May 25, 2001 -

Reviews by...
Jess
John
Dave C.
jill

It's been over half a year since I've seen Cracker play live... And it's been just as long since they've played a show for an audience... All things considered, I think they did an excellent job of shaking off the cob webs and playing a good set.

The Setlist:
1. *New Song* Strange
2. Eurotrash Girl
3. 7 Days
4. Teen Angst
5. Don't Fuck Me Up With Peace and Love
6. Lonesome Johnny Blues
7. Happy Birthday to Me
8. Loser
9. *New Song* One Fine Day
10. Mr. Wrong
11. Get Off This (David broke 1 sting)
12. Wedding Day
13. *New Song* Florida
14. Sweet Thistle Pie
*encore*
15. Sweet Potato
16. *New Song* Sweet Magdelena
17. Low

It was an overall good show. They did a bunch of songs they haven't been doing normally and that was a great treat, and the new songs sounded really great. I especially like the way Sweet Magdelena and One Fine Day came across live. Sweet Potato retained the "fuck the slice I want the pie/hey hey hey sweet potato" duel of girl vs boys. Get Off This dropped that and added a very emphatic David screaming/pleading something I missed plus "Let me put it in" Also, there was some "virtual sex" going on between David and Brandy in Sweet Potato during Johnny's solo. Brandy can bend back into some impossible positions while rocking out on her bass.

Kenny was sporting a different accordion from the one he normally plays for live shows. Apparently, he acquired it from the estate of Liberache... =) Frank was singing more backing vocals than I remember on the last tour. I can't wait for the next shows!

Jess

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It was great to see the band (and everyone else) at the Pit show again, I was starting to go into Cracker withdrawl since it had been over 6 months without a show.

Anyway... the band was in great form despite not playing a full length show in 6 months (last official show was Mountain Stage back in Dec). No PJs for Johnny, I guess he's gotten over that phase. : ) He was wearing a thing on his necklace that gave me flashbacks of that old Brady's Hawaii episode. From where we were standing we couldnt see Kenny at all - unless he came out from behind his keyboard station. He's also using a different accordain. This one doesnt have stickers on it at all, and it's much bigger (after the show Kenny was complaining that it weighed more too).

Stand outs for the night included...

They opened with 'Strange' - a new song. They did Peace and Love! : ) Hardly ever get to hear this one live. A beautiful version of Loser too. Then, another new one - One Fine Day. For Wedding Day, they pulled off another permutation ... David on Brandy's bass, Brandy on the black acoustic, Johnny on his regular Les Paul, and Kenny and Frank in on it too (usually Johnny gets another black acoustic for the song). This was followed by 'Florida', but the crowd wasnt into it as much as they were at the Tucson show ... Then, they played Sweet Thistle Pie, it's been a long time since I've heard Sweet Thistle Pie. : )

For the encore David had the black acoustic out and a few people were screaming "Low", but I could hear a small group screaming "No" - I joined in the "No" group. Much to my surprise - we got Magdelena instead of Low. So, there is yet another song to hope for when David gets the acoustic out.

New songs for the night were:
'Strange'
One Fine Day
'Florida' Magdelena

.... and it may stay that way for the next few shows. Kenny and David mentioned that the band hadn't practiced other songs, so we can't hear stuff like Brides of Neptune just yet...

.... also heard that they have picked through about 3 cds worth of material to come down to 16 songs. As soon as a little more cutting happens, hopefully just one more song, they'll know what songs will be on the new album.

John

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Wow! My Cracker fix was well worth the wait. It's probably been a year since I've seen them live. The Pit show was great, especially considering the long live show layoff the band has been on. No setlists, here, just a few observations...

1. The band was really loose. I loved the additions in "Sweet Thistle Pie"*. "F#$% the slice, I want the pie!" Maybe they've done that before, but it's the first time I've seen it.
*(editors note: he means "Get Off This" and not "Sweet Thistle Pie")

2. Brandy(i?) was exceptional - she's come a long way since her first show with the band. I can see why she made it. She adds a great element of musicianship, vocals, and style to the group.

3. My ears are still ringing 3 days after the show...but in a good way!

I haven't heard many comments about Rotoglow, the opener at The Pit, but I thought they were a good band. I really like the edge that a lot of "new" bands have, but the vocals usually ruin it for me (rap/scream, etc). Rotoglow had the crunchy edge but with some nice, melodic vocals. Their EP is pretty good, too. Did anyone else buy a copy of it?

Looking forward to some more surprises at Cracker shows this summer!

Dave "the bleached hair double hoop earring wearing token Republican white boy" C

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may 25 - kill devil hills, nc
i started in the front row as they opened with strange, but i got sick during eurotrash girl (2nd song) and watched the rest of the show from the back of the club. the sound was pretty bad in the back - all the instruments were so loud that they blended together, except for kenny's keyboards which sounded perfect (he was pretty happy about that, haha). kenny was hidden in the back behind the amps though, so we could only see him when he came out for the accordion parts. :( i LOVE bring us down, and they did a really good version of wedding day. plus it was very cool seeing cracker again with all the east coast people!

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