Derek | Emanuel Wall


Washington, DC - 930 Club 7/9/2000
by Derek

I'm beginning to think that No Knife is actually a very fitting opener for Sunny Day. For one, they make Sunny Day look all the more better, because of No Knife's bland, repetitive, derivative set. Looking around the audience was a bit strange. Half of it was about to fall asleep, the other half was really trying to get into it. Sad also for No Knife is that they play their best song, "Academy Flight Song", at the beginning of their set, only to progressively get worse. By the end, I was expecting the proprietors of 9:30 Club to hand out cots. But the tepidness of No Knife's performance, could not have contrasted more the beauty and power of Sunny Day's.

Every (shining) time I see them, they play with such freshness. The moment I feel as if one of their songs may be growing old (such as "Fool in a Photograph") I see them perform it with such brilliance that it's hard for me to pick favorites with their songs. "Diary" is, and will always will be the pinacle of musicianship in my eyes, and the band almost strictly avoided that album in their performance. But, I didn't care. I cannot express how much of a religious experience it is to see them. Seeing William's raw energy, Dan's loving embrace of his audience, and Jeremy's deep, painful eyes is a sight to behold that I will never, ever get tired of. The show at 9:30 was no exception. I believe the only problem that occured in the show was some lighting that did not suit the performance very well. Even Dan, during one of the breaks, asked the sound guy to be more creative with the lighting because he felt like he was "playing in an auditorium." The audience seemed just as psyched !
to see them as I have ever seen an SDRE audience. The mix was perfect. It's very rare that a band uses the full potential of 9:30 Club's world class facitities, and Sunny Day met that potential and then some. No words to express their brilliance.

SET LIST:

Fool in a Photograph
Pillars
One
The Ocean
Killed by an Angel
Guitar and Video Games
Snibe
Every Shining Time You Arrive
Disappear
Tearing in my Heart
J'nuh
---
ENCORE
8
The Rising Tide
In Circles

Thanks a lot,

Derek


Washington, DC - 930 Club 7/9/2000
by Emanuel Wall

It was my first time seeing Sunny Day Real Estate and I can say I was blown away. I'm convinced that SDRE reads the mailing list because all of the complaints of one guy who said they weren't grateful, didn't introduce themselves etc. were remedied. Dan and Jeremy thanked the fans after every song and they introduced the keyboard player and the bass player. And for no knife, well, they weren't that great. I was one of those guys who nearly fell asleep. Anyway, it was definately the experience of my life. I love them. I thought i might even be the only black fan of sunny day but there was even a couple of us in attendance. (and enjoying it!!!) Definately worth the four hours to get there.


Emanuel