Wow, what a night. The whole day was great for me, as I got to see my girl at two parties (watching your daughter have fun is always the best). But it only got better.
First off, the dinner went great. It was the McCabes and I for a long while, and we caught up on the board world as you only can face to face. About 2/3s of the way through, the band mostly came in to grab Chinese to go and sat with us for a while:
Adam was agitated because the sound man was VERY late and so there would be no good sound check. But we had a good if brief chat. Most of them left after about 15 minutes, but Alan Boyd hung out a good while longer. Not only did we get some good BB insight, I learned that he and I have some similar interest in old film and film preservation. Good conversation all around. A couple other BB fans showed up from Cincy, and note that they WILL be at the Covington show, so there is some companionship to seek.
And the show! What a great show it was. Some pix:
(click on the pic for a larger version)
While the Wondermints and Brian's band works to replicate Brian's work as exactly as possible, the Chaos Band takes another approach. This makes sense, in that Brian worked up elaborate productions with intricate arrangements, communicating emotion like the cry of a child in some ways, very delicate. Dennis, on the other hand, was passionate like the force of an open vein. He wore his heart on his sleeve and was about intensity. So that's how the Chaos Band went -- to replicate the feel of a Denny track as opposed to the sound. And they nailed the feel IMO.
The show both opened and closed (with one exception) with original material by Adam, Alan, and Evie, and while I didn't know any of it in advance, I enjoyed it. But the music was a hardcore's dream: live versions of many songs you never dreamed you would hear. I didn't make a set list, but let's see:
they did (not in this order)
River Song
Moonshine
Long Promised Road
Trader
Little Bird
Celebrate the News
All I Want To Do
Forever
Got To Know the Woman
Where I Belong
Keeping the Summer Alive
What's Wrong
Baby Blue
Angel Come Home
Final song: Heroes and Villains, closer to the 1973 version than the 1967 version.
PLUS full band versions of Carry Me Home and Wouldn't It Be Nice to Live Again. And now that I have heard more than a piano doing that song, I want someone to release that sucker somehow -- the band version blew away the piano demo Alan provided us. I was completely impressed, and came away thinking that had Denny lived, this group could have been for him what the Mints were for Brian.
And as if this evening hadn't been enough, all six stuck around for over an hour to hang out. So we got to talk with Alan Boyd for most of that time. It was a great rap that covered the Endless Harmony doc, why Smile died, Brian and Mike's relationship, Alan's stories of working with the band, Phil Spector, and the future of the new BB website. All six of them were great, but Alan in particular was the kind of guy you want to go to a coffee shop with, get something and kick back a whole afternoon (as opposed to a parking lot in sub-60 degree weather in shorts). Totally appreciated by us.
And also, one last pic of me and Rob McCabe (I'm on the left):
Bottom line: if you can see this show, GO! It is a dream for hardcore fans. When he said that the following song would test the knowledge of the fans present (introducing Where I Belong), Adam followed it up with "Yes, it's from Summer In Paradise": "Lahaina Aloha". You know that they are hardcore when they make a joke like that...
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