1998 tour reviews

Andy Lewis <alewis@linknet.kitsap.lib.wa.us>
 

AHHHHH!!  It ruled!!!  I really don't even have the energy to write a
real review, so I'll just give the facts!

1)  Got there, met SUSAN from the list, who it turns out I ALREADY
KNEW!! How weird is that?

2)  Got up front for the opening bands, was front and center.

3)  Lights go down, band takes stage, audience goes completely richter
when Jeremy mumbles something into the mic.

4)  After the 3rd song, Dan says, "this is our new album, hope you like
it."

5)  They play beautifully 9 brand new songs, including the four radio
songs, and the energy in both the band and audience is HUGE.

6)  Some people keep yelling, "In Circles!"  Jeremy says, "new song.
But thanks for remembering."

7)  Band finishes 9-song set.

8)  Band returns for encore, plays "In Circles" and "J'nuh."  (note:
these were amazing.)
 

Overall, everyone in the Moore was extremely excited and just radiating
with happiness (at least where I was)!  It felt really great, it seemed,
both to the audience and the band.  They all seemed happy.  The audience
sat and went nuts for about 5 minutes after the encore, but the roadies
then came out and started tearing down the drum set.  It was GREAT.  And
stay posted, because we got a pretty good recording of it, but PLEASE
PLEASE PLEASE *DO NOT* email me about it, because when we're ready
(soon!) we will let you know the info about that.  DO NOT email me about
it.  And to let you know, there were at least TWO video cameras in the
house, and a handful of recorders.  If you recorded the show, email
me!!

ryan <nerd@aa.net>
 

First off.. hey i know it was in chronological order but i was #1 on Ryan's
order of events. (nyah nyah nyah) he really is a big nerd.  Naa.. i love ya :D

Well I know this is the sdre list, but since no one's really said anything
about the other 2 bands..

Magstatic:  I wasn't impressed.  However, opening for sunny day is definitely
a tough spot.  Still, i don't like giving negative reviews so im not going to
go there.. remember just cuz i didn't like them doesn't mean you shouldn't.

764-HERO:  I love this band.  I love john's voice.  I think i would have
enjoyed seeing them more if they, once again, weren't opening for sunny day.
I know that a lot of the kids in the crowd love these guys, but we were all
incredibly impatient for SDRE to take the stage (understandably!!).  They had
a good set.. i've never seen them move and wiggle around that much before!!

SDRE:  The other posts have covered everything i want to say about them.  I'll
just reiterate:  it was mind blowingly wonderful.  If you were there, you
know.. if you weren't, you wish you were!!  Kids at intelfest:  you are going
to have a great time (watch for "Pillars"  they really go off!! it's a
beautiful thing to experience).  I was expecting a more integrated set, as far
as a relatively equal mix of old and new songs.. but we got an incredible
preview of what the new album is going to be like.  And it's going to be
incredible.  They are definitely still rockin' though it's pretty obvious that
rotfq has had its influence on Jeremy's vocals and writing style.  I was up in
the veryverysquishyfront.  I managed to get some photos before a large and
scary bouncer told me to put my camera away, so when they are developed I'll
scan them and put them up on a page.

xXx
susan <VeggieEdgy@aol.com>
 

yes... i just got back from the seattle show.  it was so amazing.

first of all, there were metal detectors there, and even people with
wallet chains had to leave them behind.  i was thinking about bringing a
tape recorder, but i don't want anything to jeopardize this night.

magstatic started, and they were hilarious!!  whoever posted to the list
about these guys thinking they were rock stars was right on.  their
songs were ok, pretty much all sounded the same.  the highlights were
when the lead singer jumped on to his monitor in front of the crowd like
he was david lee roth or something, and he fell over into the crowd,
unplugged his guitar and made quite a fool of himself.  the guy was
trying to get the audience jumping, but no one would.  basically, these
guys played an average set and looked like total idiots.

