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IN THIS ISSUE: Dude, Where's My Hobbit? & Philly Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 And The Message Board Says... Page 4 Dambuilders/Noho The Reviews News & Links TTOY Hall of Fame Archives
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BTE -- VENI, VIDI, VICI. What a contrast compared to the show at Philadelphia’s Trocadero. The Saturday night New York City show was altogether different. You can always tell the guys have pretty strict time limitations at Irving Plaza and that means the shows tend to be more tightly controlled. Or rather, more no-nonsense and hard-rocking... And hard-rocking it surely was. But maybe the show was all that and a little bit more? Everyone needs validation in life. And what better validation for a band like BTE that largely "flies under the radar" than to sell out one of the premier rock venues in New York City (and the country) on a Saturday night?
Fans got a treat even before the set began as the band unveiled its new pre-show music. I didn’t catch all the tunes, but they included Hayseed Dixie’s country cover of AC/DC’s "All Night Long," Jamiroquai’s "Virtual Insanity," Ludacris’ "Stand Up," and the Darkness "I believe in a Thing Called Love." The familiar rooster crow followed as expected, but then came the unexpected hidden track from Friction Baby. The guys were kicking it from the get-go. Tom’s bass was probably all the way up to 11 (for you Spinal Tap devotees). The set started off with the drumfest "Particle" like on the other dates of the mini-tour. This time there was so much more passion to it and the crowd just ate it up. As the song ended, the crowd screamed for more and were rewarded with the familiar introductory keyboard notes to "Misunderstood." The guys didn’t let up their hard-rocking for one moment. KG was singing so feverishly and close to the mic that I saw his nose actually bend against it. The rest of the guys seemed to briefly catch their breath during KG’s slow falsetto ending to the song.
Travis’ staccato drumming let everyone in the house know that the next song was the classic "Good." The guys "took it to the bridge" with extra verve and powered through the song and quick-changed into their favorite "Allison Foley." Without a horn section, KG called out Travis during the song for his drum solo and used the fills to accompany his hip-twirling move. Tom Drummond led the crowd in the characteristic "so long, bye bye" wave. KG took this opportunity to note that the show had been sold out some 2 weeks in advance and that maybe that meant the band didn’t play New York city enough. He glanced over at Tom and said: "Maybe 2 shows next time?" I think New York Ezralites wholeheartedly agree with that idea!
"Special" was the next song in the set. The guitar solo came off perfectly and KG finished off the song with a classic rock split-legged jump ending. Tom then stepped up to talk about the forthcoming DVD (see related story). "Get You In" followed this announcement. I’ve heard the song live a few times now and I can say with all honesty that the song has never been played with such emotional intensity. As the guys switched gears and began "Extra Ordinary" the sold-out New York crowd sang along word for word... KG retold his "Mardi Gras Hobbit" story to segue into "King of New Orleans." The song was complete with the KONO "finger walk" move and a super-sized breakdown. Mid song he revealed that they were feeling nervous about playing New York City, because of the "intelligent and discerning crowd," but he was feeling much more relaxed as he was a third of the way through the set.
The super-sized breakdown included some classic BTE moves – KG doing the "Prince shuffle" with the fingers over his eyes, an extra funky dose of Jim Payne "porn guitar" and Beck’s "Debra," sung to Ezralite AmEmPbdy, and a cover of Biz Markie’s "Just a Friend." Kevin also introduced the "New York Rhythm Sec-shon!" and "Mr. Neil Young" (aka guitar tech Mike Keel). |
"Rosealia" came next with the traditional ending. Jim stepped up to Tom’s mic to add some vocal assistance. When he returned to his familiar station he rocked so hard at the finale of the song that he jumped up, lost his hat, and knocked over his mic stand on the way down. Now that’s rock ‘n’ roll! New fan favorite "In a Little while" was the next offering for the NYC crowd. I really believe this is the sort of quirky song that could become a radio hit. The crowd loved the song and KG pulled off the guitar solo without a hitch. As Kevin switched to acoustic guitar, he again introduced the crowd to "Mr. Neil Young" and proceeded to cover a little of "Sugar Mountain.".
As he prepared to play "Simple Song," he realized the sound wasn’t right. He peered out to the soundboard area and said: "Brian, wake up!" and the crowd turned around to look and KG elicited some crowd laughter by saying "Stop whatever you’re doing back there!" During the song a bra was hurled on stage much to the delight of the audience. Soon a condom flew from another part of the crowd. As the song ended, KG pointed out the undergarment with a "Brassieres have been thrown!" Tom replied: "Dude!" KG, ever the English major explained that he preferred the more traditional spelling "brassiere" over "bra." KG then directed Mike Keel to place both items on Tom’s mic stand where they stayed proudly displayed for the rest of the evening.
"Live Again" remains one of the live BTE songs. And tonight was no different. With his bass fired up to 11, Tom Drummond shook the house during his solo. "A Lifetime" followed in quick succession, and once again highlighted the drumming talents of Travis Aaron McNabb. The setlist then called for "Sincerely Me," but KG kicked right into "This Time of Year." Guest guitarist Bob ably represented for Manhattan and surrounding metropolitan areas. As Kevin explained that after this night nothing would ever be the same for Bob, he begged him to: "Stay the Bob that the crowd – and I – have come to love." He also used the word "sexfully" in his rap and he paused to note that was a true Fred Durst word like "agreeance" (which he made fun of at the prior year’s Irving Plaza show). Giggles abounded as Bob prepared for his epic jump from the drum riser. KG’s instructions were a little different from the usual as he talked about "jumping in a graceful arc and landing on the condom and brassiere on the stage."
It was a tad ironic that Bob wore a "Tragically Hip" shirt considering one of their better known songs is "New Orleans is Sinking." I’m sort of surprised KG didn’t say anything about the shirt, but you could tell the guys were getting increasingly anxious about the time – notwithstanding substituting with TTOY! As Bob left the stage to thunderous applause, the band finished the main part of their set with "Desperately Wanting." KG managed to interject a "slow motion space walk" into the song, as well as Nelly’s "Ride Wit Me." You could tell the guys were feeling really good about their performance this night (as well they should) because for the first time in a long time KG instructed the crowd to "jump up and down like this" during the final "kick it back up" part of the tune. The Encore The applause as the guys left the stage was more than thunderous. It was deafening. The fellas wasted no time in coming back out to cap off what was a tremendous show. "Recognize" was the first order of business and included Depeche’s Mode’s "Personal Jesus." As the clock was just about hitting midnight, you could tell everyone but KG was expecting to finish up the show with "Daylight" which came next. This is such a great song and is almost too good to be used for anything other than closing a show. Tom and Travis and Jim were giving each other "what the f*ck?" looks as Kevin started to kick into "In the Blood." It took a few seconds for them to start playing, so you know they weren’t expecting yet another song. The clock was now at about 12:10am and they had probably played over their allotted time. Nevertheless, the guys got up to speed and closed out what was a truly spectacular performance. This Saturday night BTE came, they saw, and they most definitely conquered... |
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