Paulvis has entered the
building
On October 30, 1999,
Foam Rubber performed the "Elvis Live From Madison Square Garden"
concert, almost in its entirety at Joe Bailly's on 109th and Western. Paul
Frigo, Foam Rubber's drummer, did not play drums that night. Instead, he
fronted the band as Elvis as Rich Hoffman played drums.
Wearing the Elvis wig and glasses, it was weird
to see Paul with hair. Actually, he looked more like Carmine (the big Ragoo) from Laverne and Shirley. Paul doesn't
have a "sweet" voice, like the King, but he is overweight, making him the
perfect choice.
This show was the first time I played
the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey on my keyboard. It was later used at many
Shades Of Grey shows. Paul-Elvis came through the crowd at Joe Bailly's like a
true king in his white, sparkled outfit. Everyone in the crowd was dressed in
costumes as well. There were sexy French maids and a pussycat and… well, I don't
remember any of the other costumes. Paul-Elvis gave away colored scarves to
lovely ladies in the crowd and began to sing "That's Alright Mama."
The rest of the band was wearing jump suits. At
least they were supposed to be jump suits. They were all too small for us.
Gary's ass was huge. It was like a wall of flesh wrapped in polyester. The
outfits looked like Star Trek Next Generation uniforms, except they had 70s
collars, bellbottoms and hoods. Hoods? Yes hoods. Don't ask me!
Next on the song list was "Proud Mary." Soter and
Jeff did black lady back-up vocals. It ended with lots of horns and some Karate
chops from the King. Then the band took it down a notch for "Never Been to
Spain," then "Heartbreak Hotel." Surprisingly, it sounded pretty good. Paul was
getting into it. He was no longer the complaining, moody bastard I knew. He was
becoming Elvis. "Hound Dog" was next, then "It's Now or Never." The band sounded
great. Paul was off key. The next song was "Hunk of Burning Love."
Toward the end of the set, Paul-Elvis sang
"American Trilogy," which goes into "Glory Glory Hallelujah." At the climax of
the song, horns blared, it rained confetti and the King got down on one knee and
Jeff draped him with the American Flag. I cried. 
The band kicked back into a jumpy rhythm while Elvis
blew kisses to the crowd on his way out of the building. The band threw
tampons (stolen from the ladies room) into the crowd.
The second set was a "normal" Foam Rubber show. You
know, with Rolling Stones songs. Paul was behind the drums. The band
started playing, but there was no sign of Soter. Then all of a sudden, a guy in
a big banana costume came running up to the stage. Just as the banana began to
sing, the real Soter came out of nowhere and tackled the banana! Soter and the
banana guy wrestled on the floor of the stage. What was going on? The banana was
not Soter at all! It was an imposter-banana! Soter kicked the banana-guy
(Rich Hoffman) offstage and began to sing.
Please
don't ever miss a Foam Rubber show unless your grandmother is like, really sick
or something.
back to Great Moments in
Foam Rubber History