764-hero however was great.  not much to say about them, but they played
really well as usual.

sunny day didn't get started until 10pm.  i immediately noticed that dan
had 2 guitars with him, so i was expecting some old songs.  the second
the lights went up and they walked out the crowd roared, for over a
minute.  this was one dedicated audience.

they played nine out of the ten songs off the new album, and i took
notes:

1. don't know the title
2. 100 million

(jeremy then introduced jeff palmer, and the crowd gave it up for him,
dan said "this is our new album, i hope you like it.")

3. don't know the title

(after this song, which ended with some amazing drums, the entire crowd
was chanting for will... "will, yeah, will!!!"  he stood up and pointed
up at the balcony.  jeremy then said "i think the goldsmith family is up
in the balcony tonight.")

4. every shining time you arrive

(the crowd starting yelling out "in circles" "seven" "47" etc... to
which jeremy responded, "new song... thanks for remembering though.")

5. pillars
6. don't know the title

(the lyrics to the 6th song mentioned something about being "engaged
with a diamond ring," that's all i made out for that one.  after thas
song, the crowd starting yelling for "in circles", and jeremy said "it's
been so long...")

7. don't know the title

(i'm pretty sure the 7th song was "days were golden," just from what
lyrics i made out from it.  it was mostly just "aaahh" vocals at the
beginning, but progressed into lyrics.)

8. how it feels to be something on

(silence.  every one was quiet for a sec, so then people started yelling
to the band memebers, especially jeff.  during one quiet part, i yelled
"YOU RULE, JEFF!" and he heard me and said thanks.)

9.  don't know the title

(this ninth song had lyrics like "tell me the story" and was a slow
one.)

the band then left the stage and after quite a lot of cheering, they
came back out for an encore.

10. in circles

(the second the first note of this was played, the audience just
exploded.  i couldn't even hear the beginning of the song.)

11. j'nuh

(will took his shirt off before j'nuh.  they played a very long version
of the song, jeremy stuck to the lp2 lyrics perfectly, which was
surprising, and dan and jeremy jammed on the "j'nuh, j'nuh, j'nuh" part
for quite a while.)

finally they left the stage.  the lights stayed off for a very long
time, and the audience stayed put and cheered for another 5 minutes or
so.  we wanted another encore!!!  finally the lights came on, some
people came out to take down the drumset, and we all realized the show
was over.

the show was great.  the audience was craving "classics" but everyone
was impressed with the new stuff.  dan didn't sing any background vocals
at all, he did have a mic, but choose not to use it.  jeff sang a little
bit of background vocals.  the songs were all what i understand as "e"
tuning (i'm not a guitar person) and even "in circles" and "j'nuh" were
in that same tuning, and sounded very different from the albums.

i went out to the booth where they were selling stuff.  there were two
brand new sunny day shirts on sale, one white one with the "buliding on
fire" pic from the "seven" page of diary, and a blue one with the
"dreaming of an anvil" pic from "in circles".  the shirts were $14, and
i only had $10 so i bought a lp2 vinyl... they were selling diary and
lp2 cds too.

anyway, my friends and i decided to hang out in the alley behind the
moore hoping to meet the band as they left.  first dan came out, and the
25 or so people that were there talked to him a bit.  dan cut off his
dreds, he just has short curly hair now.  he seemed 100% the opposite of
the guy you hear on "flatland spider."  he signed my lp2 vinyl "thanks,
dan."

next will came by.  people kept asking him about his drums.  he talked
like he was a little disappointed with his performance that night, but i
thought he was just amazing.  many people asked him about tours, and he
said because of his criminal record there that they might not be able to
get into canada.  "i'm like a felon up there, man!"  he was laughing
about it, but i think he was serious.  he signed my lp2 vinyl "will."

