Colossal BUMP for back-to-back indisputable greatest versions starting at Sully\'s a couple of weeks ago then again even better at Middle East Upstairs last night.
It\'s hard to believe that TLAG was a totally lost cause for years. They played it twice in late 2001, most notably at Fonghoulish Freakout 3, then it was shelved for 3 or 4 years. It was on the same sorry shelf as Za and Ahhh The Name Is Breakfast Baby. This is the "eye-roll" shelf where if you bring up the song to anyone, you just get a weak smile and a "Yeah, what the fuck was ever up with that tune?" It was really on that shelf. I can\'t believe that now.
Then the comeback starts in early 2006 by being hooked onto new monster Overexposure. TLAG was back and it wasn\'t bad, so that was cool. At least it was off the eye-roll shelf. But it just didn\'t seem necessary. OE is so good, why was TLAG there?
I will admit, there were definitely times where I was waiting for TLAG to end so we could get to OE. You could feel it in the crowd too. There was one time at Stone Church where TLAG emptied the floor real fast. You would\'ve thought they were giving out free nugs at the bar, in the bathroom, and outside. I began to wonder: If everyone knows the next song is so good, and that the current song is so slow, then aren\'t you just inviting people to leave the floor by putting TLAG in front of Overexposure? I was starting to think that they might have to bite the bullet, admit their mistake, and start cutting TLAG off OE.
Now after the last few performances, TLAG is the hottest Breakfast tune. I think it has much more to do with the fans than the band. I think once we opened up to it and started really accepting a ballad in Breakfast shows, it took off. The way the band plays it hasn\'t changed. Sure, there\'s more urgency in the playing now that we\'re responding to the song, but it\'s the same song.
Now we\'re at the point where TLAG has taken Song Of The Night honors at a raging show. Not to mention as a stand-alone encore! TLAG has now completely usurped Question Mark\'s long-standing title of Best Breakfast Ballad. That doesn\'t make Question Mark any less of a song, but nothing like last night has ever happened during Question Mark, that\'s for sure. (If you\'re looking for a quiet street to move to, it\'s awfully quiet on Vera Street right now! I think the only resident is a Gypsy Girl.) Love Lake did the comeback thing recently and it was fun, but this is far and away the greatest Breakfast song comeback story.
Long live The Late and Great.
