From: owner-ammf-digest@smoe.org (alt.music.moxy-fruvous digest)
To: ammf-digest@smoe.org
Subject: alt.music.moxy-fruvous digest V1 #391
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 Tuesday, September 1 1998 Volume 01 : Number 391



                               Today's Subjects:
                               -----------------
  hKate's Ottawa Review                               [hKatherine@ehmail.com]
  Re: Mike's ottawa review (sleep-deprived)  [fairest one <kallisti@tiny.net]
  RE: cover tune wish list                        [DrX <drx@www.netlabs.net>]
  RE: cover tune wish list                        [DrX <drx@www.netlabs.net>]
  Re: this crazy other band...                  [wbsmiles@aol.com (Wbsmiles)]
  Re: For those who can't find it  [Chad Maloney <opercmm@rosevc.rose-hulman]

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 01 Sep 1998 16:22:21 GMT
From: hKatherine@ehmail.com
Subject: hKate's Ottawa Review

Hey. In the words of Fiona, what a weekend.

So... We picked up Mike, who was kind of tired, on Friday afternoon, and then
ran errands all over town, finally taking the longest bus ride ever to a park
we'd never been before (it's not even IN Ottawa, it's out in a suburb called
Nepean). Our bus driver was very reluctant to answer questions, and we didn't
really know where we were going, so we were kind of winging it.

As soon as we got there (before actually even going into the park) we ran
into Dave (Tobey) who was on the phone with his friend Kim. We later got to
meet Kim, but for then we just screamed "Hi!" into the phone and basically
got on his nerves. We had this "Yo Quiero Taco Bell" T-shirt as an early
B-day present for Mike (Ford), so we sat down w/Dave and brainstormed for
what to write as a birthday wish. Dave's "Get original, you sick fucking
bastard" was quickly rejected in favor of "Yo Quiero some new jokes" :) In
retrospect, we should have written "Quieramos new jokes", since the shirt
wound up being from all three of us.

We set up our stuff stage Dave (Matheson) and sat down to "watch" the other
acts. Dave (Tobey) joined us a few times, and in a rather bizarre chain of
events, wound up licking my glasses. (Ew.) Let me tell you, the next day when
a bug crash-landed in my lens, I REALLY wanted HIM around!

Oh Susannah played, and (don't hate me, I know a lot of people don't like her)
I'm starting to appreciate her music a bit more. I actually like that "You'll
Always Be" song.

We met up with Rosemary, Chrissy, Fiona, Dante, John, Emily, Michell, Neil,
Dedesfru1 (Clarice) and her significant other (sorry, forgot his name). My
parents were also there but were sitting rather far back, on account of they
wanted to sit in lawn chairs (this didn't stop a lot of people from setting up
their lawn chairs in the front, though.)

The Fruvous show (people have posted the set, I don't really remember) was
good, high energy (for us people dancing, anyway). Jian screwed up the lyrics
to GE&H so royally, it was funny, but I've already described that in another
post, so I'll assume you know what happened. Chopper McKinnon, a local radio
host, rained on our parade a little by telling us that we shouldn't dance
(the stage was five feet high! We were blocking NO ONE!) and the next day
accused us of trying to steal stuff from the stage. My dad thought he was way
over the top, and is coaxing me to write a letter to the Ottawa Citizen about
what he did. I probably will, too.

Afterward, we all headed to the "Jam" at the Luxor. We didn't really know
what to expect. The Mike Plume Band was playing when we got there (they were
good), and a few other acts came on, then Fruvous. When they introduced
Dusty, I thought I'd die: Mike's camcorder and tape recorder had both died
that day. By the second song (Major Tom -- my second favorite Bowie tune
after Space Oddity, which is, incidentally, also about Major Tom) I was
practically crying in shock. Vance Gilbert came up and played When Jimmy
Falls In Love. He stuck around for the rest of the jam session, instigating a
reggae-style version of King which turned into a whole bunch of other songs
and lasted about 20 minutes. I think Jian has been reading the ng lately and
has been taking notes of our song wishlists :)

After the jam, we all hung out and talked (the people who stayed for Fred
Eaglesmith said that he did a whole shtick about the Fredheads getting lost
on the way over or something ;). Cal and Chris Walsh got into this big
argument (Fleetwood Mac vs. anything else, basically). It was pretty funny.
At one point we all started chanting "Fight!".

The next day at the mainstage show, the sound was horrible. There was a big
hum coming from Dave's monitor. Jian even suggested at one point that they
should tune to the hum since he couldn't hear the pitchpipe. And Mike's mic
was barely working (if at all), so Jian had to jump in during Darlington
Darling.

Someone gave the guys whole buckets of candy, and we later ran into Jian, who
was standing beside a little path, devouring it and attracting curious
children. I had a little. Yum-yum.

