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DAY SIX (CONT'D):
So how was the show? INCREDIBLE. An almost sold out crowd greeted the guys warmly and they proceeded to rock the house. The setlist was not unlike the earlier shows, but included "Sedated" added back to "Sincerely Me" and an audience-requested "Get You In." The encore included a little "Waxing or Waning" (with a bus trip to "New York City," instead of the nondescript "City") leading into "In the Blood" followed by an awesome "Porcelain" (Voodoo style). And of course, the show ended with the amazing "Daylight." The guys threw out a whole bunch of laughs during the show. Most amusing (to some anyway), was Kevin pointing out the sign saying "Speaker Top is Very Slippery" to discourage artist gymnastics. So, KG boldly put his water bottle up there and as the band rocked out to "Lifetime" the vibrations slid the open water bottle right across the top of the speaker until it spilled over the floor. I guess it did "...move like water." Fans also learned trivia about BTE’s silvery backdrop curtain. According to KG, the band got the backdrop back in 1995 or 1996. They had wanted one like the band "Belly" had and they called up their former managers for information only to get the item gratis! Anyway, this was supposedly the last time this backdrop would be used as: "Travis is busily knitting a new one." Gentleman Jim Payne was in fine fettle grinning and wearing his baseball cap askew as he launched into Missy Elliott and Bill Cosby impressions. Tom Drummond commented on the odor of the "green" coming from the audience. Finally, after quizzical looks from KG he explained: "All I’m saying is I didn’t know Philadelphia had such good pot!" Not to be outdone, Travis did his new Tom Waits impression and KG threw a very rare Robert DeNiro impression into "At the Stars" – "I am throwing down in Chinatown, my friend." And major props to the 3 young ladies who showed up wearing, respectively, t-shirts emblazoned with a huge "B" "T" and "E". You rock!
DAY SEVEN: by Johnny G On the eve of March 22nd, 2003 Ezralites and students of the Worcester University came together to freeze in the cold as they awaited the arrival of the rock band better known as Better Than Ezra. A very long line snaked its way around the campus as ticket holders waited for the Auditorium to open its doors. |
Pete Francis warmed up the crowd with tracks off his new album, "Untold." Then the lights came down and out came the sound that kicks off every Ezra show: a rooster's crowing. The stage blasted to life with "Recognize," the east coast tour opener. Many would think that the seats of this auditorium would somehow contain the crowd in an orderly fashion but oh, not tonite! Everyone was jumping out of their rows and flooding the aisles. Security reinforcements consisting of 19 year old girls ambushed the onslaught of screaming fans with pointed fingers urging them all to get back to their seats. This mattered none. The crowd continued jumping and dancing as the band soared through "Misunderstood," "Rolling" and "Good." Things slowed down for a bit as "Live Again" was introduced. Kevin treated the audience with his impression of Lenny Kravitz and 10 second cover of "American Woman." by the Guess Who. Most of the band was feeling very improv-ish that night. Tom dished out "Pootie Tang" references while the esteemed Mr. Jim Payne broke out with his rendition of Missy Elliot's "Gossip Folks." "Special" is one of the newer songs that we were priveledged to listen to on Saturday night. It has HIT written all over it. WWOZ made a surprising appearance, an old friend off of "Friction, Baby." I noticed a small number of wary moms accompanying their daughters to the show. May I say in all honesty that when the boys covered "I Wanna Be Sedated" (by the Ramones) these moms were out of their seats and slightly rawkin their heads! The cover went directly into "Sincerely, Me" and the roof almost came down at Clark U. "Desperately Wanting" closed the show but only left the fans screaming for the encore. Audience participation prevailed during the encore. "Porcelain" was the most requested, so in turn "Voodoo Porcelain" was performed. The crowd then got to choose between either "In the Blood" or "Rosealia," and the latter was chosen. The night came to an end with another new song, "Daylight," which features a beautiful sing-a-long (audience participation!) towards the end. A wonderful way for the guys to say goodbye to the east coast once again. And the fans sit here deciding which is the lesser of two evils? The wait for the new album or the wait until the next show? |
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