Here's a review from Keel Ross...
Forgive me if I make any mistakes, it's tough to memorize the order of the
eighteen songs that were played for the evening.
Of course, being a fan
of The Refreshments only from the release of "Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy" I will
refer to titles of songs that were used for the album. The opening act for the
evening at the Colorado Music hall was new little band Garrison Starr, lead by
Garrison Starr. She and her band put on an excellent little opening act. It was
the kind of music that got you tapping your foot from almost the first instant you
heard them strike up.
A little Edie Brickellish... They seemed suited really well to be touring with
The Refreshments. They got you a little excited and into the music, but not overly excited.
It took some time once Garrison Starr left the stage for the crew to change things over.
They started playing typical in between set music. Then, suddenly, something with a little
bit of a "south of the boarder" feel. I heard a guy sitting near me ask his date,
"Did we just cross the boarder?" With this change in music, the anticipation for
The Refreshments grew. The crowd started winding up! A few people started doing some little
dances to the music. Which, helped get the rest of the crowed going too. Of course the theme
song to "The Dating Game" helped bring the crowd alive.
Finally, the anticipation was over...The Refreshments had arrived!
For the next hour and a half
they rocked for capacity crowd of almost 800 people. Of course you knew it was The Refreshments just
by the clothes they were wearing when the arrived on stage. "P.H." came dressed in
all black, black shorts and black tee shirt. "Buddy" looked like he was ready to go
on a date or something. He was dressed in black jeans, a white long sleeve button up
shirt with the top button done, and a stylish black blazer.
What would you expect from the great Brian Blush?
Of course, a cowboy hat, jeans, and a velvety smoking jacket! Roger came very casually
dressed in jeans and a Hawaiianesque yellow shirt with a print of a tiger in a jungle on
the front and the back. These guys looked ready to have a good time for the evening.
The set started out rocking with "Preacher's Daughter." This was a concert that was going
to rock from the first note. In between virtually ever song, the band played some great riffs.
They kept you guessing as to what song was going to be next as the prepared for the next
song. Right after the first song, there was already a round of tequila shots for all the
guys. Roger took his shot and had a grimace on his face as he commented that tequila shots
never get any easier. I'm sure anyone who has ever done tequila shots knows exactly where
Roger was coming from with this comment! Roger also figured the drink would give him a good
excuse for "falling on my ass" which he would inevitably do whether or not he was drinking.
In a twist I wasn't really expecting, the next song was "Down Together." I'm sure this was done
to draw in all of the less refreshment savvy people in the audience. It was obvious that
everyone there was now going to be an active participant in the music of the evening. In fact
the crowd was so into it and moshing so hard already that it drew a comment from Roger.
He was "not pointing fingers," but that some people needed to settle down a little. It
wasn't "a demand, but rather a request," so that everyone could enjoy a safe concert and
return home to revisit The Refreshments again in the future. It only took these two songs
to get the band members feeling the altitude of the city. This was the middle of a four
show Colorado tour, but they were still not acclimated, but it didn't show. Roger was asking
what the altitude was at the Colorado Music Hall. Someone erroneously said 5,000 feet -
it's actually much closer to 6,500 feet above sea level. Roger stated that he must be out
of shape, because being at 5,000 feet was getting to him already. Despite this early comment,
one would never have known that these guys were feeling tired, because they played with
intensity for the whole hour and a half. We moved back to "The Bottle & Fresh Horses"
for the third song, "Dolly." Then a change back to "Fizzy Fuzzy Big and Buzzy" for two
old favorites "Mexico" followed by "Mekong." We continued down the fizzy fuzzy trail with
"Blue Collar Suicide" and the MTV video song that put these guys on the map, "Banditos."
The crowed was already singing the chorus during the long introduction that was played.
