jeremy show reviews
january 18, 1996 la luna, portland, oregon
(contributed by erika jacobs [ejacobs@wolfnet.com])
Hey folks -- I'm still tired from the long drive home from Portland, but
I'd thought I'd write in and tell some stories anyway...
First of all, La Luna is one of my favorite places we have ever played --
it's got great art, high ceilings, and a really great air hockey game.
Anyway, last night was Mark Nichols' last night playing with us (for now
anyway). He's involved in a bunch of cool projects that he didn't want to
leave for a month of touring, which we all understand, because he does a
lot of cool stuff. The mood was goofy and fun -- at the end of Lizard,
before the flute and violin come in for the last little tune, the pick up
fell out of Jeremy's guitar. Instead of just going on with messed up sound,
he stood there and put the pick up back into place (everyone held their
breath -- Maxxine the flute player actually sat down because she thought we
were just going to end the song) but he fixed it, looked around at everyone
with a big smile and went right into the last bit of the song. On stage,
we could barely help ourselves from totally laughing -- it was quite a
moment. Otherwise, playing felt great -- the last two shows we have been
clicking better than ever before, which takes the music to a whole new
level. The crowd loved Jeremy and he did an unprecedented two acoustic
encores -- one of which was a new song (which I don't even know the title
of) that I had never even heard before. On another comic note, Nick
forgot his bass and had to borrow another in case his real one didn't get
driven down in time (by his lovely wife) to perform. The light guy lent
him his bass, which had weird motorcycle mirrors pasted to it and a sticker
that said "pervert" on it -- it would have been hilarious had Nick played
it, seeing as how he's not a motorcyle mirrors kind of guy and is anything
but a pervert! Well, it was funny when it happened!
Enough rambling...
cheers,
Erika
march 1, 1997 hollywood alley, mesa, arizona
(contributed by john holman [astroman@page.az.net]
Last night (March 1st, 97) i got to see Jeremy in Phoenix and it was
_AMAZING_!!! I got to the place early with my friends and saw Jeremy
chatting with a few ppl at the table next to mine! It was so weird, i felt
like i knew him. Then i saw Erika and Anita and i went up to them and we
talked for about 30-40 mins. It was great. They were the coolest.
The first band, Slugger (local), was excellent. Now i try to keep an open
mind, but Red Red Meat just sucked. They had some cool sounds but it just
didn't work for me.
Then Jeremy was to play. All of the people in the place seemed to move
closer. Somehow, i was lucky enough to end up in the very front in the
center. Jeremy came out and the place went nuts. It was great!!! I was 3
feet from Jeremy the whole time. They played the usual set and it sounded so
excellent. Not just cause i was there live, but Jeremy's singing was right
on and it seemed that everyone played perfectly. He also played Asleep under
Last Week's News ...as well as Damien Dreams along with the orchestra. The
crowd was really into it and Jeremy was in a great mood it seemed. He kept
smiling a lot and saying thank you, which urged more cheers. His voice gave
only slightly when he started Damien, and had to stop for water. He made a
joke and everyone laughed. At the end, he wasn't sure about playing because
of his voice, which never sounded less than perfect throughout the show, and
he played "Oh John" and "Chewing Gum".
He said thank you and the crowd continued clapping even after he left the
stage and building. It was the best! During the climatic parts he was so
utterly awesome, his whole body convulsing as he strummed his guitar with
complete passion. During Shade and the Black Hat...his whole body jumped as
he pummeled the keys in such moving fashion. Then, at the climax he just
went crazy, in the BEST-only-Jeremy-Can way, and hit a bunch of keys all at
once with both hands. After the show, Erika told me it was the best show of
the tour, so far. I just want to tell everyone that Erika and Anita are
awesome and way nice, and you should definately go up and say hi if you are
lucky enough to get the chance.
I took a ton of pictures at point blank range, and hope to get them
developed this week, and possibly scanned as well. Unfotunately, i could not
get ahold of a recorder for the show. I also forgot in my excitement to get
on of the new shirts. It's way cool i think. White with a stork on it and
Jeremy's name underneath.