jeff came by a bit later.  he even looks like nate a bit, same
hairstyle.  i actually talked with him a bit.  i asked him if he was
still learning the bass to the older songs, and he said he had only
learned those two that they played tonight.  i suggest he learn "rodeo
jones" since the bass on that is so cool.  from what i could tell, he
wasn't a big sdre fan before he joined, people were asking him questions
about the band that i knew and he had no idea... but he definetly fits
in.  when asked about tours, he told me SUNNY DAY WILL BE PLAYING THE
BUMBERSHOOT FESTIVAL THIS YEAR!!  jeff also told me something
interesting, for those of you who heard the end interview, jeremy was
one the callers!!  the first person who called in, going by "jake" --
that was jeremy.  funny, eh?  he signed my lp2 vinyl "palmer."

finally, after a lot of waiting, jeremy came down.  HE WAS SMOKING, for
all of you who have been dying to know.  i and others there talked to
him for about 15-20 minutes.  he signed my lp2 vinyl with a scribble.

here are some questions that i and other asked, and jeremy's answers,
extremely paraphrased:

q: will you ever consider publishing the lyrics to the second album?
a: "nah, it's more fun to see people try to figure them out."

q: what are you going to do with yr solo work?
a: "i'm planning on experiementing next year, maybe six months or so
after the new sunny day album comes out.  hopefully, i'll have some
songs that sound really good lined up for an album.  it will be less
orchestrated this time, and more mellow."

q: what do you do in yr spare time?
a: "of late i've been playing a lot of video games in the studio."

q: have you played dan at "goldeneye"?
a: "i am the master of goldeneye!  well, actually, i was.  i showed greg
all my secrets and now he goes around just murdering people.  i mean not
even plotting to kill people, i mean just going around and murdering
people, shooting them in the head, killing them."

q: what are yr influences?
a: "u2 of course, "unforgettable fire" (or something like that, i'm not
a u2 fan) was my favorite... sinead o'connor... um, the beatles, even
r.e.m, not as much any more though, "green" was when i became a fan, and
i looked into their earlier stuff from there."

q: what will the new album artwork look like?
a: "well actually, it will look like this..."  for a sec it looked like
he was reaching into his pocket, but instead he pushed back the coat on
his arm to reveal a tattoo... an orange sun that looked a lot like the
sun on the "flatland spider" 7"... he said chris did that tatoo for him
and that will be on the cover of the new album too.  "half of us liked
it, and half of us didn't, so we flipped a coin.  obviously i like it or
it wouldn't be on my arm!"

q: i noticed the new tuning, are you playing all yr songs that way now?
a: "yeah.  the d tuning had a lot to do with my voice at the time.  we
have a few different guitars now for the different tunings."

he talked a little bit about his voice, and how singing was difficult
earlier because he had quit smoking.  "i had stopped smoking for a
while, and it was difficult, because that coating was starting to flake
off of my vocal chords."  he made some weird faces trying to give us a
visual idea of how singing like that was.

q: what will the first single be?
a: jeremy confirmed that the first single will be a sub pop 7" "how it
feels to be something on / the crow."  he said "the crow" is the version
that was recorded for the soundtrack before they broke up.  he didn't
know when it would be out.

q: any tour dates?
a: i mentioned that jeff mentioned bumbershoot, and jeremy said "yeah,
and we're also going to be playing another show around here in
october."  i think he mentioned a particular city but i can't remember.

q: when you played "j'nuh" tonight, you totally stuck with the lyrics as
sung on the album, unlike most live versions i've heard before.
a: "yeah, many of those later songs were recorded before i even had set
lyrics for them, a lot of it was improvised."

q: are you guys together for good now?
a: "yeah!  we'll see how long we go this time... but we're planning to
stay together after this album and tours.  it all just really
snowballed... i mean at first we weren't planning on playing any shows
at all, just getting together temporarily for a few new songs, and then
we found ourselves doing a whole new album, then scheduling a tour...."

q: is the odds and ends thing still on?
a "yeah, we got the money for it, so it better be."

q: will you be playing more older songs at the later shows?
a: "yeah.  we really took a chance tonight playing the new album.  right
now, it's about jeff learning the basslines to the older songs, and the
rest of us re-learning them too."

