Reviews by...
John
Dave C.
mango
Matthew
It was a little adventure getting down to Port O Call for the uncancelled show - but very much worth it.
The weather was holding out even though Dennis was in the process of turning around out in the ocean ... tons of sand missing from the beaches around Kill Devil Hills - and some huge waves around too.
Lauren Hoffman didnt get to open this show, but Willis opened instead. (I also heard a rumor that Willis might just post some of HIS band's concert dates on the list soon ...)
Cracker took the stage despite the lame djs that were around ... lame dj: (screaming something into the microphone) willis: hey! dont scream like that into the microphone! lame dj: oh, uh, sorry (sheepish look)
This show wasnt quite as hot as the July show here - but it was still plenty hot (the lame djs couldnt keep the outside door open for breathable air ...).
They decided to play Skinheads at some point during the show, so Johnny said "bring me my favorite instrument" to Willis. Willis walked out on stage empty handed though ... (some comment about that picture of Johnny and Frank goes here ...). Willis had to get the mandolin from the bus - in the meantime they went into some other songs. Someone suggested they play some blues - so they did. David tried to stop everyone ... Johnny was left in the middle of some chords, and it was a couple of notes before Johnny was able to stop.
I forget which song this was, but I just remembered that before one of the songs Johnny or David mentioned that they only played this one during tropical storms.
During the show the bar people left on one of the TVs and David noticed that Adam Sandler was being interviewed - and made some comments about it ... did anyone catch those?
... and then they played Low. Whoa. That is when two seven foot tall drunk apes appeared. They were able to get up against the stage (knee level to them) despite many smaller humanoids in their way. Jessica and Chris were saved from the path of destruction by a quick grab from Nancy. I was able to hold my own standing next to one of the guys. He was so tall my head only went up to his shoulder. Scary. Cracker closed out the show with I Ride My Bike - and they did an incredible version of it - tons of energy. David was using his mic stand against his guitar for some sound effects - and ended up hitting it so it went out to the crowd. He missed the big guy though ... so I caught the mic stand and set it up for another attempt. : ) Several of the monitors at the front of the stage also almost took a dive forwards (which would have spelled doom for David's and Bob's feet).
Also on the Bob side of the stage there was some scary girl with a drinking problem (not being able to swallow the beer ...). Bob met with an unfortunate fate - it's a shame the girl got away dry.
I also think that Johnny was flirting with a girl on the other side of the stage (I'm glad Johnny's not reading this) : )
After the show everyone was beat, and standing around in the cool drizzle. The cops almost carted away a couple of the smaller rowdy drunk apes. The large ones escaped unharmed to parts unknown. I think the only damage was some shrubbery in the front of the club. Oh well, let them blame Dennis.
Oh yeah, Dennis .. after the show a group of us (most of the people in that picture that David sent to the list) headed off to the beach ...
Thanks to some biker chick, Frank almost ended up in the ocean. : ) We stood out there gawking at the beach damage and dodging the occasional wave - until we found the severed hand. Well ... it looked like one at least. We brought it up the shore a little bit and reburied it for someone to find later. That hand looked pretty gruesome ...
Since the hotel rooms were dirt cheap on the beach because of Dennis we had the bright idea of staying there. On the island. On the island that was about to be hit by a near hurricane. Needless to say the weather was quite interesting when we awoke. There was also yet another evacuation order for the island. On the drive away from the hotel my car was driving through a foot of water - and if you've seen my little car (honda civic) - you know that aint good. It survived though.
Anyway, we all escaped northwards to VA Beach - where there were only tornadoes and thunderstorms and no Cracker.
Maybe next time we can catch Cracker in a blizzard. : )
I would never in a million years expect to hear "Skinheads". I don't think CVB even played it when I saw them over a decade ago. It's still running through my head.
The crowd was a little less than capacity, which is understandable since most of the hotels in the area were barely 15% occupied - but everyone was really enthusiastic. I planted myself about 4 "rows" from the stage and Roy was kind enough to beat anyone up that tried to infringe on my dancing space. Thanks, Roy. "The Shiner Song" came a little late, but I did my best 11 beer polka, and some folks beside my that drank less than myself were kind enough to pick up the slack. One of the bartenders was an old high school buddy that I hadn't seen in almost 14 years, so I escaped the evening by spending only 6 bucks!!!! Thanks, Frank!!!
The up close and down on the floor feel of the "stage" was really cool. The guys looked to be having a great time. I met Johnny, David, and Bob before the show as they piled into Bob's(?) Taurus which was parked right beside me - and behind the bus. I hopped out of my truck and did some quick hand shakes as they sped off in the rock and roll vehicle that is the Ford Taurus.
With the exception of the two morons that shoved their way to the front for "Low" and the rest of the set, it was a perfect night. It was great to hang around by the bus after the show and talk to everyone. You know, them Cracker guys is real nice kinda people.
I woke up at the crack of noon on Saturday to the sounds, and painfully nauseating sways of the beach cottage moving with the wind. Time to get the heck out of KDH!!!
Anyhoooo, I'm sure I'll post again as more of the memories return to my brain.
Dave C
what a trip ! wed in richmond, it looked like the cops would outnumber the crowd for a while. of course, this meant we had our own personal port-a-johns, tho. finally filled up innsbruck in time for the band to hit the stage. great show.
Trax in charlottesville, what a great place, one of my favorite cracker haunts, looked like they remodeled and took out the rafters, but, no one else could confirm. sound was excellent. "take the skinheads bowling" with johnny on mandolin !! "whole lotta trouble" heard thru the soundcheck, i was tickled sh*tless later when they played it. Bob has his bass setup with flatwound strings now, and it is really sounding good.
Of course, the Port O'Call show was cancelled and rescheduled. brilliant 3 stooges scene when the post hit the list that the show was back on, "OH SH*T, WE GOTTA GO !!!", clothes flying, bags getting stuffed, several phones ringing at once, hahahaha, too much, was hilarious.
The nasty winds of Dennis parted long enough to make the trip down to KillDevilHills. What a kick-ass show, hanging on the hairy edge of chaos all night long.
VaBeach show was a wash, cancelled by city promoters evidently.
Huge thanks to everyone that made the trip.
great to see y'all again.....
cheers,
-mango-
ocr: wake up in the morning, cup of coffee, grab your bags, jump into the taurus, cause this tourin ain't a drag
Most memorable quotes:
"I'm married, I don't need to shower."
-- David Lowery, after the KDH show, before leading us to the beach (and near oblivion) where we
discovered (and properly buried) a severed human hand.
"It was like the oysters were throwing cream pies up onto the beach..."
-- Bob Rupe, using uncharacteristically purple prose to describe the visual effect of the
(hurricane-force) winds blowing sea foam off the water. We witnessed this phenomemon the next morning.
"...then I realized that I'd better shut up, because I didn't know what I was talking about."
-- Frank Funaro, on his realization that he'd assumed Nancy was a "biker chick", without any real reason
or evidence.
"Oh SHIT, we've got to GO!"
-- This one's been covered already....
Yours,
mjr