Well, i plan on going to Salt Lake on the 19th to see him again, (jeez
i'm lucky, and EXCITED!!) so hopefully i can record it somehow. I hope you
have enjoyed my little review. I just have to say, that Jeremy is _AMAZING_
march 5, 1997, galaxy, dallas texas
(contributed by liza trinkle [ltrinkle@mail.hockaday.org])
Well I will hopefully entertain you with my tale of yesterday's Jeremy Enigk/Red Red Meat concert
in Dallas, Tx.
It all began when my boyfriend (Will) and I were walking in Deep Ellum (arts section of town)
across the street from the Galaxy Club where Jeremy was playing. We walked by a payphone and as I
looked at the man on the payphone I realized it was probably none other than Jeremy himself. (none
other because I've never seen him in person before so I couldn't be sure) My thought was confirmed
when after talking to a man by the payphone, he crossed the street and got onto his tour bus. Well,
Will and I just stood outside the tour bus being in love with Jeremy and hoping that he might come
out so that we coudl talk to him. Eventually he did come out but he then proceeded to the club, we
followed and when we got to the door we realized he was being carded, the humble man put on no
heirs. Well to make a long story short, when Red Red Meat had finished their set Jeremy walked in
and began to talk to the woman in charge of selling merchandise. Will finally got his courage up
and walked over to buy a poster and began a conversation with Jeremy. He told him that we had
talked to him online in December (by the name of Torgana, see the transcript) and retold the story
of how I asked him what his favorite name was, he said 'Oliver' and so I said 'I shall name my
first born son Oliver' to which he replied ' No torgana, that's my name'. I then walked over and it
was time for him to go onstage, to which we remarked that we would have to leave in 10 minutes
because of Dallas city cufew and school the next day. Will asked him to sign the poster, he did and
wrote: "Don't steal my first son's name - Jeremy Enigk". Jeremy went onstage, played "Abigail
Anne", and then we had to leave. I may have only gotten to hear one song, but the experience is
still unbelievable. To hear the music live was so much better than the recording, there was so much
energy and spirit, everyone must go see him!
Well, sorry for making you read all this,
- Torganna, the happiest girl on earth
march 7, 1997, the side door, st. louis, missouri
(contributed by phillip webb johnston [pwjohnst@students.uiuc.edu]
Hi. Phil again. As I said, it was finally time for Jeremy Enigk. Well,
once Jeremy's band started to get set up I was about ready to jump with
excitement. Then I just happened to turn around and there he was.
Standing in the crowd and no one knew it was him. They were expecting
longer hair, I suppose. Well, eventually, people figured it out and
started asking for autographs and handshakes and hugs and all the rest.
I would have been over there myself, except that I did not want to lose
my place (front and center, exactly).After about 15 more minutes the
stage was all set up and all was ready. So Jeremy took leave of the crowd
around him and walked onto stage. He took off his olive green coat,
strapped on his acoustic-electric guitar, clicked his tounge in the
microphone a few times and finally said hi. Hello. And then as you all
may have guessed from other posts, he played the introductory notes of
Abegail Anne. Applause from all around me, but not from me. I was already
transfixed. I couldn't move a muscle. I didn't want to. I'm sure you have
all felt that little tingley sensation in the back of your neck on the
occasional time when you thoroughly immerse yourselves in the music.
Well, try to imagine that feeling for over fourty minutes. (no, sorry to
say I did not feel the tingley sensation in my neck after the first 5
minutes. Numbness does that to me!) He sang some different lyrics and a
whole new verse in Abegail. I was in awe. Well, he went through some more
songs (list later) and by the fourth song (Return of the Frog Queen) he
was totally immersed in sweat. Those of you who have seen him know of the
intensity with which he plays. He spared none of it on us. Jeremy Enigk
can go from pure calm (or so it seems to the untrained eye!) to a burst
of emotions in the same span of time it takes most of us to blink. And he
carries you along with him. And you feel it radiating from his voice, his
eyes, his aura of power. After Frog Queen he went right into Carnival.
That was the second most moving experience of my life. I cannot even
describe it. I will not even attempt to try. After Carnival, he played us
and accoustic song Asleep Under Last Week's News. He played on until it
was time for Shade and the Black Hat. Then he sat down at his keyboard
right in front of me and played. You know how I said Carnival was second?
