Thursday, August 22, 2002
The Boro - Murfreesboro, TN
______________________

Circus
Exorcising Demons
See You Thru
Kari-Ann
Oh My Love
Walk You Home
Look Out Below*
Blow It Out
The Beginning
The Idea of Growing Old
Leave It All Behind
Darkroom
Someway, Somehow
Bring On the Night
The Design
Buffalohead
God Save Rock'n'Roll
Thursday

*first time played

This has been the longest gap of time between Features shows for me in a long time - one month and 19 days! Needless to say, I've been looking forward to this show for a long time. There was definitely electricity in the air (and apparently some tension between the Boro management/the 18-21 crowd/the Murfreesboro police). The Features showed a little bit of rust in the first half of the set, but not much. They warmed up with some older favorites, then played a brand new song (which, of course, was good - vintage Features is how I would describe it), then mixed things up for the second half of the show. Highlights: Circus as an opener, Bring On the Night, the Design (with the old lyrics back on the chorus, yay!), and Buffalohead.

By the way, I went to IHOP after the show, did anyone else? Oh well...see you Saturday night.

(Edited by jamiecarroll at 9:27 pm on Sep. 6, 2002)

My God, that was the features fix that I needed. 18 songs, every single one of them was a killer. My highlights included seeing some of my fellow message board members: stephanieW, digsyslattery, iwantelvis, etc., as well as taking matt's setlist. i heard all of my favorites: the beginning, dark room, buffalo head, leave it all behind, and an astounding version of walk you home. Only one thing really bothered me: the people who were yelling for Psycho Killer at the very end of the show. I would never do such a thing, it's very offensive to the band. If a cover is going to be played, it should be a decision made by the band, not a crowd of rowdy drunk people. Maybe by the time they play Murfreesboro again they'll have the album out, but that's only wishful thinking.

(Edited by ray davies at 7:27 am on Aug. 23, 2002)

Yeah, I wonder if that guy who I called a dumbass wants to fight? Man at least when I yell things at the band they have some point, and don't mention cover songs

Yeah, i agree the "Psycho Killer" thing was a bit outrageous. I'm prob'ly not much better off, though. I was one of the "Hey Lou" people..

overall great show! just what i needed to kick off the school year. the band was unstoppable.

what was with that cop? did it have to do with the free keg?

no 33 and 1/3!!! plus matt didn't break a string! this causes for celebration.

nice to have met a few of you.

those new songs are sounding great. they get better and better with every show.

thank you for circus!!

wow, what a great show. great new song (titled "look out below" on the setlist i snatched by the way), matt's rocking red outfit, kari-ann, and some mighty sweet keyboard action from parrish....an almost perfect night. the "almost" is of course accounted for by the flat tire i got after the show. digsyslattery joked that if parrish were there he could have helped me out. judging by the way he dominated that blown engine valve, a flat tire would've been nothing. and of course just after i got the spare on and was ready to pull off, i look ot my right and who do i see pumping gas? that's right ladies and gentlemen, mr. yaw himself. i considered letting the air back out so he could help me fix it again. i guess my conscience got the best of me. and it was great getting to meet some of you finally. sorry i wasn't very talkative, i'm socially retarded. but you guys seemed great. overall, a wonderful night.

You know it's gonna be a kick ass show when they open with "Circus." Only disappointment was the non-encore. Was really jonesin' for "Paid to Think," but oh well, GREAT show!
Matt's red "suit" ROCKS, btw. Only he could pull that off.

I'm finally getting back to the board after 17 hours of not eating and well under five hours of sleep (time spent sleeping in mass comm not included of course). The show at the Boro was by far the best of the (now) 4 Features shows I've seen. They opened with Circus which I have never heard played live before...they played every song that I have become obsessed with over the past two months...heck they played near double the number of songs that I usually hear at a concert. It was very nice meeting some of you guys and I have to say that being in the midst of Features Board members made the concert even more stupendous than it already was. I even snatched Parrish's setlists (I was like).

Sorry about not meeting up at IHOP. And I should have asked Parrish myself to fix the blown tire...well I say board meetings shouldn't be so sporadic. Towards the end of the night I was forming full sentences with what sounded like emotion behind them so, hey, I'm getting less socially awkward.

Rockin night, hopefully I can go to Knoxville on the 30th...

Very good show as usual. I thought it was strange they didn't do an encore, but I guess they're saving some stuff for the 12th and Porter show. Can't wait.

Amazing show, I thought. It was my first Boro show, and my second Features show (after DitD), but apart from the newness of the experience I think it was just an incredible performance on their part. I can see how their time in the studio could have gone rather easily, they seem to have quite a handle on their catalog.

