Vol. 1 No. 2 (May 1, 2003) Page 11

PAGE 2
KG at the Movies

PAGE 3
BTE Lexicon

PAGE 4
The Band Take Fan Questions
(Coming Soon)

PAGE 5
Fan Profile: Jamie C.
Global BTE: Germany!!

PAGE 6
In Step with STELLA

PAGE 7
Legon Journal

PAGE 8
PAGE 9
PAGE 10
PAGE 11
PAGE 12
Northeast Show Reviews & Pics

PAGE 13
Oh Fayetteville!

PAGE 14
The Spring Break Quest

PAGE 15
News, Dates & Soundclips

PAGE 16
Letters to the Editor

PAGE 17
Laid-Back in Memphis

DAY FIVE:
Irving Plaza, New York, NY.
Wednesday, March 19, 2003.

by Shari

It was a weeknight. A Wednesday to be exact. And an unseasonably cold and windy spring night with the temperatures dipping down towards freezing. New York City was on edge, especially with the inevitable war on everyone's mind because this was the night that the U.S. was expected to launch its strike against Iraq. But for the sold-out crowd of nearly 2000 souls in Irving Plaza, there were a couple of hours of escape into another world, one where rock-and-roll seemed to bring everyone together, if only for a moment...

Irving Plaza, You'd Better Recognize!
(Photo: Abbie)

The boys of Better Than Ezra had taken a week off from recording their latest album to visit the northeast for a week. Sandwiched in the middle was a NYC date, and if you've never had a chance to catch the guys in the "Big Apple," do yourself a favor and make plans for next time; the energy generated by these shows rivals even those in New Orleans.

The opening act was Pete Francis, formerly of Dispatch. Instead of the acoustic two-man show he had delivered earlier in the week, this time he was accompanied by a full band, and he definitely benefitted from the fleshing out of the sound, especially on the fast, bluesy "Coal Miner."

By now the crowd was mostly thawed out and ready for Ezra - they hit the stage with their standard opener of the mini-tour – "Recognize." In my humble opinion, this number sets tone better than "Misunderstood." As with most shows in the New York area, the crowd seemed to know every word and sing along, which only fueled the band even more... As the night went on, both the audience and the band continued to feed off each other creating an unbelievable vibe.

The first "new" song of the night was "Special" which Kevin introduced as a tune that may, or may not, be on the new album. One would hope he was just kidding as usual, because this is easily the strongest of the new material. It's also more of a rocker than the other new songs. This night, more so than earlier in the week, the band was exceptionally tight. Tom was even noticeably pleased with himself at the end of the song and remarked how good it sounded!

Kevin seemed to believe that "Simple Song" will become the next big "anthem," noting that by this time next year, they would be playing it to 100,000 Englishmen in London’s Wembley Stadium with everyone singing along. The band once again broke the unwritten "two new songs in a row" rule by following "Simple Song" with "In a Little While" (previously known as the "Starbucks girl" song). This song is shaping up nicely with its laid-back, feel-good-yet-bittersweet groove.

Tom and Travis, the BTE Rhythm Section
(Photo: Abbie)

Fans also enthusiastically welcomed the "Hollow" back to the setlist. This has been a "new" song for over 3½ years now! Kevin remarked that they stopped playing it for a while, but since people were trading live copies of it, they've decided to start playing it again. While he may NOT have had yours truly in mind with this comment, I'll still take it as a shout-out, thank you very much...

It may not seem possible, but every time this song is reworked it gets even better. They’ve added a bit more of "the rock" and changed a couple more lyrics. As has been the case in the past few shows, "In The Blood" is no longer last song, but opens the encore instead. The guys were pressed for time and had to delete "Beautiful Mistake" from the set list (a shame, because it was a highlight of the Albany/Clifton Park show earlier in the week). Fans were rewarded with a haunting verse of "Waxing or Waning" instead.

Closing out the show was "Daylight," the last of the new songs, and the band's – or at least Kevin's – favorite. While introducing the song and its sing-along verse, KG brought us back to the numbing reality for a second. We all knew that an attack on Iraq was imminent after all, and he implored the audience to sing along so that the whole world could hear us... He added that it didn't matter whether you were for or against the war, but that we should send our love to our men and women overseas.

With the refrain of "come on, give me one reason, come on, find me in daylight" still ringing in our heads, we left the show to brave the frozen night to find a 24-hour pizza parlor, where CNN informed us that we were in fact at war. At least we still had the music and memories to keep us warm...

The Man in Black At Work
(Photo: Abbie)

by EnglishDave

A pre-show "Dance of the Ezralites." A what?! That’s what happens when a venue decides that BTE fans can’t line up for a show until 30 minutes before the doors officially open. Fans normally wait up to 3 hours before Philadelphia shows, but this time Trocadero staff kept fans moving along ostensibly to "not inconvenience local merchants" (most of whom had already closed up their businesses for the day).

The result? A bizarre "Dance of the Ezralites" as small groups of fans loitered on street corners or nonchalantly walked up and down the block to ensure a place near the front of the (eventual) line. As the magic time approached, fans poured out of parking lots, doorways, alleys and dashed across the street in a pell-mell effort to secure a good spot on line. On a positive note, venue staff didn’t seem to give fans the usual hassle about cameras. Hey, you win some, you lose some... And as Kevin noted, the Troc is the only rock venue with a Popcorn Machine!  (continued next page).