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The Fillmore April 7, 2001 Submitted for your approval: one show, two takes. Ladies and gentleman, the musings of one Terrence Ryan. (With various and sundry interjections by Squid. Per usual.) Take it away, Terrence: Well. Where to start? I don't know why I ever bother to get excited about reunion tours by bands that mean the world to me but had their hey day when I was but a wee tot. The disappointment of watching legends get old and out of touch is depressing. I would have been happier at the show if I was standing behind that fat tall guy who usually manages to block my view at every other show I attend. Unfortunately, my eyes were forced to watch some of the worst guitar heroics and aping I have ever witnessed outside of 'not ready for prime-time' comedy routines. It was like Spinal Tap or maybe Dana Carvey's "Chopping Broccoli" sketch. Squid adds: Terrence is referring to the behavior of one Kymberly Rew, who was acting in a manner the likes of which I have never seen from him before. It was extremely odd, sort of like watching a prize fighter throw a match. Now, I've seen Kym with Robyn previously on the Jewels for Sophia tour. I have absolutely no idea what was inhaled previous to their performance, but the normally fairly staid Rew was in fact behaving very oddly. I've never seen him do that weird rock'n'roll posturing before, he's only ever gone up, kicked ass, and left the stage. Carry on, Terrence! As for the music, it left me a lil empty. Why were they doing post-soft boys stuff? I mean I like Robyn's stuff and all but that's not what this was about. Why was there a new song? Could anything be worse than reuniting when yer old and doing a new song to further indicate just how far from good you now are? Was no one into it besides the funny guitarist? Why Thomas Dolby? Why did the guitars sound like shit? Why was the between song banter replicated from previous shows? Why did they sleep easy knowing they wasted my hard-earned $20 dollars (currently representing 30% of my total net worth)? Sigh. Squid chimes in: 'Tis true. While I adore songs like "Sleeping With Your Devil Mask", I just don't feel that Robyn's solo catalogue needed to be reviewed at all. There was so much material that could've been revived. I mean, how miraculous was it to hear the lumbering rock of "Leppo and the Jooves" or that anthem of anthems, "Rock and Roll Toilet"? Ironically, getting to see a longer set than the one in Austin at SXSW ended up being a bad thing. I just don't feel that the time was well-used, or the songs well chosen. The encore was going on five songs when I finally just had to call it an evening. Terrence is the only man we know who looks good in dayglo orange. I mean, downright stunning. When he isn't wowing the ladies with his fashion sense, he's running Majestic Twelve Records. --- Read our Soft Boys review from SXSW March 17, 2001 |