1998 tour reviews


please send any reviews you would like to share to  jlondon@okc.oklahoma.net ...please try to include opening acts if known as well as a setlist...

 

10/8/98...ground zero, minneapolis, mn...

Words can't even begin to describe how great the show was last night - as
anyone who's seen them already can attest to.  I was completely captivated
from the moment the started in circles.  It was as if I was spellbound.  I
was in such a state if bliss during the show, it was unbelievable.
Willinam, Dan, and Jeremy played with such great intensity I thought they
were going to explode!  Joe seemed a little reserved.  He played towards
the back of the stage during most of the set.  Perhaps he was nervous, but
you'd think he'd be over it by now.  The coolest part was in between two
songs, william got up to the mic to wish his father, who was in attendance,
a happy birthday.
I'm so glad people didn't mosh.  It should be a federal crime to mosh at a
SDRE show.
I went out back after the show to see if anybody was hanging out.  Dan was
the first one to come out.  He was really cool.  A very interesting guy.
He mentioned that he did write about half of the lyrics.  i think that's
pretty well known.  He said he needed to take a shower badly and left, but
said thank so much.  Jeremy snuck out next.  I tracked him down eventually.
He was totally willing to speak with us for years if he could.  Even though
he was a bit quiet and reserved, he was still a cool person to talk to.  I
asked him about "mondrary fields".  He said it was a made up word.  Sort of
his version of "strawberry fields".  He loves video games.  He's got a
playstation inside the bus.  He said they have half of a new album written
so far.  It appears Joe is going to be a permanent part of the band.  He
looks familiar even though I've never seen the Posies before.  They are
also working on a European tour.
Well here's the amazing setlist:
in circles
pillars
guitar and video games  (what a way to start off a show!)
47
100 million
every shining time you arrive
the prophet
blankets
hiftbso
rodeo jones (this and the prophet were my favs)
encore:
j'nuh
roses in water
days were golden

Peace,
"chris gacek" <gace0003@tc.umn.edu>

10/10/98...the bottleneck, lawrence, ks...

everything was amazing...
a whole bunch of us got to play kickball with jeremy and joe before the show...i
was on jeremy's team...we lost by a vast amount of points, but jeremy was quite
the athletic one...he made the few outstanding plays for our team...
soundcheck was also totally cool...it is so neat to seem them joking around and
jamming to meaningless stuff...they played a little country ditty while will and
some other guy did a little dancing...it was awesome...
the show was cool except for the people with flashes and the drunk people...they
opened up with blankets and will's bass drum pedal broke about 5 seconds into the
song, but the rest of the show was amazing...while joe was tuning his bass the
rest of them played a little jam...i don't know if it was a spur of the moment
thing or if it may be one of the new songs they're working on...i won't go into
any great detail about the show...it was just like the other ones...VERY
emotional...my wife got it on video and it turned out very well except for the
few times when cool drunk people had to start dancing and hit the tripod...as for
flashes...come on people...they're cool enough to let us take pictures and
videotape the show, so please, listen to their one small request about not using
flashes...it's not a big deal, the pix will still turn out...i got 2 of will's
broken drumsticks, but i gave one to a friend...
oh, yeah...the opening bands...i won't say mk ultra sucked, i just didn't dig
their music...they're good at what they play, i just don't really like it...i
thought gloritone were alright, they just played for so unbelievably long...
well, that's it...i'll post my pictures to my page soon...

