Brian, since you were in attendence can you give a report on the show? setlist perhaps? i would have loved to see them there.
by the way, when did they make you the merch do-boy? that's not a fun gig.

I have long wanted to go to Athens for an REM pilgrimage, and had I still been working at the old funeral home, it would have been easy to make that trip. Alas...

Since the members of REM are contemporaries with Ubu and fans as well (witness the reference on Dead Letter Office), I wondered if one or more would be there since they still live in Athens.

Did anyone attend this show?

First off, I got "suckered" into being merch do-boy by Matt Meeks. Matt was going to get some pizza with his girlfriend and I was the only one around with some connection to the band so he asked if I would man the table for a while. I agreed. He didn't return for over an hour! Found out he caught some of the Spoon show down the street as well as eating.

I'm piecing together the setlist by looking back at my video which was not continuous so there might have been a skipped song:

1. The Beginning
2. Me and the Skirts
3. The Design
4. Buffalo Head
5. Leave It All Behind
6. Exorcising Demons
7. Someway, Somehow *
8. Walk You Home *
9. Action
10. Damage Is Done
11. God Save Rock and Roll
12. Thursday

* Not positive of when this was played. I didn't tape this part of the show. But it was definitely played.

The crowd was rather small at first and grew slowly as the Feature's set went along (it never grew to the size of Atlanta's show. The place was only half full when Pere Ubu played). One thing I can say about both the Atlanta and the Athens show that bears well for the band is that they can clearly win over hardcore fans of the headlining bands. The 40 Watt bartender told Meeks that the Features flat-out rocked after he heard "God Save Rock and Roll", there was a young guy who literally danced around the floor, and the fellows who ran into LW in Atlanta, hardcore Pere Ubu fans, were so pumped about seeing the Features in Athens that they showed up fifteen minutes before they played, took countless photos of the band and promised to return the next time they came close to where they lived... which was Florida.

The 40 Watt was a great looking place but it took a while for the sound to get adjusted. Matt's vocal was nearly inaudible for at least half of the Beginning and Matt told me after the show that it was very low for them through their monitors. There was a noticeable hum present after each song because the sound guy had to turn Matt's mic up so high. "Someway, Somehow" was simply the best I've ever heard it which seemed to surprise Matt. Again, it didn't sound great to them onstage but the song sounded particularly good, perhaps because it was skipped the night before.

Athens is a great town with really nice walk-around areas of shops and places to eat. Probably the nicest college town I've been in with Chapel Hill a close second.

(Edited by BrianW at 9:25 am on Sep. 30, 2002)

Glad to see Someway, Somehow in the set, continually distressed at no See You Through. The Deisgn in such a short set? Kick ass! I'm not at all sad to see Walk You Home gone to make room for others, but I'm surprised that only one song from the EP was played.

If you ever come up to Evanston, Brian, don't expect it to crack that list. Nice enough college town, but too many rich suburbanites for any sort of peace.

Will

(Edited by Wiyum at 9:21 pm on Sep. 29, 2002)

i think "walk you home" is one of the band's classic songs. it should be played at every show. i cant believe that some people dont like "walk you home". how can anyone dislike pure genius?

I, too, enjoy Walk You Home. One day I hope to hear it with the horn section as well...but I can dream...

As for See You Through's exclusion, I really think it's a more solid sounding song than Kari-Ann (which I love as well) and should be played definitely. But I'm really really glad that the Features are winning fans. It brings a tear to my eye....

Hmm... I went back and looked at my list and realized I did NOT include Walk You Home. I know it was played and now I'm trying to figure out where that footage is... anyway, I thought there was a possiblity I'd leave something out, so I'm going to edit the setlist now for posterity.

They played "walk you home"!!!! (sigh of relief). I would seriously cry if "walk you home" wasnt played at a concert. it's just so damn good.

It is. Any song that utilizes maraccas is genius. As well as hand claps. Hand claps and maraccas are the keys to awesome songs.

Yeah, it's easy to remember them playing that song thanks to Roger's unique way of playing bass on that song. I remember standing on the side of the stage and watching him play it, and this definitely wasn't a memory from the Atlanta show since I never got on the side of the stage. Hopefully I can confirm exactly what was the correct order.

