House of Blues
March 5, 1996
From: yarlas@psych.ucla.edu (Aaron Yarlas)
Well, just got back from the LA House of Blues show, and I'm all wired up, so here is my report.
I got there early enough to be able to be right in front against the stage, which was great. The first opener, Mr. Ectomy, was ok, a little funky, nothing special. the second band, Joni's Butterfly, were actually pretty good! Tight, pretty driving rock and roll 4 piece, and the band members were real young (in their early 20's, about), which was surprising.
John and Co. kicked ass, of course. They weren't too loud, i would have even liked it a little louder, but they were definitely high energy, every song was an all-out rocker. I considered not going, as no one i know is into John or the Who enough to spend $20 to see him (plus $8 for parking; Damn you, House of Blues!), but it was well worth it, it was an incredible show.
I didn't write down the songs played, but i was lucky enough that some roadie took a liking to me and gave me a set list, as well as one of Steve Luongo's chewed-up drumsticks; SCORE! so anyway, the set list was as follows:
Encore (with Jeff "Skunk" Baxter guesting!!!!)
------
After the show, the guys went back on the patio to sign autographs and such (I got all four, plus Skunk's, on my setlist). Not only are these guys GREAT musicians, but they are incredibly nice. Most bands get the hell out of there ASAP, but they set up a table, and were all smiles and joking and stuff while they happily signed everything put in front of them. They must be having a great time on tour.
For all yet to see these guys in action, you definitely have something to look forward to!
Best,
Aaron
From: Mike Westbrook (mwest@atc-1s.HAC.COM)
The Left for Dead Tour stopped in Los Angeles at the House of Blues in West Hollywood on Tuesday night, 5 March, so I took advantage of being in the area to, um, drop in... Too bad a famous club can't spell "Entwistle" without the additional 'h'; it would at least have made the entire name fit on the ticket. (This mistake was repeated on the club calendar, which also managed to call the tour support act "Johnnie's Butterfly", which was also how the announcer said it on stage.)
My ears are slightly number than after the San Diego show. I think it was a louder gig, due probably to the larger venue; I'm not sure, because this time I was right in front, feeling the bass in my chest. The mix seemed a little muddier than at San Diego, with the vocals, guitar and keyboards somewhat obscured, and there was so much top end on John's bass that when he wasn't damping it, there was a high, whistling background sound noticeable when he wasn't playing. By the way, I doubt very strongly that this show will appear on "Live from the House of Blues", because there were no visible TV cameras.
The crowd appeared to be younger than San Diego, probably due to it being in L.A. and at the House of Blues, so it was likely more of a night out for some than an opportunity to see a personal rock hero. (Pure speculation on my part here.) This time there was an additional act starting the show, a band named Mr. Ectomy, which seemed to me to include Frank Zappa as one of their prime influences. They seemed to have local fan support, since they received more applause (and did an encore) than did Joni's Butterfly, which got a polite smattering as people went to the bar in preparation for the main event. (I'm not just saying this because one of the band members bought me a beer because we were ordering the same beer at the same time--I paid him back by buying one of their tapes.)
John and the band came out somewhere around or before 11:30, and played until just before 1:00 a.m. I thought they were rocking a bit more than in San Diego, and the band seemed a bit looser, with more jokes, more comments by Entwistle, and Godfrey Townshend seemed to be smiling more that night than I remember from before (subjective opinion alert). John couldn't flick his picks worth beans, though... Everybody was again wearing clothes, though except for a different jacket on John, it was hard to say if they were any different than on Thursday night without photographic evidence. I assume they all had on clean underwear, though since there were no automobile accidents, the subject never really came up.
The set was ordered differently from Thursday. This time it was as follows, copied directly from one of the band's set lists (kindly snagged for me by a fellow fan, who must have admired my Who Convention t-shirt, or overheard the conversation I was having with another long-time fan, for whom I have to look up the official fan club info today).
Setlist given here, identical to the one above except for conflicting report on last song played)
For the encore, the band was augmented by Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, ex-Steely Dan and Doobie Brother and studio guitarist extraordinaire (who mostly played rhythm). He, also, was wearing clothes, and a beret. During "Long Live Rock", there was an impromptu addition to the stage as an unofficial go-go dancer performed for a short period until she was partnered off stage left by a staff member to the amusement of everyone, including Entwistle, who mimed that maybe she should be brought back out. She, too, was wearing clothes, though I would suspect that there was some speculation about changing that situation...
As they have at almost all of their shows, John, Steve, Godfrey and Alan came out later to sign autographs, have their pictures taken with fans, chat, etc. (According to the tour merchandise seller, who made good on his promise to replace my somewhat-folded-by-the-US-Postal-Service autographed tourbook [I bought him a beer afterwards], the only time they hadn't was the snowy D.C. [or wherever] concert, and that was at least partly because the tour manager had become ill.) I got all four band members to sign the pages with their pictures & bios, and John signed the front of my Live At Leeds CD booklet as well. Steve Luongo even noticed the Bitsa Talent return address on the front of the envelope I brought my tourbook in, which impressed me. I must say that these guys have really gone out of their way to acknowledge the fans and treat them like real human beings, and have shown that they, and especially John, are decent, likeable people as well as talented musicians. Thanks, guys! We fans really appreciate it.
> Mike <
From: MarkB89300 (presumably MarkB89300@aol.com)
John, dressed in black jeans and a lavender leather jacket, stuck to pretty much the same set list as in the other posts. The only song that may have been different from other shows was "Under a Raging Moon" which he dedicated to Keith. "Heaven and Hell" and the soloing during "Shakin' all Over" were particular high points of the evening. After the show, the whole band sat down at a table and signed autographs. Anyone who could find this 'meet and greet' area were invited. It was very cool, and they stayed until everyone who wanted autographs got them. Overall a great show.
MB
Back to John's Home Page.
Back to setlist index.