john <jlondon@okc.oklahoma.net>

Of the two shows I have seen this was the best. The entire experience
began at about 1:00pm saturday. A couple friends and I went to the
Bottleneck to check the place out and there was jeremy and will it was
amazing I had never seen any of them away from the stage.  Very cool. I
got a picture w/ Jeremy, he's very cool and also a little shy.  My
friends and I also got to play kickball with Joe and Jeremy. Wow!
Before the show Joe stepped out of the bus and chatted with a few of us.
He said that they have about half of the next album written.  He also
said that there is a reason why they don't play two promises, but he
can't say why, very interesting.  Also, He is encouraging Jeremy to play
more old stuff, but he said Jeremy does not like to play the pink album
because it is a bad memory, because the band was basically broke up at
that time. Other things I found out from Joe, the sharks own private
fuck is about Nate.  Joe is not officially in the band.  He learned all
the bass parts in 4 days. Joe told me that he probably said too much.
Joe is very very cool and I hope the band will continue on with Joe.
     Now, about the show, like all the shows, very amazing. jeremy wore
a Florida Gators shirt, Joe wore a Seattle wrestling shirt, Will a white
v-neck. Sorry, but I can't remember Dan's attire.  The show got started
off a little rough with a false start. Will's bass drum petal broke.
Dan made a joke and they stated over.  Jeremy loves thanking people for
clapping, he thinks it's very kind to clap. I won't go in to the set
list it will probably be posted by someone else I'm lazy.  The show was
absolutely amazing.  I won't go in to anymore detail about the show.  It
is very simple go see Sunny Day.  They are the greatest band ever!!!

Tony <lackmaa@hotmail.com>

 

10/12/98...fox theatre, boulder, co...

Well, I caught Sunny Day Real Estate at the Fox Theatre in Boulder, CO,
last night, and it was the most amazing concert I've ever been to. They
played with incredible amounts of energy and the audience really got
into it, it was great. Dan and Jeremy, even though they hardly talked at
all, had a great stage presence. Will, of course, rocked on the drums,
and I couldn't see Joe for most of the show but he seemed to do a great
job. The audience was mostly pretty respectful, no moshing (thank God),
one guy kept screaming "BUCKET OF CHICKEN!" which was annoying but
Jeremy silenced him with "Thank you for the request but I'm afraid
that's impossible." I didn't get to meet them, which was really
disappointing, because I have a million things I'd like to say, but
maybe next time. Here is the setlist:
In Circles
Guitar and Video Games
Pillars
Blankets were the Stairs
100 Million
Every Shining Time you Arrive
Waffle
The Prophet
How It Feels To be Something On
Rodeo Jones
encore:
J'nuh
Roses in Water
Days Were Golden

It's hard to pick a highlight out of such a great show but The Prophet
was amazing and so was J'nuh (my favorite song), which they jammed on
for about six or seven minutes. It was great. Magstatic started the show
and they were pretty good, MK Ultra came out next and I can't say I
liked them much although they had one really, really good song. Anyway,
it was great to finally see my favorite band live in concert.
Thanks--

Lucas <mshaw@cu.campus.mci.net>

The show was incredible.  The most people I have ever seen in the fox
and every one I talked to seemed to be diehard fans. I'd have to say
that the guys in the band are the most down to earth, normal people I
have every met in the world of entertainment.  Before the show I had the
oppurtunity to talk to all of them.  Jeremy claimed his voice had lost a
lot of power, hell i couldn't imagine it being any better.  I have never
heard someone sing so well in a live situation.  He also was on the
search to find a toys r us to buy a new memory card for his playstation,
after some kids took him to get one he was in the bus until the show
started.  Will commented on the foo fighters being a jerry springer
experience.  Joe and Dan sang minimal backups, primarily on in circles.
J'nuh was the highlight of the evening, an incredible longer rendition.
All in all a great show, hopefully jeremy and will were correct in
saying they will be around for a long time.

