2/26/98, HOUSE OF BLUES, NEW ORLEANS, LA

by Brian Welsh

Set 1 included the usual remarks about Don Ho, smoking up front, the Titanic, the media's poor of covering the Presidential scandal, the Spice Girls (Icky, Smelly, Runny, Rancid and Ebola) and some new banter about the previous nights Grammy Awards telecast. Here's a transcript: "...I was so moved by the time R. Kelly got to the end of 'I Believe I Can Fly', particularly when he held out that note, (sings in whiny voice) 'I Believe I Can (w/heavy vibrato) Fly-y-y-y-y-y-y'. What kind of?...was that Goat Boy, suddenly like, singing in the background? Did like R. Kelly have the flu? He got Goat Boy, you know, to do the voice-over for him? How come this didn't like occur to Barbra Streisand, you know? She could of got like Stevie Nicks to cover for her."

The acoustic numbers were "Love Of The Comman Man" and "Tiny Demons", the latter being played because Todd was getting a "goth" vibe from the surroundings. In between Chorus 1 and Verse 2 of "Born To Synthesize", Jesse and Kasim played the intro riff from "The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell". Jesse had a nice jazzy solo that went into double time swing. After Ferenzik's solo, Todd sang or barked his way through "When The Saints Go Marching In", the Jetsons theme, and the Turtles "Happy Together". These last two had little arrangements for the rest of the band, as short as they were. I think there was another song reference in there as well. Like the crowd, this version of "Born To Synthesize" was pretty mild, compared to some versions I've heard.

During the Zappa cover, Ferenzik suddenly went into the intro riff from "Bang The Drum All Day" for no apparent reason. As the crowd went into screams of recognition, he stopped and went back into the Zappa tune like nothing happened. I got a kick out of that. After "A Dream Goes On Forever", the band played a short and peppy number that sounded like a train wreck, although I could make out either Jesse or Ferenzik playing the theme from Fernwood 2night.

The band was tighter compared to the shows from the first leg, and as previously mentioned, Kasim deserves praise for some cool bass fills. Background vocals were excellent as well.

Brian