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The BoDeans
A Concert Review |
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Stu's Review
Great Expectations...
The last time I saw the BoDeans was in April of this year at Eastern
Illinois University. It was there that I realized that the BoDeans
are "chick magnets." Seriously, about 70% of the audience
was female and every girl at the show, both then and now, was
dressed sharp and looking fine! The age range was a little wider for
the BoDeans' Arie Crown Theatre performance, and that's fine with me
'cuz I ain't getting any younger. Another nice thing about Chicago's
Arie Crown is that you have to walk through a cold connected parking
garage. Most people opted to leave their jackets in their cars and
this brought out an appealing aspect of the female concert go'er.
Will-Call is great, when it works...
What is it about me and will-call? This was the 4th show this year I
was late getting in because things were screwed up at will-call. As
a result, I only got to see a little of the BoDeans opening act,
Holly Palmer. She's pretty much a "hippie-chick" with a
sweet little voice and ass to match (The Dude on the Right pointed
out her "assets" to me). Having only heard her perform
two-and-a-half songs I cannot give you, the reader, a good idea of
what she's like. From the little that I did hear I would have to
liken her to a "slow going 70's rock/funk band."
Basically, think of the Brady's.
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Imagine if their band made it big and then broke up (much like the
Jackson 5). This girl would be like Cindy on a solo career. I
thought she was OK and the half filled auditorium was polite to her
performance, so I give her ONE THUMB UP.
And the crowd goes wild!
Promptly at 9pm the BoDeans graced the stage. The boys looked a
little different to me this time, well all except for the Bass
player. Bob, to the best of my recollection, was wearing the same
shirt he wore at their performance back in April. I hope that it was
by coincidence and not because it's the only shirt he has. As for
the rest of the ensemble, Sammy was sporting longer hair and Kurt
had a funky bob/crop cut going on. Regardless of what I thought
about their hair cuts, the girls in the audience just oozed. This
was especially the case when Sammy removed his jacket to reveal that
he was only wearing a blue vest with two strings hanging from it.
Upon closer inspection I found those strings to be his arms.
It didn't take long for the BoDeans to get the crowd swaying to
songs like "America" and "Hey Pretty Girl."
"Who feels like jumping? Come on and jump with me!" was
all Kurt had to say and the place started bouncing to the polka-esk
song "Ocean Me," at least I think that's the name of it,
but in any
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case, it's the song where everybody starts jumping up and down. Ya,
sure! Ya hey der! Dese guys ain't from Milwaukee, are dey? So, are
the BoDeans "grass-roots-rock" or "country?" I'd
have to say a little of both with a little "Latin rhythm"
thrown in for good measure.
And the award for the dumb-ass of the night goes to...
It's a three way tie! Like I've said before, a BoDeans show is a
great place to meet women or to score points with your steady gal.
Their deep meaningful lyrics and easy to sway to music always swoons
the women. This being the case, why the jackass sitting in front of
me never put his arm around his girl while she tried to get him to
dance a little to the profound song "Naked" I'll never
know. Then there was the guy four rows in front of me. He had the
best seat in the house because there was an aisle in front of him
that all the ladies came down to dance in. One particularly
well-built, bottle-fed blonde took his cap, seductively danced in
front of him and tried to get him out of his seat. He just sat back
asking for his hat. By the time "Closer" was over she had
lost interest,
returned the hat, and began to dance by someone else. What a fool!
Lastly, there was The Dude on the Right. After the show I had an
invitation to meet up with two lovely ladies. He said he was too
tired to go. What!?! If it wasn't for the comment about Holly
Plamer's ass earlier I'd seriously question The Dude's sexuality. I
know he was "born and raised Catholic in Ohio," and that
he's an admitted "shy guy," but how he keeps his
testosterone levels low I'll never know! So you tell me folks, who's
the biggest ass? The guy four rows up, the guy in front of me, or my
editor, The Dude on the Right.
And in the end...
The BoDeans, like Hootie and the Blowfish, may not be very animated
on stage, but their eclectic range of music makes up for that unlike
Hootie, plus the fact that next to an Aerosmith concert you wont
find better looking women than those at a BoDeans show. I loved them
and Chicago showed its love by supporting two sold-out shows with
them. I also liked the fact that Sammy showed some sincere and
candid appreciation by saying "Thank you all. We don't make it
on our record sales. We make it on our live performances. Without
you we'd be in our bedrooms wacking off or something." That,
and I'd like to give a little credit to "Carl," the
roadie, for running out on stage to hold Sammy's harmonica while he
continued to play guitar during "Closer to Free."
(Question: Is it just me or would that be a great song for Sesame
Street's "Count to sing?") I give the BoDeans TWO BIG
THUMBS UP and I'm Stu Gotz! Hasta!
The Dude on the Right gets his say…
Back in April, the last time Stu went to see the BoDeans, I asked
him "How was the show?" He replied something like
"The show was good, but you should have seen the women, they
were everywhere." I was intrigued. I had heard that the BoDeans
put on a good show, but I wanted to draw my own conclusions. After a
cold November Friday in Chicago I now know for myself that Stu was
right, the BoDeans are pretty cool.
I'll be honest, other than two or three songs I have no idea what
they played. But what I did find was that for most of the night
people were out of their seats, dancing to the music, and singing
along - all the makings of a fun show for both the dedicated fan and
the "brought along because my girlfriend likes them" fan,
well, everyone seemed to have fun except those two dumb-ass' Stu
talked about. Me, I had a good time too, even though I was with Stu,
and yes, I was a little tired.
The BoDeans mixed it up, from the up-beat, polka-sounding,
jumping up and down song to some kinda country-sounding, watching
the sunset, the cows have come home song. The smart guys were set,
they had the dance songs and the snuggle songs and if they were
lucky they were next to a cutie. Me, I had Stu on my right and an
isle on my left and I didn't have a hat. In the end, I had a good
time anyway, and the crowd had a blast.
I've got to give the BoDeans TWO THUMBS UP!!! They are a fun
band. I guess that's all I can say. As for Stu's comments on me
being a big ass, well, I seem to remember Stu trying to be in a band
or something, and now every time I stop by his place he seems to be
coming out of his bedroom. Coincidence? I think not. And that
comment about testosterone: all I know is that, while waiting for
the ticket mix-up to clear, I thought Stu was either going to get
whiplash from his head swiveling back and forth or maybe he would
just explode - he kept saying something like "Oh my God! Oh my
God!" I asked him if something was wrong, and he just let out a
heavy sigh, shook his head, and said "Did you see …..?"
That's it for this one, I'm The Dude on the Right! L8R!! |
