[Brian Perkins]

All,

Well, Portland simply went OFF!!!! Smallish crowd- very energized and
loud! You could feel the energy flow back and forth between the band and
the crowd- sensational! Great mix of old and new songs. For you Rednecks
out there "Blot" has been added to the band's arsenal. Add this to
Concrete and RW and you have that album fairly well represented.
Talking to Jim after the show (thanks to Erika & Brian) I blurted out
"You guys didn't play Beds!", he replied "and it didn't matter did it?
We try to figure the set on what a given crowd will go for and then see
how the evening goes" Peter's comment was: "we could really feel the
crowd's energy tonight"  Highlight: U.S. Forces. Jim asked me if I felt
like their playing this song was offensive to Americans, considering
recent events. I replied that it certainly does not offend me! I told
him that I felt there are several of their songs that even though they
were written in a different "era", they still resonate with people today
regardless of their nationality. (i.e. Short Memory) I told him about a
sign I saw on the way to the gig that read "History is a vast early
warning system". 

Jim seemed genuinely pleased when I pulled out my copy of Fuzzface for
him to sign. I asked him if he had a follow-up in the works, considering
how busy he was with things Oily. I commented on how it seemed that some
of the sounds and ideas from Fuzzface really carried into the production
of RW, and he seemed to think that was accurate. He has about thirty
songs from the first go around that may or may not be usable. He said
that Nick Launay is living in Los Angeles now and is very busy there, so
the sound of any new project would be very different to the first. I
told him that, to me it wouldn't matter! :O) I also suggested that he
bring in Kristi Barrow on second guitar......... :OD

Thanks to all the workers who made this a show to remember!

Brian Perkins
West Linn, OR