q: why didn't you show up for the end interview?
a: "well, that was me calling up, posing as a fan.  to be honest, i was
just nervous."

there are so many more things he talked about which i'll probably
remember tomorrow.  while he was talking to us, the other band members
left and all said bye to jeremy.  "later, bro" said jeremy to dan.
jeremy was in a great mood, really open, really funny, really talkative.

by now, people were just counting off in line to tell him how wonderful
the show was, how influential he was to them musically, and to a few,
religiously.  i told him "diary changed my life... if not for that album
i would be in a different place now..." and he told me "i hope you feel
the same way about the new album."  as he walked off i just said,
"thanks, jeremy..." and someone completed "for everything."  he smiled.

it was such an amazing night.

sycophant <anthony@foxinternet.net>
 

hi. I'm back from the show. not thinking clearly enough to give a real
narrative. we'll leave that for some other better people than me. I'm
just going to give some tidbits..

first song was guitar and video games. I saw a setlist.

the song after pillars is called the shark's own private fuck and that
has my vote for the best song of the evening. I can't even remember how
it went, I just remember being so drained after it was finished. I
couldn't understand many of the lyrics but they sounded very
environmental (whatever that means) but.. we'll just have to see. great
song.

will took his shirt off for jnuh. he's gotten flabby.

I saw a girl with a shirt (homemade) that on the front said sunny day
real estate in the lettering from flatland spider, and on the back it
had the one day I stopped breathing logo and the words "I love the
drummer"

drumming is amazing on the slower songs. moreso than the faster ones.
look for the drumming on how it feels to be something on and days were
golden.

drew is right, days were golden is not days design, but they're both rad
songs.

drew gets mad props for being such a cool guy.

whoever was supposed to rally the listers didn't. that was kinda weird.
so I never did get to meet steph looney or john london.

dan looks very studious. he's also a really cool guy.

palmer sang backups on one or two songs . very minimally.

palmer is a suitable replacement. and a cool guy.

764-hero is a good band.

magstatic is a bad band.

jeremy is.. umm.. jeremy..

they've been working with in circles and jnuh it seems like, there were
some different guitar things going on, jeremy sang an additional verse
or something to in circles, and changed SOME vocals in jnuh. the part
where the guitars go jnuh jnuh jnuh was extra long today.

no. we didn't stop cheering when the house lights came on. we kept
cheering for 5 minutes after they came on. we only really stopped when
the people started to dismantle the drumset.

drunk people suck

so do security guards

so do metal detectors

new tshirts are pretty.

my friend dick got a soundboard copy of the show. not perfect but good.
I'm trying to remind him to post the info on here, so he can get your
trades, etc.

with this post, I'm signing off the SDRE-l. it's been a great two years.

bye all. if you really feel you need to reach me, here's my address
(don't  be mean, now) and my parents can forward the mail.

alex carmichael
1824 SE 125th Ave
Vancouver, WA 98683

bye now.
defrocked Alex Carmichael, Defrocked Loser <loser@byu.edu>
 

well, it was definitely an all day thing. my friends and i got there around
3:30pm and the line to enter was already around the block. someone said people
started to show up that morning, so cheers to you who were mackin out on the
pool floats and playing monopoly at the front of the line!

it rained, it thundered, it was extremely muggy, but all day we waited,
nervously, to be let in to the show. the doors opened at 8pm to cheers and i
can only imagine groans when the people at the end of line found out only 700
people were going to be let in. so, after all that waiting thru the elements,
many probably never made it in...

the first band, on at 8:30, was ok. shudder was amazing, as usual. mk ultra
was alright.
and then...

sunny day. well, what to say? i came to realize they are one of the best bands
ive witnessed, ever. it was a very moving moment as everyone held their breath
during some of the songs. they played  the new stuff, including pillars and
roses in water. and they played in circles and j'nuh as the encores. but it
was the comment that dan made that i remember clearly. he said that out of the
2 shows they have just played since they broke up 4 years ago, this was the
best. oh yeah, and also when will was running around the coat check looking
for someone after the show and no one even noticed him!
no shirts for sunny day or shudder to think were available.
40 bucks for one pass? it was money well spent.
i hope everyone that went appreciated and loved every minute of this show as
much as i did. im sorry i cant remember more, but if anyone wants to know
things, i guess email me .......sorry this is so long!