Shade was First. Shade is First. Watching Jeremy in the beginning of
Shade for me was strange. I could not quite believe that I was there. But
When he got to Who Fell Here Time Away, I finally felt it. A seemingly
small feeling at first, it grew in intensity until I finally had to close
my eyes and just listen. Those of you who have seen know what I mean. At
the end of the song people clapped and yelled like mad. Not me. Me, and
most of the other people who were standing there in front just stood
there and looked at him. Covered in sweat and breathing hard through his
nose. Looking angry for a second and then peaceful. Shade is First. He
dryed himself with a towel and played a beautiful song Damien Dreams.
Looking at his set list, I saw that that was all they had planned to
play. Well, he said thanks for coming and enjoy your night and prepared
to leave. Somehow the crowd, yelling "don't go" and "encore!" and "one
more!" Jeremy decided to stay. He told us he would play two new songs
that were going to be on his next album. You may know them: Oh, John and
Chewing Gum. He played them accoustic and at the end he left his stage,
saying thank you for being nice. Well, Jeremy Enigk you are welcome.
thank you for coming to play for us.
Hi. Phil once more. Well, the show was over. At least the part I payed
for. After I recovered the power of movement, I walked over to the band
and said hi to Anita. (She's the one who posts to the list occasionally)
and told her that I loved the show. We spoke for a short time and I asked
her if she thought that Jeremy might possibly come out and say hi. She
told me maybe and so I went out by the bus to wait. And wait. Erika came
out and I asked if Jeremy would come out and she said that he was
resting. So I asked if she would see if he would come out and she said
she'd try. Well, we (me and some others who wanted to talk to Jeremy)
waited some more. Then Greg came out again and he told us he'd see how
Jeremy was feeling. So (yep, you guessed it) we waited some more. And
then Jeremy Enigk came out of the tour bus and said Hi, I'm Jeremy Enigk.
Hello, Jeremy my name is Phil Johnston. And so it began. We told him that
the show was great and asked him to sign some things -CDs (Sunny Day as
well as Jeremy and even some christian album), Vinyls (well, one vinyl
anyways, mine) and flyers and posters and CD booklets and anything else
people asked him to sign. He signed them all. Then we talked to him and
asked him questions about all sorts of things. Sub Pop's condition, his
thoughts on William, his old bands, how the shows were going, Grendel
(yes, he even sang some of it for us), future releases, the new U2 album,
the possible release of a video from ROTFQ, his songwriting, Star Wars,
and on and on. For now, I'll just tell you about the music related
stuff. I'll write the rest tomorrow, if I have time.
I think I'll begin by getting the U2 stuff out of the way. Yes, he has
heard the new album. he was listening to it right before he came out to
talk to us. You all know that he has a tremendous amount of respect and
admiration for them. He said that he did not like the album very much. As
a Whole. The Playboy Mansion (the song, silly!) he said he loved. That's
all for U2. On with the info.... As for the video idea (he said in the
online chat {check out Alex Carmichael's SDRE-L page} that there would be
videos off of Return of the Forg Queen) he told us that Sub Pop had
recorded a little demo video (Which song?!) that had people in a forrest
sitting around and people sitting on a hill playing the guitar and so on
and so forth. You know, real MTV friendly. Jeremy did not like it. He
said that his idea for a video was a Pink Floyd-sy style animation (kinda
like from The Wall) with blood and stuff. Hell yeah. Sounds good to me!
But for what song/songs?! ... as for future resleases: he said that his
next album would be out by the end of the year. He said that this album
is going to be pretty much all him. You know how he was helped in Frog
Queen by Mark Nichols. Well, the next album (and most likely all that
follow) will be completely composed and arranged by Jeremy himself. As
far as the 4-track recordings that were the heart of Frog Queen, however,
he said (at least this is how I understood it) that they would not be
released until after he has put out another few records. He told me that
he wanted to build a strong base (fan base or song base?) before he
releases the 4-track stuff. So we may have to wait longer than we had
anticipated for the Frog Queen companion to hit us... As for the shows,
Greg told me earlier that there were so far two types of shows they had
had: shows where the audience as a whole went nutso after each song and
shows where jeremy's breathing would have been audible at the back of the
auditorium (without a microphone!) after each song. He said that all of
the shows had been going rather well for this tour. No mention of San
Diego (Anita?) or Dan Akroyd, although I really didn't remember to ask.