Of course when it came time to sing the chorus near the end of the song, the crowd was
asked to sing it, and they sang with passion. It really grooved. Now was the time for
the really big stretch of the new stuff. One of my new favorites, "Wanted" was played to
start of the home stretch. A dedication to the radio station that made the concert possible
KILO 94.3 used to introduce the new smash hit, "Good Year." Roger then laminated about
the fact that the next song had a chorus that was previously used in a song from FFB&B,
but they liked the chorus so well it only seemed right to use it again in "Fonder and
Blonder." Next we flowed on down to "Tributary Otis," which ended the set of songs
from "The Bottle & Fresh Horses." It was at this time that Roger made a comment to a
fan that looked to be very into punk if he was in a band. The kid responded in the
affirmative. Then Roger took to the soapbox for one brief moment. "Use your music
for good. Music can be used to hurt, or it can be used to really touch someone's heart."
He obviously realized that there are some bands out there now that really give good
old rock-n-roll a bad name and that was never the intent of rock nor music in general. Music can sooth the savage beast.
"European Swallow" followed Otis and was broken in the middle by a song they didn't write, "Do It All the Time." This was in dedication to the memory of Manhattan's, the place The Refreshments played the last two times they were in Colorado Springs. It was a shame it see Manhattan's close due to - I will quote Roger - "the man," and the related tax problems. At least the Colorado Music Hall was a suitable new location for a show like this one. The show ended with "Girly," which was also
broken into the middle of for a song that I think was being made up by Roger as he went along. It what has become a standard in shows today, there was an encore. However, this was not to be a weak one-song encore. No, we had almost twenty more minutes of concert left with this encore. The crowd was asked what they would like to hear for the encore, "Nada" or "Sin Nombre." It was fairly well split, so the band agreed to screw it, and play both. However, I also heard many cheers to hear the Johnny
Cashesque "Horses." They started the encore with "Nada." This was followed next by a new one, "Broken Record." Roger introduced it as a classic song about co-dependence. Who would have guessed this was a song about co-dependence? Ha Ha!
Next the band played a real favorite of mine. I've heard it before, but I was hoping before the concert even started that I would be privileged to hear The Refreshments play it again..."Jenny." You all know the song and I'm sure everyone one sings along when they hear, "8-6-7-5-3-0-9...I've got it, I've got it." Maybe it the fact that I went to junior high the same time these guys did and it is a remembrance of times when we all thought life was pretty rough. Then we entered the real world and wished we could go back to the junior high days when all
we worried about was who like who this week and what we should wear to school today so we didn't get made fun of at school.
The group finally got to "Sin Nombre." We thought this was the end of the concert since it was what they had promised us at the beginning of the encore. However, they had one last tune to play before leaving us for the evening. The last tune was a self proclaimed Frankenstein. "We never expected this to get as big as it has when we first recorded it. "They weren't talking about a song from any album, but rather the theme song from the television show "King of the Hill." It seemed like a fitting way to end the show. Much like the opening to the television show, we were all about to re-enter the real world and it would continue to revolve around us whether or not we participated or stood around drinking a beer. I was definitely glad I had stayed out to catch this concert. I was not disappointed in the least bit. I can't wait until these guys come to town once again. I was hoping to hear "Una Soda" and "Birds Sing," but I guess that will be left for a future show. It was time to go, because
the evening was drawing to a close and I "can't drink cervecas anymore." I had to return to the rat race with only a lasting memory of an evening with The Refreshments.
Keel Ross, Colorado
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Here's a review from Caly Rosen in Chicago...
I arrived at the Metro in Chicago about two and a half hours before show time.
I was the fifth person in line, so I was gauranteed to a good spot to check out
the bands. First up was Tonic, they put on a great show, and they have a
really good CD out at the moment, "The Lemon Parade"( Go check it out)
Next up were The Refreshments, they had small little Mexican figures sitting
on all the speakers, and smoke everywhere. All of them but Roger entered the
stage, they started to play (I think) Mekong, and then Roger slowly entered
singing. He had on a big loose white Mexican shirt with little embroideries on
the front, blue jeans and and Converse shoes.
They played other songs like, "Down Together","Banditos", "Blue Collar Suicide"
and, "Girly." All were performed very energetically, Roger jumped around so
hard he practically could fill a swiming pool with all his sweat. He kept
drinking lots of water and then tossed the remainder of the water into the
crowd. Someone tossed a peice of gum up to the stage, Roger picked it up,
thanked who ever threw it, and started to chew, he sang one song while chewing,
but after the song he said it was to hard to sing while chewing, cause he felt
like he was going to choke, so he placed it on his guitar, he then chewed it
off and on.
