The Loud Family Tour 1998:

All photographs on this page (c) ana luisa morales 1998. Thank you ana!! Photos link to larger copies.

From: Celeste
Subject: [loud-fans] LF show Hollywood Report

Some impressions of the LA show at Spaceland in Hollywood 7.30.98, which will go down in history as one of the best LF shows ever. Several encores, great crowd. Magnificent.

The Usual Suspects: Mark, LeftyZ and I had a great time catching up as always.

The Out Of Towners: september gurl ana m., j-shirted bill holmes & rowdy company (these guys were great fun, yelling out "YEAH Baby!" throughout the show), and lister John Swartzentruber and his wife Lauren from Virginia. Steve H where were you?!

Loud Family Family: Scott's girlfriend Kristine, Kenny's wife Karen, and Gil's wife Stacey came down from SF. Also Sunny, the gal who owns Alias or something like that was there too.

I love stage banter and there were a lot of hecklers at this show, so I will try to give you verbatim what I remember.

Scott: "It is wonderful to have left the United States of America, and be back in California."
Bill & Co: "YEAH, Baby!!"
...
Drunken fan: "What's with the monkey?"
Gil: "That's personal!"
Alison: "There's nothing with the monkey, he's our monkey, he's with us, and that's what's with the monkey....Okay, his name is Socky. He looks nice but he's actually [scrunches his hat over his eyes] a very bad dude. He is very... cynical."
Bill & Co: "YEAH, Baby!!"
...
Scott, taking off his Rundgren Legacy Nehru Jacket and windsor-knotted striped tie: "I am now performing my businessman striptease."
Guy fan, to Scott: "Show us your tits!"
A drunk fan: "Hey that's sexist"
Scott: [laughs; but does not take off shirt]
Bill & Co: "YEAH, Baby!!"
...
Entire audience, each time Mr. Gil Ray leaves stage:
"GIL!! GIL!! GIL!! GIL!! GIL!! GIL!!"
...
Spot The Set Up:
"I used to go out with Paula Cole..."
"That was my mistake, I was being ironic / I wasn't good on my wedding night / I didn't think outside the box / I didn't imagine the audience naked..."

Wish I was going to SF next week,

Celeste

From: ana luisa morales
Subject: [loud-fans] here it is, tomorrow (LF 30 july, LA)

since celeste filed such a grand report,
i'm thinking that there is little need for my own....
but here 'tis....

stacey and i flew into LAX from oakland
after work thurs,
and flew back fri morn.....

in btwn,
there were some nice times,
good conversation,
and the *best* loud family show i've ever seen!

quick fashion report,
besides scott's ensemble,
(as reported by the intrepid celeste)
here's what
*the band with the best hair in the biz*TM
was wearing....

kenny:
black t shirt
& shiny red parachute type pants
(fabric seemed to be somewhere
btwn taffeta & satin)

gil:
stax t shirt,
baggy green plaid shorts

alison:
sleeveless tank cut, drop waist,
animal print dress
w/ that vintage necklace i always covet
and black platforms....

socky:
brown heather long johns
and homeboy cap....

the music:
as a unit,
the band has really melded.
yes, there was a good soundperson
at the club,
but the nuances were there.....
(i cd make an indelicate comparison,
but i shan't)

the set list was the same one,
and we had, i believe,
three sets of encores....

encores included
*here it is tomorrow*
and
the loudly requested
*...mauritania*...

(gratuitous side note:
i never realized how *manly*
(in the swashbuckin',
in like errol flynn
sense of the word)
*...mauritania* as sung by
scott and kenny that night
caused me to envision
*mutinty on the bounty -- the musical!*
with the hardy seafaring souls roaring
*that's why we don't live...*)

i was also glad to have
*asleep & awake...* as an encore.....
and we had *execution day*, too!
nyaa--nyaa--nyaa--nayaa!!!!!

aside from the show,
on a personal level,
it was good to connect with celeste, mark and leftyZ
again....
i had not seen them since jan '97,
but i felt as if we were all just friends
who live in the same town--
just really busy!

and it was a true pleasure
to meet & hang with chi bill holmes....
(and everything celeste sd abt bill's entourage
was true! )
thanks, bill, for saving a chair for my gear....

i shot a lot
(photos, not heroin),
and actually went for cheez-y candid color snaps,
as well as documentary style b&w,
which is my norm.
(two camera setups rock!)
also took some group shots
during the load-out....

moist eyes during
*where they go to school....*

so i close my verbal wanderings with thanks
to not only scott, kenny, alison & gil,
but also
to kristine (esp! for the rocky road brownies)
danny (manning the merch again)
karen (still pursuing all the publicity)
and of course,
my dear friend and travel companion,
stacey.....
*broad smile, happy sigh*

see you at BotH next sat....

september gurl
--ana m.

From: Bill Holmes
Subject: [loud-fans] The LF in LA - Business Trips are Okay

Back home in Chicagoland from my California business trip ... my ears finally stopped ringing about 36 hours after the last note was played. Maybe my ears should be burning based on Celeste's and Ana's previous reports of the Spaceland show. I guess it is my turn to give my rather lengthy report on the show.

