From: owner-rockford-files-digest@smoe.org (The Rockford Files) To: rockford-files-digest@smoe.org Subject: The Rockford Files V4 #32 Reply-To: rockford-files@smoe.org Sender: owner-rockford-files-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-rockford-files-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk The Rockford Files Friday, September 21 2001 Volume 04 : Number 032 Today's Fjordian Filings: -------------------------------------- Re: The Rockford Files V4 #31 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 08:26:37 -0400 From: Lance Johnson Subject: Re: The Rockford Files V4 #31 It's been well-over a year and a half since I have posted here, but I thought I might mention Ben's show in D.C. this past Friday. As you probably know, he was scheduled to play last Tuesday, Sept. 11, but with good reason, the show was cancelled. I was happy to find out he was heading back down the east coast that Friday to play for the excellent D.C. crowd, and he did not disappoint. The show was an anemic 1.5 hours, but he was squeezed into a 7:00 p.m. start time to accommodate Built for Spill who was originally scheduled for Friday night at 10:00 p.m. Ben seemed in good spirits and mocked the crowd often with "macho" poses in response to some joking crowd members -- in fact, at one point, he did 16 push-ups on top of his piano to prove...something. As with the other shows on this tour, Ben played only new songs the first set and came back at the start of the second set by himself. I was a little taken aback by hearing Ben play "Philosophy" and "Dwarf" without the excellent accompaniment of Robert and Darren -- it reminded me of Ben in ten years playing Vegas. I'm not sure that is a good thing. The backing band was tight, although the bassist seemed to be a bit of a reluctant rock star and Snooze definitely grew-up watching MTV to get all of his poses down pat. All-in-all, a great diversion at a much-needed time. Ben didn't make any reference to the week's past events and neither did the crowd, but I think the point was made in its lack of mention: we needed to dance and sing together for one night as we tried to moved forward while never forgetting. By the way, I know some of you have mentioned the new album and what you like and what you don't; well, here's my deal: I cannot, for the life of me, get "Annie Waits" out of my head. Since the first day I played the album, that is the song I cannot shake. From the cheesy Casio programming to the requisite clap, the song is brilliant. Sure, the rest of the album is a breath of fresh air, but that song sums it up for me. I hope Ben remains forever stuck in the 80s. Rock on! Lance ------------------------------ End of The Rockford Files V4 #32 ********************************