LANCASTER AUDIO 11-27-2007
LANCASTER PHOTOS 11-27-2007
Before the show, we walked around downtown Lancaster near the venue.
We quickly found the tourbus, and loitered around waiting for any sign
of band melons. The girls were wearing their home-made “Brad” shirts and
wanted to show them off, of course! We turned around to see CT walking
towards us. He was very friendly and talked with us for a while. He
thought the shirts were hilarious and couldn’t wait for Brad to see them.
Next to appear was Travis, and it was apparent that he emanates a really
upbeat and positive vibe. He talked with us for a bit before getting on
the bus. A couple of minutes later, Glen walked up towards the bus. He was
very gracious and gave us some of his time. I couldn’t quite tell what he
thought of the Brad shirts. Maybe he thought they were funny, and maybe he
thought we were all fanatics! haha! Well, we are indeed fans!
Glen mentioned that Brad & Rogers had walked down the street to get something
to eat and play some pool. We found the pool hall and they definitely were
not there. But as we turned around we saw them walking up the street on the
opposite side. We yelled at them, and they crossed the street to come talk
with us! Brad was immediately surprised by his “fan-club” and their T-shirts.
Rogers looked around for any sign of a fan with a “Rogers” shirt, and tried to
act offended when he didn’t see one. Of course, he totally got the joke,
because Brad wears a “Brad” shirt onstage whereas Rogers does not wear a shirt
with his own namesake. They both talked with us for awhile longer and then went
to go get ready for the show.
We walked around the block again to check on whether the doors to the venue had
opened, and a line had formed in our absence. While standing in line, we got to
meet Tim (3arman). We also got to meet Tim’s friend Dale. It is a very special
thing when melons get to meet one another!
So this was the first time that I had ever been to a Blind Melon show, and I can’t
tell you how sweet it was to get up to the will call and see my name on the guest
list. I will mention this again, but the band members are awesome! Rogers went out
of his way to get the Forum staff members onto the guest list, and I know I speak
for all of us when I say, “Thanks Rogers! ~ You’re the best!”
The venue (The Chameleon Club) was very narrow and tall. It was the true definition
of a “hole-in-the-wall.” It was very dimly lit, and the stage was quite small. It had
a bar on the main level, and they had a balcony for those who were under 21.
While waiting for the opening band, I got to meet a few more forum members.
Among them was msmegs who was extremely enthusiastic for her love of Blind Melon
and music in general! I was very excited to meet Adam (waspfactory) and his fiancé.
We had both submitted multiple entries for the Blind Melon logo contest. We are both
graphic designers, so we got to “talk shop” for a while (photoshop, that is). haha!
He is a very cool, down-to-earth guy and it was a pleasure talking with him.
The opening band just downright sucked! And I am trying to be objective and not just
say that I was eager for the headliner. The opening band decided that since they
couldn’t play music, then they would just play as loud as they could. Their sound
sucked. You could not distinguish the drums from the guitars. It was just loud, bullshit
sound. I have taken the name of this band and tried to bury it under many layers of
subconscious and forgetfulness. I wish I could tell you their name as to warn you to
stay away, but I have pushed it out of my mind.
So after the opening band was done assaulting our ears, my wait to see Blind Melon
after all of these years was almost over. 12+ years ~ talk about anticipation!
The Chameleon Club had filled-up with melon fans and just when we couldn’t wait any
longer, we heard the familiar sound of Kermit Ruffins’ “Hello-Goodbye” second-line jazz
horns come over the PA. The band walked onstage, shook a few hands up front, and then
launched into a powerful version of “Galaxie”. The wait was over and so was the anticipation.
Here's a picture of me ready to rock! haha!
^^^ Thanks for the picture Meredith! ^^^
Blind Melon was once again barreling on down the road like a well-oiled machine. They
were kickin’ ass and takin’ names! Travis had all the charisma and energy of a true
frontman. His ability to let loose his energy and connect with the audience was
truly exciting! One glance around the club revealed a room full of smiling faces, stomping
feet, and hands up in the air. It was apparent that everyone was enjoying the show and
shaking their heads with much approval at every beat.
Here's a video that Gabby took, and at the end, you can see Meredith, Sonya, and myself
rocking out to Blind Melon performing "Wilt".
Thanks for capturing this moment Gabby, and thanks for helping me with the file Greg!
Meredith got this amazing picture of Rogers, like he's having some sort of out-of-body experience on stage.
