The Loud Family Tour 1998:

From: flux
Subject: [loud-fans] SLC show review (massive spoilers!)

On Mon, 6 Jul 1998, Miles Goosens wrote:

>Speaking of which, I thought we'd hear from Our Todd (not Our Rundgren Who Art in Purgatory) with a report by
>now, darn it! My guess is that he's on the 40,000th word, and he just now realized that he's only through the
>pre-show dinner... ;-)

nope, just starting in fact. i haven't logged in for the past six days, knowing that i didn't want to know one damned thing about the show shortly to assault my senses. and i'm glad i didn't because one of the questions plaguing my mind the most was whether the Loud Family would actually be playing any of the "odd tracks", which in catching up on my e-mail today i found that Sue for all her precautions would indeed have spoiled for me had i not had the foresight to avoid the list at all costs for the last week. so, if you are going to see the show, and are like me in the least... read no further because i'm gonna blab it all.

was able to round up five other friends that i've exposed to Scott's work peripherally or otherwise and we grouped up at my place at around 8:00pm and headed out for the Zephyr uncertain of what time the show was supposed to start. i just knew i wanted to get there in time to talk to the band a bit, if at all possible. it just so turned out that it was very possible. i noticed Kenny as soon as i entered and i introduced myself to him, and to my dismay he actually remembered me from the night of the SanFran tour-ender two years ago. my friends were hanging back for some reason, but I anted to get my DFD autographs taken care of. i'm sure i came off a little over-zealous, since i was the only one even slightly zealous. I introduced myself to Gil and Scott and got Gil to sign my Lolita Nation sleeve and then i systematically got the whole band to sign my Days For Days sleeve. i thanked Scott for the recommendation to read Girard (just finished 'Things Hidden...' this past month) and told him that i had heard a rumor that a Book of Mormon had come into his possession. i don't think he really knew where i was coming from, so he kindly mentioned that it didn't seem to be his thing, news at which upon receiving i expressed my great relief. i think for a second there he thought i was going to go religious wacko on him, and i think he was glad to find out that i was merely going to go music wacko on him. when my friends eventually wandered in, they found a 500 person capacity club absolutely empty, but for the band members, about three barflies, and me in the middle of buying a t-shirt (they do look great, and at ten bucks how can you go wrong?) from Alison and a couple of bumper stickers, which i was glad to see the band had along with them. by the time i got back to Kenny for his autograph (he'd gone to make a call to his lady, i guess), there was hardly any space left for him on the band photo, but he squeezed his name on anyway.

at this point, i was pretty sure that i'd made enough of a nuisance of myself, so i went over to sit with my friends and to hope that a few more people would begin to filter in. i broke down in my resolve to not drink that night when my friend Mike bought a round of kamikazes, but i figured what the hell... i had already talked to the band, so there's no chance of me making an ass of myself (plot device: foreshadowing).

well, shortly after i had downed the poison, Scott wanders over with backpack slung over shoulder and a beer in hand, and just sat down right amongst my friends and me. i was super-elated. we talked to him for at least an hour discussing everything from his first guitar (a Swedish make called something like a "Hengstrom"?) to what albums he's loving the most this year (mental note: Royal Trux 'Accelerator'). i was really glad for the opportunity to let my friend's see what a cool, down-to-earth person Scott is, figuring that they would at least be more favorably disposed to the show if they knew him a bit.

we got around to the topic of Terrastock and Scott said that the high point of the festival for him had been the Olivia Tremor Control's set and their sonic drone that happened to coincide with that "powers of ten" film, which i remember some list-members describing. it was quite neat to be able to hear someone -- whose music you really love -- describing music that he really loves and that you also happen to really love. during this time, i had to exercise the greatest discipline to not blurt out the big Q on my mind: are you gonna play any of the "odd" tracks from DFD?

my big faux pas for which i feel i need to publically abase myself: at the height of that kamikaze's effect on me, i got a little overly animated and in the conversation Scott dropped Joey Santiago's name who i think I confused with Richie Sambora or god-knows-who-i-was-thinking-of, but then i offered some derogatory comment with regards to that mighty Pixies' guitarist and, well... i'm sure Scott is still shaking his head at that one. i know i am. d'oh!

