The Loud Family Tour 1998:

From: Jeff Latzko
Subject: [loud-fans] Hot Atlanta Show!

Very Late so I 'll keep it short.

The band rocked as usual. Scott did Dripping with Looks Solo for me, I am so honored and it still kicks after all these years. Big Loud gathering, Larry Brantley, Andy Snyder, Francis Park, ana's friend Lee, Dan "Slamming" Opdyke, Michelle Woodard (The new official Loud Family Dancer!), Dave from Favorite Colour all the way up from Gainesville, FL, and a host of new and old Loud and Game Theory fans.

I'd estimate about 50-60 people, so not a bad turn out. Lots of business at the concession stand, T-shirts and CDs were flying. A few Southern Game Theory fans from back in the 80's offered Scott after the show (Jokingly I think, but you never know) $10,000 to play at their house. Scott said they could be had for a lot less! A little rouble in the beginning of the show when they were kicking ass to "Not Because You Can" when Scott's strings were a little out of tune and he couldn't continue. He re-tuned and joked that his guitar technician would not be riding in the limo later tonight. (I earlier saw Scott re-stringing the guitar himself) Anyway, great show, Dan Opdyke was slam dancing to some Game Theory (Don't recall which song.) He was slamming me, but I forgive him. It is great to see the enthusiasm!

They also did, I believe, their first attempt at Cortex the Killer! After a couple minutes though, they abandoned it. Needs a little more work, but it still sounded good.

Got to go to bed, great show, hope I don't have to wait another two years!

Jeff

Bummer: Not Execution Day!, Darn!

photo courtesy Francis Park (durandal@sprintmail.com) who identifies, to the best of his ability:
background: both visible heads unknown;
top row: unknown, unknown, unknown, Larry Brantley, Jeff Latzko, Dan Opdyke, Kenny Kessel;
middle row: Michele Woodard, Francis Park;
front row: Alison Faith Levy, Scott Miller, Gil Ray.
I would've guessed Ana's friend Lee is in here but I didn't meet him specifically.

Click photo for big-ass enlargement.

From: ana luisa morales
Subject: [loud-fans] Fwd: atlanta LF show

atlanta tour report from my friend, lee!

enjoy september gurl,
--ana m.

> How was the Loud Family?

At moments a serious blast from the past (both good/happy and good/sad) and at others a bewildering delight. It was very odd in 1998 to see so many people be so enthusiastic for basically the same music I was totally ga-ga for as long as twelve years ago. Thirteen years. Whatever. When I was one of like maybe ten people at their shows. It was good.

They opened with "Not Because You Can" which I thought was very exciting. I felt a shiver run up my spine. The happened again during the "elegance of line and a sense of place" song from _Two Steps..._ which they did soon after. The shiver this time elicited from the keyboardist's backing vocals that used to be belted out by Donette Thayer (I know, I know...boo! hiss!)--those vocals are very effective and one of the most important parts of the song. She did them fine and it just made me remember the onstage chemistry/stylistic tension between Miller and Thayer that was v. memorable to me.

It occurred to me last night that the sort of melancholic, paisley, Mitch Eastery, psychedelia that first turned me on to Game Theory ("24", "Here It Is Tomorrow", etc) was basically a pre-Donette sound. Coinciding with her came the sort of mindbending pop of _LN_ (although Easter produced _LN_, didn't he?--it was a totally different sound). I never thought about it at the time.

When he did "Dripping with Looks", I could seriously remember hearing that song for the very first time live at One Step Beyond (horribly rude nightclub with horrible sound in horribly awful Silicon Valley near where I grew up) one night before _LN_ came out, early to mid-set, him wearing a white button down shirt (as was often his wont), sweat already pouring off of him (and me too, OSB had intolerably bad air circulation) and me thinking "This is a great song and, boy, he really knows how to play guitar!" It sounded as fresh and exciting last night as it did back then. The only other song I think I knew was "Spot the Set-Up" from _Plants_ which was delightful.

There were one or two encores each with one or two songs--and this was very different. Game Theory's encores oftentimes outweighed the show itself. They would routinely play well past midnight. Scott didn't seem to be drinking and he didn't drop his trousers. No one demanded "Shark Pretty". I don't mean to devolve into compare/contrast but I can't seem to help myself. Scott just seemed a bit more "at peace" with himself onstage. There was no overreaching, no self-deprecation. It suited him. However, I felt a nostalgic kind of sadness for those days when I would routinely make four hour round trips to Berkeley from Santa Cruz on a weeknight to see Game Theory play to like a dozen people. )sigh(

All the songs new to me were great. One in particular, you will have to tell me what album it's on when you know the setlist, after his first solo--or it may have started as a solo progressed into a full-band song with fairly even timing and mid-speed beat. I really liked that song. I'm sorry I can't describe it better. I would have bought the new CD if I'd known I had $15 in my wallet--I thought I was broke--actually, I would have spent that money on beer but nevermind. I passed the show being very hungry and thirsty and my friend and I scooted off to Waffle House for refreshment directly afterwards.

I said hi and introduced myself to Scott before the show. Told him I was a friend of ana's and that I was at every GT show from 1986 (and a few in 85 to boot) until almost the end (which I couldn't bear). He looked puzzled and then I named the clubs (I guess he assumed I was from Georgia) and he smiled and said wow and said he hoped I liked the set and I told him I was sure I would. I didn't recognize Gil at all--I didn't know he'd cut all his hair off. Scott looks exactly the same, but Gil's totally changed. I contemplated saying hi to him too, but by the end, I was wordless. The keyboardist sat at the table in front of us all night until LF put their stage together so I didn't know who she was until later. The Loud Fans occupied a large table directly in the center of the restaurant/club (cool cajun restaurant/club, i'd never heard of it before, in Atlanta's werehouse district which I didn't even know Atlanta had) and seemed to be having a good time.

Larry, who I met at the Mag 7's West show last year, re-introduced himself and we chatted and someone named Jeff from Chicago who works for Lucent did too.

Lee

From: donald andrew snyder
Subject: [loud-fans] update, atl show

Greetings all,

I'm settled back in Chicago after a brief stay in Atlanta, Montgomery, Dallas, and Athens. Here's a few thoughts:

My first Loud Family show! It was great to meet all of the Loud-fans that showed. Thanks to Larry and his sharp directions, I actually showed up early. I brought two friends (one who apparently looks like Sue) whose only exposure to the LF was my force-feeding of Miles' Tape of Only Scott Songs (which I stole from Susan of fegdom). It's questionable whether the LF can be appreciated in such a short time frame, but I tried anyway. Michelle also brought some potential converts -- all of which I used to convince Scott that we needed a religious experience there at the Reptile. This, of course, was my first Scott meeting and all of this had to be yelled into his ear. Scott, btw, was just as nice as everyone says, but he was also quite adaptable. We talked about divinity school, Augustine, and Kierkegaard. I tried to convince him that he should be an Episcopal priest, and he wasn't protesting much. Can he dive into everyone's world this easy? Or is he a hidden theologian? Does Scott have an e-mail that I could send some sermons to?

Thanks to Jeff, easily recognizable in his LF shirt, who I never met in Chicago, for encouraging me to talk to Scott (and for requesting Dripping w/ Looks). Francis for helping me put the finishing touches on the cajun food I had been eating for over an hour. And Dan for his enthusiastic dancing. Michelle, though, gets credit for getting the dancing ball rolling -- and we all joined in like school children.

It's good to be back,
Andy Snyder

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