From: owner-ammf-digest@smoe.org (alt.music.moxy-fruvous digest) To: ammf-digest@smoe.org Subject: alt.music.moxy-fruvous digest V1 #184 Reply-To: ammf@smoe.org Sender: owner-ammf-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ammf-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk alt.music.moxy-fruvous digest Sunday, August 2 1998 Volume 01 : Number 184 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Alexandria 7/30 [zardsnod@aol.com (ZardSnod)] Re: Alexandria 7/30 [fruwench@aol.com (FruWench)] Short 'n' sweet: 7/31 & 8/1 [ceelove@ibm.net (Colleen Campbell)] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 2 Aug 1998 04:18:30 GMT From: zardsnod@aol.com (ZardSnod) Subject: Re: Alexandria 7/30 Fruwench wrote: > Mike said>"One More" which was apparently intrepreted to mean "Yes, we're done" so>they>brought the house lights up. >>I was expecting FruHeads to rebel and keep clapping. The same thing happened >in Cincy but we kept clapping and the guys came out and made them bring the >lights back down for the Drinking Song. But everyone got up and left the >second the lights came up. I know - I was bummed, too, and was trying madly to get other folks to keep clapping and yelling... Folks around here are so durned obedient -" the house says "lights on" so the show must be over," they say to themselves... After the Port Chester show last year where the stage folks tore down the set--up immediately after a short set (3 bands that night), Fruheads kept clapping and yelling very loudly for I'd say a full 5 minutes. Eventually, since the stage hands wouldn't let the boys back up on stage, they came out onto the dance floor and did "Boss" off mike, just for us, because we wanted an encore so badly. I was sincerely touched - it was one of the nicest things I've ever seen. So, next time the house stops things abruptly... - -Zard "Veni, Vidi, Velcro" - I came, I saw, I stuck around. ------------------------------ Date: 2 Aug 1998 06:09:15 GMT From: fruwench@aol.com (FruWench) Subject: Re: Alexandria 7/30 >So, next time the house stops things abruptly... It'll be you and me baby. We were trying our best in our section too. But alas to no avail. ladywench FruSpace - We came, we saw, we slept on the floor . . . ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 02 Aug 1998 13:57:17 GMT From: ceelove@ibm.net (Colleen Campbell) Subject: Short 'n' sweet: 7/31 & 8/1 The shows, not the reviews. *smile* Y'all should know by now that I have a difficult time curbing myself when it comes to talking about Fruvous. The shows were both shorter sets, outdoors (and unfortunately for the lads, staring straight into the setting sun throughout, both times), and very well received, both by the surprisingly large number of Fruheads and by the rest of the audience. The reason I was partcularly pleased by both these shows is that I saw a number of short, outdoors, folk-fest-type sets last summer, and while there was some variety in the setlists, it wasn't as great as in these, nor were they what I go to see Fruvous for. These were real "Fruvous shows" for me, in that the guys didn't try to keep the show within certain parameters, didn't curb their proclivity towards improv and interaction with the crowd. I don't have a perfect memory for setlists, but Friday's show, performed at Quincy Market in Boston, included (possibly among others) BJ, Jockey, GitC, Horseshoes, Boss, Spiderman (which was requested by a balcony contingent), Michigan, Johnny, Minnie the Moocher (a terrific rendition!), Message to You, KoS/GE&H, and Love Potion # 9. No new songs, but that's okay, 'cause I think most of the MIT crowd from May turned out for the show (gauging from how many MIT references were made and how much of a reaction they got) and they'd already heard many of them. *grin* Saturday's show, performed at the South Norwalk Celebration of the Arts in Connecticut, included Authors, River Valley, GitC, Horseshoes, Boss, YWGTTM, a surprise appearance of the Chia Pets doing Oliver's Army, Sad Girl, Message, Michigan, Johnny, Minnie the Moocher, Greatest Man in America, Mistra Know-It-All, KoS/GE&H, and Love Potion # 9. Neither show included an encore. The lads were in fine spirits and fine form for both shows, and I was relieved to see that none of them were suffering ill effects from their car accident of a few days