anyway, the rumors of the opening band's break-up unfortunately proved to be unfounded and Yer Highness took the stage. they truly blew. not only was their music completely redundant (my friends and i speculated that they might cover "Balls to the Wall"), but the lyrics were "somewhat misguided". if i found them utterly stupid, the Breenish One would've been righteously infuriated at hearing the line, "getting high/ is no crime/ ease my mind/ smoke some crack". needless to say, a more mismatched bill hasn't been witnessed by this chronicler since Possum Dixon opened for Stabbing Westward. oh yeah, by the time Yer Highness was finished, the club had at most 20 people in it. things were looking pretty bleak, and i was worried that even i might be unable to find the enthusiasm to enjoy such stark prospects for Our Loudies.

dammit, having had to catch up on 250+ e-mails, i've been online for 5 hours already and i honestly was planning on keeping this down to one part. i guess Miles' post has proven prophetic, because i -really- need some sleep... this weekend was sheer madness for me, and the show Sunday night didn't exactly help me fall asleep afterwards. but this shall all be explained in due time.

to be continued...
todd
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

From: flux
Subject: [loud-fans] SLC pt. 2 (many-a-spoiler)

On Tue, 7 Jul 1998, Roger J. Winston wrote:

>This is probably sacrilege to report on the Denver show before todd has finished his SLC show report (keep it up,
>todd - very entertaining), but what the heck. I won't be able to do the same sort of justice to events that todd
>does, but I'll try to make it interesting. Please forgive in advance any self-indulgence or rambling on.

you'll get no such apologies from me. sorry to label that last post "(massive spoilers)". i'm sure i've totally ruined everyone's next Yer Highness gig. but i mean it this time.

something i forgot to mention in the last post, a quote from Scott when someone mentioned the Wallflowers' cover of "Heroes": "yeah, that really wasn't a very good idea, was it?" (i was howling with laughter at his knack for understatement)

hey, i'm not going to list the set list, since it is track for track the same as those posted on Sue's web-page, but i'm going to comment on most songs played, so if you want to be surprised stop reading now. and now, back to your regularly scheduled show review, in progress...

the Loud Family took the stage probably a little after 10:30pm. about 5 more people had in the meantime straggled in. i couldn't count more than 25 people, and that figure might be generous. undeterred, the band got their set underway by bombarding the club with the sounds that as an odd-numbered track from DFD, have no real name. consider -that- question answered! but the band answered that question with a more important question: "WHY?!" and boy, did they ever ask it fiercely! Alison hammered on her keyboards with what seemed like spastic abandon, and Scott pulled some howling sounds from his guitar, but it was still recognizable as #9, DFD's most abrasive moment. a big shit-eating grin formed across my face as i thought about what sort of impression this brief little noisefest was going to have on my friends, but that satisfied grin fell away into complete dismay as the noise segued into, lo and behold, a
Lolita Nation tune?!! yes, before i could even get my bearings, it had under my very ears and eyes transformed into "Not Because You Can". What this means is that "WHY?!" (my name for track 9) was serving in the same introductory capacity that "Kenneth, What's the Frequency?" does on the
album. why? because you can't and -they- can! the Loud Family answered their own question with a solid rendition of NBYC, Scott flashing his adept licks as though he was playing in some packed stadium and not some empty club out in the cultural wasteland that is utah. what flare! I mean, i had witnessed this kind of one-song-into-another when witnessing "Go Ahead/on the Man's Freeway" two years earlier, but i had in no way the slightest suspicion that the kids were going to unleash something like that on me this early in the game.

after they finished, i roared as only i can. taking ana's word of advice (about the Louds feeding on the crowd's energy) to heart, i made preparations to give up my life. i'm glad to report that this wasn't necessary, but i had every intention of letting them know how much they really were appreciated. at some point early in the show, Kenny actually dedicated the show to me. i felt really cool. needless to say, i showed forth many more hoots and hollers of pure joyousness at the end of each song, clapping madly all the while.

