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IN THIS ISSUE:
2004 Christmas
Show Reviews
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
The Bootlog
Page 9
Fan Profile /
More Cowbell!
Page 10
Some Ezra Sights From New Orleans
Page 11
Listening Party Update
Page 12
The Reviews & Pictorials
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18
Page
19
Page 20
Page 21
News & Links
Page 22
Map of Ezra
Page 23
TTOY Hall of Fame
Page 24
Cowbell Hall of Fame
Page 25
BTE Impressions
Page 26
THE ARCHIVES
Volume 1
Mar.
2003
May 2003
July
2003
Sept.
2003
Nov.
2003
Jan.
2004
Volume 2
Mar.
2004
May
2004
July
2004
Sep.
2004
Nov.
2004
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2004 CHRISTMAS SHOWS (CONT'D)
The Start of the "Big Rock, Butt Shake,
and Thrust" Combination Move
(Photo: ChrisK)
Friday Night (Cont'd)
BTE came to rock and they began to do so with “King of New Orleans.”
Travis went so far as to spin a cymbal with his hands during the song.
During the breakdown, Kevin Griffin commented that “it doesn’t get any
cooler or exotique than New Orleans and it’s our hometown!”
Not missing a beat, the guys launched into “Pull” from How Does
Your Garden Grow? A special word of thanks is due to former New
Orleans DJ Rod Ryan who got the guys to attempt this older tune at last
year’s Christmas shows. It’s obviously largely due to his efforts that
this song has reappeared in recent setlists.
As James Arthur Payne, Jr. Started the piano intro to “Misunderstood” KG
decided to welcome the crowd by wishing them a “Merry Christmas, Happy
Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.” He drew some curious looks from Tom and Travis at
the end of the song as he threw in some fancy guitar picking and a
“Yeah-Yeah!” in the style of A la Otis Day and the Knights from Animal
House.
Trying to loosen up the audience, Mr. Griffin observed that in reality
the holiday season was already in full force. “Face it, from now until
the middle of January you aren’t going to anything accomplished at
school or work. So, just let it all hang out. Undo your belts a notch!”
Tom Drummond Rockin' the HoB
(Photo: ChrisK, click to enlarge)
As “Rolling” began, KG announced that he was on some sort of journey
that right. “I can’t think of a cool or funny title for it,” he said
“but I will by the end of the night.” Whether or not he did come up with
such a title remains an unanswered question.
Gesturing toward their sound man extraordinaire,
Griffin explained that their New Orleans shows are always so great, so
much so that Brian has trouble getting the PA above the crowd noise.
According to KG, Brian is the “puppet master and if you ever get bored
at a show, just turn around and watch him directing us.”
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He then offered an aside that the new Better than Ezra
album is “f*cking amazing.” As if to prove their
point, the tambourine into for “Daylight” began.
According to Kevin, that was Graham Colton on the
tambourine, apparently multi-tasking: “He’s up there
in the Green Room with a bottle of Ripple and a bottle
of Vodka with a couple of ladies giving him a
massage.” The song proved to be one of the big crowd
pleasers of the night. It’s emotive lyrics really
grab your attention.
Returning to a track from Closer, the boys next offered up “Extra
Ordinary.” Kevin began the song with what I have come to dub the “big
rock, butt shake, and thrust” move. You know what I mean, when he stands
on the edge of the stage and does those big guitar notes and then heads
back to face Travis as he shakes his posterior to the crowd, after which
he turns around and begins the song proper with a pelvic thrust. At some
point during the song Travis seemed to kick up the beat and Kevin
playfully mouthed a “you’re speeding up, aren’t you m*ther f*cker?”
T-Nabbs on the Snow Covered Drums
(Photo: ChrisK, click to enlarge)
As the song ended, Tom stepped up to the mic to announce they would
be playing an acoustic set for Fan
Club members over at the Parish after the show. According to Drummond,
this would include a “bunch of
songs we don’t really know.”
Before commencing “Good,” Kevin Griffin observed that this was the song
that started it all, “the juggernaut
known as Better than Ezra.” Like all tunes that “f*cking rock,” the song
begins with a “G” (not being musically schooled, I’m not sure if he
meant the letter or the note).
As the band kicked into high gear, Turtle Elf appeared
from the wings of the stage. As he staggered around the stage he tossed
miscellaneous fruit to audience members from a large white ceramic tray.
Oranges followed bananas and Griffin admonished the crowd “you’d better
not throw that sh*t back!”
Turtle then tried to balance a banana on Tom’s neck as
he rocked out. The offending fruit fell to the ground where it was
scooped up by “Uncle” Mike Keel to avoid an unpleasant squishing
incident or an old school
comedic slip and fall. As Turtle again left the stage, KG told him that
“all I want for Christmas is a hangover, can you grant me that one
wish?”
“Rosealia” was momentarily marred by a moment of
painful feedback. Tom did an exceptionally spirited
bass solo. KG modified his lead-in by saying
quizzically, “from Shreveport, Louisiana, some people
call it God’s country.” As the song continued, Kevin
asked Jim to offer up his best “Neil Young ‘Harvest
era’ harmonica with some Dylan ‘Blood on the Tracks’
thrown in.” He also requested light man Jim Farrar for
his best “cobalt blue lights” as he covered a snippet
of Young’s “Sugar Mountain” (more on
page 3).
KG Strikes a Peculiar-Looking Pose
(Photo: ChrisK)
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