(Isn't it cool that a Ghostbuster listens to the same music as us?)... As
for songwriting, I asked him what his normal process is for writing a
song and he told me this: He starts out with a riff and plays it for a
while. Then if he thinks the song is too boring for his tastes, he adds
to it, makes it more intricate. Finally, he adds lyrics. How you ask?
Well, he told me that he does not usually write stuff before he has the
guitar part down. He just hums along a vocal line and occasionally puts
in a few words. Then he fills the rest in later. Wow. That is what he
said he did for Oh,John. He began that song a long time ago. About six
months. He told me that he is very proud of Oh,John because it was his
first song that he orchestrated all himself. The first new song that is
really his. And it is such a beautiful song. Jeremy said that John was
one of his roommates and that the song was to help him.
Yes, well I believe I have taken up enough of your time with all of this.
I hope that you found it to be entertaining and somewhat informative. I
strongly urge you to go to see Jeremy Enigk perform live. There is really
nothing that can compare. If you have questions and/or comments I
strongly urge you to voice them to me. E-mail me at pwjohnst@uiuc.edu
also check out my webpage at http://www.students.uiuc.edu/~pwjohnst
Thank you Jeremy, Greg, Anita, and SDRE-L members for your time.
Phil Johnston
march 10, 1997, the black cat, washington d.c.
(contributed by mike [yodabeavis@aol.com]
Hi everyone,
I've subscribed to the list on and off for quite a while but this is my
first post to it. The reason, as you've probably guessed, is that I've just
returned from Jeremy's Washington, DC show.
I've read show reviews in here that, at the time, I thought were silly. I'd
say to myself, ok these people are a little *too* enthusiastic, a little
*too* in to it. Now though, I know what everybody means. I knew beforehand
I'd have a great time because I love Jeremy's music so much, but I had no
idea how passionate a performance it was going to be. Now it's one of my turn
to write one of those gushing unrestrained reviews. I've never seen anything
like it. The climax to Shade and the Black Hat was by far the most amazing
experience I've ever had at a show.
Here's a few details-
Being the only local SDRE/Jeremy fanatic I know, I went by myself. The
neighborhood the club (The Black Cat) was in wasn't as bad as I had heard,
and my pepper-spray went unused for the night. I arrived at the club shortly
after the doors had opened. As I walked in to the area where the stage is,
someone familiar in an olive colored jacket was walking out. I had read in
Phil Johnson's review last night that Jeremy was wearing such a jacket, but
by the time I made the connection and turned around, he was already gone
around a corner. There weren't too many people there yet. I sat down at the
bar, had a couple of ridiculously-priced Heinekens, and watched the crowd
come in.
Eventually the opening act Ida came out and started playing. They were good
in a Mazzy Starr-ish sort of way. A lot of the crowd that had gathered at the
stage seemed in to them. I wasn't too interested though, so I got up and
started walking around. I walked to the back where there are tables and
chairs. In one corner Ida was selling music and merchandise, and in the other
back corner Jeremy's stuff was set up. I glanced at the Ida stuff and then
started towards the Jeremy merchandise.
Now, to my complete shock, I noticed Jeremy sitting in a chair watching the
show. I was sure it was him since I've seen so many pictures and he was
wearing that jacket, but then I started to double-guess myself. I couldn't
believe he was just sitting there. I had more doubts when I noticed his
nose-ring, which I didn't know he had gotten. So, like a dork, I stood there
to the side of him, looking at his poster which was hanging right above him
in the merchandise area... back to him... back to his poster. Finally I came
to my senses and realized it was definitely him.