Frank, Scott Gerald <sfrank@mines.edu>

I met Dan briefly before the show out in front of the Fox Theater in
Boulder on the eve of October 12th.  He was out front hanging out with a woman who
later told me that she worked for the band and the bass player of MK Ultra who said he
was here to heckel Sunny Day.  I saw him hanging out and at first I didn't recognize
him because he didn't look as big as I pictured him.  his beard is so deceptive.  I
kept on looking at him hard and then I had to go see if it was him or not.  At first he said no
and he smiled and looked at this man and woman he was hanging out and then
after I said,"Oh I'm sorry you look a lot like him," he confessed that he really was Dan
Hoerner and then I asked him if I pronounced his name right and he said yeah and then I
proceeded to shake his hand and thank him for playing and telling him how happy I was
that the band was back together upon which he responded with many thank you's I really
didn't have much to say after the formalities but I noticed Dan was carrying a bunch
of bananas
and I told him how nice they were and he responded with a big smile and
said, "I grew them myself," and then he said he had to go get ready and left.
    I had been to this theater once before and saw Tilt, the Smoking
Popes and Big Balloon that time.  I remembered how packed it was last time and decided
to get as close to the stage as I could as early as I could.  Which was pretty
close because the crowd was very sparse when Magstatic started to play @ 8:00.  They were
a decent pop-punk band with a whiny singer and a few decent guitar riffs.  Not
too exciting but there were a couple songs that got me moving (which is a lot more than
they did for the rest of the crowd.  Why aren't people willing to have fun with opening
bands?).  They had a really long set, something like 45 minutes.  Then MK Ultra came on
@ 9:15. They were really cool.  Something like Sonic Youth with Iggy Pop on
vox.  One of there songs started out with that Queensryche riff from Silent Lucidity and I
had to laugh and holler which got a big smile out of the lead guitar player.  I really
liked these guys but again the crowd was laggging.  Hardly any movement but louder clapping.
It was around midset that I noticed Jeremy watching the show backstage.  He's
so handsome. I pointed at him when I caught him looking at me and then I just kept on
enjoying the MK Ultra show.
    Finally after MK was all over @ 10:15 the lights went down and
everyone started screaming.  You could barely see them all get in there places.  And then
Dan started the In Circles riff and everyone loved it.  After this I lost track of what
songs in what order but I remember Every Shining Time You Arrive being really good actually
every song they played was really good.  I couldn't believe how clear it was.  I
could barely hear Jeremy's guitar because I was right in front of Dan's amplifier but it
was all good because Dan doesn't fuck up.  Except the beginning of Roses in Water
which they had to start over after Dan played the riff.   He came to the mic and said
it wasn't his fault. Did I mention Dan didn't stop smiling the entire show?  Roses in Water
after it got started proper like was to me the tightest song they played.  As I
mentioned every other song was excellent but the drums in this one are so cool the way
they have that kind of stutter march thing going on.  they started the encore with
J'nuh (my favorite song off SDRE) and jammed the J'nuh part for a really long time.  Jeremy
did some feedback stuff while Dan just kept playing J'nuh J'nuh J'nuh J'nuh
forever it was awesome.  They ended the encore with the Days Were Golden.  This song is
so pretty. It reminds me of the fall.  for the last verse Jeremy put his guitar
down and did some really beautiful vocals.  He sounds like water slipping down a sandy
beach.  Not only does he have the range he's got the control.  Just an amazing voice.
after that everyone but William left the stage and he just kept on playing that drumbeat for
a long time. They have so much style.  They make me feel really good.  I think I was
praying throughout the show.  I'm not Christian but I feel the spirit in Sunny
Day Real Estate and it is good.  I think everyone who was in the room with me felt the
same.  Everyone was mellow and happy after the show and I've been mellow and happy ever
since.  I can't wait to see them again.

<rossw@uswest.net>

10/14/98...wasatch, salt lake city, ut...

sorry i don't have a playlist, hopefully someone else does...
this was my first exposure to magstatic and mk ultra, and i'd have to
say that magstatic surprised me with their ability to go from
potentially great to mind-numbingly oafish, sometimes within the same
song. it makes me wonder who'd go on to greatness if they broke up. i
could tell that the bassist was playing his guts out, but i couldn't
hear him at all. i told him to turn up, and he did, a bit, but he
needs to get some mids and highs in the mix (and/or leave the band) or
he'll never get the respect it looked like he's striving for.
mk ultra was more consistent, and had a better mix going. the
singer/guitarist kicked his lead out a couple times, and the emilio
estevez lookalike drummer tended to lean a little heavily on his
splash cymbal which wasn't properly miked, but otherwise a good outing.
sdre just blew everyone away, including me. i saw them with shudder to
think back in the day, but to my recollection, they've gotten so much
more competent and professional. just a couple bum notes, absolutely
no miscues, tons of emotion (of course) and energy (dan said he
thought he was going to faint... i was going to try to explain that
it's probably because salt lake city is at elevation 4,000 feet or
something, and maybe he shouldn't hop around as much, but hell, he's a
grown-up, he can take care of himself). the bassist guy is amazing,
and i wonder if he's going to stay with them. if not, i'm available,
just e me.
=o)
and continuing in the celebrity-lookalike drummer motif: has anyone
commented on how much will looks like a pissed-off andy richter whilst
drumming? it cracked me up.
a few people kept yelling for "48!" and when jeremy announced the last
song (it was "days were golden" of course) he said "and sorry, no, it
isn't 48..." to which dan added "don't worry, one of these days we'll
learn all the numbers again." huzzah! i hope he's serious about that.
but anyway, one of the best concerts i've attended. in between songs,
dan was saying how he appreciated the great response we gave them and
how good it is to be back, and i piped up and said "well, just don't
leave us again, 'kay?" he gave a sheepish grin and said "we'll try not
to."
please try.
viva dia del sol!

