Blah and Blah who are friends with Blah who is Blah’s TA, thought they were amazing at the party, she plays violin/guitar, he plays mandolin/guitar/etc, but in formal setting they were disappointing, flat and muted, average vocals, nice interesting people though, maybe just a start-up phase, old-timey bluegrassy bluesy stuff

afro-bob, beautiful body, Zen clothes/attitude/presence, his participation in our conversation consisted of “cool” and “what a trip,” discounted him until he sang and his voice was a little rougher than the average Texans and he finally had some intensity (stared at me), was interested when found out he’s from Big Sur-of course of course, do I not see this man everywhere?

actually liked him better solo, nice mournful voice, was pooh-poohing his guitar skills until he played song “Thoughts on the End of Winter” which was the most interesting fantastic guitar I’d ever seen, he’s very insincere and loving being the starving artist but was unfortunately recently voted to be assisted by the AMF, best part was that besides us the audience consisted of a parapalegic and his assistant and the boy kept making inappropriate noises throughout the songs

surprised to see them because name had caught my attention for months, standard good ol’ boys’ country, loyal to Texas/UT/bluebonnets, best part was when old stoddering announcer kept calling then The Kings of the Texas Motel 6 (much to their dismay)

Seattle, WA-suspectly straight-looking band but for the heroin-strung lead, excellent but may have been biased what with the hype about it all day and what esp with them being a band of my time, MusicGod informed that they were the harbringers of all our other bands (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, etc.), same old hard rock but had some twist and variety and distinction to it and definitely that old 90s flavor, did Stooges covers at end

Raleigh, NC-just good and MyFirstLove told me they are “Black Sabbath influenced” as was every good band this year

Auburn, AL-the group that I LOVED, guitarist and drummer, kind of a cheerful hard Southern rock, didn’t matter, drummer was so freaking eccentric and endearing, would stand on drumset and spout politics simple and pure to the point of chills for me, wore blindfold during one song, music would stop suddenly all dramatic like and drummer would be hung in a trance-meditation-like arm fling, ummmh

(Hoboken, NJ)-disintegration complete, first song very political and very interesting, but like mood the music disintegrated into wavery flowery pop with voices understated to the point that imminent death for the vocalist was possible, the ultimate cooler-than-thou band, I tried to understand because must be something behind the huge crowd/huge following, would lapse into hard discordant music, in the end grudgingly admired them for their outstanding individuality but fuck them, some good grooves at points, suppose they held my interest, had more to say at the time but it’s been lost one week later

same pop crap as record

Madison, WI-just about the best melodic hard rock I heard but lead singer’s voice was ridiculously intolerable, a growl/scream for the duration, all pot reference band but wouldn’t know it for the music

Philadelphia, PA-all driving rock without vocals, very serious about themselves, hilarious because they started song with “maybe you’ll understand more after this” and went into exactly same stuff they’d been playing, good

VibrantTeacher’s man to rave for, beautiful in rock flowered shirt, violin/huge bass/drum, easy listening acoustic, little bluegrass, little Dave Matthews esque

2 guitars, rap with rock undertones, some R&B, fattest black men ever, eh but start of the variety

totally enjoyable, multi-talented, played guitar and keyboards, rockstar-cool in sunglasses, sweet deep voice, pop sensibility, hooky melodies

Findhoven, The Netherlands-excellent lead guitarist

Detroit, MI-old bloated pasty-white rockers, they were having a great time but their lame-crude jokes weren’t moving me, definitely good and together, could break into rolling rollicking rock, lead was black vocalist with very understated voice which made them only more interesting

Staten Island, NY-rap metal with moments of industrial, cocky to the point of annoying rap lead, beautiful wailer/guitarist with black tear running from each eye, scratcher off to side, all members were screamers, driving and varied, really really enjoyed them even if it was a guilty pleasure, lead jumped into restrained Texas audience and started a mosh pit with one other man, they made me smile and renewed my energy

Austin DJ-great but liked watching the three dancers better, club was dead because watching a DJ in a booth behind glass not the same as watching a band

Boston, MA-goth-whine, experimental wah wah guitar, slow and heavy but could pick up into harder grinding rock, variety nice

Oakland, CA-faux-Brit whine (little reminiscent of U2 but much harder) tight varied hard rock

pure pop punk

San Antonio rockers made interesting solely by the frenetic-romantic dancing of the Mexican lead singer

excellent driving punk, walls of sound that you kept wanting to hit you but that still were a pleasant surprise when they did hit you, “biker punks from Seattle”

lead female rocker (shock of light brown highlight in bobbed hair-kind of a soccer mom), female guitarist with frizzy white hair, males are a blur, good

fellow math teacher at Mendez, little reclusive little strange, had mad amounts of CDs