erika <Ablakebaby@aol.com>
 

FUCKING AMAZING!!!!!!!!

the best show i have...and probably will ever see.
i got on line @ 2...there were already 300 people in front of me.  i'm so
sorry if anyone here got shut out.
i'm a little sketchy on the titles of the new songs...but i'm pretty sure they
played the exact same set...same order and everything.
dan was the happiest looking person there.  he said, "this is the best show
yet.  we've only played 2 shows in 4 years, but this is the best!"  awesome
jeremy's voice was amazing...and so friggin high.
i almost started crying during that song with the lyric about being carried
over water.  beautiful beautiful song.
so after the show.......i got will's snare drum cover after it was thrown into
the crowd!!!!  he banged the hell out of it.
here's the short version cause i'm exhuased........i got dan and will to sign
it...will said they will be full out touring.

more in the morning

i am soooooooo happy

(continued)

maybe i'll be more coherent with sleep....

everyone else has just about said it.  i just couldn't believe the strain
jeremy's voice was able to be put through.  they sound exactally like the
recordings....beautiful.  while shudder was playing...jeremy kept peeking his
head out from behind the backstage curtain, only to duck back when too many
people spoted him.  he was smoking.  he does look older....it's the balding.
i think he should go to a buzz cut...but i digress.  dan was still on cold
nine when i saw him after the show.  i said "thanks for the amazing show"  to
which he respond "thank you".  someone else asked will if they were playing
anymore shows  to which he reponded "oh yea...we're playing a full tour and
everything".

the signed drum skin is going on my wall

back in september.......a show in my birthday would be perfect.
i'll be there

virginia <Vbm923@aol.com>
 

yeah. woo hoo. rock n roll.

hooray for me because i got to see them. i don't know. it's late. because i'm
cool, i arrived around 5:30 in the afternoon, but managed to be one of the
first 75 or so in the door. i guess it's who you know and who they know that
really counts. so after standing for 6 hours or so, i finally got to see sunny
day. on a totally unrelated subject, i don't realize why someone would
actually want to play in between shudder to think and sunny day. especially
when most people have no idea who you are. not to say that mk ultra was bad,
it's just that when you're in that position, not too many people are going to
be paying attention to you. yeah, so sunny day is the best. they played in
circles and i haven't seen as much fingerpointing since the last hatebreed
show i went to. i got to meet a couple of people. oh, those of us that went to
the ny show are cooler, because jeremy played his sg for one song. one of his
stings broke during guitar and video games so during 100 million he played the
sg. they didn't bring their amps. they used mk ultra's, and i'm guessing that
william used the mk ultra drum set but brought his cymbals. everybody went
nuts. somebody slammed the back of their head into my nose. the set list was
exactly the same as the seattle show, i think. brian got the actual set list,
so i'm sure he'll post it when he gets home. oh yeah, palmer played some old
thunder/firebird bass (whatever it is) during the encore. i think they might
have actually been tuned to d. i'm not sure though, but i think jeremy was
tuning down when they came back on stage. who knows. all i know is that they
kick ass. it's 4 in the morning, so i know this doesn't make much sense.