"Businessmen Are Okay" gave my friend Gerald a laugh, since he recently turned me onto a very anti-businessmen screed by an old UK hardcore punk band featuring the line "businessmen are all the same". i had situated myself right up against a railing/bar at the back of the dancefloor which lies in front of the stage -- in other words, i was smack-dab in the middle of the huge speakers on either side of the stage and far enough back to be set for optimal sound. damn, it sounded great. at the very beginning, i was worried that Scott's vocals might be mixed a little too low, but the soundman took care of that right away. i had been leaning up against the rail, but it was at this point that i started swaying and grooving on the floor. a couple of gals were already dancing, doing their best to keep up with the odd time changes of the previous song, so i guess i took their cue. Scott thanked everyone for coming out and said, "I think i can honestly say for the rest of the band that each and every one of you would have been missed." i don't know how they summoned up the reserves of optimism, but they were bright and cheerful for the whole gig, Scott and Alison in particular. Alison even thanked the dancers for dancing.

have i sent my take on "Mozart Sonatas" to this list yet? in brief, I think it kicks ass, both musically and metaphysically. i'll save the long drawn-out discourse for another post, but let me just say that it did manage to kick both objective asses of mine in the space of its sub-two-minute glory. i rocked out so hard to it that any adverse alcoholic effects were by song's conclusion entirely sweated out of me. the band was tight and kicking out the jams, and i found myself thinking, "this is only their third show into the tour?" they're just going to get better and better, folks, and i envy anyone who gets to see their tour closer in SanFran this year.

next, Scott started playing this somewhat familiar sounding guitar lick, but then kind of aborted it and let it drop, and would play it again, let it die, and finally established a jerky kind of pattern with it. then the rest of the band joined in and a little while later i realized i was hearing a version of "Sword Swallower", but a really kind of chopped-up version because of the way Scott was doing the guitar part. Gil played a very dance-groove beat, rather similar to the one Jozef laid down for "Marcia and Etrusca". the tune was almost unrecognizable except for the vocal melody. i did notice that the verse which usually starts with "hey, you know i thought you said, wanna get high?" had completely new lyrics as well. sadly, i was unable to make out any of the new lines. Will someone at upcoming shows please keep an ear open for these and have a notebook on hand? thanks. i think the band should re-record "Sword" with this new arrangement and put it out someday.

after that, we got two more of the experimental odd pieces for the price of one. #5 into #11. this wasn't quite as amazing of a segue as the one at the beginning of the show, since #11 is only about 15 seconds long anyway, but i was still really happy that they were pulling off so many of the "experimental" bits live.

"Deee-pression" was next and, well, it rawked. it rawked hard. when I first heard DFD, i considered this the weakest track, but since then repeated plays and this all-out live performance of it have helped to cement it in my mind as not only a great, catchy tune, but also as a vital entity in and of itself, integral in defining the Family's current line-up. sure, they go back and forth between early LF and GT songs with masterful ease, but i tell you, despite the fact that, sure, this song never existed with the earliest version of the Loud Family, "Deee-Pression" captures the essence of an entirely new chemistry at play in this band. Kenny's bouncy bass, Gil's upbeat guidance (not to mention those fills), Scott's hot guitar, Alison's vocal interplay with Scott, and that beautifully subdued middle eight right into the heavy bring-back. fit of elation? "right!!" this is now one of my faves.

damn me and my wordiness. it's already 11pm and i logged in right after I got home from work for the second day in a row. looks like i might just still have two more parts left in me. i really don't even have any good excuse this time, since i didn't even travel for the show. you'll just have to bear with me.

off to sleep again,
todd
tune in tomorrow when you'll hear fellow slc Loud-fan Craig Arnold say,
"What did i miss?!"

From: flux
Subject: [loud-fans] SLC pt. 3 (spoilers-a-plenty)

okay, i kinda need to mention that before the Louds went on, i had called up fellow list-member, Craig Arnold, and asked him where the hell he was. he was understandably exhausted from the seriously decadent 4th of july party he'd thrown the night before. i told him that the Family were about to play in front of an empty club and that he needed to muster his hungover ass to the Zephyr. he said he'd see what he could do. it was during the next song, "Room For One More, Honey" (yes!) that i saw Craig entering the club. i ran over to him to welcome him, but his face was already glazed with slap-happy disbelief. "They're doing, 'Room For One More'," he exclaimed and i nodded my head to confirm that yes, he should believe his ears. i can't do any more justice to the song than other listers have in the past, but i was very grateful to finally be able to hear this song performed live. who would've thought i ever would get the chance?

