"Are we meeting the President?" I had to wonder as women were ushered to the left and men to the right before the entrance to the Jars of Clay at UCI on the night of November 16th, 1996. This place was crawling with security! You weren't allowed to have cameras, and everyone got patted down before they entered. Although, from the amount of flashes that went off during the show, it's obvious that cameras got in somehow. Inside and outside were massive gatherings of college students just hanging out, and when we got to our seats, there was music blasting out of the speakers up front. My best friend and I looked toward the sound booth to see that Steve Mason of Jars was beginning to take over the choice of music. Starting with the theme from James Bond, he proved to be the best DJ of the eveninjg, despite the fact that he was singing into a blow pop along with a song done by women.
When the lights darkened and the first band came out, I must admit, I was a little scared! The band's name was Matchbox 20, and even though they did have some talent, the guys themselves were rude and very strange...shortly after their set (during which we were blessed with a few choice by the lead singer), a band called the Gufs took the stage, and began to rock the house, with their blend of great percussion, catchy riffs, and emotion, they were very impressive. The lead singer took an oppurtunity to thank the crowd for pretending we knew who they were. After their set was over, the lights came back on along with the music (Steve OBVIOUSLY was not selecting the music this time...it was some crummy jazz mix). It took the roadies a very long time to completely clear the stage of the other bands' instruments, and lay out some Middle Eastern rugs, which were the only props used.
For this tour, Jars (consisting of lead vocalist/lyricist Dan Haseltine, guitarist/BGV's Stephen Mason, guitarist/BGV's Matt Odmark, and keyboardist/BGV's Charlie Lowell) brought along a drummer, Scott Savage; a bassist, Aaron Sands; and a violinist, Roddy Chiong. As the lights darkened, the crowd went silent, listening to the violinist on the empty stage play something unrecognizable...until his tune slowly transformed into the introduction of "Liquid" - and the crowd burst into shouts, applause, and various other cat calls. Almost one by one the band took the still darkened stage, and all at once it erupted into "Liquid", and the crowd went wild.After "Liquid" came "Like a Child" and "Boy on a String", each with a clever violin transition. The crowd clapped in time with each song, even though many there didn't know them. The band looked like they were having fun, especially Dan, who at one point grabbed a tambourine and started spinning around with it like he was an airplane or something, I guess. He used the tambourine often, but never for long, since it was always promptly dropped mid flight when he decided that he wanted to sing with his hands at the mike, or anything else. The tambourine would simply BANG! to the floor and roll away somewhere. I'm not quite sure how he ever found it again so quickly, but he seemed to enjoy having it when he wanted it. After those few songs, the stools were brought out for an acoustic set, at which point Dan began talking about how this past summer he had spent some time with his grandparents for their 50th anniversary, and how that renewed his faith that true, forever love does still exist in the 90's, seeing his grandparents still so in love. This was the introduction to a song I now know to be titled "Fly Farther" which is to be on their new album, slated to be released in April or May. The song's melody and harmony was hauntingly beautiful, and the song was about a man's love for his wife, even after 50 years when she's dead. That is a very unexpected turn in the song, since he'd just been talking about his grandparents. The song is inspiring but also sob-inducing (it has some great twists in the "story") and when the last note had been rung, there was silence for a brief moment before the crowd erupted into applause. I think everyone was sitting there thinking, "Why'd ya have to KILL her, man???? *sniff*" The next few songs were songs off of their album, including "He", which was introduced as a song he wrote about a book he read in High School, titled "Death by Child Abuse: The story of Ursula Sunshine." and I believe that they also did "Sinking", a song about addictions, during the acoustic set. Next they performed, "Blind", which is a slow song, and the first time through, it was the same as the album, but the second time through, it became nearly as rocked up as Flood! I'm not sure how they did it, but I loved it! Steve now plays an electric on some songs at live shows, and he has a gold glittery Les Paul. I want that guitar. The electric sounds great live, and it doesn't sound out of place at all.
After a kicking version of "Rose Colored Stained Glass Windows", a very cool cover of an Ozzy Osbourne song, "Crazy Train", they performed two more new songs, being "Fade to Grey" and "Blame". "Worlds Apart" they did great live, and I can't remember what was the closing song, but when they came out for an encore they sang "Love Song for a Saviour", with audience participation on the chorus, and then a ripping version of "Four Seven" that blew me away, and they got some sudience participation with some nanana's that they added to the end. The crowd goes wild.
After the show, the band comes out and does a signing, where they talk to the fans, sign things, and occasionally take pictures. I wondered if there was a fire when a whole ton of girls started screaming, but I was relieved to notice that it was only Dan. I got an opportunity to talk to all of the guys for a little while, and it's wonderful that their heart is really in their ministry, it's obvious to see. Steve explained how he has to spend hours a day stringing and tuning all of their guitars (they have to have about three apiece up there because of songs in different tunings) because their guitar guy isn't with them anymore. Wish I had a guitar guy. I can't tune mine worth didly. Overall, the concert was fantastic. On the way home, it was a challenge finding a restaurant open at about 12:30 AM, but eventually we found a Denny's where I enjoyed a very strange combination of hot chocolate and a BLT. Now, I judge the timeline of events in my life by BC (before concert) and AD (after Denny's). :)