SORTA LIVE CD RELEASE GIG

Last band of a three band night.

We were really psyched because this was the record release party for the (way too) long-awaited debut cd, “Sorta Live.”

We had an awesome showing of support. A whole lot of people – new and old to the TFL family - made it down to the gig, and by the time we took the stage, the place was crowded and we were more than ready to give it our all. This more than cancelled out the fact that we were a little bummed by the fact that that so many people that we expected to attend didn’t end up coming down – including many who are in bands themselves.

We started the show by playing the nine songs on the album straight through in album order. It was a little weird opening with “Superstar” and playing “Take Janine Away” so early in the set, but it actually kept the band on our toes, so in a way, it was a real benefit. We had quite a few girls at tables near the front of the stage, and they cheer so much louder than guys, so the noise that greeted the end of each song was a helluva boost.

For lack of a better term, the band was “ON” right from the get-go. We were nailing the songs, we sounded damn tight, and the audience reaction was just fantastic, so we were having great fun. I jumbled a couple of lyrics, but my voice stayed solid the whole show, and I don’t remember any of the guys missing so much as a note on their instruments. Tom had a cold, so he was worried about his voice, but he nailed the lead vox on “Wasted” and his backups in the other songs sounded great to me.

The only slight problem was a tuning snag with my guitar that caused about a two-minute break at one point. Two minutes seems like an eternity when I’m onstage but I can’t speak because I’m tuning. We did a run through a verse and chorus of Jessie’s Girl, and then we were back and ready to play.

When we got through the album’s sequence, we were about halfway through the show. By this time, we were totally feeding off the crowd’s energy, and there were people up and dancing, and having what looked from the stage as a damn good time.

John B started the night with a cool black cowboy hat, and by about the fourth song, it was on the head of our friend Desiree in the audience. I had to grab it for the country-ish beginning of “Bloody Tuesday” before returning it to Desi. Later, though I don’t remember the specific song, I turned around to see Desiree joining the band onstage and dancing with the guys. The audience loved it and the band even more so.

We did our cover of “Sweet Jane” for the second time, and this time we got the ending right, so we were pretty happy.

We were planning on finishing the set with “Achiever” and, in case we got an encore, we were going to do “Burning Love.” Since we were the last band of the night, we decided to just play through, finish up with both, and forget about an encore. The audience was still drinking, and the folks were apparently not in the mood to get up (and maybe they liked us just a little), so they called for an encore. Since we hadn’t actually rehearsed anything beyond the set, we were stumped until a few people started calling for “American Girl.” We launched into it with John B and I a little concerned because we always forget the chords. This time, for some reason, we both remembered them beginning to end, Desiree rejoined us onstage, and we nailed the song as a great ending to a great night.

Set List:
Superstar
Stay Up and Talk to Me
Eve Of Destruction
Take Janine Away
Party Dress
Beautiful In Black
Wasted
Got No Life
A Song for the Ladies
Sailor
Bloody Tuesday
Sweet Jane
Lesbian Circus
She Was Just a Girl
Achiever
Burning Love
American Girl (encore)