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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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ERIN (AND BTE) GO BRAGH
St. Patrick's Day is my new favorite holiday. No, not because it's an excuse to drink green beer, but because of Better Than Ezra. This Saint Patrick's Day Better Than Ezra and Ingram Hill decided to mark the event by totally rocking Michigan's Royal Oak Music Theatre. As a BTE concert virgin, I must admit to being deliriously excited even before the show, but the boys put on one heck of a show that more than met my high expectations. The first song of the night was "Particle." Sure, it's an amazing song, but to hear it live is an experience beyond words. I love how hearing a song live can completely change how you feel about it. Such is the case with "Allison Foley." The energy the guys infused into the song live has made it one of my new favorites. I had heard so much about Kevin's "vocal visiting" of other artists' songs during BTE songs and
this night gave me a real cross section of cover tunes to savor. The crowd got to hear Outkast's
"Ms. Jackson" during "Extra Ordinary," "Drift Away" during "King of New Orleans," the
Ramones' "Sedated" at the beginning of "Sincerely Me," Nelly's "Ride Wit Me" during
"Desperately Wanting" and, my personal favorite, Depeche's Mode's "Personal Jesus" during
"Recognize." Not only did we get to hear old favorites and cool covers, but we also got to hear three new songs everyone has been talking about - "Special," "In a Little While," and "Simple song." The only downside to hearing the new material, of course, is that it makes you yearn to hear the new CD that much more. As it was St. Patty's Day, the band requested some green beer be brought on stage, but sadly the venue didn't have any - for shame! And as tradition mandates that those not wearing the green are fair game for pinching, Kevin was dismayed to see that everyone on stage was indeed wearing green... Except for Jim Payne who promptly offered up dollar bills in penance. Anyway, a green knitted hat somehow made its way on to the stage, prompting KG to tell a story about Grannys and how his Granny taught him the old ditty "I wanna be sedated." At this
point, Travis dazzled the crowd with a rocking bass drum solo and Tom got the room grooving
with his bass guitars. The energy and presence of BTE at the Royal Oak Theatre was absolutely incredible. My first show was everything I had hoped to imagine. I will remember it for the rest of my days. And I am sure everyone else at the show had almost, if not as much, a great a time as I did. And to BTE... Michigan looks forward to the next visit guys! Jaclyn, thank you for a great review. Hope you make it to show no. 2 very soon! |
HATTIESBURG GETS THE BTE BUZZ For weeks prior to the concert, Hattiesburg, MS was buzzing about the Train and Better Than Ezra concert. On March 24, 2004, Reed Green Coliseum on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi was nearly sold out for the post-Spring Break bash. If you were to ask most people they would tell you that Better Than Ezra was the reason they were there. Many still remembered BTE rocking Hattiesburg not quite four years earlier. After the hip-hip/rap opening act, Rahzel, left the stage Kevin, Tom, Travis, and Jim wasted little time and got right into what has become the familiar opener, "Misunderstood." The guys seemed quite pleased with the turnout. Kevin commented that they used to play the old bars in the 'Burg back during their LSU days and that they should play here more often (a sentiment with which the crowd readily agreed). "Good," "Extra Ordinary," and "King of New Orleans" (complete with Beck's "Debra") followed. The true Ezralites were dispersed through the crowd, but were not hard to spot. There were the ones who were singing at the top of their lungs and making eye contact with one another as if to say, "Another Ezra fan?! Rock on." KG commented on a guy's Better Than Ezra t-shirt saying, "I like this guy's style." After someone yelled "Tom kicks a**!," Tom mouthed to a cluster of Ezralites, "I love you guys." "In the Blood" and "At the Stars" came next. After the bridge of "At the Stars," Kevin began doing hip-hop style scratching on his Les Paul, saying "I don't need a turntable to do that sh*t" (obviously, in reference to the opening act). At this point Kevin made reference to the upcoming DVD and Greatest Hits CD, but didn't offer any expected release dates. He said jokingly they didn't know how to feel about being old enough to have a Great Hits CD, but that it was definitely a career milestone. "A Lifetime" and crowd favorite "Desperately Wanting" closed out the BTE set. "Desperately Wanting" had an energy that I don't think I have personally ever seen before. The guys were putting it out and the crowd definitely reciprocated with thunderous applause.
Even with a fairly short, 45-minute set the guys set the bar very high for Train, who followed them on stage. They set the bar so high, in fact, that their was a noticeable exodus of people who obviously thought Train fell quite short of the BTE standard. While many people in Hattiesburg and USM may forget Train, there are a definitely few more who will now keep an eye out for the next time Better Than Ezra comes to town. Outstanding work, Myles. Thanks for finding time to share your observations with your fellow Ezralites. |
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