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IN THIS ISSUE:
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CAMPBELL UNIVERSITY -- On a chilly fall evening, BTE rolled onto the Campbell University campus to play their fall concert at Saylor Park. There was a feeling – and a peculiar smell in the air – this Friday evening in Buies Creek, NC. As people started to make their way to the stage they were ambushed by a mysteriously foul smell. A chorus of "What is that smell?" arose from the crowd. Some of the more amusing suggestions were – "Someone left an animal transport truck door open," "The mud ball pit is getting ripe," and "Perhaps it's Gigli?" Sadly no one, not even the cops, knew what the source of the smell was. The show kicked off with Raleigh's own SpencerAcuff. They entertained the crowd with their soothing style of toe tapping pop music. Before the temperature could drop any further, BTE took to the stage. The frozen audience's blood began to pump as the band launched into the high energy trio of "Recognize," "Misunderstood," and "Good." Hard core ezralites realized we were being treated to a new version of "Recognize" where "Travis McNabb was full of dread..." Was it the smell or having to play in the cold that filled him with dread? We may never know. BTE quickly moved into "Rolling" followed by "Live Again." Kevin gave some words of encouragement to Jim Payne during his Rhodes piano solo introduction – "Don't screw up, Jim. Don't screw up, Jim." Being the consummate professional that he is, Jim did not screw up. For this show, "Special" was included in the set after "Live Again." Popular favorite "Extra Ordinary" came next followed by their signature tune "King of New Orleans" complete with a cover of "Debra" by Beck. The crowd then erupted into screams of delight when BTE began to play "Rosealia." Much to the crowd's dismay, the traditional ending for "Rosealia" was not played. Travis made a point of calling Kevin out on this when he rose to give his now traditional words of wisdom. "All I want to know is what happened to the end of ‘Rosealia’?" queried Travis. Kevin merely shrugged his shoulders and said, "I didn't think they wanted it." Travis shook his head and then presented his words of wisdom, an homage to Elvis. Travis cited lyrics from the Elvis song "Stop, Look and Listen": Stop real still, look both ways "At the Stars" and "Lifetime" followed. Then came one of the night’s funniest moments. Unawares to Travis, Kevin began to play the game of "Stump the Drummer." KG threw some lyrics out that no one recognized. He started nudging Travis to join in by requesting the accompanying drum riff for the song. Travis banged out a few notes, but it was obvious that he didn't have a clue as to what KG was singing. A dejected Kevin sighed in disbelief, "It's a Styx lyric!" Travis just shrugged. Still looking at Travis, Kevin said in a hurt voice, "I feel so alone. You know that dream when you're onstage and you don't have any clothes on? That's how I feel right now. Naked. Buck assed naked." The audience didn't laugh at him, but they sure laughed right along with him. |
The audience was thrilled when the opening strains of TTOY were played. A
guest guitarist by the name of Bynum was selected and following tradition,
Kevin began to set the scene. Due to the administrations rules against
suggestive innuendo, the story had to change a little. Instead of playing
the "Game of love," Bynum would be playing the "Game of Risk" back in his
dorm room at 2 am. He has taken her "Lichtenstein" and she has seized his
"Asia Minor." At this point KG realized his faux pas and apologized to Bynum by saying, "I just insulted you and I didn't mean to." Already red with embarrassment, Bynum just shrugged off the unintentional insult. Kevin continued the PG-13 version of Bynum's "Red Shoe Diary" entry. The entry ended with Risk pieces flying everywhere and a whole new game beginning. An out of tune guitar did not stop Bynum from rocking the crowd. KG took the opportunity to jump off the stage and work the crowd by shaking hands and saying hello. He returned to the stage to outline the final steps to Bynum. As Kevin began to take a deep breath, the foul paranormal bouquet came back with a vengeance. "What is that smell? Good Night!!" exclaimed Kevin. Kevin politely sniffed under his arm as if to ask "do we offend?" Since no one offered an explanation, he just continued with the show. As per KG's instructions, Bynum leapt from the drum riser, stuck the landing, and fell to his knees in a rock ‘n’roll blaze of glory, prompting KG to lead the crowd in chants of "Bynum! Bynum!" With great humility, Bynum exited the stage giving the crowd a modest wave as he took his place in the TTOY hall of fame. Before the next song Kevin asked, "Where’s the person that made the sign?" A sign was handed to KG, which he in turn displayed to the audience. Giggling slightly, KG said, "It says play Porceline. It's spelled wrong, but I'm gonna play it for you. When we get to the part, I'm gonna say Porce-line." The guys started to play Voodoo Porcelain and – as promised – KG sang that her skin was like Porce-line. The audience just erupted with laughter. BTE then went right into "Sincerely, Me" and ended the song with OutKast's "Hey Ya." Before going into "Desperately Wanting," KG took a moment to give heartfelt thanks to Kenny, Mike, and Brian for all of their hard work. As the band took their places for the encore, Tom gave a public service announcement. He relayed the message that any cars not in a parking space would be towed. In a play on words about Campbell University's mascot – the camel, Kevin asked, "Was it camel towing?" The crowd just exploded with laughter. Before BTE could begin the encore, the crowd suddenly started chanting, "Freebird!" After mumbling "you'll never get "‘Freebird’," KG thought about it and tried to play the request. He explained that his guitar was not tuned to play the song. So instead, they played a verse of "Sweet Home Alabama." The crowd was satisfied with this trade off. "Daylight" was played next and the time-honored closer "In the Blood" ended the show. The unseasonably cold and the mysterious odor didn't stop BTE from putting on a fun show at Campbell University. When we all look back on this night we'll remember what a good time we had and ask ourselves, "What was that smell?" Too bad they haven't figured out how to do a "scratch and sniff" webpage yet, or the SERENADE could hold a contest to identify the offending odor! |
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