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Mardi Gras Madness
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MEMPHIS: ROCKIN THE HIZHOUSE LAID-BACK STYLE by Emily
A chilly night in Memphis and 5 comrades. Our mission? To rock our bootys off. Little did we realize they would experience an Ezra show unlike we’d been to in quite sometime… The night opened the same as usual. Checking out the opening acts. Chitchatting about their performances. There was much debate between the two comrades designated to find the perfect concert viewing spot. They’d always managed to come through before and they weren’t going to give up this time. They surveyed the New Daisy Theater and eyed the perfect spot, situated on the fire exit steps. We had a pretty nice view and waited in anticipation for the show to start. As the Ezra boys took the stage, the crowd stood at attention with their ears prepared to board the musical roller coaster that is a live Ezra show. The guys opened with a rousing performance of "Recognize," and then quickly moved on to "Misunderstood." The comrades were already starting to notice something different about this show, and it wasn’t just the large net of balloons hanging overhead. As the guys started to play "Rolling," the friends couldn’t help but notice the guys laid-back attitude and how it was spreading to the crowd...
A lighter filled version of "Live Again" was followed by the new song "Special." The crowd responded amiably to the new track, and many were singing along to it by the end. They guys then kicked it up with "Extra Ordinary" and threw in a cover of Missy Elliot’s "Work It" for good measure. Next came "Simple Song," another new lighter packed song and had the crowd begging for more by then end. They guys then took a break to shoot the breeze, there was talk of road tripping in a Four-Runner and going to see bands such as String Cheese Incident and Wide Spread Panic. Kevin mentioned Christina Aguilera and sang a few lines from "Beautiful" (which he claimed was a new nickname for Travis). Kevin continued by telling the crowd that Travis has 32 or 33 piercings, proclaiming him to be Travis "Agony is Ecstasy" McNabb.
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"Rosealia" with the James cover "Laid" cover was next on the setlist.
The wonderful James Arthur Payne come down front to sing along. Travis
reinforced his role as man of the night, by giving away a cymbal to
lucky Ezralite and message board member Loveskevin. Of course, Kevin
couldn’t let this go without noting that "Man, that sh*t will break you
Travis, why didn’t you just give her a back stage pass?!" and then
things moved quickly into "Hollow." The crowd responded to the song with
a joyous uproar and sang along.
The sing-a-long continued as the guys followed with "At the Stars." The lighters reappeared full force for "A Lifetime" (with the Ramones’ "Sedated" mixed in). The theatre seemed filled with the beautiful, but haunting, lyrics. As the night’s fun drew to a close, the boys rocked out with "Desperately Wanting" (with Nelly’s "Ride wit me" mixed in). The guys waved as they left the stage, but the crowd knew they weren’t done…
The band reappeared and Kevin commented "Yeah most bands sit back there and have a drink and a smoke, but we aren't like that. We say they're out there yelling and cheering, lets get our asses out there and rock the mother f*cking house!" The guys proceeded to finished with a rocking encore of "In the Blood" (with "Don't Fear the Reaper" mixed in) and wowed the crowd with the new song called "Daylight."
As always, there were plenty of nonmusical highlights to note. For
example, Kevin instructing the concertgoers to "Always
enunciate/emphasize when you want something. It will either get you want
or get you kicked out. For example not mother f*cker, but Motherrr F*ckerrr!"
Tom even got in on the action by razzing a crowd member who had been flipping him the bird all night. He said the guy who was either trying to get his attention or was trying to impress his girlfriend. Kevin then noted that maybe it was a sign of affection and added that it was cool as "Tom will take his loving any way he can get it!" Travis again showed his generosity even further by giving away a few drumsticks. He again proved that he was indeed the man of the night. The balloons dropping from overhead in celebration of 94.1 the Buzz’s birthday provided lots of fun for the crowd and the band. Kevin seemed to have the most fun with them as he grabbed them and tossing them at crowd members while dancing around with them. We 5 comrades found ourselves in a somewhat bittersweet mood. There was no "This Time Of Year" crowd participation and a few other things to which we had grown accustomed. As we walked to the car, we agreed that this show was somehow different. The crowd was so laid back, but at the same time, they got their bootys rocked off as we had hoped. We comrades knew that this was the dawning of a new "Era of Ezra" unlike those we had witnessed before. And, we can’t wait to see what’s coming next.... |
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