike. The experience of hearing this song performed right in front of you without the aid of electricity is... It's why music exists. Honestly, I can't tell you anything i've ever heard in concert or on a CD that comes close to GWS tonight. I wish all the FruFans could have been seated where I was tonight to experience this.

So an incomplete but punctual review of what I felt was an amazing performance by the one band who can give a one-of-a-kind show almost every night: Moxie Fruitloops.

From Carey:

Mike's setlist from the Collingswood show:

1/2
Horse
Jockey
River
Shite
Sad (didn't play, unless I was totally out of it)
Boss
Spidey
Complainte
Booty
Raja
Michy
Sauce
Rush
Fly
MPG
[Splat -- crossed out]
King
Darlin'
Potion

Rhymes for Boo Time:
Collingswoodin'
Hey there puddin'
Cherry Hillin'
Yakob Dylan
Get your fillin'
Fruvous Quillin'
Regis Filbin
Milton Freedman

This stuff wasn't on the setlist, but it happened:

Opening acts:
Mike -- Beanie Baby song
Murray -- BITTERSWEET! (that completely made my night)
Dave -- a song I didn't know (was it a cover, or new?)
Jian -- IWHO

Encores:
MBLABOA
GITC
Splatter2
GWS

Some other tidbits from the performance include:

• Feel free to help contribute to this section!