The frulad we wound up spending the most time with was Jian. We were
wandering around actually looking for him (we wanted to know if he was coming
back to the jam session that night) when this guy who was working the T-shirt
booth stopped us. "Are you Moxy Fruvous fans?" We answered yes, and he got
this really excited you-won't-believe-this look on his face. Then he said:
"Well, look who's here!" as though he expected us to freak out and scream,
when we didn't totally collapse all over each other, he got really impressed
and started looking at us like we were stars. It was pretty funny, every time
we passed the T-shirt booth, to see him stop talking and look at us.

Anyway, we wound up convincing Jian to buy this really huge, horrendous
sweater (I'm kidding, Jian: it looks good. Really, it does.)

We caught Martin Sexton's show (God, I love his stuff! I'm in his fan club
now!) and then headed back to the Luxor, where Benoit Bourque, a guy from
Montreal, proceded to turn us all into drumming, shaking, singing, dancing
lunatics. In the back near the bar, Rose and I drummed out beats on any
surface we could find, while Ingrid shaky-egged away. And of course, you
must've heard about Dave's square dancing experience by now... John and Emily
had great fun -- they participated in EVERY dance that Benoit taught us!

Ingrid and I chatted with Benoit and his friend Gaston after the show, and,
well, performers got free beer that night, as I've already mentioned.

They cut a cake, had a ceremony, and then we all split up and said various
goodbyes, including one to Dave, who was a teensy wee bit drunk, and who told
us the story of his wonderful 20$ sweater. "You know I love a bargain!"

The next day, though, the guys decided to stick around and sell some more
CDs, so we got to say a little more goodbyes (back with Jian in front of the
T-shirt tent, still amazing the guy from last night). We told Jian about the
bad press that Chopper McKinnon was giving Fruheads, and he seemed to think
it was pretty funny, until we told him about Mr. McKinnon actually stepping
on Myllie's hand when she reached for a setlist, without pausing in his
speech. Jian started calling us "savages" ;)

The guys left around four, and then Rosemary and Dante disappeared as well.
We wandered around trying not to look too depressed or think about how far
away Halloween is. Arlo Guthrie was great, and helped us forget. He played
with his son Abe, who looks kind of like a chubbier version of his dad at
that age. He's added a whole section to Alice's Restaurant about Richard
Nixon being a closet Arlo fan. Pretty hilarious!

Then I went home and passed out.

hKatherine
Coordinator,
MUT98

- -----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/rg_mkgrp.xp   Create Your Own Free Member Forum

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 01 Sep 1998 16:56:48 GMT
From: fairest one <kallisti@tiny.net>
Subject: Re: Mike's ottawa review (sleep-deprived)

On Tue, 01 Sep 1998 15:02:53 GMT, ingrid@ehmail.com warbled:
someone whose attributions ingrid snipped said:
:> As for fruheads being frowned upon by the rest of the crowd.... c'mon now.
:> Please tell me that you haven't EVER noticed how when a crowd of
:> die-hard-spend-all-week-following-fruvous that is larger than 10 people shows
:> up at a small festival or venue that the locals hate you? It's their turf and
:> they have the right to get snitty when these loud, obnoxious people who to all
:> intensive purposes look like nothing more than groupies cause havoc. This type
:> of situation could end up hurting the band. I know that if I was one of these
:> annoyed stagehands and didn't know much about Moxy Fruvous I would probably
:> not strain myself to go out and buy their stuff or se them given my perception
:> of the behaviour elicited by their fans.
[snip and then Ingrid says]
: and simple. We all stayed seated at Summerfolk.... and e) like hKath's dad so
: eloquently pointed out, we're "part of the act". Now I don't know how far you
: can stretch that statement, but it certainly seems true when it comes to folk
: fests. We Fruheads WERE a good half of the said Act in Burk's Falls!

From the other side of the issue, I don't pay money to go see fruheads. I
pay money, rearrange my schedule, and make excited plans months in advance
to go see Moxy Fruvous. From my experience here in Minneapolis (please
note I've never been to OFF and am not commenting on it) some shows the
antics of the fruheads at the show is okay but not a draw, and some shows
it's a royal pain. 

just my about-to-be-flamed two cents.

betsy.

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 13:07:10 -0400
From: DrX <drx@www.netlabs.net>
Subject: RE: cover tune wish list

Any NKOTB song. :)

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 13:06:47 -0400
From: DrX <drx@www.netlabs.net>
Subject: RE: cover tune wish list

2 legit...2legit 2 quit.
- -Hammer

:)

- ---
DrX@netlabs.net
http://www.netlabs.net/hp/drx/
"I'll introduce realism:
the eye of the beholder" -rozz
- ---

------------------------------

Date: 1 Sep 1998 17:23:16 GMT
From: wbsmiles@aol.com (Wbsmiles)
Subject: Re: this crazy other band...

> Who are these guys who call themselves the Nields??  I've never
>
>the Nields are another folk-ish group from Northampton, Mass. who share a
>lot of the same following as fruvous. they are made up of three nields and
>three daves totalling five people (katryna nields, nerissa nields, david
>nields, david chalfant <sp?>, and david hower) you should catch them in
>action some time as they are definitely an act well worth seeing.
>
>loren.
>who would like just once to have both the nields and fruvous at a show she
>could attend (maybe falcon ridge next year <pleading look>???)