next, Scott just started playing his guitar clean and the gentle strains of "Back to School" started washing over us. one of my top 3 IbC tunes, which was conspicuous in it's absence when i saw the end of the IbC tour. Kenny joined in later in the song, as did Alison after him and the cumulative effect was absolute sonic bliss for me. i heard later from a couple of my friends that this was one of their faves of the night.

only for it to be surpassed by the ultra-heavenly "Way Too Helpful", for me anyway. live was even better than the CD -- something that i would never even have conceived as being possible. words fail me. i think this was the high point for me, because WTH is my new fave ScottSong (well, not my #1... just add it to the already hefty pile of faves). Scott's final "ah-aaa-ahs" dripped effortlessly from his lips. when the guitar got really distorted and started swelling over those same sweet chords at the end, well, i was in Goosebump City. for some reason, i didn't think this song would translate well live. i was wrong, and once again feel unworthy for ever doubting my Family.

next we got three rockers: "Sodium Laureth Sulfate", "Crypto Sicko", and "I'm Not Really a Spring". SLS in SLC. it was great, and i sang along to the whole thing. i think i caught Scott flubbing and singing, "exponential, exponential horrorshow" though. i have no way of verifying this, however. "Crypto" actually started with the semi-Crypto bit that follows it on the album. i'm glad they did this snippet, because it's probably one of the two most transcendent moment on the album for me (the other being the climax of "Helpful"). i think i actually preferred to hear it preceding "Crypto" proper. "Spring" was fun too, and it only made sense for this incarnation of tLF to be playing it, since Gil only happens to be the original bad-ass to put the drums down. (is it obvious that i'm trying to finish up quickly?)

"Good, There Are No Lions in the Street" was spectacular. Scott put the capo way down at the base of the neck to play the main part, and snapped it off and on closer to the end very quickly to make the break, where he spewed out a nasty coil of fuzz-drone that would've made Spiritualized's ears perk up. back to the main part, he effortlessly returned the capo to it's original place without missing a beat. maybe this is fairly common to see, but i've never seen anyone do it before, so it was very interesting to me in this respect. actually, this is another tune i had a really hard time seeing them pull off live... the sound is so boggy and miasmic. it just feels unreal to me. it still sounded unreal in concert. just a damn weird sound. i like it a lot.

if i thought "Lions" was unreal, then the next song took me to 10-dimensional space-time. Scott played his guitar, while Alison played this really bent-to-hell keyboard line. it was familiar. i was grooving to it. i leaned to my friend Mike and said, "i love this song! but it's not theirs!" Mike asked me, "who is it, man?" i replied, "it's totally escaping me!" damn, was i ever baffled. i knew that i knew this song. I knew that i knew this song inside out. i was positive. but what was it? then the vocals came in, Scott and Alison singing, "When i look at you... oh, i don't know what..." OH MY GOD, it's MBV!!! i almost wet myself with joy. i'm utterly ashamed to not have known "Remake/Remodel" or "Here Come the Warm Jets" when they were played the last tour, but -this- ("When You Sleep") was one Loud-cover i recognized (well, even though i don't know the name of their guitarist, i -was- familiar with the Pixies' "Debaser" ;). you don't know how thrilled i was. as one of probably the top 5 Valentine-appreciators on Loud-fans (if not top 3), this was an absolute treat, particularly since i never got to see MBV live. damn, I was familiar with all the parts, but having that whacked-out guitar part replaced with a keyboard bit totally threw me off. they did a great job. i mean, to give you an idea, i've listened to 'Loveless' at least 30 times this year already, and i still couldn't place the song until the vocals came in. that's how "wrong" it sounded at first. but the "rightness" of one of my fave bands covering one of my other fave bands takes priority, and Scott is welcome to have a shot at "Only Shallow", "Sometimes" or "Come in Alone". when it was over, Scott probably realized he shouldn't've been checking the street for lions, but the very club he was playing because i roared my approval, "fuckin' Bloody Valentines!!!" Scott and Alison were visably amused and pleased that someone actually recognized their cover. their singing had done much justice to the Shields/Butcher original.

