(photo from Baltimore show 5/5/03 by Kim Jordan)
5/14/03
The Music Box
Omaha, Nebraska
By Rimzilmoon DeBlanc
Everything Will Never Be Ok
Cigarette
Hate
I wish I would Die
Listen To My Babe
Real Real
Silence
Wise
When my wife and I first got to The Music Box I was worried I wouldn’t get
to meet Fiction Plane or that I might have a hard time getting my cd
signed. My worries were completely misplaced. We walked through the front
door and I gave our tickets to the doorman. We stopped to check out the
band merchandise and noticed the T-shirts, which I would latter learn are a
brand called Standard American, a sweatshop free t-shirt company that
supports an international minimum wage. I was so excited to see the show
that I about freaked out when I noticed there was nowhere to sit. Then my
wife’s keen eye noticed a table right up front and we raced for it. We were
set, perfect seats and then I looked at the stage. It was only about
fifteen feet away but I knew as soon as I saw one of the technicians
adjusting a mic stand that I would need my glasses. I told my wife that I
was going to head out to the car to get my glasses and that I would pick us
up some drinks on my way back to the table. When I walked out the entrance
to make my way to our car I noticed three guys standing in the middle of
the parking lot. It didn’t take me but a minute until I realized who it
was - I was keeping my eye out for them. I think I recognized Pete
first cause he’s so tall, or maybe it was Seton with his curly
hair. I felt really awkward but I decided to go introduce myself. As I
walked to them with a huge grin on my face they all looked my way with a
‘what’s this guy up to’ look in their eyes. I said “Hi!” and they all
greeted me and introduced themselves with smiles. I introduced myself and
said “I love your music!” and Dan (bass) said, “Thank you, thanks very
much.” Then Seton asked me “How did you hear about us?” I explained that I
heard about them from a music related message board. I said, “Yeah, there
was this guy that said you sucked.” They all laughed and I decided to take
a second to collect my thoughts. I then told them how it was Ian’s site and
that because of this person dissing them I went and checked out their music
on the Fiction Plane web site and then went and bought their cd the day it
came out and that I loved it. I have been listening to it non-stop ever
since. If it weren’t for that guy trying to convince me that they sucked
and would never amount to anything, I can’t say that I would have tuned into
their music as early as I have. I told them how happy I was to get to meet
them all and that I would be looking for them after their set to get my cd
signed. They went inside and I went to my car, got my glasses, went back
inside, stopped by the bar and got two beers. When I got back to my table
my wife said, “Look at that F.P. poster over there isn’t it cool?” and as
you can probably guess… I went and pulled it from the wall. I sat back down
as they guys were taking their places on stage - I was stoked!
They started things off with ‘Everything Will Never Be Ok’ and after
watching the CBGBs clip from their web site over and over all I could think
to say was… “Oh my god this is cool!” Joe’s vocals are
fucking killer good and his pitch was right on. After the first song Joe
mentioned how Dan, Seton and Pete had met a guy before the show who came
because someone else said they sucked, or something along those lines. That
was way cool!
The second song they played was ‘Cigarette’. They were so confident - it was
amazing! Pete exhibited such energy that I thought he was going to bust
through his snare. They all looked like they were having a blast. But at
the end of Cigarette it occurred to me, as I think it did to Joe, no one was
up front at the stage. The audience obviously loved the music, the cheers
and applause were consistent throughout the show. I know Omaha audiences
and the reason why I believe the dance floor was empty was because everyone
was too interested in what was actually happening before their eyes to
relax enough to jump around and get crazy. I’m sure most of the people
there were musicians themselves. I think we were all having such a good
time being captivated and concentrating on the musicianship that we didn’t
think to get up and dance. However, to the musician on stage this can seem
like people aren’t enjoying your music as much as you would like. Joe later
said that this was one of their toughest gigs and I believe it could have
been because of the lack of audience participation. With the way they all
performed I would never have guessed the meekness of the crowd had fazed
them. When they went into ‘Hate’ Joe gave a short announcement that it
would be their first single and to listen for it on the radio. They had
this really classy intro that you wont hear on the cd that was simply
killer. I see a hell of a lot of bands play through Omaha and I can easily
say this has been the best show I’ve seen all year. After ‘Hate’ Joe looked
over to Seton and said “lets play Listen.” I don’t know if it was planned
for the set or a last minute addition, either way I was very thankful to
get the chance to see it done live. The effects Seton used sounded right
on. There is nothing lost in their live performance, they have the same
huge sound as on their cd. In fact you have everything to gain from seeing
them live. When I heard them play ‘I Wish I Would Die’ I was fast
reconsidering which song is my favorite off the album. Holy shit! You need
to see these guys live.