I just saw the Nields for the first time on Sunday at the Philly Folk Festival.
 After hearing so much about them, Icouldn't wait. And i was not disappointed! 
A great show, high energy,  just sorry I didn't get to check them out at the
workshop stage the day before.  And bumming b/c i missed EFO by 1/2 hour, :o(.

Smiles,

Wendy :o)

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 01 Sep 1998 11:32:43 -0500
From: Chad Maloney <opercmm@rosevc.rose-hulman.edu>
Subject: Re: For those who can't find it

And for those who think Cal posts with bad formatting =)

[My favorite part: Cheeky Chappies *hee hee*]


Ottawa Citizen Online
  GATEWAY | FRONT PAGE | CITY | SPORTS | BUSINESS | NATIONAL | WORLD | 
  EDITORIALS| ENTERTAINMENT | YOUR MONEY | INTERNET | COLUMNISTS | CLASSIFIED

                                                   Sunday 30 August 1998
 
Musical choices keep festival hopping
 
Moxy Fruvous the highlight of opening night at the
Ottawa Folk Festival
 
Chris Cobb
The Ottawa Citizen
 
Ottawa Folk Festival At Britannia Park Friday Evening
 
Featuring: Fred Eaglesmith, Moxy Fruvous, Mike
Plume Band and Erin Corday

You had to be at the after-show jam at the Luxor
Hotel in downtown Bells Corners to catch the
second wave of Moxy Fruvous. The four Toronto
musicians carried on where their frenetic set at the
Ottawa Folk Festival main stage had left off --
playing Bee Gees and David Bowie tunes and
generally infecting the audience with their sense of
fun and inexhaustible enthusiasm.
 
The competition was tough on the festival's opening
evening but Moxy Fruvous was the band to beat.
Not that folk festivals are about competition
- --heaven forbid -- but comparison is inevitable when
a rapid succession of performers are rotated in front
of the paying customers.
 
Moxy Fruvous are accomplished crowd pleasers,
capable of intricate ways with words, sophisticated
musical interplay and neatly woven harmonies. And
they are cheeky chappies which is why they can get
away with playing the Gibb brothers Stayin' Alive,
or take liberties with Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and
Ham. Whatever they do, they do well.
 
For extra dimension, the quartet threads current
affairs through their act -- taking a gentle dig at
Bobby Hull's Moscow "misquote" or sticking it to
Premier Mike Harris, which is guaranteed to
produce a chorus of approval from any Ontario folk
festival crowd.
 
At the Luxor, Moxy Fruvous entertained the tiny
room with their Bee Gees, Bowie, wit and overall
good humour into the early hours yesterday. These
are four guys who clearly love their music and have
a healthy respect for each other.

This most informal side of the festival, away from
the well-rehearsed main stage shows, is a fabulous
idea and, in its own way, not an insignificant test for
the performers who choose to take part.
 
Showmanship is a significant part of the live Moxy
Fruvous show but the likes of Ontario's Fred
Eaglesmith and Seattle's Erin Corday, who followed
Fruvous on the main stage Friday, rely on the
strength of their tunes.

Corday's set was short and her voice seemed
hesitant. Overall, she didn't appear to be having a
particularly good time and for whatever reason
didn't fulfil the expectations many had of her.

Corday, who arrived in Ottawa with excellent
credentials, plays the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield
on Thursday. That may be more to her liking.

There were technical problems with the main stage
sound which hit with full force when Eaglesmith
attempted to begin his set.
 
Many performers familiar with playing three
hour-long sets per night, or a two-and-a-half
hour concert, have difficulties with a festival format
that allows no time for a gradual build-up.
 
Eaglesmith, on the verge of breaking into the
United States with his new album Lipstick, Lies and
Gasoline, was clearly miffed at the technical
screwups that delayed his set by about 20 minutes.
With sideman Willie P. Bennett assuming the role
as technical foreman, some approximation of
decent sound was mustered for the first three or
four songs.
 
Just as Eaglesmith busted his first guitar
string, the sound system began firing on all cylinders.
The singer rediscovered his good humour and all ended well.
 
Eaglesmith is no slouch as a performer and
inter-song raconteur. Over more than two decades of
performing, he's learned the ropes and has
developed into both a writer of beautiful, well-crafted
songs and an exceptional stage presence.
 
Vance Gilbert, a rumpled character from Boston,
has a voice that sounds uncannily like Jesse
Winchester's. He's funny, sings with power and
passion, and over the course of the folk festival
weekend is generating lots of interest.
 
As a package, the festival has lots to offer this
year. The arts colony is exceptional and the food
choices varied and imaginative. Musically, of
course, the choices at the various venues are
seemingly limitless. Seeing it all is impossible
but trying is half the fun.

------------------------------

End of alt.music.moxy-fruvous digest V1 #391
********************************************