Montreal, QC - Cafe
Campus - 7/5/2000
By Richard Devereux
Hello,
Well, I must say to
begin with that this was the first time that i saw
Sunny Day. It was quite amazing.
i guess that i wil go chronologically, so i don't forget things.
My friend and i showed
up at about 5, and set up shop at the restaurant
patio that was conveniently about three feet from the door of the Cafe
Campus. Much better than sitting on concrete.
As i read in previous
reviews, the band did make a slight appearance. No
knife showed up quite a bit. They unloaded their van right in front of us
and made some conversation. The 4 people at the front of the line were from
detroit and weere attending something like their 7th straight show of the
tour, so no knife and them spoke for a while. I talked to them for a while
too (the people from Detroit) - nice people.
At any rate - the show.
No knife was ok. They
were playing to about 30 people at the beginning, as
very few people showe dup early, but it wasn't too bad. they were nothing
i
would rush out to buy, but pleasant as an opeing act.
One very cool thing
(and i am probably one of the few people to think this)
was the request from SDRE that no one smoke. There were papers posted
everywhere inside saying that at the band's request please don't smoke - and
i was happily surprised to see that most people listened.
Another reason to like SDRE.
On to the feature presentation.
They were so great.
I was kind of floored
when they came out. I was at the front at the
beginning, in front of the vocal speakers, so i did not catch much of
jeremy's vocal efforts, but i was standing about half a foot from dan, so
that more than made up for it.
if i remember correctly
(and that is no guarantee) - it was 'fool in the
photograph' to start with,
then pillars - which i was happy about.
from there they played essentially the entire new album except for
rain song, television, faces in disguise.
on top of that, they
played J'Nuh, 8, ESTYA, pillars, guitar and video
games, and in circles, as well as a coll jam session.
the supporting bass
player and keyboard/guitarist were pretty good, although
the guitarist guy seemed to think that he was all that and a bag of chips,
constantly giving looks and stuff - he was kind of funny.
The band was all good.
Will was all over the
place - definitely the best drummer i have ever seen
at a concert.
Jeremy was really involved,
and intense, as i expected, and his voice came
through really well, especially once i stepped back a bit.
Dan was the best -
he looked like it was the first gig he had ever played.
He had a smile on his face the entire show and was bouncing around all happy
and hyper, and he was relly fun to watch.
Seeing them live solidified
my opinion of SDRE as fantastic musicians. They
do things with a guitar that blow my mind. Totally incredible.
After the show, one
of the roadies came out from back stage and gave one of
the guys from Detroit a handful of setlists, and he was nice enough to give
me one - THANKS - so i have a souvenir.
Apparently the band
was letting the four of the in for free because they had
been to so many shows, and giving them handfuls of setlists.
that has to be the coolest road trip.
Unfortunately i was
unable to purchase a shirt, as the damn border guards
held up all of the medium and large size shirts at customs. All they had
was small, and they aren't kidding when they say small.
So no shirt for me.
All in all, it was
a really great experience, and to anyone out there, if
they are coming within a day's drive of you, i suggest going.
you won't regret it.
that's it, and now i will go.
rick.