checking in from the windy -- and cold -- city. they say there's a bunch of wet messy snow back in mpls. hmm...i wonder what's worse?
kraig and the boys turned in a great set at schuba's on thurday night. very nice crowd; damn near a full house. thanks to everyone who made it; everybody really appreciated the nice turnout.
pretty much the same set they've been working on lately. "on the beach" was wondrous and the big rockers ("freight train," "take me home," etc.) were typically off the hook. the old g. smog classic "if i only had a car" was especially smokin' and the crowd totally was diggin' in, this being sort of a golden smog home away from home.
the crowd really seemed to dig the program thing -- brisk sales of cds after the show amidst the inevitable "when is he coming back" questions.
neil & greendale was swell last night; off to see bobby d at the riv tonite. rock 'n' roll rehab on monday!
Saturday, March 6, 2004
Monday, March 1, 2004
Review: Kraig Johnson & The Program - 2/28/04 - Red Carpet - St. Cloud, MN
Yes, the Program show on Friday at the Turf was a blast, in spite of the band not being terribly happy with a variety of technical things. The fact that they were still able to put on a great show is a testament to their dedicated, if not unconventional, work ethic.
And how cool was it to see Perly play the gtr hero? Maybe Gary should switch to bass for awhile!
As fun as the Turf show was, though, the next night in St. Cloud was an all-timer. Unlike Friday, there were plenty of smiles on stage throughout the show. That's the good news. The bad news is that the place was deader than a Al Sharpton rally in Alabama. Plenty o' peeps up there but they all seemed more interested in doing whatever sex-crazed coeds do in places like the Red Carpet. 'twas a shame since the band was a-clickin'. The setlist got thrown out the window and the boys just went into the "zone," in spite of a near absence of meaningful audience response. The Velvets got covered, always a sign of a good Program show; Poe's twangy, rarely played "Death Watch For a Living Legend" actually filled the dance floor for the only time all night; a new, "alt-country," sunnier version of "Right to Me" was debuted; and the 1-2 encore punch of "Take Me Home" (aka "If You See Me" aka "Wandering Around") and "Freight Train" felt like an A-Bomb dropping in the middle of Stearns County. It was especially fun to watch Smokin' Ed -- he was as happy as could be since he got to turn up his amp and do what he does best: make his axe smoke.
And speaking of "On the Beach," as nice as the Turf version was, the St. Cloud one was simply stunning, and it wasn't even on the setlist! The Turf performance got cut short after one solo but in St. Cloud there were four (for those keeping score: Ed, Ed, Poe, Kraig on acoustic). The line about needing "a crowd of people" seemed especially ironic giving the surroundings.
If it wasn't the best Program show ever (I might still be lost in the haze of a great show), it was at least in the top 2 or 3 of the two dozen or so i've seen, in spite of the lameness of the audience. Who knows why such strange things happen in such strange places? Just another rock 'n' roll mystery, i guess. I was so inspired i composed an essay ("If a great concert occurs and nobody's there to see it...can you still hear a tree fall in the forest") at 6am Sunday morning when i got back home. I'll try and put it up on my tradelist site before i head out of town.
The Freight Train rolls on down to Chicago on Thursday. Hope to to see lots of people at Schuba's.
And how cool was it to see Perly play the gtr hero? Maybe Gary should switch to bass for awhile!
As fun as the Turf show was, though, the next night in St. Cloud was an all-timer. Unlike Friday, there were plenty of smiles on stage throughout the show. That's the good news. The bad news is that the place was deader than a Al Sharpton rally in Alabama. Plenty o' peeps up there but they all seemed more interested in doing whatever sex-crazed coeds do in places like the Red Carpet. 'twas a shame since the band was a-clickin'. The setlist got thrown out the window and the boys just went into the "zone," in spite of a near absence of meaningful audience response. The Velvets got covered, always a sign of a good Program show; Poe's twangy, rarely played "Death Watch For a Living Legend" actually filled the dance floor for the only time all night; a new, "alt-country," sunnier version of "Right to Me" was debuted; and the 1-2 encore punch of "Take Me Home" (aka "If You See Me" aka "Wandering Around") and "Freight Train" felt like an A-Bomb dropping in the middle of Stearns County. It was especially fun to watch Smokin' Ed -- he was as happy as could be since he got to turn up his amp and do what he does best: make his axe smoke.
And speaking of "On the Beach," as nice as the Turf version was, the St. Cloud one was simply stunning, and it wasn't even on the setlist! The Turf performance got cut short after one solo but in St. Cloud there were four (for those keeping score: Ed, Ed, Poe, Kraig on acoustic). The line about needing "a crowd of people" seemed especially ironic giving the surroundings.
If it wasn't the best Program show ever (I might still be lost in the haze of a great show), it was at least in the top 2 or 3 of the two dozen or so i've seen, in spite of the lameness of the audience. Who knows why such strange things happen in such strange places? Just another rock 'n' roll mystery, i guess. I was so inspired i composed an essay ("If a great concert occurs and nobody's there to see it...can you still hear a tree fall in the forest") at 6am Sunday morning when i got back home. I'll try and put it up on my tradelist site before i head out of town.
The Freight Train rolls on down to Chicago on Thursday. Hope to to see lots of people at Schuba's.
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