matt k. (skeptictank@yahoo.com)

hi i'm a newbie to the sdre list...
but i thought i'd share this with u...guess what i went to last nite...the glorious glorious sunny day real estate concert..oh my....well i came home with a t-shirt and i finally got their new cd...and the concert...was INCREDIBLE...i have never seen a better show ever ever ever...they were better than the pumpkins..they were even better than helmet....better than the toadies...even better than beck and soul coughing..
all of those are pretty hard to top cuz they were all great shows..but this was THE BEST. they played lots of new stuff (which i hadn't heard til that nite) i thought that was cool tho..getting to hear the new stuff all live...i had heard one new song only..pillars...and they played 6 or 7 old ones...the 2 opening bands were kool too..magstatic..who was local...and mk ultra..from san fransisco who was pretty rad....they had this song called red kross..that was the BOMB
well back to sdre...people were crying..and cheering..it was a very intimate concert for parts of it....just the drums and jeremy singing in his incredible beautiful voice....and complete silence elsewhere...it was almost like..sex ..
just beautiful and right in the moment and so intimate...i never wanted it to end...but there's more...then after the show ended..it ended with this really gorgeous quiet song...and jeremy and dan walked off while the bass and drums kept going...then..the bassist..then will goldsmith..just played by himself for a minute or so..then left...it was such a cool ending...well me and alana went around back...then the bass player came out...and we talked to him and he signed some stuff..then dan came out and we all talked to him for ten minutes or so..then JEREMY came out...and we talked to him for like a HALF HOUR..just about everything and nothing..and he signed our stuff..it was soo amazing...i have dreamed about meeting him and i finally got to..he answered all these questions i asked him and i thanked him for making diary--i said--i just wanted to say that yr album diary changed my life completely and it made a big impact on me...and he just looked me in the eye and said-thank you thats really cool...and he told us about life in seattle and playing and we talked about the sound acoustics in the place he had played and about sunny day's future and past and it was amazing...and then we went over and talked to will who was wearing football pads and pants ..haha...thats what he played the show in...and he was sorta drunk but he was nice and he signed our stuff too..
and then i went home and went to bed after listening to the new album a couple times tho... and that was my nite.....
the other songs they played besides the new ones...
j'nuh
rodeo jones
waffle
the blankets were the stairs
in circles
also interesting--jeremy said he used to have a falsetto but he lost it
when he stopped smoking cigarettes. altho he smokes again now, he hasn't
regained it...
AND- i asked about the *odds and ends album* that was supposedly coming
out...dan had this to say---"well when we get together we want to play new
stuff...not the same old shit." he said the misc. album is still in the
plans but its been moved back a while.
jeremy also said that the band is going to record ANOTHER album pretty
soon...and that they are going to spend A LOT Of time in the studio to
really tweak it..
jeremy also was talking about making a video for some of their new stuff.
he just said he would like it to be super artsy and that there's no way mtv
would ever play it.
jeremy also implied he doesn't care much for the nate's band-the foo's..lol
he said that nate wanted sdre to be a *side project* and we all had a good
laugh about that.

well thats enuf for now.
lata
-sentriflo-i "ryan fedor" <ryanf@accesssoftware.com>

10/16/98...6th & main, boise, id...

