Posts: 21 |
wee Posted Mon 20 Apr, 2009 7:22 PM |
Travis is my favorite band and I've seen them at least 15 times over the last 10 years. I saw them the evening before, as well at the Fine Line in Minneapolis and it was an awesome show! This show in Chicago, however was completely opposite of the Mpls show. It wasn't bad - it was just different. I've never seen a show of Travis' that didn't have that warm, personable Fran leading the way and setting the overall tone. This was definitely an angry (or frustrated!) Fran show. And angry and Travis makes for a strange and unexpected show vibe.
It started a few songs into the set when Fran stopped the song and apologized while saying he couldn't continue because he kept getting shocks on his mouth through his mic and that his mouth was totally sore. He said it had been happening since sound check and pleaded with someone to fix the problem. However, no one seemed to be doing anything that we could see to help and finally Andy gave Fran his foam mic cover thing. But I don't think it really fixed the problem and you could just tell that Fran was frustrated throughout the entirety of the gig. At every hand off to his guitar tech between songs there seemed to be an angry exchange. I felt bad for Fran because he was clearly not enjoying himself and it made me nervous watching! So, because of this mood Fran didn't do any of his normal interactions with the crowd. There were no intimate stories between songs, no walking out into the audience on Falling Down, no sing along or pogoing to WDIAROM, no interactions between Fran and the rest of the band and no Flowers in the Window at the end. But there was a new element of Fran's frustration definitely being expressed in all the great screams and yells during his vocals. You could feel his emotions coming out through his performance.
It was a strange vibe and it seemed like they were having a lot of technical issues throughout as the crew were on stage as much as the band! And then there was the juxtaposition of the marriage proposal in the middle of this tense performance. It just felt like it definitely wasn't the positive, happy, normal Travis feeling that a marriage proposal would typically fit right into - nope, not that night.
So, like I said it wasn't a bad show - just a totally different side of a Travis performance that I've personally never experienced at one of their gigs. If I had never seen Travis live before I probably wouldn't have thought anything was wrong or maybe I'm reading too much into it all but it definitely felt off to me. And I'm even more grateful that I got to experience the amazing show the night before in Minneapolis so I could still get my "normal" live Travis fix!!!
Fran - sorry, everything seemed to be going wrong for you that night and I hope your next show makes you happy! And thanks for the photo the evening before as you listened to my friend and me freaking out about our car being towed during the show. Can't wait to see you again! You're the best. |
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Posts: 7598 |
weirdmom Posted Mon 20 Apr, 2009 7:43 PM |
I missed the interaction with the crowd and it made me realize how much that adds but I have a huge amount of respect for Fran soldiering on. Think about how many singers would have stormed off the stage and refused to finish the set.
Through all his pain and frustration he was still determined to give us a good show and I have nothing but gratitude for that.
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Posts: 2076 |
Meridith Posted Mon 20 Apr, 2009 9:12 PM |
weirdmom wrote: I missed the interaction with the crowd and it made me realize how much that adds but I have a huge amount of respect for Fran soldiering on. Think about how many singers would have stormed off the stage and refused to finish the set.
Through all his pain and frustration he was still determined to give us a good show and I have nothing but gratitude for that.
Ditto on that! Lots of respect and gratitude. Thanks Fran for hanging in there for all of us! |
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Posts: 5 |
clatter Posted Mon 20 Apr, 2009 10:21 PM |
| Well put, wee. The fact that they still put on a great show is a testament to their professionalism and devotion to their fans. There was definitely a weird vibe that night in the crowd, which couldn't have helped. |
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