[Powderworks] May 2 Chicago show, HOB (LONG RESPONSE)
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Sat, 4 May 2002 19:25:03 EDT
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I believe I have finally recovered from the two Chicago shows. Watching Jim
play guitar is one of the true privileges in life. Comments and catch-ups
from the past few days:
>> So what did they do with all the business cards?
Mostly Peter spilled beer on the box. I don't think they were being treated
as precious cargo of any kind.
He first pulled "Basement Flat" out first, but rejected it and pulled out
NTFG. I had asked for Brave Faces and someone behind me who passed up a slip
asked for Kosciusko.
XXXX
>>To those of you who've seen the Oils in the past week, during which =
they've been opening their set with "Been Away Too Long":
>> How does that song work as an opening number? Is the title getting =
across clearly as the band's admission that they have indeed "been away =
too long"?
It worked pretty well and, if you know they haven't been here in a while, was
an obvious nod to their absence. Both nights, Peter made no comment before
Jim launched them into Too Much Sunshine. I personally preferred Redneck as
an opener because it pretty much hits you over the head from the start. Like
you, I was glad to see Concrete make an appearance or two.
XXXXX
>>My roommate and I also like to play a silly little game while waiting in
line
at concerts, and we look for folks who resemble famous people, so you will be
happy (or horrified) to know the following persons were "in attendance":
Waylon Jennings (or Hank Williams, Jr., kind of a blend), Newman from
Seinfeld, Bjork, David Crosby, Neil Finn, Bill Gates, the lead singers of
both Everclear and A-Ha, Limahl, the parking garage guy from "Ferris
Bueller's Day Off", Boris Becker, John McEnroe. There were others but I am
really tired and can't recall! We did have some extra help.
OK, I was the guy in front of you helping with this. We were still debating
whether Boris Becker was really a cleaned-up, drug-free Kurt Cobain when the
show started. Sinead O'Conner made a brief appearance as well, but then the
guy put his glasses back on.
XXXXXXXX
>> >> King/River(seg)
>> So which one of these did they play?
They played King, and segued into the abridged River Runs Red.
XXXX
>> 1) Having the front center rows of the standing room only crowd dominated
by
7-foot tall behemoths (thus blocking the view for half of the crowd) who
refused to move/yell/show excitement for the Oils was kind of disgusting.
If you are tall and are TRULY excited about the show, fair enough -- get in
front and make some noise and dance to the greatest band on Earth (and some
did -- this is not in reference to the tall Powderworker I saw in front.)
BUT, if you are simply standing there, COME ON...couldn't you do that
elsewhere? And give some room to those of us who want to be active? It's
like that old mentality of having to simply be up there just to be there.
Mind you, this is coming from a 6'1 guy. (And I danced and sang myself
hoarse)
>>2) Part of this mentality showed itself when these same lame zombies -- who
had staked out "their" land near the front -- started yelling insults at
these people who were trying to slide into the liveable spaces between
people in anticipation of the Oils coming on. "KEEP MOVING, ASSHOLES" was
only one of the things I heard directed at these people. (By the way, I was
not one of these people, having positioned myself well before) COME ON --
"standing room only" does not imply ownership of a certain spot of the
floor, and for a great show, well, OF COURSE it's going to be packed up near
the front -- what do you expect?? Part of the experience of seeing a good
band and seeing a good show is reconciling yourself to the fact that, YES,
it's going to get damn packed, sweaty, and the guy/girl next to you is going
to have a good idea of your basic anatomy. Give me a break.
This is pretty much the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a long time. Can
you tell us what the standards are for where you are "allowed" to stand? If
I sing some but dance in a more restrained manner, am I allowed to be three
rows back, or do I need to go ten rows back unless I know all the words?
Please. I was up front both nights and offer no apologies for it. If you
want to get up front, get there earlier. Most people recognize that things
will tighten up down front as showtime nears, but elbowing your way in and
blocking the view of people who were already there is rude.
There are quite a number of reasons why someone may be up front and not be
dancing with abandon. Maybe I have a bad back. Maybe I need the railing to
lean against when standing for six hours at a time. Maybe I dance in a more
restrained manner than you do. Maybe I was there to watch Jim play from an
up-close vantage point. Maybe I was singing to every word of every song and
you couldn't see it from the back.
Maybe I know that I am an awful singer, feel it would be rude to subject
someone in front of me to my strangled cries, and try to get up front as a
solution.
Regardless of the reason, while General Admission doesn't mean you own the
space, it also doesn't mean you should give it up to anyone who happens to be
more aggressive than you.