I don't have a set list but I'm pretty sure it was identical to that of
the Portland show.
I had the pleasure of meeting John Vanderslice (lead vocals of mk ultra)
He was such a sweet guy that he let me go backstage and drink some beers
with Greg Williamson, etc. He also got me on the guest list for the
Portland show where I went backstage and talked to Jeremy and Will, they
were so awesome, it's hard to put it into words. Will's definitly laid
back. We were having a little SDRE party after the Boise show and he was
all ready to go with us but the bus  left too early.Anyway, when we
first got to the Boise show Jeremy adn Will were just sitting on the
front steps of the venue.I asked about another solo album and Jeremy
said he was working on it. He asked us for directions to a shoe store
cuz he wanted some nice Italian shoes, we sent him to a store but he
bought a toy airplane at a little shop instead that he later broke after
the show. They are both very nice, down to Earth guys. We asked Will
about the whole Foo Fighters thing and he didn't really want to talk
about it too much. I was a little disapointed because the show was so
empty, not many peole in Boise have even heard of Sunny Day , but it was
also a lot more personal and easy to get and stay up front. The songs
brought me to tears twice, it was amazing. After reading some of the
other reviews it sounds like their shows were very similar. The Days
Were Golden left me breathless, it seemed as though we should have a
huge group prayer afterwards.I personally begged Dan, Will, and Jeremy
to come back to boise because even though the quantity wasn't there,
everyone was definitely a dedicated fan and not just there to see
someone they hadn't heard of before. I'm dying to see them again in
March in Spokane

marcella simon <marcellasimon@hotmail.com>
 

10/17/98...la luna, portland, or

Hello all, i was lucky enough to be able to make the drive from Seattle to
portland yesterday and see SDRE with Joe for the first time! i was really
excited, beacuse for about 8 yeears i have been a huige posies fan and
have seen about 12 posies concerts where Joe was the bassist,
anywaY! of course the opening bands, MAgstatic and MK Ultra sucked! but
what can you extpect their manager is pretty loyal, buuut after about 2 h
ours of shitty music, the stage was finally cleared for SDRE
it was an amazing show, the version of the prophet that was played was the
best bby far that i have heard, and by the end of the song jeremy was on
the virge of tears, anyway! god th crowd was not all that badm but there
were lthese like 10 drunk people who moshed to EVERYTHING till about hallf
way throiugh when security made them calm down! anyway i have not had a
chance to get the setllist togethher, but they played about the normal
amount of odl songs and new, with a 3 song encore
well i should prolly go off to study for my midtermsas, but if i get done
early i will post a sample from my boot, the prophet, on my web page,
http://www.zipcon.net/~seymour
check i out late late tonight or tommoorow ! anyway!
bb

Bryan Egan <bobomobo@u.washington.edu>
 

i know i am going to sound like everybody else, but first off i don't have the setlist...i'm sure someone will.  what an amazing show!!  i did not see any of the opening bands, because i was at a starbuck's in beaverton watching pedro the lion, and damien jurado (another sub pop artist) play.  we made it over to la luna and about 20 minutes later sdre took the stage.  the crowd greeted them to a hero's welcome.  portland has always been kind to them, but i am sure many fans from seattle made the trip south.  la luna was full, but not nearly as crowded as when jeremy came about a year and a half ago to support his solo album.  anyway, the intensity was so thick you could have cut it with a knife...jeremy was getting into it more than i expected...dan was very grateful and thanked the crowd
numerous times...the prophet was beyond description, and just blew me away...after the encore was over, william stayed on the drums and played out the rest of the band leaving the stage.  everyone was clapping to his beat like people do at a soccer match.  i don't think anyone wanted him to stop...if anyone is still deciding whether to see them if they are coming to your area, then stop thinking and go get a ticket!!  you will thank your lucky stars...
 
nate <lsu77@peak.org>

10/30/98...wwu, bellingham, wa...