So I walked up, said "Jeremy?", and shook his hand. He politely smiled,
nodded and said hi. I said (probably very quickly), "Hi, I just wanted to
thank you for playing here, I'm really excited about seeing it." He sort of
shrugged and laughed and said "naahhh" like it was no big deal. I told him
his music really meant a lot to me, thanked him again (I think he thanked me
too, but I was so excited I can't remember straight), and then left him alone
and walked off. In a daze I walked up to near the stage. Then of course I
thought of a million things I would have loved to have asked him. But of
course I didn't want to be rude, so I didn't bother him again. A few minutes
later when I walked back to ther bar, I noticed that he was still just
sitting in the back, watching Ida play.
Ida finished and I walked back up the stage to get a good spot. The crowd
was really cool. It was so nice being able to stand fairly close to the stage
without being squeezed between two guys who are banging their head so hard
that you have trouble seeing through the greasy hair flying in to your face.
Also when the show finally started, I didn't get anyone cutting through the
crowd to stand in front of me. A nice change from the last show I've been to.
(Tool at the Capital Ballroom)
Jeremy and band came out. I checked to make sure Jeremy did indeed have that
nose-ring. He did, which relieved me as I could now be 100% sure that I
hadn't earlier approached a complete stranger.
As I said earlier, the show was just incredible. I was never lucky enough to
see SDRE live and this was the first time I had seen Jeremy in concert.
Highlights for me where Carnival (Jeremy got in a lot of jumping around for
that), Chewing Gum (the first time I've heard it, it was great), Explain (I
thought he was going to cry during that), and of course Shade and The Black
Hat. Every song was performed with so much intensity; I've never been so much
in to a show. The rest of the band was fantastic too. I was so moved I can't
even really remember driving home.
still in a daze,
Mike
march 11, 1997 the knitting factory, nyc
(contributed by john despirito [despirit@sjuphil.sju.edu])
"Uh...you guys know the show doesn't start for 7 hours?"
Those were the words spoken to us us by Erika when we first saw her in
front of The Knitting Factory. You see, not by choice, Chris L, his
girlfriend Jill, and I got there just a tad early - 7 hours early. When
we first arrived at the Knitting Factory, we walked in to pick up our
tickets, right in the middle of the band's soundcheck (in which they
screwed up Carnival really bad).
There was only one way in and out of the building, so Jeremy
walked by us about 3 or 4 times. We didn't want to say anything because he
looked pretty busy. A few minutes later, Erika and Anita walked out the
door. I had seen Erika before in Philly, so I figured I'd take a chance
and say 'hi'. We started talking about how the tour was going, and how
Hunk Papa sucked in Philly. Shortly after, Paul walked out, who excitedly
introduced himself to us, and then the rest of the band was out (except
for Jeremy). After all our small talk was finished, the band left to go to
a music store or something. We decided to avoid being seen by Jeremy or
the band so that we didn't look like little fanboy pychos. We hit various
little stores along Broadway.
When we returned to the Knitting Factory, the coast seemed clear,
but as we were walking out, Jeremy was walking in. It's feels so strange
to be inches from someone you have so much to say to, but you don't want
to bother them. Of course, with our luck, the band came around then too.
Erika and Anita said hi to us again as we were waiting for our friends to
arrive (Brian Rumble, his girlfriend Danielle, and Andrew Patterson).
We were talking to Anita outside the door for awhile waiting for
the doors to open when a crowd started to gather. A fellow lister, Nicole
stopped by and chatted with us too.
It became more and more apparent that the Knitting Factory was
totally unprepared for this show. As the crowd grew larger and larger, we
were herded into the bar, others were herded into the bar downstairs or
outside. Even members of the band could be seen trying to work their way
through the confusion. For no apparent reason, the people downstairs were
let in first (luckily Jill was in that crowd and saved us a spot up
front). Jeremy at one point walked outside to do an interview, which
should be interesting.
Finally, we were all in, the moment that would make this whole
ordeal worth it was about to begin. I was a little pist because the guys
behind me were getting smoked up. Jeremy walked on the stage and began
right into Abegail. Here's the list as well as I can recall:
Abegail
Lizard
ROTFQ
Lewis Hollow
Carnival
Asleep Under Last Weeks News
Explain
Shade & The Black Hat
Damien Dreams
Chewing Gum (or was it bubble gum?)