^^^ Thanks for the picture Meredith! ^^^
Here’s a little clip of them playing “Soup”. . .
So I had heard reviews of previous shows that Travis was beginning the encore with a
cover of Led Zeppelin’s “That’s The Way”. That is an acoustic tune from Led Zeppelin’s
third album, and I absolutely love that one. Travis started strumming his 12-string,
and I was happy to hear those familiar chords from Jimmy Page. Travis did an amazing
job with this song – I can’t stress that enough! Not many singers can hit the notes
that Robert Plant does (or Shannon Hoon, for that matter). I captured this song in its
entirety on video, so here it is. . .
Near the end of this show, some dude and his very drunk girlfriend kept shoving and
pushing people away to get to the front. The guy kept telling his girlfriend to climb
onstage and “show the band your tits.” This was a bad idea, because the stage was so
small that if she had got up there, a band member would probably be forced off the stage
due to lack of space. The venue also had clearly posted signs that stated that crowd-surfing
and stage-diving were not allowed. Little did this drunk girl realize, that Rikk was
waiting in the wings for anyone pulling such shenanigans.
Anyhoon, during “Time”, at recent shows Travis has been letting an audience member sing
one verse of the song. Well, he hands the mic to this drunk girl, and she decides to alter
the lyrics by screaming, “I want your weiner!” Travis loved it, but he quickly
reclaimed the mic as to save the song from the “weiner-girl” (as she will evermore be
referred to as). The band finished off the encore set and even though most of us would
have stayed for them to perform their entire catalogue of songs, we were all highly
satisfied with the show we had just heard!
^^^Thanks to Adam Osher for use of this video clip^^^
I will say thank you to Blind Melon many more times in this essay, but let me be specific
with this thank you. I greatly appreciate their energy and performance for my first-ever
Blind Melon show. Not only did it meet my expectations – it totally exceeded my
expectations. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Post-show
After the show, we hung out in front of the venue and talked with Colleen for a bit.
She is making a documentary on this tour. She wanted to get some footage of the
“Brad fan club” with their T-shirts. I am sure this will make it into the doc. I can’t
say enough about how cool Colleen is. She is very down-to-earth and loves to talk
with the fans. You don’t have to talk with her very long before realizing how much of
a Blind Melon fan she is. And let me just say this – we all envy her and the dream job
she has working with Danny Clinch and touring with Blind Melon.
We walked around to the street behind the venue and we saw Rogers and Brad walking down
the sidewalk towards us. And the girls jeeringly yelled, “Look! It’s the boyfriends!”
Brad of course was happy to see his fan club again with their T-shirts. Rogers jokingly
feigned his displeasure and started to cross the street pretending that he wanted nothing
to do with a “Brad fan club”. He walked back towards us of course (despite the lack of
any Rogers T-shirts) and talked with us for a while.
He answered my question about whether the band had ever eaten at “Port of Call” (seeing as
how it is just a block away from Kingsway Studios). He had lots of good things to say about
the food in New Orleans. I also mentioned to him that when I was in Mississippi (in 2006) for
my brother’s wedding, that I made a trip to West Point & Columbus to see where 3/5 of Blind
Melon is from. I think maybe he found that slightly humorous and he asked me if I “missed it
when I blinked”. I also inquired about the rest of the tour and whether or not they would be
coming out to Colorado. He said that they would have tourdates out west beginning in March.
The next band member to walk by was CT. I didn’t talk with him much this time, but I listened
to him talk with everyone else, and he took a group photo with all of us.
We noticed Glen across the street. He was making a beeline for the bus :)
The Brad fan club can be quite intimidating!
While Christopher was still talking with us, Travis walked by and struck up a conversation
with us. We did not tell him that his fly was down the whole show. We did mention it to
Rogers though, and he seemed to think it was pretty damn funny!
By this time it was getting cold and we were hungry, so we all went to an Eat’n’Park diner.
Our waitress wasn’t really a great server, but she was very friendly and endeared herself
to us by mispronouncing different words, such as “may-no-naise” or “flinch flies”.
At many times during the rest of the trip, all we had to do to get ourselves laughing was
to repeat the word “may-no-naise!”
We went back to our hotel and stayed up for a while longer and talked about the show we
had just seen. Coincidentally, our room number was “333”. It couldn’t have been more
appropriate for a bunch of Blind Melon fans. After all, three is the magic number!
Don't forget to check out the Blind Melon Articles website!