March 18, 2000 -

Reviews by...
John
Sara
Tony
Bob
Derek
Jess
Chris
Mark

We had a smaller troupe head up for this show - and I wish that more Virginia people could have made it.

We all got to the club and whined about the stage being so high (again for some of us that made the trip last year). So, we just stayed back a little bit and avoided serious neck pain.

The opening band this night - was Rogue's March. It's one of Kenny's side bands - and they are incredible. They had lead guitar, rhytm, bass, drums, and a singer (who didnt play anything - but his voice was perfect). Kenny plays accordian and keyboards for them and even did a little of the backup vocals. I talked to some of them afterwards and they are opening up some of the other east coast shows - you better get their early to see them. Their sound was like an Irish rock band. the singer had an accent that Dr. Mungo would love! I bought one of their cds and was able to get 4 out of 6 band people to sign their set list and their cd. They've also got at least one other cd that I would love to hear. Their last song is from that cd and the crowd loved it and was singing along to it even though it was probably the first time they'd heard it (praise be the repeated chorus!). It's called Shut Up - and I dont want to spoil it for the others that will see them on the tour.

Cracker then came out ... ahhhh. The sound was perfect. I think this one certainly one of the best Cracker shows that I've seen. The California shows I saw were great, but there was a weird vibe there since the battle of Camper vs Cracker was taking place in the crowd. Here, it was pure Cracker - one person in the crowd (that I heard) was calling out for a Camper song - and they did play it since it was Pictures of Matchstickmen. LP also came out and did some backups with them, and as you can imagine (coming from me) - it was great. Brandy also performed great. At the 9:30 Club show the night before she must have been out of sorts and nervous doing her first show - but she was great tonight. She was doing backups great. My personal favorite song last night was of course LP singing Cinderella - there is just something about the emotional intnesity of that song... LP also did her new Perfect song too.

This show was so great... Cracker ended up leaving the stage before their encore and the crowd went nuts. They came back out and played about three more songs (Sara's got the setlist coming soon...) and then they left again. Again, they came back out for a second encore and did Mr Wrong. Then it was I Ride My Bike .. a perfect song to close out the show with - that song is like a train derailing at high speed - a great trip!
: )

After the show a bunch of us got to talk to the bands. The guys in Rogue's March arent sure which shows they are opening for Cracker, but they are opening for them again. Steve Koester is also opening at least one of the shows too (he's one of David's Pitch A Tent artists). David was also telling a few people about that article in the Philly paper that couldnt seem to make a point. I think it was decided the writer wrote the article, and then went through and deleted every other sentence, and then rearranged it further.

After all this excitement .. there was another band playing at the upstairs bar at the Troc. Someone came running in and told everyone that this little local Philly band was playing Get Off This - everyone wanted to see them playing that, but by the time we got their they were already packing up their stuff. Johnny missed a chance to jam with that band.

John

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<< We all got to the club and whined about the stage being so high (again for some of us that made the trip last year). So, we just stayed back a little bit and avoided serious neck pain. >>

Yeah, but its even harder when you are 5 feet tall and have on 6 inch platform shoes.

I'll agree to that. Everything sounded so perfect. Maybe it was because we weren't in front of the monitors. =)

Rouge's March was a definite treat, and I also invested in a copy of their CD. It helped keep me awake on my drive home from work. I definitely would love to see them again.. besides, who can resist Kenny? They really got the crowd going with their songs Clear and The Bedsheets Of Lili Marlene. But, Shut Up had to be my favorite.

Tonight had to be the best show I have seen. I did not enjoy the stage being well above my head, but the acoustics of the Troc. are awesome. Also there was a drunk fan 5 times my size jumping up and down next to me. Jessica had to rescue me from being crushed. I really enjoyed getting to hear LP sing, this was my first show I've seen with any guests. Her voice is so amazing. After they performed Cinderella they crowd really got going. I won't go into all the details about the night because I think John covered that. But I must say hearing Another Song About the Rain AGAIN really thrilled me. (I'm Downloading it right now). Also I thought it was really cool that they did a second encore ... otherwise I think the audience would have rioted.