I love the lyrics in “Real Real’ and I’ve probably listen to that song at
volume level 11 over a hundred times in my car. Ever since I got the
disk it has been my favorite song on the cd. When they played it live I
should have got up off my ass and cheered them on at the front of the
stage. Looking back I wish I had. If anyone reading this gets the chance to
encourage this band with his or her enthusiasm don’t pass it up. I can’t
imagine how much better they might have performed if they had seen at least
one crazy guy on the dance floor. They ended their set with ‘Wise’ and I
can’t even begin to tell you how amazingly tight the rhythm section was on
this song. Joe and Dan’s vocals had that same creepy sound as the disk-
goosebumps! Dan had some great effects on his bass and Pete was totally
locked in. I was mesmerized thinking to myself, why didn’t I hear that
before and wow, where did that come from?
When it was all over you could defiantly hear that they had won over the
timid crowd, as I’m sure the amount of cds they probably sold that night
will attest. My wife and I sat there beaming at one another remarking on
how good we thought they were and how lucky we felt to be able to see them
live. We watched as Pete broke down his drums and carried them to a side
door to upload, Seton worked at gathering his gear and careening it to the
side door in turn. Joe and Dan helped one another pack up the bass amp and
keyboard. Dan began taking things to the side door as Joe rolled some heavy
looking deal across the floor. For my wife and I we were just as
entertained watching them work as a team to get their gear off the stage
as we were to see their performance. We saw no roadies helping them, just
the four of them, a professional team working hard to get out of the way
for the next band.
After it looked like they were pretty much finished with their gear I
gathered my cd and my new poster and headed over to meet them. I got Dan’s
attention first and he recognized me and smiled. I told him I thought they
did a great show and asked if it would be a good time to get their
signatures. All I had was a crappy pen and Dan said “Hold on I have a
marker.” Seton signed next then Joe and then Pete. I got my first chance to
really talk to Joe and tell him what I thought of the show and their disk.
He was just such a gracious guy. Very polite and genuinely interested in my
feedback. I didn’t want to take up too much of their time as they had
others wanting to meet them. I thanked Joe for playing Omaha and said if he
ever needed a band to open for them that I would love the job.
I went back and sat down and told my wife how it went and she looked over
my newly signed items. As we were
walking out I got an idea, even though I had paid $30 for our two
tickets I felt like Fiction Plane deserved more for putting on such a
wonderful show. On our way out Joe was standing by the merchandise counter
and I asked him, “Are you going to be around much longer?” He said “We have
a long drive ahead of us so we’ll be leaving soon.” I told him I had
something for him and I would be back in about ten minutes. My wife and I
drove home and I picked out four t-shirts from my own band and we went back
to the Music Box. I found Joe and Pete in the back room and gave them the
shirts. It was cool because they were so grateful to have them. Then Pete
suggested that they give me a couple of their shirts and I was like “that’s
ok I was planning on buying one.” But they generously insisted. I said my
final good byes to them at their merchandise counter and wished them safe
journeys. If I could have signed on as a roadie I would have done so right
then and there.
It took someone telling me they sucked for me to wise up - I hope my
approach in telling you how stellar they are will convince you to become a
fan.