Buddy did some cool moves with his guitar, like playing it on his back!!! The
drummer had like a five minute solo, which was really good, and the other
guitarist, Brian, was really, really good. Roger being the gentelman that he is smiled to me, I almost fainted, cause well, I was
standing right in front of him, well, he was like, five feet up on the stage
but I had the best view overall, it pays to go to a concert really early!!!
All the guys were really sweet and nice, they put on a great show, I'm really
glad I went. Dishwalla, the main course, came on after them, I can't even
begin with how good they were!!!! It was a great show!!!!!!!!
Caly Rosen, Illinois
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Here's a review from Amy Loudermilk...
My friend and I were the first to arrive at the 9:30 Club in
Washington, DC. Even though it was November 7th, it was 65 degrees! It
was very nice to sit on the steps and watch band members going in and out
of the club setting up. We basically came to see Dishwalla, but when we
left, we were definitely Refreshment fans! Tonic also performed, but had
little impact on us. As we were sitting on the steps in silver and blue
sparkly sequined shirts and black plastic pants(I'm sure everyone thought
we were hookers) we received lots of compliments from band members, but
we didn't know who they were!!
It was worth the wait to get front row center for the show!!
When the Refreshments came out, it was interesting to see Roger wearing
yellow corduroy pants with a chiwawa t-shirt. But it went really well
with the Princess Leia and Chewbacca pictures on his guitar strap. Buddy
was wearing blue coveralls, but Brian took the prize. He was wearing a
big cowboy hat with a burgundy velvet smoking jacket!! To compliment the
jacket was a cigarette that never left his mouth. The only song we had
heard was "Banditos" which we liked, but seeing them perform it made it
even better. They were having so much fun, that the audience couldn't
help but have a good time too! They played their songs off the cd. We
found this out because we bought the cd the next day. Roger was jumping
all around, Brian never cracked a smile, and Buddy was playing the bass
behind his head!! Unfortunately, we couldn't really see P.H. The
highlight of the evening for us was towards the end of the show when
Roger said how "sharp" we looked in our shiny shirts!! We really enjoyed
the show and now they are one of our favorite bands!! We are looking
forward to the new cd and their next tour!!
Amy, Washington D.C.
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Here's a review from Brian Berglund...
Let's set the stage. It was a humid mid afternoon, sun shining on
the windy city, temperature was around 85 degrees. My friends and I went
to Grant Park and waited in line for about an hour. The concert was a free
concert from Q101 a local radio station. The first thousand fans or so got
to be admitted into the stage area where the rest had to watch from the
lawn. The stage was constructed in an open field with a portion of it
fenced in with chairs. The rest behind the fence was the lawn and was hard
to see from. I experienced the lawn the year before when I saw Alanis
Morrissette and Gin Blossoms. The show had an all-star cast with The
Refreshments, Dishwalla and The Goo Goo Dolls. The show went in order
respectively.
The sun still shining and getting warmer we were finally let in.
We waited with anticipation to see the Refreshments but first came Bill and
Wendy, the Q101 morning show. Finally the Refreshments came our getting
the crowd jumping. They played great hits like Down Together, Banditos and
Blue Collar Suicide. The band was hot and so was the crowd as Roger and
Brian threw out their water bottles to help us out. To end their set the
Refreshments played "Sweet Home Chicago" a home town favorite. Before they
started playing the song Roger came out with a video camera and filmed some
of the crowd. Then he walked over to the mic and with a friendly laughing
voice he said "I am on tour and I really miss my mother, but you Chicago
really make me feel like I am at home, so take this camera and say hello to
my mother". He passed the camera out into the crowd and they filmed the
band and themselves. The Refreshments did get the camera back. Then they
filled the air with "Sweet Home Chicago" and let the crowd sing a long.
The crowd stunned and excited waited with roars of boos towards
Wendy and Bill as Dishwalla was suppose to enter. The band finally came
out and really got the crowd back into it. They played their hits like
Counting Blue Cars and Charlie Brown's Parents. They had the crowd going
crazy. I loved the way the lawn people were tearing up the sod like at
Lollapalooza.