Scott announced that they'd be playing one more, then he played "Why 2" (track 13) right into their great rocker, "Spot the Setup". we in salt lake city got the "... with Mary Lou Lord" version, and i was laughing out loud at this Hornby reference. the band cranked it out like it was their opener, and at the end, i caught Scott singing a couple other things, one of them being "i didn't picture the audience naked" which i -really- like and think works well. when the song was over, we made our noise and the band left the stage. these guys had just put 100% into the gig for a measly 20+ people. i cannot say how impressed i was by this fact. yeah, it felt like i got my very own personal show, but i have another personal confession to make. earlier this year, i was thinking that Swervedriver might have been about to overtake the Loud Family as my #1 intact band. their great album made 4 to the Louds then 3 and then Swervedriver actually came to SLC (from the U.K.), so they got bonus points for saving me the travel and being that devoted to their fans. well, 'Days For Days' came out and suddenly the Louds had reasserted their studio brilliance. -then- i found out they were going to play SLC. that makes them even. what kept them at number one? Swervedriver played a great set for a packed club, with a minimum of effort (yes, they really are that good) but with a healthy dose of jaded detachment. don't get me wrong, they rocked my world... but not in the completely, "oh god, i am alive!" way that the Loud Family did for the smallest crowd imaginable. showmanship, enthusiasm, and pure love for what they were doing oozed from them, whereas Los Swervies made it look like they were punching a clock. i shit you not, based on this criteria, if my life were to ever have such bad luck as to see Swervedriver and the Loud Family booked to play salt lake on the same night... sorry, Swerve, step back, i'm gonna pick my Loudies. no question about it: the Loud Family rule!

a few more obvervations/comments to come...
todd

From: flux
Subject: [loud-fans] SLC pt. 4 (not much left to spoil)

okay, once again it's taken me almost a full week to organize my thoughts after having been through such a life-destructuring event for me as seeing the Loud Family live. i took work off yesterday so i could catch up on sleep and write most of part 3. i'm gonna try and sum it all up now.

we didn't get an encore. with a mere 20 people in the club, even if i had yelled for 5 minutes non-stop, i don't think i'd've been able to get one and i was already quite hoarse. i think that if i had attempted it, it actually would've been more embarassing for the band than for myself personally, so i decided to let it go... although i would've loved one immensely.

afterthoughts (these are things that happened that i may not specifically remember at what point in the show they occurred or that i failed to mention earlier).
a. for the noisy beginning, Scott was using a beer bottle as a slide for assistance in churning out the weird guitar sounds.
b. at one point between songs, i noticed Alison hopping up and down and clapping her hands. whoever likened her to the band's cheerleader was dead on.
c. between songs at another point, Scott graciously thanked Yer Highness for opening for them and he was evidently sincere. one more proof that he is just an All-Around Great Fellow.
d. i don't recall which song this was during, but it was towards the end of the show when Kenny was in a crouch with his back to the audience either fixing something on his bass or adjusting his amp. anyway, he suddenly realized that he had a line to sing in a moment. he hopped up, stepped towards the mike and as he was about to take his breath to sing, he realized he still had his pick in his mouth. then he had to free his hands to take the pick from his mouth and he just -barely- managed to do this before his line. i thought that it was pretty cool.
e. i remember that Scott was wearing grey denim pants, but i can't remember what color his shirt was (beige? maroon?). i do know that it was long-sleeved, but cut me some slack... i was too busy watching his hands and his hair.
f. after one hellacious yell from me, Alison made note that we'd all had a holiday weekend and that it was time to return to the grind the next day. one of my more obnoxious friends yelled, "fuck work!" Alison agreed with the sentiment and encouraged us all to give vent to all our frustrations about having to return to work and scream as loud as we could. for a group of 20-30 people, we probably did make about as much noise as possible. it was rather funny.
g. Scott actually heckled my yelling! very cool. it was just after a song and i had just unleashed one of my patented Loudest-Mouthed Loud-fan Hoots. Scott said, "hey, i like that! wooooooo!" (his impersonation of my high-pitched wail). will SanFran Loud-fans please let OurScott know that i would be all too happy to reproduce this sound in the studio for him if he should so desire.