Tom <RedPaint48@aol.com>
 

Hi all,
   Yeah, for all of you who missed the show, I am very sorry.  They put on a
fantastic show, but by far, the highlight of the night was In Circles.  I can
only fucking imagine what the Diary tour was like.  I think I would pay 200
bucks just to see them perform 48, grendel, and 47, because when they played
In Circles, I nearly fainted it was so good, and I don't like In Circles
nearly as much as I like those other three.  Shudder to Think put on a fucking
amazing show.  They played a lot of stuff from Pony Express Record, which were
inexplicably good, and the new songs sounded great.  Craig even mentioned Jeff
Buckley; that was sweet.Concerning Will's cymbals, he uses all A Zildjian
Rides, and 14 inch Quick Beat hi-hats.  I was also wondering if that guy who
was up front and tried to give Jeremy some tape and a letter is on this list.
If he is, did you end up getting it to Jeremy?  I took lots of pictures of the
show, so when I get them developed (They are all of Jeremy), I will try to get
them online.  Just so everyone knows, there were a couple guys and gals that
were crying after the show, I mean bawling.  If they are on the list, I feel
for you guys, those last two songs were tear provoking.

<DrownSP185@aol.com>
 

Yeah, baby, it fucking rocked!

I find it funny how the two songs with the titles everyone was bugging out
over a month ago (Guitar and Video Games and The Shark's Own Private Fuck)
happen to definitely be two of the best new songs.  Definitely the best
two I don't have - it's hard to judge because I've listened to those 4
.mp3's about 15 times already (even burned it to cd, but anyway..)

Shout out to Azrael who I got to meet and chill with on line for many an
hour.  Got there about 2:30 for a long-ass wait.  My lucky girlfriend
managed to find herself a spot on the guest list and a VIP pass .. so
not only did she get to get into the show without paying OR waiting on
line, but she also met Jeff and Dan.  And she's not even into SDRE! (yet)
She apparently talked to Jeff for some length and said that he's a great
guy .. of course she didn't have the whole fan/rock star thing going on
with him so I have no new info to offer or anything ...

Anyway, it was a blast.  They were so fucking tight I can't get
over it...   Jeremy is one intense dude (like we didn't already
know) ..  he looks like he's aged alot since frog queen though
.. anyone else think the same thing?  Of course I'm only judging from the
picture on the back of the CD.

Completely worth all the effort.  Anyone get shut out or know anyone who
did?  My feet hurt like a bitch at the end of the night.  :)

Going to Modest Mouse tonight...  I'll be wearing a Sense Field t-shirt
and dark gray Grind Cargo pants...  say hallo.

David Kalina <dave@columbia.edu>
 

Well everyone. The SDRE show was absolutely amazing (in case you didnt know)
I'll give you some quotes and highlights of the evening. I got in line at
about three and there were already 280 people there. (I know this because
someone from Irving plaza was doing a head count) Earlier, on the way over I
met Dan from the list (ETexasAve) And While in line met Dave from the list. He
was a great guy and all of his friends were pretty cool too (No I still havent
listened to Clement) They started letting people in at 8 but I was caught in
the bag check for about half an hour, and on top of it I had to pay them $1.50
to "hold" my bag. Gloritone were already playing when I got in and they were
decent, shudder to think was great, MKUltra werent too hot, But they were
using Suny Day's equiptment. And Now we come to sunny day. The show began and
on the first song jeremy broke his High E string. On the next song he used the
SG and when the song finished he said "Sorry about the attitude guitar, I
couldnt stand it." so I guess he doesnt like the SG anymore. All of the songs
were great and the band continuously stated how grateful they were for
everyone coming out to the show. Dan was smiling the entire show. Will took
off his shirt after thre second song. After a couple songs Dan asked "Does
anyone out there know any of these songs?" In which parts of the crowd replied
with requests for some new songs. Pillairs was a big request and Dan said
"That ones coming up." As the night continued many were shouting out song
titles (many of them for Spade and Parade) And jeremy replied with "thanks for
the requests" The set ended kind of abruptly with the band sayiong thank you
as they walked off stage. They cme back fo the encore and Dan had a huge smil
on his face as he begn playing those first few notes of In Circles. The crowd
flipped and started moving around for the first time in the evening. After in
Circles Jeremy said "good effort" in reply to the singing of the crowd. J'nuh
was next and as in the seattle show they Jammed out on th J'nuh part for some
time. I noticed Will point to his arm with a painful face, I assume it was
giving him problems.  The show ended and the crowd kept screaming until the
Video screen went down. I was in line at the ba check when I noticed Will
walking around, I walked over to him and told him how great the show waas, he
thanked me but explained that he needed to find someone. After words I was
waiting aroung outside for the guys and a security guy told me I had to leave.
At that time dan was coming out of the front door. Some girl was ruching him
into a cab (I assum it was his girlfriend) and I ran up to him thanked him and
asked him if he could sign LP2 for me in which he did quikly with simply "DAN"
in big letters (there was also a girl who borrowed my pen for him to sign
Will's drum head) I walked around for a litle bit more and Will appeared, He
was in a rush and signed my Lp2 aswel as the same girls drum head. Will said
"Hey thats Mine" to the girl. He went back inside and they closed the gate in
front of Irving plaza. I went aound to the side that they were loading the
equiptment out of and in a little time Will and Jeff came out. I talked to
Jeff for a while and he thanked me for coming out. I explained to him I drove
up from florida and he was amazed. He reassured me that when they tour they
would come to florida for me. He also asked me my name and I told him it was
Jeremy, upon that he said "Well I cant forget that can I?" They then proceeded
to walk down the street (no Cab) After some time Jeremy came out and everyone
rushed around him. He answered a few questions and explained he had to catch a
cab. He said they will be touring in September and he was glad everyone
enjoyed the show. He signed LP2 for me and took the time to shake everyones
hand in the crowd (he made special note not to forget anyone) He gave some guy
a hug (Greg?) and hopped into the cab waving bye and Head banging Jokingly.
That was about it. I bootlegged the show but I dont know how well it came out,
I have only listened to the first song and the Mic was overdriven.

