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6 More Pics & Reviews
Page 16 HAVE YOU SEEN THE MAP OF EZRA? HAVE YOU SEEN THE TTOY HALL OF FAME? MISSED EARLIER EDITIONS OF THE SERENADE?
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BTE ROCKS THE NEWPORT DOCKS The Newport Marina is a beautiful location for a rock show. The boys of
Better Than Ezra were there as part of the Snapple Sunset Music
Festival. Let’s hope they get invited back next year because they anyone
who was there will tell you they absolutely rocked the docks. Coming off
a short vacation break, the guys were all fired-up to be back on stage.
The large crowd was on its feet from the first note and stayed there for
an hour and 45 minutes.
There’s nothing like free beverages to start the night off either. Ezralites got to hang and chat with Wendy the "Snapple Lady" as she doled out free drink samples and souvenirs before the show. Wendy is apparently quite a music fan and says her CD collection includes BTE, Third Eye Blind and other contemporary rock acts. I don’t know if you remember her from the series of commercials she did some years ago, but her off screen persona is just as feisty. Although she couldn’t stay for the show, she said she’ll try and see the band when they next play New York City.
The venue was actually a
huge tent with perhaps a thousand seats in all. Some fans on the sides
had less than ideal views, but the venue provided two video screens.
There was an VIP section in front of the regular seats. Although this
meant fans couldn’t get right up to the stage, these (somewhat older)
VIPs acquitted themselves admirably and really kind of got into the show
– even going so far as to help "Dave" over the barrier for a great TTOY
performance.
As he began to tune his
guitar, Kevin said: "You know, normally I wouldn't have to tune, but as
you all went to these fancy New England schools, I'm sure you'd be able
to tell if I was out of tune." He then said that they'd played
Providence so many times over the years and that everyone told them to
come down to Newport because it's so much fun and that they were glad
they finally acted on the advice. Several times KG lamented that the fans were so far away, but that he said he couldn't blame the VIPs because when he's home in NOLA and someone offers him the "Golden circle" hookup, he unashamedly goes for it too. On the subject of their fans, he did go on to say that the band has been together so long and continued to put out music despite a very tough industry because they have such great fans. |
"Simple Song" sounds fantastic. This time it was a little different, though. Some 30 seconds in, his acoustic guitar died, so Kevin sang it "a capella" with only Jim Payne offering occasional guitar parts. It was a sort of spiritual moment as the entire crowd had its hands above their heads swaying to the music. He put so much more effort in to singing the song. I guess this reveals how difficult it really is to sing and play guitar at the same time. Travis ended the song with a drum solo of sorts.
"King of New Orleans" rocked as usual. There
was a cool breakdown. No MFs, but they did "break that sh*t on down." KG
said how Newport was conservative and asked the locals what time the bars
closed. He then segued into "Debra" and stood on stilts! Or rather, these
wobbly little wooden blocks at the front of the stage. The guys didn’t
realize until after the show, but there was a nun in the audience. Like I
told them, this gives "I want to get with you and your sister" a potential
new meaning! During his falsetto, KG also remarked that the "Blind Boys of
Alabama" (playing later in the week) "ain't got sh*t on Better than Ezra!"
"Daylight" also sounds better. I think Jim Payne is adding some
different, higher, guitar flourishes to it. It really works. The whole
crowd sang along. It was magical. During "At the Stars," Kevin made a
Boss move and added some falsetto. Pondering, the said actually they
might want the "Blind Boys of Alabama" to do some backing vocals on the
new record, so asked the crowd to promise not to tell them they were
dissed by BTE! The crowd chuckled at that one. Jim Payne added his
"Widespread Panic" vibe to the song and KG finished with some of the
Dead's "Friend of the Devil" for good measure.
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