XXXXX
Other thoughts:
- Am I the only one who noticed that Will Hoge's CD also has a cow on it? I
broke down and bought it after seeing them five times now. They sound much
tighter as a unit than they did last fall.
- Peter's comments both nights regarding cows stemmed from an article that
appeared in the Chicago Tribune last week entitled "Lawmakers Stand Up For
Pigs' Privacy". Someone in the Illinois legislature slipped a paragraph into
recent legislation that makes it illegal for anyone to take pictures on a
farm (and other places) without the owner's consent. The idea is that
*descriptions* of the abuses that go on during the meat production process
aren't very powerful and moving, but *pictures* are. So they made it illegal
to take the pictures.
The language was buried so deep that many pro-animal rights legislators voted
for the bill not knowing it was in there. You can view the article in the
archives of the paper's web site -- www.chicagotribune.com. You'll need to
register to view it.
- On a similar theme, I recently read an excellent book called "Raising Kane:
The Fox Chronicles". It is about a Chicago-area man who essentially waged a
two-decade war against pollution in Chicago's western suburbs under the
moniker "The Fox". His activities included things like collecting some of
the pollution a company was dumping and pouring it in the lobby of the
company's headquarters in downtown Chicago.
At any rate, it was an excellent read, and is available online from
www.chicagolandcanoebase.com. I actually went to the Canoe Base store to buy
it, and learned that the owner knew The Fox (he died a couple of years ago).
The owner pointed out The Fox in a picture on the wall, and sat me down to
watch a videotape of a trip that The Fox and others took when they recreated
Marquette and Jolliet's trip through New France when they were first
exploring the Mississippi basin. I highly recommend the book.
- Finally: Peter confirmed that the Oils will be back in Chicago on July 4.
Someone near me said that the Indigo Girls were also on the bill. Don't
know if that part is confirmed.
OK, that's enough from a longtime lurker.
Regards,
John
unpage@aol.com
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<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">I believe I have finally recovered from the two Chicago shows. Watching Jim play guitar is one of the true privileges in life. Comments and catch-ups from the past few days:<BR>
<BR>
>> So what did they do with all the business cards?<BR>
<BR>
Mostly Peter spilled beer on the box. I don't think they were being treated as precious cargo of any kind.
He first pulled "Basement Flat" out first, but rejected it and pulled out NTFG. I had asked for Brave Faces and someone behind me who passed up a slip asked for Kosciusko.<BR>
<BR>
XXXX<BR>
<BR>
>>To those of you who've seen the Oils in the past week, during which =<BR>
they've been opening their set with "Been Away Too Long":<BR>
<BR>
>> How does that song work as an opening number? Is the title getting =<BR>
across clearly as the band's admission that they have indeed "been away =<BR>
too long"?<BR>
<BR>
It worked pretty well and, if you know they haven't been here in a while, was an obvious nod to their absence. Both nights, Peter made no comment before Jim launched them into Too Much Sunshine. I personally preferred Redneck as an opener because it pretty much hits you over the head from the start. Like you, I was glad to see Concrete make an appearance or two.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
XXXXX<BR>
<BR>
>>My roommate and I also like to play a silly little game while waiting in line <BR>
at concerts, and we look for folks who resemble famous people, so you will be <BR>
happy (or horrified) to know the following persons were "in attendance": <BR>
Waylon Jennings (or Hank Williams, Jr., kind of a blend), Newman from <BR>
Seinfeld, Bjork, David Crosby, Neil Finn, Bill Gates, the lead singers of <BR>
both Everclear and A-Ha, Limahl, the parking garage guy from "Ferris <BR>
Bueller's Day Off", Boris Becker, John McEnroe. There were others but I am <BR>
really tired and can't recall! We did have some extra help.<BR>
<BR>
OK, I was the guy in front of you helping with this. We were still debating whether Boris Becker was really a cleaned-up, drug-free Kurt Cobain when the show started. Sinead O'Conner made a brief appearance as well, but then the guy put his glasses back on.<BR>
<BR>
XXXXXXXX<BR>
<BR>
>> >> King/River(seg)<BR>
<BR>
>> So which one of these did they play?<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
They played King, and segued into the abridged River Runs Red.<BR>
<BR>
XXXX<BR>
<BR>
>> 1) Having the front center rows of the standing room only crowd dominated by <BR>
7-foot tall behemoths (thus blocking the view for half of the crowd) who <BR>
refused to move/yell/show excitement for the Oils was kind of disgusting. <BR>
If you are tall and are TRULY excited about the show, fair enough -- get in <BR>
front and make some noise and dance to the greatest band on Earth (and some <BR>
