Can\'t knock the band, per usual. The tapes (if there are any) will be great and will make the show seem better than it was. STL > Puppetry went pretty deep, as did Intension. The Late and Great > Overexposure was colossal and the top highlight again. Man, they\'ve been killing this one since play 1. Even the debut at Stone Church a few months ago was epic. It seems they bypassed the normal 10-play grace period and had this where they wanted right out of the gate. Of course, it is still getting better and more varied each play as all their originals do drastically for the first 10-20 plays. The only thing I\'m uncomfortable with right now is that all 4 times I have seen this tune, half the crowd leaves for a bar/bathroom break during The Late and Great and misses the transition to Overexposure and it takes them a while to get back into it. I\'d like to see Overexposure on its own a few times or prefaced with some other songs. I don\'t see why it has to be tied to The Late and Great for its entire existence. Anyways, there were only about 50-60 people there for second set, but to everyone\'s credit the action was all down in front and fairly raging at times. The place may have been 75% empty, but everyone there was getting their money\'s worth from the band.
Speaking of the venue...
:sigh:
The Wetlands closed. Tobacco Road closed. What\'s a mid-level jamband to do? These are the scraps we\'re left to deal with. If this place thinks they\'re ever drawing rock band crowds, they\'ve got major concept issues. This is a nightclub. It is not a rock venue. It is designed for 18+ dance nights, 80\'s nights, and drag-queen talent shows. When the bouncer moved the velvet rope out of the way as we entered, I knew we were in trouble. The posh crushed red velvet surroundings, red mood lighting, and chandeliers were enough to make me feel bad about wearing jeans and a t-shirt. I doubt any of us would get in dressed as we were on any other night of the week. Holy shit were we out of place. Drinks were $6.50 bottles of beer, of which there were six to choose from and no draft, or you could get a mixed drink starting at $7.50. In other words, they totally discourage beer sales in favor of expensive martinis and such, which ain\'t exactly rock-crowd-friendly. They have four measly par-cans to light a stage that could easily be surrounded by 24-48 lights and they have no place for a light tech to stand. If you want to convince me that you\'re serious about having shows, at least light your frikin stage. Some beefy security guy felt the need to pace back and forth across the length of the stage through the first two rows of people for the entire night. If you tried to watch the show from the first two rows, this guy was clipping you and blocking your vision every 60 seconds. This club just doesn\'t get it. Next!