Cooler Kids was the opening act. It was a duo of a DJ and a female vocalist. The DJ played a half hour set remixing and interweaving hits from the 80′s, and he got the audience’s blood pumping. But then she came out to sing their one hit single “All Around the World” (I’ve actually heard it on the radio believe it or not, but the word “hit” is termed loosely) and they had some white lad who was probably her boyfriend dance in a wild hip hop breakdance glom that came across as stupid and kind of pathetic. He surely wasn’t getting paid enough to endure the humiliation, so I can only assume he was sleeping with the vocalist. Or the DJ, after all…

03.08.2003 Erasure Beacon Theater, New York City, NY
Opener: Cooler Kids
Erasure are an entertaining live act that eschew typical eighties nostalgia. In fact, their two most popular hit songs in the US were released in 1992 (“Take a Chance on Me”) and 1994 (“Always”) but they are more fondly remembered for just about any of their albums in the 1980′s. Which brings us to 2003. The audience in the Beacon Theater on this crisp March evening was an older crowd. Had that hitting forty-gay man’s theme. People who can afford to dress in expensive casual, who dined somewhere in New York that probably catered to their discretionary income. My sister and I opted for a diner, something a little more skank than swank, but the food portions were huge and it was damn good. It was also a block away from the venue because we had spent most of the day wandering around Manhattan and needed to park ourselves without too much additional punishment to our bodies.

The cold drew us into the venue early, and they were evidently doing a sound check because Erasure pounded the walls as we stood barricaded in the lobby. A younger guy by himself was sitting on a bench singing along.

In 2003, Erasure has more or less perfected their life act, and it doesn’t change much in style even as they adapt the substance. They tend to play a fairly boring set list. Pick the top 15 hits of the last 15 years, sprinkle in a rare Andy Bell favorite and add some songs from the current album they are promoting. In this case, the album was Other People’s Songs – cover versions that were picked, for the most part, because Andy Bell always wanted to be a torch singer.

In every concert of the last 10 years, the show starts with a lone Andy Bell singing, minimally accompanied, an Erasure version of a torch song. During the Wild Tour, it was “Piano Song,” during the Cowboy Tour, it was “Reach Out” and during this tour it was “Mad As We Are” from, actually, the last album of original material, Loveboat. But half way through the tour, in fact, on the previous day, “Mad As We Are” got dropped replaced by “Alien” from the same album. They were trying to speed up the pace of the setlist, and concurrently, their new single “Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)” was released, so that also ended up in the set. Both distinct improvements.

The stage was set up like a living room with a writing desk and a divan and a phonograph. Andy Bell, dressed in a gauzy black gown, his head covered in a veil and looking very much in mourning, plays a record which, is the accompaniment for “Alien.” But this song selection, and the following one, “In My Arms,” was where 2003 caught up them, most of the audience want to hear the stuff from the 80′s. When the third song was “Blue Savannah” the audience leaped as one from their seats and fantastic night of bleeps and beats kept them their until the very end, dancing and frolicking the aisles.

Over the course of the evening, Andy Bell simply stripped off parts of his outfit, like some gay cabaret, and he looks fantastic. He had his fat period and it is over and done with. He has an amazing figure and we got to see most of it before the night was half over. Vince Clarke programmed enough variations into the arrangement of their standard hits to keep them from getting stale. This tour out, a lot of songs ended with Andy Bell’s vocals dropping out and leaving the backing singers’ vocals to fade out with the music.

I could probably do without the covers package, but the two singles, “Solsbury Hill” and “Make Me Smile,” were fantastic, upbeat renditions. I could definitely do without the torch songs, “Piano Song” and “Goodnight,” that ended the concert on a sluggish note and the first encore number “True Love Ways” was sung as an acoustic ballad. “Stop” is a classic energetic closer, but the damage was done.

Set List
Alien
In My Arms
Blue Savannah
Ship of Fools
Solsbury Hill
Chains of Love
Can’t Help Falling in Love
Oh L’amour
Love to Hate You
Breath of Life
You’ve Lost That Lovin Feeling
Sometimes
Victim of Love
A Little Respect
Rock Me Gently
Chorus
Always
Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)
Introductions
Piano Song
Goodnight
Encore
True Love Ways (acoustic)
Stop!

pretty much done with it by this time but they were harder and faster, jumped around like little fools, suppose they were good but our time together it was not

two little ruffians, same type of music as above but more dead-on ringer for Weezer

hilarious in their restraint and politeness, straightforward nerds-black glasses etc, loosened up towards end and played with the audience and did little stunty moves, button-down shirts, music was eh very indie/emo-very blendable and indistinguishable, drummer was darling little prim and proper girl who could drum