well, i got back from the bellingham show at about 2am... so i thought
i'd post my follow-up the next day, because i was so tired when i got
back.  here you go.
oh yeah, and since i know any "show review" i post to the list will be
immediately copied and pasted on to john london's page, i'd just like to
say, john london's page sucks!!  don't ever go there!  just kidding of
course, he has a wonderful page.  i just wanted to see if he'd paste
this on his page or not. :-)
i went there without a ticket, even though i was supposedly going to get
one from someone on the list.  i looked all over for this guy, i was
even holding a sign with his name on it, but i didn't find him.  after a
lot of people had already gone in, i found someone who sold me an extra
ticket for a lot less than this other guy was going to.  (i still feel
bad though, since i promised this guy the money.)  i was in.
kilmer and rose blossom punch opened.  finally some good opening acts
for sunny day.  i hadn't heard kilmer before, but i had heard that they
were really good.  they were.  rose blossom punch (who if you don't
know, has two of the members of jeremy's old touring band) were also
excellent, i had heard them before.  but both of these bands were just a
small tap on the ass compared to the giant ass-kicking administered by
sunny day real estate.
during the opening bands, who i liked but i didn't watch too intently
because i was looking for some friends, i ran into joe.  i had met him
at some posies shows before, and it was cool to talk to him again.  we
talked a bit about the last posies show, which i unfortunately did not
attend (i did see their last show in seattle though), and a lot about
sunny day.  i asked him a few questions.

"so, what's the setlist going to look like tonight?"
joe: "y'll just have to wait and see."

"i've heard you are really pushing to have the band learn some of their
older material."
joe: "yeah, i have been.  i really want to learn them all, but there are
some songs jeremy won't play, and some dan won't play, and some willie
won't play.  i've really been wanting them to learn 'theo b.' -- that's
such a great song."

i told him a bit about the on-line poll i took on the list about which
songs fans want to hear live.  i forgot to print out the results before
i left (duh), so i just told him about it.  he asked me, "what was the
number one song?"  i said, "song about an angel got 22 votes."  he said,
"we're playing that tonight."
i told him about some of the other highest voted songs.  "grendel was
#2... but i've heard you aren't ever going to play that."  joe said,
"well, there's been some talk...."  i also told him that another high
voted song was "spade and parade," and i'd really appreciate it if they
ever played that.  he said he'd definitely bring it up.
supposedly there are still some secrets that they are not telling joe.
i asked him about "rodeo jones" -- he said he was the one that convinced
them to play it again.  i asked him why they skip the last verse, and he
said "i really have no idea, that's just how they want to play it.  i
was disappointed because i don't get to do that bass harmonics part
twice."
unfortunately the show went until midnight and i had a two hour drive
home, so i didn't get to talk to anyone else after the show.
here's the setlist:

1. In Circles

during the solo part jeremy sang another verse -- "you opened my eyes"
is about all i remember

2. Pillars
3. Guitar and Video Games

joe did back up vocals on "g&v."  very cool.

4. The Blankets Were The Stairs
5. Every Shining Time You Arrive
6. 100 Million
7. Song About An Angel

perfection.  dan did the backup vocals of course, and unlike "in
circles," he did them exactly the way they were on diary.  he sang the
whole "yr married to yr... yr married to yr... yr married to yr... pain"
part, that was the obviously the most he sang that night.

8. How If Feels To Be Something On
9. The Prophet
10. Rodeo Jones

this was amazing.  jeremy seemed like he was ready to explode.  during
the "wet sand... in between the waves" verse, where he just hits that
one chord in between every line of the song, he would swing his arms
back and forth like mad, and during the non-vocal parts he had the most
energetic look on his face, like he was screaming, but he wasn't.  it's
so hard to describe.

encore:

11. J'nuh

this song keeps getting longer.  during the "j'nuh, j'nuh" part, dan
just kept playing and looking up towards the ceiling with his eyes
closed and shaking his head around, almost as if he didn't even realize
he was in the same room anymore.  joe added a new little bassline during
that part as well.

12. Roses In Water
13. Days Were Golden

jeremy once again sung that extra verse after he took his guitar off,
and yes, i'm pretty sure it is from his song "days design."

another awesome show.

Anthony Schmidt <anthony@foxinternet.net>