back. When Jian loped onto the stage on Friday, I thought perhaps he'd picked up a wardrobe addition from the lead singer of BARK like a dog, Scott Benjamin (who showed up for the performance), yellow-tinted glasses; but I was informed that he'd been wearing those years ago. I'd never seen them before, though, and I have to admit, he can pull off accessories I wouldn't be caught dead in. ;) There, your hair-and-clothes report. Friday's show was quite spicy, and I had my impression reinforced that Fruvous knows they can and are expected to get away with all kinds of hijinks in Boston. (I for one was a bit startled to realize just how many Frufans I know from the Boston area and greater Mass area.) They said they had to be introduced by a person with pink hair--wait! and here one was, how convenient! They called her up on stage, but apparently wanting to make a politically pink wardrobe statement doesn't equate to having chutzpah; she was a fish-out-of-water. Michelle had brought them a little cluster of musical lawn gnomes, and Jian joked about his, "Nome Chomsky." *Groan.* Fruvous made it through five songs, I think, before they abandoned propriety and started messing around with us. They serenaded a guy on the balcony (who was dancing rather enthusiastically in, I believe, a hockey jersey; don't ask me what team!), who obliged unabashedly with jaunty moves and later started making arcane hand signals at the guys, which at least one of them tried to replicate. It was hilarious. Their impromptu tune segued into a "Triangle Man" reference, similar to the "Media Lab" song of MIT last year: "Balcony Guy." (Later, when Jian asked who hadn't seen Fruvous before in the KoS intro, he was shocked to find that Balcony Guy was a virgin and said he hoped the deflowering experience was a good one.) The "stage" for the show was just a roped-off area between pilons (with people peering down from the walkway above), so Fruvous was on the same level with the crowd and the vast majority couldn't see the band at all. Since most of the first 10 rows of fans were crammed with those of us who'd seen Fruvous several times before (does that make us sluts?), we were quite into the game when Jian started ordering us to sit down and stand up in musical time. We were divvied into the first five rows, the second five rows, and "the useless f***ers" (which he amended later, perhaps realizing it was a family show--including Harry Keates & daugher *smile*) behind us. Group A sit down! Group B sit down! Useless f***ers, wave! We did all stay seated during an entire song (I don't remember which one), and remained patiently crammed & crouched until I asked if we could get up now. Group A get up! It was hilarious, but maybe you had to be there. During KoS, Murray interrupted Dave to say, "King! King! I have a question! Do you consider your wardrobe choices to match?" (They clearly didn't.) Dave snuggled up against Murray and replied, lisping slightly, "Yes, they match *yours.*" The crowd howled. Minnie the Moocher was really fabulous, including a verse about Chappaquidick (which I'm sure I misspelled) and how we love Kennedy anyway, and another about Kenneth Starr's ego. There was one about the rampaging Godzilla and Taco Bell's "little chinchilla; actually, the real name of the creature is a chihuahua, and I'm pulling off these rhymes by dint of bravura!" The standout verse, though, was about how we should lay off Clinton, it was just "old-fashioned sinnin'," it's time to let him off the "Presidential cooker" and focus on Chelsea, "I think she's a lesbian hooker." That got a roar! During "Spiderman," I couldn't even locate Mike while he made the usual web-slinging noises; finally everyone pointed up and there he was, appropriately enough on the balcony. And for much of the rest, the show was spiced up for me by the familiarity of the audience with the material--the number of people who participated on King of Spain/Green Eggs & Ham, did the "Stayin' Alive" dance in Love Potion, etc. You'd think I'd eventually get tired of it all, but I never do. On Saturday, there was a *massive* turnout of Fruheads, including many from NYC, the Delaware/NJ/Philly contingent, those of us from Boston & Mass, some upstate-NY'ers, and the increasing number from CT. Fruvous went on very close to on time (shock!), but if they hadn't, we