MSG Me. I'm ready and willing.
The Toadies - September 29, 2001
Bronco Bowl - Dallas, TX
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I'd seen Toadies only twice before. Once at Trees in Deep Ellum and once at Southwestern U. My God, was I unprepared. I was unaware of the nature of the show until we arrived. It was basically a mini-Edge Fest with no huge bands and all within in the confines of the Bronco Bowl. Jay somehow bought the wrong tickets and upon entering we weren't given the bracelets necessary to get into the main theatre. Greg, on the other hand, had both a bracelet and a VIP pass with which to hook us up with Chipotle burritoes. Much props to the man of the evening (besides Todd Lewis). As evidenced by the picture I was muy suburnt from playing Ultimate all day and this proved to be a major pain in the arms, neck, and every other spot that the Coppertone ran off of. Among the other 8 or 9 bands playing prior to Toadies were Lit, Bowling for Soup, and Flickerstick (yes, the Flickerstick from VH1). BFS was the only noteworthy one because they were pretty funny and entertaining. I wasn't impressed with any other bands, but it was all pretty sweet after successfully sneaking into the main auditorium without armbands. We were just so smoove. The Toadies are among the most underappreciated bands I've fallen in love with. Rock as quality as this doesn't come to town very often, yet most people don't appreciate it. Only half the band was present at the show and they were performing their next to last show ever because of the bullshit of the music industry. Rubberneck and Hell Below/Stars Above are two of the best rock albums I've ever heard yet they'll most likely never be given their due credit. My sunburn wasn't so bad after awhile because the music took my attention completely away from the discomfort. Fast, angry songs like Heel, Quitter, HB/SA, and Velvet are pure carnage in the pit. I was overjoyed to see so many people vastly enjoying themselves as I was. At least some people fully appreciate and get into this stuff. Looking around and seeing an entire pitful of raised fists and hearing all the voices attached to those fists singing every word to Away is indescribable. I already get nostalgic when thinking about the show and the song Dollskin makes me extremely sentimental. Todd made his bitterness at the industry quite obvious during the show. Before they played Tornado he referred to it as "another one locked away in the vault at Universal that nobody'll ever hear." He also referred to their experiences with what I like to call the "Creep Syndrome," referring to the troubles Radiohead experienced with the success of Creep. Creep Syndrome is what happens when most people associate a band with a single song and what results is often extreme frustration and dysfunctoin within the band. Radiohead survived it, Toadies did not. Possum Kingdom is their Creep, and Todd thanked us for sticking around after they played it. The highlight of the night for me was the cover of the Pixies' "Where is My Mind?". The Pixies' influence is obvious in the Toadies's music, especially in Tyler. Tyler was my second favorite part of the evening, despite all the dozens of dumbass crowd surfers trying to go up at what they assumed to be the last song of the night. Let me vent briefly about immature concert-goers. I never let my girls crowd surf at shows because of the obnoxious, sex-starved 15 yr olds that take every opportunity to fondle unsuspecting crowd surfers. Several times I saw these pricks that would run over to crowd surfing chicks, JUMP OVER PEOPLE, and hop up and palm their breasts. Jay and I took note of these weasels and made them pay. When one of them went up to crowd surf, we'd get up underneath them and propel them headlong towards the security wall. Jay almost got one over the security guards. Fondle that, Junior. The song preceding the encore was Hell Below/Stars Above, with the chorus "Stars above are shining down" being sung by the crowd and a small group of people on mics behind the band. The final line was repeated for several minutes and transformed into yelling when I started screaming, I'm proud to say. I think encores should work like they do in operas, meaning that as long as the crowd is still thirsty for more, the performer should keep going. We'd have gotten at least 5 or 6 encores out of them if things worked this way. I'd have yelled til my vocal chords bled, but alas it had to end. I was definitely satisfied in the end because I know for sure that those guys felt fucking appreciated. Todd smiled when I screamed "We fuckin' love you guys." Mission accomplished. As I consumed another liter or so of water and stumbled out of the Bronco Bowl drenched from head to knees in sweat, I despaired at the thought of never seeing Toadies ever again. The bright side is that Todd Lewis plans on sticking with music in spite of cursed fucking Interscope records. Do as I will and keep your eyes peeled for upcoming projects involving Todd. Musical geniuses can't be held down forever. |
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