Here is the set list:

    1.Been Around The World 
    2.7 Days (LP came out and they crowd went nuts.. especially John) 
    3.I See The Light (With LP) 
    4.Dr. Bernice 
    5.Lonesome Johnny Blues 
    6.Euro-Trash Girl 
    7.Sweet Thistle Pie (With LP) 
    8.The Golden Age 
    9.Cinderella 
   10.Trials & Tribulations 
   11.Satisfy You 
   12.Teen Angst 
   13.Movie Star 
   14.Low (I was quite relieved when they kept playing and the show was not over) 
   15.How Can I Live Without You 
   16.Pictures of Matchstick Men 
   17.100 Flower Power Maximum 
       1ST ENCORE 
   18.Another Song About The Rain =) 
   19.Be My Love 
   20.Perfect (LP came out and performed a song) 
       2ND ENCORE 
   21.Mr. Wrong 
   22.I Ride My Bike 
 

Sara

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Well, it's 4:00 AM and I just got back from Philly, it took three hours, by the way. The show at the Trocadero was, in a nutshell awesome! Major highlights were LP, "Another Song About The Rain" and "The Golden Age". LP sang backup on Seven Days, I See The Light and Sweet Thistle Pie and she did Cinderella and Perfect with Cracker. Really great show and the crowd was definitely into it. Kenny got a lot of response from the crowd, especially with Dr. Bernice & Euro Trash Girl. He also opened the show with his other band, whose name escapes me at the moment. Rogue something......

Tony

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as for the show, it was great as usual. lp's voice was stunning - beautiful and rocking at the same time - which is a rare combination of traits. the new bass player, brandi, did great. she is all business up there - as bass players should be (very bill wyman-like in attitude). david and johnny, as always, put on a great show. we all know their deal.

bob

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I thought "I See the Light" was the best last night, especially after reading that article that was posted to the list. It was the 4th or 5th song into the show, and I haven't seen them play it before. You got LP and Brandi, doing one vocal part, Johnnie and David doing theirs, oh man that was great! The audience really burst out when Cracker took the stage and responded well to the hooks in those first few songs, if not throught out the whole show. I thought it was also pretty cool that we got three of those requests for less played songs. LP did a real seductive "Cinderella", I shoulda thrown my shirt into the crowd. Sorry I missed my rendevous with other listers. I imagine that there's more to the show when you're with people who are just as passionate about the music as you are. Hope you heard the rebel yells, as I wasn't too far behind ya!

derek

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There were some misnavigations involved with getting to Philly but we did make it there and got in to be reminded that the stage setup is really awkward... but that's ok... The sound made up for it.

The show was absolutely amazing from start to finish. The energy was excellent and everyone seemed right on the money. Oh, and Frank is doing backing vocals now, and doing a really good job too. Brandy seemed more relaxed. The sound was super, so you could actually hear the bass this time.

Highlights for me... Been Around the World was great, Johnny's solos were blazing... Cinderella was just spectacular. LP has such an amazing voice... Sweet Thistle Pie came off really well... I love how Johnny pointed to David during Teen Angst in the part about the "new Frank Sinatra" =) I Ride my Bike and Movie Star were also amazing. Johnny did Another Song About the Rain again, and it was great. And, they did The Golden Age! =) Frank got to sing a little solo part at the end ("this is the golden age") which was cool. He has a great voice. Oh, and Satisfy You was really great... None of the mistakes that surrounded it at the Ziggy's show last year. It was just a great show. One of the best ones I've ever been to...

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Absolute kick-ass, five star performance in Philadelphia... LP performing 'Cinderella' was my personal highlight of the show as well. The show really stood out in my mind as one of the best that I've seen. 2 encores... we were quite spoiled. The Trocadero is really acoustically good, I think. I don't consider myself the most competent judge of that sort of thing but it just sounded SO good Saturday night. I have a love/hate relationship with the Trocadero in that I love the sound and the character of the building, but dasmn that stage needs to be lowered slightly or else I'll take a cue from Sara and wear major platforms next time. Next time...ugh, I think I may do the balcony next time. The other thing is in controlling access the layout is weird and navigating that place is a trial. But, whatever works I guess...it is a business afterall.

~chris~

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saw the band last saturday at the trocadero in philly. cracker was awsome, david loved the place, it's an old goth theater. they seemed to be having a good time.

the set was pretty much the same as everyone else has been reporting, no CVB unless you count pictures of matchstick men, but that's a song by status quo anyway.

rogues march opened. funny how rogues rhymes with pogues.

mark b

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