Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Sokol Underground (River Concert Series)
Performed with: "Old Boy Network," "Bagshot Row," and "Quarter Til Seven"Setlist:
- Indecision
Don't
Run Away
Tonic
Drive Just To Sleep
Omaha
Satisfied
Midnight
Take Me Back
A review, by Rick:
This was the first time I'd seen The Ten O'Clock Scholars live (aside from seeing certain members sit across from me in various academic institutions) since their show at the ranch bowl over a year ago. They've improved greatly in a short time (likely helped by the frequency of recent performances-- and performance enhancing drugs-- I hear Taylor likes "the clean").
They started out with a bang-- play the hit, get the kids excited, I say. It seemed to have worked out. Especially on the song where Ryan went into the audience and told them to jump-- and they did. Not all bands could have pulled this off, but the TOS-- no sweat. I appologize for not knowing the song names. I blame the iPod and it's ability to surround my life with a soundtrack. Nevertheless...
I was also pleased to see a band embracing "the guitar solo," a rockandroll staple that I fear the new generation simply doesn't understand. Sidebar: the best band that ever played live guitar solos was "Ultimate Fakebook," a band that no longer exists, but rocked because they incorporated a device called The Rock Box! Simply put, it was a box with a clear top that held about six spotlights underneath. When they'd jump on it they'd get lit up from underneath and looked really kickass.
I digress.
The crowd at Sokol was a good one for the show. I was impressed by the fact that one of the girls in the audience I went to high school with and haven't seen in years--AND YET lives a few miles from me here in NYC. Also, she's apparently related somehow to Justin, who I know from Post Modern Television. Small world.
Back to the band. Everyone was in top form, and if I had to wager, I'd say left a lasting impression on the kids in attendance. So bully for them!
That's all I got.
Sincerely,
Rick
*CLICK HERE FOR SOME VIDEO!
(run away)
posted by RICK # 10:00 PM
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Knickerbockers
Performed With: "Bugs Meany"Setlist:
- Omaha
Indecision
Drive Just To Sleep
April
Satisfied
Run Away
Sit Down
Don't
Midnight
Save Us
Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Take Me Back
Review:
You know that feeling when you're getting all your gear loaded up into various transportation vehicles and you're not sure if your show is going to be an overwhelming success or resounding failure...well that was us before our first show at Knickerbockers. And it's not like we were unsure because we hadn't practiced or anything, but more because we only had four days to tell people about the show, and we knew many of our regulars wouldn't be there...
Turns out, we got more people there than the three we thought we were going to have. And, hey, we'll take more than three people any day.
The set rocked from the get-go, as we played some of the rockin' tunes rather early. As always, Indecision was well received, and some "new" "fans" wanted to see if it was on the CD because that was their favorite song. We were going along fine until we hit Satisfied, which we've revamped to rock even harder...the only problem was keeping track of the parts that we revamped. It ended up a little sloppy, but we're content with calling it a "work in progress." And Derek "the old bass player" Vanosdall liked it, so that's good. Once we hit Midnight, we decided to add a few songs, and the guys from Bugs Meany were gracious enough to let us add some songs to our set. To our surprise, once we hit Save Us, people other than Derek "the old bass player" Vanosdall actually came up to the front and stood...which, to us, is way better than sitting in the back. Of course, Ged broke another string, so we polled the audience and they wanted to hear Connealy sing...and since nearly all of the people there were friends of Connealy, we obliged and busted out Knockin' while Paul changed his string. And, it's probable that Take Me Back was the best we've ever played it...Tay couldn't have played any harder at the end, Ryan was on the edge of the stage rockin', Connealy was doing something, and Paul was jumping around and cutting his finger (so bad that he needed a band-aid!).
So, we're stoked about playing there again. Thanks to all the people who came out and saw us for the first time...hope to see you again. Also thanks to Bugs Meany for letting us rock longer than we were supposed to.
