THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
The Ben Folds Five Digest
Issue #577 - November 1, 1997
Magical Armchair Digest Saturday, November 1 1997 Volume 01 : Number 577
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TOPICS IN THIS DIGEST:
Evaporated/Nightswimming Comparison
Darren's Setup -- I GOT IT!! :)
Chicago
Verbow, Majosha...
Verbow
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Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 11:43:16 -0500 (EST)
From: Patrick J McDonough
Subject: Evaporated/Nightswimming Comparison
That's interesting that you mention similarities there. Maybe that's
because a piano song is so out of character for REM's general
instrumentation (nothing can truly be out of character for REM, with the
exception of maybe some death metal, but hey, that's why they leave "The
Ultimate Sacrifice" to our boys), but I think they have very different
feels.
To me, Nightswimming is a kind of quiet celebration of a pastime,
where Evaporated has no comfort in it except for the realization of loss
and admitting how shattered the subject is. With that constant C-F drone
in Evaporated, it's very much like a great feeling of loss- constant,
ringing, persistent, unchanging beneath the greater context of the world
(that perfect fourth rarely changes through all the other chords).
Maybe as a pianist, I see vast differences in piano songs that
other people simply recognize as having the piano as the dominant
instrument. I suspect that I say similar things to guitarists, or
drummers, since I do not know the nuances of those instruments as well.
Well, that's my take, but whoever contributed this comparison,
would you care to expand on it? I'm just interested in what you're
hearing that I'm not, so if you've got time, please share it.
Have you got nothing to say?
Patrick from Winston-Salem
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 14:31:03 -0500 (EST)
From: BenFoldsJ@aol.com
Subject: Darren's Setup -- I GOT IT!! :)
Okay folks, just thought I'd let ya know. I've been looking around for
Darren's setup, and I finally found it!! I called Zildjian's office, and
since he's an endorser, they gave me his setup! Here ya go:
14" K HiHat (Two tops, no bottoms, he likes the thin ones.)
1 20" K Pre-Aged Dry-Light Ride
2 20" A Thin Crashes
Enjoy!
~Jordan
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 14:57:10 +0000
From: m
Subject: Chicago
I'll keep it relatively brief, since I know everyone puts up a
review....
Here's the songs in no particular order. I'm terrible at remembering that
sort of thing.
Dr.Pyser, OAD, Philosophy, Fair, Brick, Selfless Cold and Composed,
Kate, Smoke, Steven's...,BoWCCL, Missing the War, Jackson Cannery,
Julianne, Underground and Last Polka. They encored with She don't use
jelly and Song for the Dumped.
I was a bit disappointed. We got there really late- Verbow, who
wasn't really half bad had just started, so I had to sit in the back
instead of up front, where I so love to be. But I did see Darren getting of
the bus, so I told him to have a good show. He looked a little mad that he
got recognized, but what do you expect from a fan....Anyway, I felt very
far away and could barely see at times, but their showmanship and presence
brought a smile to my face. The highlights? There was a lot of feedback
and Robert and Ben just rambled to stall for time to fix the problem. Ben
got a little action figure thrown at him and somebody gave Robert a Scott
Baio record, which he seemed to appreciate. Someone called him a "sexy
mother fucker" and he just ate that up. In fact, later in the show, he
made the girl yell it out again, so everyone as sure to hear it. Ben also
pointed out that he messed up in the middle of Brick...thanks for being
honest, Ben.
The best song of the night, for me was Jackson Cannery. Normally,
I'd say this is my least favorite song of theirs, but they pulled it out of
nowhere. I never would have expected that in a million years, but it
rocked. She Don't Use Jelly was also a welcomed suprize. I felt like the
only person who knew what song it was when they started...
Enough of my ramblings. Enjoy the rest of the tour. And Ben,
Robert, Darren, if you're reading this, Madison Wisconsin would be a great
place to have a last-minute extra show...Just a suggestion. Later.
m
"Oh, what fun, I can't wait 'til the future gets here."
-Ben Folds
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 15:01:10 -0600
From: Dan Mauer
Subject: Verbow, Majosha...
Kristin wrote:
> I just got the Ann Arbor News and listed in the special entertainment
> section that comes out on Thursday, a band called Verbow is supposed to
> open up for BFF at the Ypsilanti, MI show.
> If anyone knows anything about them, please let me know
> Also, does anyone know if any recordings by Ben's first band, Majosha, are
> avaliable?
1) Verbow is a chicago band, consisting of a guitar, drums, bass, and a
cello. They opened up at the Vic in chi-town last night, and were
GREAT... I picked up their album "Chronicles" right after the show
and was most impressed.
2) Majosha put out an album, "Shut Up and Listen To Majosha"... it was
also re-released under the band name "Pots And Pans", perhaps in a
slightly
modified form. However, it's out of print and really really hard
to find... many people have the disc on tape, though, and would
probably
be happy to arrange a trade.
ALSO
The chicago show last night was GREAT. Started out a little shaky, but
once Philosophy (the 2nd tune they played, I believe) was halfway over,
the boys were in prime shape. The only negative aspect to the show
(which was pretty annoying) was that, primarily due to BFF's newfound
radio success, there were a great deal of frat-boys drunk with their
girlfriends and 15-year-olds who were there 'cuz it was cool. So there
were TONS of people talking, loudly, nonstop through the show, and
screaming away, and just being generally obnoxious, especially during
the slow numbers (I could hear people talking louder than I could hear
the music in some of the quieter bits of Missing The War -- which was
AMAZING nonetheless -- and a few others). This is the ONE reason I
really was kinda hoping they didn't ever come out with a specific "hit
single"... crowds are always 10 times better when the band is famed for
their albums as opposed to one or two particular songs. Ugh.
Oh well, that's enough ranting for me.
lates.
- -dan
- --
==============================================================================
_.,-*~'`^`'~*-,._ _.,-*~'`^'`~*-,_
dmauer@earthlink.net
`~-,_ '` _., `~-,_ _
Daniel P. Mauer `'~*-,._.,-*~'` `'~*-,._.,-*~'`
==============================================================================
"Mental health is overrated." -- Barenaked Ladies
==============================================================================
Naked Harmony Homepage: http://home.earthlink.net/~dmauer/
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 18:06:19 -0500 (EST)
From: Smarshal1@aol.com
Subject: Verbow
To whomever wanted to know who this Verbow band is...they are actually a
really nifty band. I would have much rather seen them open for BFF than
Komeda last time around. Anyway, they have a weird arrangement of
instruments but they are worth checkin out.
josh
------------------------------
End of Magical Armchair Digest V1 #577
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