- There were some surprises at the Chicago
show tonight. It was awesome, but
- too short (like all the shows on this
tour!).
- The show started out a little weak. Dave
seemed distracted. He mumbled and
- missed a few lines on the first couple
songs. They started with the
- standard stuff: I Will Still Be Laughing,
See You Later, Somebody To Shove,
- Black Gold... Then, Dave stepped up to the
microphone and said he was
- having a really bad day, a day when
everything's going wrong and he just
- wanted someone to tell him it was going to
be all right, and he wanted to
- apologize to the audience for letting his
bad day affect them. The band
- continued with Runaway Train and Close.
Between songs, Dave continued his
- ranting, saying something like, "It
all started with a blowjob!" As the
- crowd gasped or cheered (depending on
their ages), Dave went on to explain
- that he was really upset about the U.S.
blowing up terrorist sites
- recently, and it's really been bumming him
out.
- Suddenly, the whole concert shifted. As
Dave vented, he got more animated
- on stage with each song. He said he loves
Chicago because he just gets so
- sick of the east coast and west coast
bullshit. Dave was frustrated and
- upset, so they threw out the set list and
launched into Sexual Healing!!!
- We were ecstatic, since we knew they had
done pretty much the same songs
- all tour until now. Dave goofed up the
words a little and repeated himself
- in the first verse, but then he got into
it. Then the band did Gone Till
- November (a Wyclef Jean song), which I
hadn't heard before. They closed
- with Candy From A Stranger. Yes, things
started out rough, Dave got some
- things off his chest, the set list went
out the window, and everyone was
- rocking at the end. It was over too soon.
(We were hoping the guys in
- Matchbox 20 would get sick or something
and ask Soul Asylum to play all
- night in their place!)
- Unlike other shows (so I've heard), the
crowd was pretty "into" the band. A
- few people were standing the whole time,
and a lot of people were singing
- along with the songs they knew. Soul
Asylum has been popular around here
- for a long time, and I think we gave them
a good welcome. Now, if more of
- those fans would just go out and buy Candy
From A Stranger!
-
- The songs, again:
- I Will Still Be Laughing
- See You Later
- Somebody to Shove
- Black Gold
- Runaway Train
- Close
- Sexual Healing
- Gone Till November
- Candy From a Stranger
-
- I used to be a Trip Shakespeare fan, so I
was looking forward to hearing
- Semisonic. They were all right live, but I
like their new album better.
- They picked good songs from it for their
35-minute set. Their basic problem
- is that they use many instruments layered
in the studio. As a trio, when
- they play live, their songs sound a little
sparse (they try hard to fill in
- the gaps, though). I was impressed to see
their drummer doubling on
- keyboards--I've never seen that in a
concert before. I mean, he was kicking
- the bass drum while playing the keyboard
simultaneously. Everybody went
- nuts when they did Closing Time, and it
seemed kind of silly the way Dan
- Wilson hammed it up. Oh well, I guess
after going nowhere with Trip
- Shakepeare, it's his turn to get some
attention, like our guys when they
- did "that train song."
- Matchbox 20? Uh, we were so psyched by
Soul Asylum, we didn't bother
- sticking around to hear the teenage girls
screaming for the main act.
- --Dave Johnsen (and brother Keith)
-