Brian Buchanan
I have not been so lucky to see the Church since the GAF tour, and
Somehow I knew I would not be dissappointed. I was stuck in construction
traffic for 2-1/2 hours. We finally arrive in Pontiac at the 7th house and
people are waiting in line to get in. After we get in they are selling the
Church merchandise as soon as we get there, I whip out $20, and ask for
SK's new book. It is not for sale today, I will have to wait for another
day.
The show was supposed to start at 9:00. There was to be no opening band tonight. That was fine with me. The Church was apparently late to the venue, So the crowd was getting a little antsy. A little before 10:00, they come on and the place lights up. The track list is:
(Tim runs off the stage. SK. "Our drummer has escaped". Tim then returns)
The place is going nuts as they come on here. The music was awesome. The first 1 or 2 songs, I thought Peter was looking a little groggy, but after that he sprung into life and just rocked. There were times that Peter was rocking and people though that it was Marty. The atmosphere was just great here. You could not have asked for a better concert. After the concert a few of us went over to track down the group to get signatures. For some reason, the crew would only let the young good looking women in the back. They kept telling us that us dudes had to stand back. Mental note: Next time to a Church concert, I will dress up as a female. The time has come that we are getting moved out. they are closing the bar down.
A bunch of us go outside and we wait for the Church to come out. We first see Marty, and I get my picture taken with the man! AND he signed my In Reflection insert. WOW. Next Peter comes down, and tries to elude. He isn't going to escape that easily, as he signs my copy of From the Well. We go outside, and Steve is sitting in a van. He waves me over. I will meet the man! AND he signs my Narcosis ep! My brother and I talked to him for a few, and he is very cool! Now I have realised why I have liked them. They are one band that appreciates their fan base. Tim had a bunch of great looking females hanging around him. We will have to wait for another day to get his signature. Mental note: Start playing the drums! Overall it was a great show, and there is absolutely nothing that I could complain about.
Steve mentioned in passing that he'd like to see the next Church album have artwork like mine on it...unfortunately I didn't stick around after the show to chat with him further on that subject. But I'd most definitely love to keep the lines of communication open to that possibility!
The performance was great although the show wasn't a sellout. The band was tight and Steve was in great voice. The crowd was incessantly yelling "Reeeptile!!!" and "Under the Milky Way" which may have resulted in their not playing them (even though Reptile was on the band's setlist). Silver Machine, Tantalized and Cortez were the three highlights of the show for me.
What a night!
Jeff
No opening band to suffer through, thank God! Disappointed there were no Tygs in Space or Seeing Stars discs to be found.
Crack up of the evening, Steve yelling "Aww, shut up!" to somebody requesting UTMW.
Smooth move of the evening. During the encore, (the intro to Silvermachine) Marty started cranking some wicked feedback while smoking a cigarette. Peter returned to the stage, nodded his approval, and saw that Marty wanted to concentrate a little more intently on the solo, thus he snagged the cigarette from Marty, took a couple of drags, did a couple subtle dance steps, then returned the cigarette to Marty.
Crowd was politely quiet during the songs, and screamed nicely during the breaks.
Signed, a very satisfied customer.
Chris Bosley
I arrived at The Seventh House early in hopes of running into the band and maybe getting an autograph. It was about two hours before show time when my sister, my cousin and myself went up the stairway to the doors.
Here is where it gets interesting. My sister noticed the door was unlocked and we strolled in to take a peek. We asked one of the techs if it was possible to get an autograph, and expecting to get kicked out, he said "Who's do you want?" He pointed out Tim, sitting with a friend and Peter, who was chatting with his guitar tech. I was instantly trying to develop a good introduction, which was quite hard as you might imagine. I spoke with Tim for about 10 minutes about his background and interests in music, and finally asked him to sign the liner for "Hindsight" -I felt horrible seeing that he wasn't on the album. I asked Tim if we could hang out for a sound check and he said, "As long as you don't get kicked out, sure"
I took a seat as Steve strolled out. Steve seemed not to notice us but my sister, not a big fan, says "How long have you been in the band?" I almost passed out. Well, Steve was very, uh, pleased to sign the liner as well. Steve walked over popped a balloon on the floor and headed on stage for a the sound check. "One, two, buckle my shoe..." echos out. After the check I was also able to talk to Peter, who seemed very freindly and willing to sign a quick autograph for me. Just before the show started I saw Marty near the stage door and really wanted to talk to him because I didn't get the chance earlier. We went over his way and introduced ouselves. While he was signing my CD liner we helped him get a top off of a bottle that was giving him a hard time. That was pretty exciting..I'm glad we could help.
I found the guys very approachable and fun to talk with. I had a million questions to ask Marty, but I could see he was busy, so I spared him my guitar questions. Maybe next time.