i talked to each band member a tad after the show, and thanked each one personally for coming to salt lake. every one of them thanked me for coming to the gig. Scott got asked by some gal if he used to be in Game Theory, so there was at least one other member in the audience besides Craig and me that was there for more than just alcohol, which was encouraging and I thought about proposing to her (j/k). when i talked to Alison, she confirmed what ana had said about them getting a boost from the audience's enthusiasm. be loud for the Louds! i apologized to Gil for not feeling like my apartment would be able to accomodate them, and he said it wasn't like i owed it to them, but i do feel bad that i couldn't. then he said that he liked my t-shirt (Olivia Tremor Control) and how he had really dug their performance at Terrastock. i walked out of the club in seventh heaven.

these guys are the real deal. they are the shit. they are some of the nicest people you could ever have a chance to talk to. not one of them seemed pissy or inconvenienced at having to deal with a "groupie". Of course, this was still early on in the tour, and matters might change as they grow road-weary, but with people like Rog taking good care of them along the way, i don't see how the effects of being on the road for too long will ever have a chance to catch up with them. i encourage everyone to talk to them if they get the chance. in one Ask Scott, when asked how he felt about fans coming up to him and chatting him up before a show, he replied simply, "i feel great about it." from my experience, this certainly seemed the case. but not only are the people in this band a great bunch of people on a personal level, they are all knowledgable and gifted musicians. the paradox, and i was struck with the same impression the last time i saw them: how is it that this band, so renowned for their pop sensibilities and wondrous melodies, never fails to kick so much ass?! these guys rock and they rock hard. they blur the line between pop and rock so much, i forget i'm watching a band often tagged as a "pop group". when i watch them live, i can't believe that no one else in the poplulation at large seems to feel it, to -get it- the way i do, and I wonder, "am i some kind of freak, or is everyone else just totally fucked?"

well, perhaps this remains to be seen, but nonetheless, i was one happy Loud-fan last sunday. so happy, in fact, that i couldn't sleep for the first three hours after going to bed that night. i was just assimilating so much imagery and feeling that mere R.E.M.-sleep wouldn't have done the trick. maybe this is why i feel the need to write at such length about the shows that i see. i don't do this for any other band, and i guess the reason is that no other band quite clicks with me on a purely emotional level, which is odd because the band is often pegged as "intellectual". sure, the great lyrics don't hurt, but at this point they're almost secondary to my experience of the music intuitively. no other band out there today does it for me like this, and so i sing their praises because they nail down these elusive parts of life and help me understand myself so much more than anything else really.

i saw the Loud Family. if this line-up sticks together for two more albums, i won't ask for anything else for the rest of this decade. enough from me.

good night,
todd
ps i have this vision of Scott Miller and Mary Lou Lord singing "Spot the Setup" together with Mary Lou singing the opening line, "I used to go out with Scott Miller, but it didn't make my life okay." that would be bad-ass.

From: Craig Arnold
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] SLC pt. 4 (not much left to spoil)

On Thu, 9 Jul 1998, flux wrote:

>we didn't get an encore. with a mere 20 people in the club, even if i had yelled for 5 minutes non-stop, i don't
>think i'd've been able to get one and i was already quite hoarse. i think that if i had attempted it, it actually
>would've been more embarassing for the band than for myself > personally, so i decided to let it go... although i
>would've loved one immensely.

I would have loved "Jimmy Still Comes Around" of "Friends of the Family" but held my peace since lord knows what songs the new lineup has had a chance to rehearse yet. I don't think even hysterical audiences of 20 get encores, though; it makes the band look pathetic.

>b. at one point between songs, i noticed Alison hopping up and down and clapping her hands. whoever likened
>her to the band's cheerleader was dead on.

good dancer too. And I'd strongly recommend her solo album; best seduction album of the year so far.

>e. i remember that Scott was wearing grey denim pants, but i can't remember what color his shirt was (beige?
>maroon?). i do know that it was long-sleeved, but cut me some slack... i was too busy watching his hands and
>his hair.

Actually, it was short-sleeve. I don't remember the color either, but I was looking at the cut & thinking, damn, he's gotten incredibly buff since I last saw him.... anyone else have any thoughts on this?

>there was at least one other member in the audience besides Craig and me that was there for more than just
>alcohol, which was encouraging and I thought about proposing to her (j/k).

She was definitely checking *you* out ;)

Craig

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