The order of the songs maybe a little screwed up, but that's it. 4
funny moments were in this one (this is my contribution to the funniest
live event thread). First, during ROTFQ, while singing, Jeremy spit on
Chris L's girlfriend Jill. In reaction to this, Jeremy laughed at her (all
the while playing and singing flawlessly). After the song was done, he
said "sorry I spit on you". Look for that one in the bootlegs. 2nd, before
starting one of the songs, Jeremy and Nick posed for a picture (I think
there was some professional photgrapher there) by holding their guitars,
looking at eachother and smiling, it was all done in a funny sarcastic
attitude. After finishing a song, Jeremy said "Thank you for appluading",
a girl in tears then replied "Thank you for being beautiful" everyone just
looked at her and she said "I'm talking about his voice guys...". At that
point, everyone was just like "right, sure that's what you meant..." Then
Jeremy said something like "Sure, we know what you meant" and she said
"It's not what YOU'RE thinking", and everyone was like "ooohhh
damnnn....". 4th, Before beginning Shade, Jeremy sat down, looked at the
keys, started laughing to himself, turned to Nick and said "I forgot how
it starts", and then went right into the song.
Every song he performed was incredible. He was so into each song.
Anyone else who's seen Jeremy live knows what I'm talking about. He had a
fierce look of intensity in every word he sang.
After the show, I heard a few guys behind me say "I'm kinda
disappointed they didn't do any Sunny Day"......idiots. The lovely Erika
and Anita were walking away when they saw us and said "oh there you are",
so we got to have another little chat. I asked Erika if she knew anything
about Jeremy making a video like he said, but she said it doesn't exist as
far as she knows. Chris L. asked if she ever saw the look on his face when
he's performing (beings she always sits behind him). Erika then did an
amazing likeness of Jeremy's screaming face, and she said how when he gets
wild, she sometimes has to be careful he doesn't whack her in the head
with the guitar or something. She also said that this was one of the best
shows of the whole tour, along with Philly.
After buying shirts and posters, it was time to go home. Many thanks go to Erika and Anita, for being so damn cool. Chris, if you got anything to add or correct, go for it it's all
you, I'm gonna get some sleep now, later,
John DeSpirito
march 11, 1997 the knitting factory, nyc
(contributed by christopher leonowicz [leochri@lyco.lycoming.edu]
yeah, the enigk new york show was brilliant. anyone who can get their
hands on a bootleg of this show, i will pay/trade handsomely, for the words
of jeremy enigk to my girlfriend may be preserved on tape: "sorry i spit on
you.". coincidently, my girlfriend jill was able to grab jeremy's personal
setlist and the actual towel he wiped his spit in. how fitting.
the show was a triumph. brilliant.
many thanks go out to the coolest band members i have ever met: Anita and
Erika. down to earth, humorous and everything else. great people as i
expected them to be.. paul mumaw was great (hilarious) as well.
my friend brian's girlfriend got Keanon's (guitarist-spelling?) guitar
pick. the girls got everything!
some guy went into convulsions behind me i heard...i didnt notice it, but
jeremy kept looking at him. this kid had to be taken away, maybe he was to
tripped on that cool acid.
ummm, nothing much else happened. john D covered it pretty much. only
that i'll remember this night for the rest of my life of course. many bad
words (any you can think of) go out to the Knitting factory for being
ill-prepared for this show. maybe they never saw 400 people in their club
before? they seemed very confused that this jeremy enigk character would
get this many people in their club! sold out!!! jeremy enigk sold out a
new york show by himself!! yes! but if i ever see the crowd control guy
they had working last night, i will drop him fast. ok, enough violence.
i really got to know john despirito well on this trip. cool guy.
if anyone is on Leonard street in NYC, and is hungry, there's a box of
donuts weaiting for you just down the block from 76 Leonard.
who says jeremy fans are crazy? wake up 5:30 in the morning, get back 6 am
the next morning (my friend who drove just got back near noon today!),
crazy? naw..
if nicole is out there, email me. i dont have your address handy.
i'll write more if/when it comes to me...
later fellows!
Chris Leonowicz