would have kept quite busy with catching up with each other! Most of us were crammed right up against the stage, in front of the speakers; I thought it fascinating to hear the production almost entirely from the monitors (and their echo against the metal stage), plus a bit from the guys themselves; it's the first time I think I've ever heard Murray's unamplified singing voice. Very keen. Highlights for me? Well, Mistra Know-It-All, which the guys so clearly enjoy doing--Murray's bass solo is, as Chris Traugott noted recently, superb. Minnie the Moocher two days running was a terrific treat, with Mike including the same verses about "lesbian hooker" and the chinchilla/chuhuahua and one about the giant puppet parade preceding the show, where someone had made a "love slave of one of the 10-foot-tall puppets." Love slaves unite! Jason's tape equipment was clearly visible in the crowd, and they kept commenting on it--"Where have you been the last couple of months? We could have released another live album off of people's bootlegs by now!" To introduce I Love My Boss, Murray said that America & Canada were both undergoing times of great prosperity that allowed them to buy nice things like dog collars--referring to Jered, who was sporting a mohawk and studded collar. There was also a guy standing right up against the stage that they teased as looking like Eddie Vedder (Mike worked him into the make-up verse of Love Potion), and during I Love My Boss, Jian came over and made bedroom eyes at him, grabbing his hair (he was thigh-high to Jian) and yanking him all around. I wish I had a picture of it; I was dying. The best part for me, though, was the technical difficulties. They were about to go into Sad Girl and couldn't get the keyboard working; Mike messed around with "Mello Yellow" (spotting a "Donovan's" store nearby) and they segued that with the Beatle's "Michelle." Then Jian started doing a very slow, acoustic version of "Tubthumping," ragging on it for stealing "Danny's Boy" and throwing in "he drinks a diet Coke," etc. Finally, when it was clear there was a big problem with the keyboard, Mike announced that they were going to reform as the Chia Pets and launched quickly into "Oliver's Army"--whoo!! Dave got the keyboard working partly through and, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and looking like the proverbial canary-satiated cat, joined in with a huge grin. Then they returned to "Sad Girl"; still not my favorite new song (that would easily be "Pisco Bandito," which I adore) but coming together better with the new harmonies, I think. Because of the time lost to all that, though, they apologized that they'd have to wrap up the show (eliciting a wave of protest from the crowd). . .in about two hours. Wild cheers! Too bad it wasn't true. Afterwards, we all stood around and visited with each other for an hour & a half, until the next group came on. It was terrific to see so many friends, especially since I won't likely see anyone until the end of October. But! Murray did confirm that, reporting that the Iron Horse dates are in the bag. (And Mike mentioned that they ARE playing San Fransisco this fall, so all you Californians can stop yer gripin' already!) So though I'm sorry to be missing everyone at the next upcoming "FruCons" of Toronto and Owen Sound, I'm expecting another for the Halloween shows! (And here's a pondering: playing two nights in a row at the Iron Horse, where they're given to taking every possible liberty with their setlists--I wonder if they're going to pull a "Phish" and do a bunch of covers for their Halloween show. . .? Just a thought. A very happy thought, seeing as how I doubt we'll get to hear "Poor Napoleon" any time soon otherwise, which is coincidentally playing next to me right now.) Okay, enough rambling from me. Many thanks to those of you who've been writing such great, vivid reviews of shows lately, and I expect many more to be forthcoming, to help me soldier through my next three upcoming Fruless months! Enjoy the shows for me, say hi to each other for me these next couple of weekends (and I'll enjoy Newport Folk Fest, with Ani, Dar, Indigo Girls, Loudon Wainwright, etc, for y'all), and I'll see ya in October! ceecee ------------------------------ End of alt.music.moxy-fruvous digest V1 #184 ********************************************