stevesc@microsoft.UUCP (Steve Schonberger) (01/17/90)
My brother and I and a friend of his went to the B-52s on Sunday night, in the Seattle Center Arena. First the bad news, then the good news. They had a really stupid "weapon search" on the way in, which I probably could have snuck a rifle through if I'd really wanted to. They were probably really looking for tapes, or maybe just trying to scare people out of trying to haul nasty stuff in, but I don't know. It's the last thing I'd expect to turn into a violent crowd, but maybe they have a paranoid insurance company or something. The next bad news was their warm-up band, Love Tractor. They weren't exactly bad, but they weren't all that good either. I'm not going to run out and buy one of their albums, and they were a disappointment; I'd expect they'd be better running around with the B-52s. (There have been times when I was more interested in the warm-up band than the main act, like when the Sugarcubes opened for New Order, and when Dickless opens for almost anyone.) They sounded like Pixies wannabes, though I'm not too familiar with the Pixies. One thing they did well was starting exactly on time, then finishing fairly soon too. They started right at 8. Now for the good news. The B-52s rocked. They started at 9:15. They played quite a mix of stuff, pretty much evenly spread across their stuff, with only a little emphasis on their latest release, which was maybe a third of the show. They played a fairly short set, maybe an hour, but then came back for like three separate encores. I feel sorry for the folks that didn't wait until the lights came up to leave, because they missed about a third of the show. I think they finally finished up for real around 11, but I wasn't paying much attention at that point. What's really wild about them is the diverse crowd they brought in. There were hippie types, black leather teens, regular student types, yuppies, punkers, and even some people with gray hair. They've got to be the only band ever to appear on a best seller list that hasn't been trashed on this list! *** On another subject, I'm going to Norway soon. I'll be in Oslo and Trondheim. Does anyone know any cool clubs or record stores I should visit? Replies to my home address and work address by noon Thursday, or leave a message with Kari at 2 284289 if e-mail won't make it in time. -- Steve Schonberger microsoft!stevesc@uunet.uu.net "Who built the Space Needle? Elvis!" -- Mojo Nixon
stevesc@microsoft.UUCP (Steve Schonberger) (01/17/90)
> On another subject, I'm going to Norway soon. I'll be in Oslo and > Trondheim. Does anyone know any cool clubs or record stores I should > visit? Replies to my home address and work address by noon Thursday, > or leave a message with Kari at 2 284289 if e-mail won't make it in > time. Grrr, I forgot to include the Reply-To addresses in there. Home is steve@sensual.wa.com and work is microsoft!stevesc@uunet.uu.net (which should both be on the Reply-To line of this message also).
mendel@CS.UIUC.EDU (Michael Mendelson) (01/18/90)
I'll have to second Mr. Schonberger's accolades: If the B-52's are in town, GO! They have got to be the weirdest, wildest, most unpretencious band ever to exist. And I like their new album more every time I hear it. Their concert was on the short side, but it was nonstop energy... the crowd was on its feet and DANCING the whole 90 minutes --- a first for this town. . /\/\ / /\/\ / / /_/ / / / "It's only surreal..."
krb20699@UXA.CSO.UIUC.EDU ("Ken.") (01/18/90)
The B-52s played here in Champaign, IL last December, and they really
were good. It was incredibly enjoyable considering the small hall it was
in (about 1000?.) The cramped quarters didn't stop everyone from dancing
themselves silly. The music was very loud, and made the adrenalin really pump.
It's the best concert I've been at around here.
The opening act when they played here was 'Toad the Wet Sprocket,' no
joke. They were surprisingly good.. They had a CD in the stores here before
the concert, but afterward it took a month to get any stock back. They were
that good. I don't know how to classify them, but it seemed to be a less
active show than the B-52s put on, but they had a lot of emotion on the
songs. I think Toad's album is _Bed and Breakfast_.
Ken.
ken-b@uiuc.edu