Thats it..jeremy

p.s. -- Sorry about any spelling or grammer problems but my spell check doesnt
work on here anymore. Oh and sorry for the long post..if you need more info
(equiptment, etc.) e-mail me.

<Azrael1877@aol.com>
 

Well, after almost 4 years i finally got to see Sunny Day Real Estate.  I
didn't get to hear The Blankets were the Stairs, or 48 or Song About an Angel
or Red Elephant nor any other song that brought me a quick moment of warmth a
few years ago and continues to do so to this very day(accept for those two
special encores of course). But what the fuck--Sunny Day is Sunny Day, and for
the simple fact that they can create such intensity and still manage to make
my heart tremble after all this time, well, that's more than enough reason not
to be disappointed with the setlist. I heard people bitching on the way out of
Irving how "I can't believe they didn't play anything!" Yeah yeah yeah.
Fine--most, if not all of us, weren't familiar with the songs specifically,
but we were familiar with Jeremy's angelic voice and that simple want to
cry,scream and smile from listening to him. There was that old familiar
comfort, and I was so thankful for that, especially considering the fact (and
i know i speak for many others when i say this), that i was almost so sure i
wasn't going to get in (being from Brooklyn and only 45 minutes away from
Irving Plaza I figured I didn't need to rush my ass to get there so early to
get in--for a while there I wanted to shoot myself for being such a lazy fuck
which in turn left me at the end of an extremely long line. But it all luckily
worked out in the end) And to top all that off, the "new" songs were just so
fucking incredible. Yeah we didn't know any of the words and couldn't sing
along, but was that so important? In any case, all I can say is I've never
been to a show like this before. I mean, I've had the privelege of seeing
Eric's Trip and Seaweed, two bands who have been very dear to me for some time
now--but this was just unbelievable. I almost feel bad saying "unbelievable",
or "amazing" or whatever, because the feelings I got from watching Sunny Day
and Jeremy are only drained out and devaluized by an attempt to find a use of
words. Call me melodramatic, but it's just such a crazy, beautiful feeling
knowing that there's people still out there who are not only capable of
creating music that can make throats hurt from crying or wanting to cry, but
who can still manage to make simple words sound so beautiful--thanx Jeremy,
and of course all of SDRE.
 
~jaclyn <MazzyS007@aol.com>