did -- this is not in reference to the tall Powderworker I saw in front.) <BR>
BUT, if you are simply standing there, COME ON...couldn't you do that <BR>
elsewhere? And give some room to those of us who want to be active? It's <BR>
like that old mentality of having to simply be up there just to be there. <BR>
Mind you, this is coming from a 6'1 guy. (And I danced and sang myself <BR>
hoarse)<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
>>2) Part of this mentality showed itself when these same lame zombies -- who <BR>
had staked out "their" land near the front -- started yelling insults at <BR>
these people who were trying to slide into the liveable spaces between <BR>
people in anticipation of the Oils coming on. "KEEP MOVING, ASSHOLES" was <BR>
only one of the things I heard directed at these people. (By the way, I was <BR>
not one of these people, having positioned myself well before) COME ON -- <BR>
"standing room only" does not imply ownership of a certain spot of the <BR>
floor, and for a great show, well, OF COURSE it's going to be packed up near <BR>
the front -- what do you expect?? Part of the experience of seeing a good <BR>
band and seeing a good show is reconciling yourself to the fact that, YES, <BR>
it's going to get damn packed, sweaty, and the guy/girl next to you is going <BR>
to have a good idea of your basic anatomy. Give me a break.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
This is pretty much the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a long time. Can you tell us what the standards are for where you are "allowed" to stand? If I sing some but dance in a more restrained manner, am I allowed to be three rows back, or do I need to go ten rows back unless I know all the words? Please. I was up front both nights and offer no apologies for it. If you want to get up front, get there earlier. Most people recognize that things will tighten up down front as showtime nears, but elbowing your way in and blocking the view of people who were already there is rude. <BR>
<BR>
There are quite a number of reasons why someone may be up front and not be dancing with abandon. Maybe I have a bad back. Maybe I need the railing to lean against when standing for six hours at a time. Maybe I dance in a more restrained manner than you do. Maybe I was there to watch Jim play from an up-close vantage point. Maybe I was singing to every word of every song and you couldn't see it from the back.
Maybe I know that I am an awful singer, feel it would be rude to subject someone in front of me to my strangled cries, and try to get up front as a solution.<BR>
<BR>
Regardless of the reason, while General Admission doesn't mean you own the space, it also doesn't mean you should give it up to anyone who happens to be more aggressive than you.<BR>
<BR>
XXXXX<BR>
<BR>
Other thoughts:<BR>
<BR>
- Am I the only one who noticed that Will Hoge's CD also has a cow on it? I broke down and bought it after seeing them five times now. They sound much tighter as a unit than they did last fall.<BR>
<BR>
- Peter's comments both nights regarding cows stemmed from an article that appeared in the Chicago Tribune last week entitled "Lawmakers Stand Up For Pigs' Privacy". Someone in the Illinois legislature slipped a paragraph into recent legislation that makes it illegal for anyone to take pictures on a farm (and other places) without the owner's consent. The idea is that *descriptions* of the abuses that go on during the meat production process aren't very powerful and moving, but *pictures* are. So they made it illegal to take the pictures. <BR>
<BR>
The language was buried so deep that many pro-animal rights legislators voted for the bill not knowing it was in there. You can view the article in the archives of the paper's web site -- www.chicagotribune.com. You'll need to register to view it.<BR>
<BR>
- On a similar theme, I recently read an excellent book called "Raising Kane: The Fox Chronicles". It is about a Chicago-area man who essentially waged a two-decade war against pollution in Chicago's western suburbs under the moniker "The Fox". His activities included things like collecting some of the pollution a company was dumping and pouring it in the lobby of the company's headquarters in downtown Chicago. <BR>
<BR>
At any rate, it was an excellent read, and is available online from www.chicagolandcanoebase.com. I actually went to the Canoe Base store to buy it, and learned that the owner knew The Fox (he died a couple of years ago). The owner pointed out The Fox in a picture on the wall, and sat me down to watch a videotape of a trip that The Fox and others took when they recreated Marquette and Jolliet's trip through New France when they were first exploring the Mississippi basin. I highly recommend the book.<BR>
<BR>
- Finally: Peter confirmed that the Oils will be back in Chicago on July 4.
Someone near me said that the Indigo Girls were also on the bill. Don't know if that part is confirmed.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
OK, that's enough from a longtime lurker.<BR>
<BR>
Regards,<BR>
John<BR>
unpage@aol.com<BR>
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