BrianW, I was just wondering if you have been spotting Features fans at these shows? People yelling for songs etc? It just seems odd to go to a Features show where no one yells for "Your Smile" or says "chocolate chips".

Okay that last one not so much...

There were some fans at the Atlanta show (LW obviously) and a few others who were singing along to some of the songs, but no one yelled out requests. No one yelled out requests either at the Athens show and the audience was almost entirely unfamiliar with the Features material.

Whoa there. I'm not saying I dislike Walk You Home. On the contrary, I rather enjoy it (though I prefer Bumblebee, The Beginning, and Two by Two from the EP). I was merely stating that I felt it was an acceptable compromise if it had to be removed for the sake of Someway, Somehow and The Design. Turns out it wasn't, and that's even better.

Will

Brian, you forgot they played Action in Athens also...after Walk You Home, I think.

Freaking lord! It's funny, video shouldn't lie but it seems as spotty as my memory. I'll update again to add Action.

I knew the Athens show was longer than Atlanta.

(Edited by BrianW at 10:52 pm on Sep. 30, 2002)

I agree completely, Ray. Not only is it one of my favorite Features songs, but it's one of my favorite songs of all time, as well.

(Edited by Sexy Sadie at 11:47 am on Sep. 30, 2002)

The more I listen to Action the more I love it. It just proves that the Features can do no wrong in the realm of music...and clothes...the white rain jacket that Matt was wearing at the Boro show would have looked totally ridiculous on anyone else but he somehow managed to make it seem rock-godly. I now want one. Random post....sorry...

Take a break man! Rest your head, you must have been in editing land with speech problems like that!

By the way, is it FCP or Avid DV Xpress you do these wonderful videos with? Or Premiere?

Will

(Edited by Wiyum at 6:43 pm on Sep. 30, 2002)

From orange silk shirts and clip-on ties to little jeans and interesting jackets, Matt Pelham dresses better than any gay guy I know. (No, he's not gay, but if...)

Yes I do agree. The red pants from the July 3rd show were quite cool. And one cannot forget Rollum's vintage T-shirts. Those are all very cool.

Screw taking a break, get more videos completed!

Sorry about that burst of selfishness...anything to put off doing my homework...

I dig rollum's T- SHirts!!!!

All the videos so far have been edited with Premiere, but I now have Avid XpressDV so that'll come into play from here on. I've edited on FCP and I'm not impressed really. It's better than Premiere by far, but it just isn't as intuitive as the Avid products. Nothing beats the original Avid Media Composer, but it's too dang expensive.

Anyway, I won't really take a break because (sadly) this stuff is my life and it's what I enjoy. I should, though, take a moment to edit my posts!

(Edited by BrianW at 10:51 pm on Sep. 30, 2002)

I expect to see the "Avid edge" from here on out...

I like FCP far more than Premiere, and I find the sort of drag and drop and stretch things that you can do in FCP to be far more intuitive than Avid. Still, once I get set in my Avid ways, it'll clearly be best. Avid MC is just so much fun...

But that doesn't alter the fact that you've been posting under the effects of too much postproduction and that isn't in anyone's best interest.

Hmm, maybe we've entered territory that is more safely trodden in email, given its niche-nature.

Will

wiah i could have been there........Athens is great...the 40 Watt has to be one of the best clubs to play.....

Is it still lit by a single light bulb like I heard once?Or was that just myth?

the 40 watt moved up the street from it's origianl home many years ago. it's about like exit.in or mainstreet in m'boro. i have heard that the original venue was lit by one bulb but i could see peter buck and fred schneider making that up.

I dunno, Fred Schneider is a very down to earth guy...I can't imagine him doing anything to draw attention to himself...

"THSUUURRRRPRIZZZTHE"

Sorry, it's my fave Fred Schneider word....

It's lit by many bulbs and it also has a number of Christmas lights on the wall. It's bigger than Exit/In and probably would rank closer in size to 328 Performance Hall. If we had this place in Nashville we'd be a lot better for it.

the original location was lit by one bulb...but that was a longtime ago. the smashing pumpkins almost burnt it down in 1992. "shotty electrical systems" as billy corgan once put it.

Are we going to get to see any of these videos? Maybe on the mp3 site?