Stale Urine: Dabney Courtyard, February 1997

INTRODUCTION

The debut concert of the new band Sleeves, in joint appearance with the band-on-hiatus Stale Urine just ended today, Sunday, the Twenty-third Day of February, MCMXCVII Anno Domini.

Note that they didn't officially cover the Cardigans' Lovefool, and didn't dedicate any song to Tibetan Freedom Movement.

BAND MEMBERS

Patrick Drew, bass (Slv, special guest appearance in SU)
Alex Dunn, clarinet and saxophone (Slv, SU)
Jon Lange, el. piano and accordion (SU)
Geoff Matters, guitar (Slv, SU)
Mike Radford, drums (Slv, SU)
Adam Villani, vocals and percussion (Slv, SU)

SET

SLEEVES (debut live appearance)

Lovefool (briefly as sound test)
H
Bad Cat
Container Shipping
Utah Jazz
Logic World | Dream Alpha
The Vig and the Skeet
God Bless the Labor Movement

STALE URINE (performance during hiatus)

Wax Man
Jail
The Moon
Lobster
Borderline
Pink Tornado
Music in Two Parts
Kicker of Elves
Horse in a Smelter
John Denver, Poet Laureate of Colorado

REVIEW

Both bands played at the ruins of the Dabney Drop Day Party, themed as a Prison. They gave out free orange and pain reliever at the show. They gave out a free SU CD (Embodiments) to some guy called Dennis at the end of the show, because he was special by driving 45 minutes to the show. Some 20 people showed up, some Darbs and some nondarbs. The whole show, including a bit of the preshow practicing, but excluding a middle part of John Denver, was captured on tape. Radford and Lange asked for small screwdrivers independently during the show and I (Khai-su) supplied my Victorinox. Lange asked for glue to fix the accordion and was supplied with a tube of Instant Krazy Glue by me.

For Sleeves, this was a great start. Unlike the material some band members showed me on tape, they sounded far more solid and abundant. Their slightly experimental (H, Logic Dream) and slightly socially active (Utah Jazz, Bid, Labor Movement) style was bound to attract many fans in the near future, though these fans are not necessarily fans of SU. Despite of band member composition, they are VERY DIFFERENT from SU, and well deserve a different name. I'd like to congratulate them for their successful debut and hope they turn out to be a great sentimental, jazzy kind of band.

For SU, this was the place to stop. The long-time SU favorites (Wax Man, Jail, Lobster, Horse) were presented well, but their experimental value seemed to be wearing out and the fans did not like them as much as before. Villani jumped and banged at a big steel plate at a different site from where the other members were playing the Moon, and that was pretty much all the experimentalism to this show, which was pretty pathetic. The covers (Borderline, Kicker) were O.K., but not attractive. Villani as vocals was not bad compared to Radford or Benedetti, but some songs had better be presented by the vocals that made them famous. Pink Tornado and Music in Two Parts, the two songs less frequently performed live, were far better than the other songs, probably since they were not wearing out yet. John Denver, the long song, was confronted with garbage throwing from the audience albeit the band members' effort to add some new taste to it. One suggestion to SU: If you ain't getting new songs, stop going downhill before it's too late. You've had your share.

Respectfully submitted,
TE, Khai-su
Official Supplier
of Glue and Drivers
for some Band Members