Last but not least, was the Goo Goo Dolls. Out they came and they
played a great set with songs from the past and present. Very much so the
three really had the crowd into it. Everyone was singing lines of the
chorus as the band ran around wildly. Just then the lead singer said,
"This last song we wrote last night in our hotel room after drinking a
couple of beers. I hope you all know it." Everyone was going crazy when
they finished that line with Name and we all were singing with the band.
None the less, I loved the show and I hope that you got the feel of
it from my review. FOREVER It was a summer to remember.
Brian (#99) Berglund, Chicago, IL
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Here's a review from Michele Maines...
My co-workers and I went to the Refreshments show at the El Rey theater
in Hollywood. FFBB had become a source of sanity for us at work, so we
were really excited. They played an amazing show, singing all our
favorite songs, some new ones and a few covers of classics. We were the
freaks that knew every word to every song, except the new ones of
course, and screamed our brains out. The best was yet to come when we
left the theater and someone handed us fliers for a free show the
following night at the Viper Room! So we went the next night and saw an
even better show FOR FREE the following night. We were right up front
and had an incredible time. We can't wait for them to come back.
Michele, Los Angeles
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Here's a quote from the ManZilla...
The Refreshments kick ASS!
(Don't hear that too often... let us examine why...)
The phrase, "The Refreshments kick ASS!" is a generic phrase, containing a
vulgarity. These phrases are typical of fans of such groups as Rancid,
Metallica (the original flavor), Rush, and Gwar. That is to say, fans with
generally low intelligence quotients and short attention spans, who are
drawn to the dazzle of pyrotechnics and the monotony of endless guitar
solos. It also suggests that the band in question (in this statement, The
Refreshments), are uncreatively violent, choosing to attack a part of the
body with ample padding. In both cases this statement is proven untrue.
Let us examine some alternatives to this phrase, citing our two examples.
The first is the suggestion of the IQ and interest levels of a typical
Refreshments fan. I have found that many fans of this group (such as
myself) are impressed more by creative lyrics, a groundbreaking new sound
and talented musicians. So it would be unfair to describe them with such
simple words. We shall have to pull out the old thesaurus and come up with
some better words for "kick". Hmm. Perhaps "forcefully shove" is a bit
better. The second alternative to find would be the form and aim of the
violence in question. As we can tell from their hit song, "Banditos", The
Refreshments are far more creative than the previos statement lets on.
They would not simply apply pressure to the hindquarters of an individual,
they would pour sugar in to the tank of their car, or perhaps even threaten
them with their pistols. Instead of attacking an unvulnerable part of the
body, let us choose the head, the most vulnerable part of the body, and one
of the most easily injured.
Now our new statement is "The Refreshments forcefully shove your head".
And if you've heard their album "Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy", I'm sure you'll
agree that they certainly do.
ManZilla
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Here is a review from my girlfriend, Jen, who was at the concert with me...
The concert I attended was at the Modjeska in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Tonic opened for The Refreshments and were exceptional. During the break Tonic signed autographs on their cd cover for fans. The Refreshments were great fun! Roger sported a Tequila Patron tee shirt complete with jeans and the infamous converse. Buddy was wearing a button down shirt, jeans and a really slick hat, not to mention the really cool shark on his mic stand. Brian as you can well imagine had on his cowboy hat. I really couldn't see PH's outfit that well, the "POW!" logo was in the way. Well, enough with the fashion critique let's advance to the relavant information. The Refreshments really know how to captivate an audience. Roger made reference to how cold it is in Wisconsin, I'd like to see him here mid January. The band had great facial expressions and seemed to have a fun time entertaining. Roger threw out a few picks here and there. My friend was lucky to be a recipiant of one, however, it is now mine. When they played "Banditos" everyone started singing along, so the band let everyone finish some of the lyrics. The crowd also participated in a vote of picking between three songs with "Interstate" winning out. They played "Down together", "Mekong", a couple new songs, a Tom Petty song, and even a little femmes. I was so impressed with their performance that I even checked into getting flight tickets to Minneapolis for their concert the next day. If you get a chance to check The Refreshments out I strongly suggest you take the opportunity! Looking forward to seeing The Refreshments back here soon!
Jennifer - Lake Geneva, WI
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