So before the show, I was waiting for Jennifer, my girlfriend, with some friends that I'd met at the venue. It was sort of a lobby area with a coffeehouse on the lower floor and the Seventh House up a flight of stairs. A girl with us, Brenda, leaves to go upstairs. Upon her return she informs us that there is a gentleman with an english accent on the payphone. Of course, my friend Cliff and I simply must investigate the matter. A quick peek..."Hello, Mr. Kilbey...you know of any good places I could pick up a clean pair of shorts?". Wow. Expected to see a roadie or something.
Back downstairs, I see my girlfriend entering the lobby and wave hello from across the room. As she is staring at us, trying to make her way to where we are, she nearly runs into a guy coming down the stairs, and almost out of reflex says, "Hello". Steve Kilb...er, I mean this guy says "Hello" back. When she gets to our table all our mouths are gaping...again, Steve Kilbey is spotted in the crowd.
As if this were not worth the price of admission, three more "guys" come strolling down the stairs at arms-length from us and go outside. We are positively, cancerously starstruck at this point. We turn around to see where they could have gone...Marty, Pete, and Tim are gone...prolly to the store or to the van. Steve is standing at the coffeehouse counter ordering a "Smoothie" and a sandwich. Naturally, we have to go into the coffeehouse to stare like little 5 year old kids :D. Steve takes his grub and has a seat in the back of the coffeehouse. We are all still staring at him like he's an exhibit of some sort..I felt bad about that. Finally Brenda gets up and asks Steve if it would be OK if we approached him to say hello. Of course says that it would be fine, so she returns and says, "Steve said it was OK to go down there". Boy, do we feel like children now. We go to him and shake his hand. His calmness and cool nature is something to behold. I started to feel bad that we were surrounding him while he was contending with a mouth full of food. He was, however, very accommodating to our "we-can't-believe-we're-talking-to-you-so-we're-gonna-ask-dumb-questions" approach. What a guy. Just a great person he is. Wow.
So I pull out my smokes and quick as a fly, Steve asks for one. I try to think of a way to purchase a tobacco corporation and give that to him in the course of one or two seconds. Yeah, I was pretty willing to oblige. My buddy Cliff has the honor of lighting the cig. You could call it a joint effort. I should have asked for the filter back and had him sign my butt. Oh well. I'll have him sign it when they play our wedding reception.
The next time we see him it is onstage, with his army of rock and roll warriors, where they shine like a spoon. Even the sound was good, which was not the case last year. Marty's soloing...it could have cut stone. So tight and precise...a true wonder. He had a McDonald's "WET FLOOR" cone atop his amp, which I like to think he gaffed from a local M's earlier that day, although I am sure that is not the case.
Pete and Tim could not have had a better night performing. The interaction among everyone was magic. Better than a recording.
Well, that's about it for me. I'm still high from the show. Weeeeeeeeee....
Other impressions... most of the crowd seemed to be pretty big fans, and knew most of the material, or were at least really enjoying it... I think the band sounded better than last year - they all looked great, and Marty looks like he dropped a few excess pounds. During Destination - "it's just a way of making me Greek" during the intro to Tantalized, Tim dropped a drumstick, and was looking at the roadie for a little bit before he reached down to pick up another one. Peter's playing on the new song was outstanding - he smiled a lot as several people were yelling his name out between songs. On Day of the Dead Marty was doing some pretty amazing things with the amp at the end, but I think last year's version with him bent over and twiddling with the knobs the whole song was better. Cortez was amazing, and Endless Sea sounded really cool with the two e-bows going... great night, and the two people I came with that weren't that familiar with the Church both loved it and want to borrow all my CDs now!
After the show, the chosen few were taken back stage, and the rest of us were told to beat it. One last thing: MERRICK from England, if you're reading this, please respond... I met your friend Richard last night and he told me to contact you.
Oh yeah and another last thing: two t-shirts for sale, plus Refo:mation, Louisiana single, Margot Smith Taste, and ABOB for sale - no Tyg's and the two I wanted to get, Seeing Stars and SK's book were not there. Bummer.
And, away we go. . . .
It was yet another incredible night. It was wonderful to be a witness to some of the most amazing guitar-pyrotechnics I ever heard. Tim Powles is also an amazing drummer. The work he did on "Day of the Dead" was phenomenal.
One of my favorite moments of the night was when Steve had had enough of some obnoxious member of the audience that kept hollering out requests. He turned around and yelled, "OH! SHUT UP!" We all cheered. It was great.
As far as describing the content of the show, words escape me. I thoroughly enjoyed everything they did. It was fun to be in the front row, as last year, and meeting other fans and Seancers.
All I can say is that what those guys create outdoes anything else I've ever attended. A very special night ranging from "Myrrh" to "Dome" to "Cortez the Killer." (a rendition of which should be played on every single !#@$!@# radio station in the world) Beautiful, just beautiful.
That's all I can say for now. I am totally grateful I got to see them again. I look forward to the next time, should they choose to come around here again.
I really can't express my gratitude enough
Especially now
"the morning after"!