Bogarts, Cincinatti


October 3rd 1998

Kelly
Gray skys and rain provided the perfect backdrop for an evening with thechurch saturday night in cincinnati. Three of us (kelly, don and lynn)came down from dayton early in the day to enjoy the pre-concert atmosphere.We were lucky enough to be outside Bogart's when the band arrived in theirvan. Both Steve and Marty were very friendly and signed multiple album/45covers for us. They seemed happy to be in town and were quite willing to share their timewith us. We were obviously thrilled....The usually lively area surronding the venue seemed strangly deserted as we waited for the doors to open. The opening act, Heather Nova , played an excellent 45 minute set, with Marty and Tim in the crowd.

The church took the stage around 9:45, setting the mood of the show withPriest = Aura. The layers of sound created during this song are magical, building with each song until you feel your spirt merging with the sound. The band continued with a flawless performance. The sound was a bit loud at times, however, the vocals and guitar parts were clear. The blend of the three distinct styles and stage personalites of Peter,Steve, and Marty are unbelievable. I was impressed by the professional style of the show, they seem to have matured musically since i last saw them on the GAF tour. (same venue) The set list remains unchanged from earlier shows on this tour. The crowd numbered around 400 - 500 and seemed to be made up of devoted Church fans. I'm sure that none of them left disapointed. I was pleased that ALL the songs received as great a reception as did UTMW.

Personal favorites of the evening were Priest = Aura, Two Places at Once, Almost With You, Reptile (an absolute perfect version with great drumming and interaction between Peter and Marty) ,and Destination. It's great to goto a show that you know will leave a lasting memory. hopefully, we can all look forward to another tour, or an acoustic show for an experience that i know would be just as great.

KB

Jeff
I just saw the guys at Bogarts on Friday night...what a show! I had this kind of sick feeling in my gut that possibly I was one of the only people (my brother drove in from Pittsburgh as well) to remember who The Church was (i.e. crappy attendance). I was glad to see that this wasn't the case at all...the place was pretty full. I was thinking about the length of time that I have been a fan of the band and felt it was pretty unusual that they have held my interest for so long. It suddenly donned on me that by waiting to tour as long as they have and creating this huge catalog of material, it really made seeing them after all these years really special. I'm a 37 year old guy now married with three kids and I was so damn excited that I felt like I was in high school again that night. Let's face it...there really aren't any other bands with their sound (....and if anyone comes close that you know of.....please tell me....I'm sure I'll run out and buy their whole catalog too! ......maybe Pink Floyd......nah, not really).

I had no idea what a great guitarist Marty is (and a real unusual playing style......the way he bends down to the ground to play is unusual.) In contrast, Steve and Peter are rather sedate in terms of their stage presence. Tim Powles was a great drummer as well. I was also concerned that maybe they were one of those bands that sound better in the studio....but, they sounded great live....better than I expected. They did a great mix of songs (I only wish they would have done more of the trippy stuff from P=A, Sometime Anywhere and HOB. .i.e. Feel, Dead Man's Dream, Paradox, The Great Machine, etc.) Do you happen to have a set list from that nigh?. They played one song that I was unfamiliar with. I came close to nudging the guy beside me to ask, but I didn't want to be a pain in the ass.

The only disappointing part of the show was having to deal with this drunken sweaty rotund fool that was directly behind me and my brother during the latter part of the show. He kept screaming in this drunken wail, "Dude, I've waited 11 years to see this....wooooooo! Marty! Marty! Maaaarteeeee!" ....and just as he (Marty) starts into "Reptile", this large sweaty alcohol soaked cretin starts swinging a towel around his head and quickly looses his balance... falls backwards and tumbles down on a couple of innocent people. Luckily, no one was hurt. I'm not sure if anyone in the band saw it (this all happened rather close to the stage).

Robert Pounds
My review of the concert is very simple. High expectations set. Expectations totally fulfilled. Two other things impressed me...#1 The t-shirt vendor sought a customers whereabouts in the crowd when he discovered the customer didn't receive ENOUGH change ! #2 The fans.. what great people . I met two gentlemen from Northern Alabama who travelled 9 hours to see The Church. Bill & Jeremy of the band "Mute" ....just typical well-spoken and insightful Church fans. Yeah there were a few Rollins band wannabe dudes in the crowd drinking to excess, threatening another "San- Francisco" type scene, but the spiralling power of the music tamed all beast, transforming each into an enriched human being. Its a love thing.

[Brian: I think Marty was pretty tired when these were taken :-) ]

#1 -Marty , Hal (left), Roger (right)
#2 -Marty and (me) Robert
#3 -Steve and Roger
#4 -Steve and Robert
#5 -Peter and Robert

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