I left the hotel in Woodland Hills about 6:00 and headed up to my friend Brad's house in Northridge. His friend, the aptly named Crazy Dave, was already there. They were drinking beer, shooting pool, and presumably had been watching Austin Powers on video (which would account for the abundance of "YEAH, Baby" yelling at the show).

We left for Spaceland a little before 8:00. I had made a tape of the original set list from this tour -- damn the spoilers, full speed ahead. Without the cover song and adding "Mauritania" as an encore resulted in almost exactly filling 50 minutes. As we drove down the 118 to the 5, this tape was played at high volume -- we were not asleep on the man's freeway. We got a little more than halfway through the tape by the time we found the club. Thanks to Mark Portier for the very helpful info on finding Spaceland.

Noticing "The Loud Family" in lights on the marquee and seeing Gil Ray himself having a smoke on the sidewalk in front of the club told us this must be the place. We hung out on the sidewalk for awhile, chatting with Ana, Gil, Stacey, Kristine, and Alison. Scott emerged from the club and we were able to talk with him, mostly about the 4 weeks on tour and this being the last away date before the return home. I mentioned that after such a long separation from Kristine that I doubted that Kristine would tell him to be quiet tonight. Scott seemed to enjoy my feeble attempt at humor. (Afterwards, Brad mentioned to me how much Scott's speaking voice reminded him of Dick Cavett. Does anyone else hear that?)

More people began to arrive and hang out on the sidewalk, including Michael Quercio. I talked with Scott and Michael about: mid 80's shows at The Grotto in New Haven; Michael's new band Jupiter Effect (is that the correct name?), at which point Scott pulled the new Jupiter Effect CD out of a Tower Records bag that seemed to be loaded with CDs; and Let's Active. In retrospect, I should have suggested a Michael/Scott onstage reunion of sorts for later on in the show (perhaps a "Girl with the Guitar" duet).

I entered the club and saw that Brad (for those who were there, he was the guy in the Jerry Rice jersey) and Crazy Dave had grabbed a front row table opposite of where Alison's keyboard set up would be. The opening band, Anemone, eventually came on and did a pleasant set composed of mid-tempo Pretenders-sounding material, without Chrissie but with a lead guitarist who bore an uncanny resemblance to actor Richard Deacon (aka Mel Cooley from Dick Van Dyke and Frank Rutherford from Leave it to Beaver).

Next up was Cowboy Nation, a 3 piece band with 2 brothers in 10 gallon hats up front and a female drummer. The goofier looking brother played his acoustic guitar like a madman, while the 6'7" brother played bass and sang in a deep, low cowboy voice. Yee-haw! - these guys rocked the place, and loudly with what they called neo-classical cowboy songs. I asked Ana if she had heard of this band, and she seemed to recall some connection to Rank and File. Brad bought their CD and was singing the Cowboy Nation theme song the next morning at work.

Brad and Crazy Dave had been to the Santa Monica LF show last November at the now defunct Alligator Lounge. I was not at that show, but I recall reports of it being one of the best LF shows to date. I had let them know how well the LF responds to crowd enthusiasm and energy, and by this time we all were ready to rock. The table next to us was vacated by departing Cowboy Nation fans, and Celeste and Mark jumped into the front row center seats. Thanks to Celeste and Mark for coming up and introducing themselves, and apologies to Celeste if Crazy Dave was a little too crazy sitting right next to her. I had a good chat with Mark about GBV and the apparent return of Toby Sprout to the group.

At 11:30, exactly as promised, the LF took the stage. Scott, in Todd's Nehru jacket and tie (which stayed on for only about 3 songs), was absolutely on fire - amazingly energetic and confident. The sound and mix were excellent and the band was as tight as could be. They played the original set list with two encores and Scott having gone out with Paula Cole this time. Alison is a natural showwoman on stage, and Gil just beat the hell out of the drums (after the Gil chant, he told the crowd, "OK, class, now quiet down".) Kenny was solid as a rock on bass and backing vocals. An overall incredible performance by the band.

I have only seen the LF live once before and I'll leave it to the veterans to decide, but it's hard to believe they could put on a better show than this one.

After the show, I bought a T-shirt and a copy of DfD for the executive secretary at our Woodland Hills office. She had heard a few cuts from the CD at lunch that day, loved it at first listen, and just had to have it. Scott was kind enough to write a personal note to her on the liner notes after the show.

I had previously spoken with Alison about how she had sold out all of the copies of The Fog Show, and asked her after the show the best way to order one. She then told me she had 2 extras stashed away and went back to her gear and got me one. Count me as a big Alison fan.

Let me also mention what a pleasure it was to meet and chat with Ana, who is as sweet and nice as a certain Gram Parsons vocal on the first Burritos album.

It was then time to head back to the Valley with ears ringing, voice hoarse, and set list tape playing in the car. What a great evening with friends and Family.

Bill Holmes

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