Shank Hall
March 12, 1996
From: CNMX58A@prodigy.com ( JOHN J SUTTER III)
The sign on the front of Shank Hall said "Enwistle." Not your usual misspelling.
The audience was about 90% male. The show was sccheduled to begin at 8:00. The opening band, who has been touring with John, was Joni's Butterfly.
Joni's Butterfly came on at 8:24, opening with Made In Japan, and ending with Memories. I thought the sound mix was perfect. I liked the drummer, Craig Sala, bass player, Ken Hirasaki, and guitarist, Ed Mateus. I am not immpressed with the singer, Adam Cremona. He doesn't have much range, and he makes Joe Cocker look graceful. Joni's Butterfly's set ended at 8:58.
Shank Hall is a narrow hall, with a capacity of 300 people. There is an open area, about 40' by 40', in front of the stage. During Joni's Butterfly, only two people ventured into this area, and they waited until the set was half over. At about 9:15, people started drifting toward this open area by the stage. I figured "Why not?," and joined them. I was glad I did.
John, Alan St. Jon, Godfrey Townsend, and Steve Luongo, who comprise the John Entwistle band, came on at 9:48. John was on bass and vocals, Alan was on keyboard and vocals, Godfrey was on guitar and vocals, and Steve was on drums and vocals. John had a barely visible white shirt on, with a red jacket, black or dark blue pants, and red boots.
John opened with the red bass with the lights, or light emitting diodes, on the neck.
The mix was great, in my opinion. The setlist:
At this point, John switched to the brown 8-string bass.
At this point, John switched back to the red bass.
This song wasn't being played the last time I saw The JEB, and it featured a three minute drum solo.
Before this song, the guy in front of me took off his Who tee shirt, and thankfully he had another shirt on underneath, and threw it at John, hitting the neck of his bass with it. John laughed, and pushed the shirt, with his boot, out of his way.
After this song, John and company left the stage, only to return
shortly with the following encore:
This song featured a lengthy drum and bass interplay solo.
The band was in a great mood. John conversed between almost every song.
The only person not having a good time was the pathetically out of shape security person near the stage. I knew he was security because his tee shirt said so.
John and company finished up at 11:14.
At about 11:45, the whole band came out and sat at a table near the mercahndise table to sign autographs. An orderly line was formed. The band signed with the correct autographer's tool, the Sharpie, and signed fairly legibly and boldly.
I had a great time!
I'll be at the Chicago show, on March 14, also.
From: Bogie3200@aol.com
Pam (Psrox) and I just got back from a very good performance. The band seemed enthusiastic and John was talkative. So here's a musical legend who rarely spoke during Who concerts because of Pete's and Roger's dominance, and what does part of the Milwaukee crowd do? They shout out inane song recommendations (e.g., "Guitar And Pen") so frequently and so loudly that it was often difficult to hear what John was saying--in fact, he stopped mid-sentence several times because of this (though he didn't appear very annoyed). The worst had to be a guy who, when he wasn't harassing Pam, bellowed "John, you play a song that YOU like."
Meanwhile, I had to dodge Jerome The Human Metronome, who swayed excessively during most of the show. He reminded me of a player caught in a rundown between first and second bass (baseball pun). The last gripe I'll pass along came from a roadie and was overheard by Pam: Apparently John's band isn't as well behaved as the typical alternative band that plays at Shank Hall--John's band drinks A LOT, declared this roadie!! And with a straight face, in Milwaukee, of all places! (Hint for non-Americans: the baseball team is named The Brewers.)
The evening's highlight was a 5th band member, brought on stage by Steve Luongo, which had apparently occurred for the first time in the previous city on the tour. Without ruining the surprise (and you shouldn't either, Pamela!), let's just say that Steve has added a wildlife component to the setlist.
Rich B.
P.S. A gentleman calling himself "Cousin Kevin" has been running the
souvenir table for all 38 shows so far and said maybe 3,000 of the 5,000 "The
Rock" CDs have been sold.
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