Low points:
-Silent Friction taking so long both to start and in between songs, when the frontman insisted on changing guitars between just about every song.

-The lack of encore (which I chalk up to the fact that Rolum's thumb was about to fall off, by his account of it. Thursday was something of an encore as it was: Matt announced that they'd do two songs, they did Buffalo Head and God Save Rock n Roll, and as Roger was starting to leave Matt seemed to indicate to Rollum that one more would be in order, Rollum shruged, and we got Thursday. I just hope that Rollum is feeling better tonight.).

-Was it just me or did the sound get worse as the show went on? The first half of the show it was great, I could hear the vocals perfectly, then it started to slag.

-Psycho killer

High points:
-Circus! This is a great opener, full of energy.

-See You Through, as always great.

-Blow It Out. Not as talked about as many of their songs (maybe because it is old, I dunno) but I really really like this song.

-Buffalo Head > God Save Rock 'n' Roll > Thursday
Could you find a better way to end a show?

-Meeting (in the loosest, vaguest sense of the word "meet") Stephanie, Damon, Ray, Ceeze, and Cautioner.

If people went to IHOP (and it seems no one did) sorry, I had to get back to Chattanooga before my body turned itself off, which it did 2/3 of the way there, making the rest of the drive some scary, scary stuff.

See some of you folks tonight at the Attic,

Will

Great, great show. I am happy that I got to meet some of you all...It was certainly a pleasure.

I definitely did my share of "bouncing" at this show. My apologies go to damon and DigsySlattery for rubbing/bumping into them so much.

All of the raving about the show has already been done, and being redundant isn't my style. Bottom line...I am SO happy that we (my roommate and I) made the drive for the show. Now, on to Chattanooga. I am running on very little sleep, but that's OK. I am hoping for The Features to be my heroin tonight. Oh, how I love them all.

Hey that's okay. I respect some good "bouncing" at a show. Of course mine was not at the level that it was at at the Weezer concert, but I did my fair share. Concerts are my sport of choice, I have to get exercise somehow. And plus, how many board members can say they were bounced on by Stephanie?

hey there. sorry, i actually switched guitars because i broke a string on each one i played within the first few seconds of picking it up. which tends to happen when you're playing in front of alot of people. actually, all sorts of shit broke, which was the reason for the dead air. normally, we go song to song almost like a big medley. but that was impossible last night. anyways, sorry to make your "lows" list. hopefully thats not all you remember about the set.

we had alot of fun. the features are and have always been my favorite band to watch/play with. god save rock and roll.
-matthew

Here is a concern of mine that may or may not be valid.
Now I don't know my Features time line all that great, but as I understand it, songs like "Exorcising Demons," "Leave it all Behind," "Action," "Circus" - these songs are somewhat older. Especially when compared to "Blow it Out," "Idea of Growing Old," and "Someway Somehow."
These older songs seem to have much more of an edge to them whereas the newer songs (especially the new one last night - chorus was something like "its a long way down, we're falling in love") are getting much more mushy. Not that I mind, I love "The Idea of Growing Old," (woah oh oh oh) but I think the Features really shine with the songs that have a much more minor sound to them. I have also noticed that some of the newer songs have much less sophisticated arrangements. Fewer stops and starts and layers to the sound.
I guess we'll have to see what songs get on the album and how things go in the future.. who knows where they'll be in a year? I am just hoping that their glory days of songwriting aren't behind them. It would be a shame because they totally "rule me."

I can see some of what you mean. I mean, Circus, Demons, 33 1/3, and See You Through really shine. But so do God Save Rock 'n' Roll and Buffalo Head, and these are just as new as Idea of Growing Old and Someway Somehow. Leave It All Behind, I believe, is nearly as new as these. Look Out Below was superb tonight at the Attic, so don't judge it too much just yet, I think they need to get used to it. I think they've still got it, but you're right, none of the new stuff is as complex and layered as, say, Demons.

Will

you also have to remember that their songs go through alot of changes from birht just look at buffalo head. it sounds like they have really worked at it and its formed into a great song.

I agree & those are the songs that I like the best from the Features- I would also include the now-rare "Harold" & "Don't Lie to Me" with this bunch. I've heard that one concept for the possible EP coming up is to include these songs, since they are stylistically similar & would create a certain mood for an EP. I would love to believe this...who knows if it's true.

God Save Rock and Roll is not new, why is it compared to those like Buffalo Head, Someway Somehow, etc.........? Anyway, everything is good. The CD will be great, I'm sure they know which ones to put on their and it's their decision.... hopefully they will put some old stuff,s ome new stuff, and make everyone happy...