Reviews by...
Lee Futch
Set List: Amazing Grace Euro-Trash Girl Cracker Soul Been Around the World Sweet Thistle Pie Cinderella (LP) Pix of Matchstick Men Get Off This (Fuck the Slice Breakdown) Wedding Day What Your Missing Perfect (LP) Big Dipper Dr. Bernice Lonesome Johnny Blues Teen Angst One Fine Day ENCORE Low Love Somebody (LP)I went up to Charleston from Savannah with my girlfriend who works at the Westin in Savannah, so we got a cheap room at the Westin Francis Marion, a classic old hotel downtown on King Street maybe a 5 or so minute walk to the Music Farm. We went to the venue early, about 8 to buy tickets but the guy at the door said we wouldn't be able to until 9 when the doors officially open so we went downtown for dinner and cocktails till then. I had seen on the web site that the show was going to start at 11:15 so we timed it for that. Got back to the venue a little after 11 after changing into concert gear a bit afraid that I might miss out on the guys hitting the stage. Not to worry though, a few minutes after we walked in the second opening band came on-Freeloader. They were quite enjoyable-straight up tempo modern rock-reminded me a lot of Jets to Brazil. I joked to my g/friend that I too could be in the band-I, as well as all of them was wearing a black t-shirt. By the time Cracker took the stage it was well after midnight. Johnny and Brandy came out- with Johnny takeing a stool at David's mike with guitar and slide and Brandy next to him as he eased into a slide version of Amazing Grace. David joined in on bass for the only other instrument. Euro-Trash girl was next and it was pretty much greatest hits until David says " Hey Mr. Soundman, this is the backing track, we gotta play this, turn down the PA" and then out comes "What your missing" -the bands little rap bit directed at, I suppose, the parvenue "cracker" bands. Each member gets their own little bit...David's opener goes " My name is MC Cracker D the singer in this band/thats cracker with a C not a K or an Unckle, understand/ and if you've got a problem with your geometry/yea, I can help you out with that cause I have a mathmatics degree.
The crowd seemed to like it, my girlfriend was a bit bewildered as this was her first Cracker show. One Fine Day was the last song before the encore and I was mesmerized as it cranked up-it was the first time I'd heard it...so it was the first new song for me since I heard Be My Love when the collection came out. I was feeling a bit disapointed because it was shaping up to be almost the same show they played there 11 months earlier. At the time I didn't know if I really liked it or if it was the feeling of hearing something in concert that I hadn't already heard many times over....as I would come to find out in Hilton Head two days later if you're right next to the stage between David and Johnny you don't mind hearing the greatest hits that much.
After the show David and LP hopped down off the stage to mingle almost immediately and I told him how much I enjoyed the new song and he apoligized for not playing that many (new ones) but there was "a lot of stuff going on tonight"
We left the venue after that and went over to AC's, a college bar/pool joint after the show for a beer and the band came in soon after for the same.
All said and done I think the sound at the Music Farm is still lacking. The year before the band had a load of problems with the venue's sound system. This was the first time I'd been back since and the acoustical material hung up since was obvious. I still had trouble hearing the singing clearly as the amps drowned out the voices too much for me and no separation at all. As for the crowd there, they always seems like it's made up of long lost friends catching up on old times during the songs, at one point I heard someone yell "Shut Up", something I was thinking myself. I hope the crowds are the same as they used to be in Athens where they actually LISTEN to band...can't wait for a 40 watt show. David does like playing Big Dipper in Charleston though, this time around he praised the town as being the only place where it could be a single on the radio ( the crowd roars in approval but in the quieter bits you can just hear so many people chattering away). The crowd was a bit different from this year though...although there was just as much chattering and the sound of beer bottles being broken (I kind of like that though) there were definately far fewer "Ye haws!!! lofting through the air and only one Freebird request that I could tell.