Blame Cracker
The first time I saw Cracker, I was a freshman in college, and had never been to a club concert in my life. I had seen a handful of concerts (Dylan, Tom Petty, Lynyrd Skynyrd, HORDE tour), but they had all been arena/stadium shows. It was 1994, and I had just discovered them. At this point in time most of my musical tastes were pretty mainstream. Classic Rock, and a little bit of country, the Jayhawks and Steve Earle, and a couple alternative bands. Something about Cracker really connected with me. I really liked the strange, dry sense of humor that the band seemed to have, but the songs weren't jokes---they were good. My friend had just purchased "Kerosene Hat" and we listened to it a ton. They were to play at Trax, my hometown rock and roll club, with an up and coming band called the Counting Crows listed as the opener. We went. And it was great. I loved it. It was unlike anything i had ever experienced. Packed into a club, it was sweaty and dirty, and the music was loud, and everyone there was totally into it. And just like that, I was hooked. Hooked on Cracker. Hooked on concerts. Some folks think i've gone insane with my obsession with music. Perhaps it's true. Blame Cracker. I've seen probably 200 shows since then, and over the years I saw too many shows at Trax to even count. I almost cried when they tore it down-- bastards. I've seen Cracker 10 times, and always have fun at their shows. It'd been about 2 years though since i'd seen them though.
Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven were both playing a relief concert on Sunday outside in Richmond. I had been looking forward to it for weeks for several reasons. 1. Because i hadn't seen a show in weeks. 2. A Sunday afternoon concert sounded fun. 3. There was a rumor of a bar nearby that had $3 PBR pitchers, and since the show was early, we would have time to go there afterwards, and 4. Cracker is one of my favorite bands.
CVB was playing an instore at Plan 9 before the show. I figured that'd be fun to catch, as we'd be closer to the stage probably. We got there a couple minutes late, but the band hadn't started playing yet. While browsing for CDs, I looked over, and there right next to me was Johnny Hickman, from Cracker. Very cool. I talked with him for little. And then CVB came out and sounded great. They played about 30 minutes.
We drank a little bourbon and ate a quick lunch and headed down to Shockoe Bottom after that for the actual show. We showed up just in time for CVB to take the stage. It was a little cold outside, but not bad. The concert layout was not the best. Since it was a benefit show, they had roped off the area in front of the stage, and had rows of seats for people who chipped in an extra $15. Not too many people chipped in the extra, so most of the fans were back behind all the rows. CVB was fun though. I always love hearing the CVB version of "Pictures of Matchstick Men" (featuring violin), after hearing Cracker play it for years. I also got to hear "take the skinheads bowling" twice that day, which was awesome. CVB played a number of songs off of their album, and I really liked them. I think i'll have to get that.
After the Cracker set, we went and drank a little more bourbon with my friend Jen who had come to rock out as well. The bourbon warmed us up. We got back to the stage just as Cracker were setting up. We were looking for a good spot to stand when David Lowery got onto the microphone and said he wanted the VIP area to be opened up, and for all the fans to come on in. He thanked the people that chipped in extra $, and told them that they would get free CDs and posters and stuff after the show, but that Cracker wanted to put on a rock show, so they wanted their to be a rock crowd right in front. That was awesome. Coolest moment of the day. Everyone was all excited, and all the fans moved up front and got ready.
Holy Crap. They rocked hard. Very hard. I loved it. The last couple times i've seen Cracker they played their country stuff, and some other stuff. I like that stuff too, but sometimes I'm just in the mood for rock. And lots of it. Sunday was almost all rock. It was awesome. The highlight for me was "Another song about the rain", which I don't think i've ever seen them play live. They played for about an hour, and seemed to be having a great time on stage. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Cheers to David Lowery for letting all the fans come up in the roped off area. That made a big difference.
It was a fun day of music. Afterwards we found the supposed bar with the cheap PBR. The price had gone up: it was now $4 for a pitcher. That was still a good deal, so we got a couple and then headed home.
The end.
Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven were both playing a relief concert on Sunday outside in Richmond. I had been looking forward to it for weeks for several reasons. 1. Because i hadn't seen a show in weeks. 2. A Sunday afternoon concert sounded fun. 3. There was a rumor of a bar nearby that had $3 PBR pitchers, and since the show was early, we would have time to go there afterwards, and 4. Cracker is one of my favorite bands.
CVB was playing an instore at Plan 9 before the show. I figured that'd be fun to catch, as we'd be closer to the stage probably. We got there a couple minutes late, but the band hadn't started playing yet. While browsing for CDs, I looked over, and there right next to me was Johnny Hickman, from Cracker. Very cool. I talked with him for little. And then CVB came out and sounded great. They played about 30 minutes.
We drank a little bourbon and ate a quick lunch and headed down to Shockoe Bottom after that for the actual show. We showed up just in time for CVB to take the stage. It was a little cold outside, but not bad. The concert layout was not the best. Since it was a benefit show, they had roped off the area in front of the stage, and had rows of seats for people who chipped in an extra $15. Not too many people chipped in the extra, so most of the fans were back behind all the rows. CVB was fun though. I always love hearing the CVB version of "Pictures of Matchstick Men" (featuring violin), after hearing Cracker play it for years. I also got to hear "take the skinheads bowling" twice that day, which was awesome. CVB played a number of songs off of their album, and I really liked them. I think i'll have to get that.
After the Cracker set, we went and drank a little more bourbon with my friend Jen who had come to rock out as well. The bourbon warmed us up. We got back to the stage just as Cracker were setting up. We were looking for a good spot to stand when David Lowery got onto the microphone and said he wanted the VIP area to be opened up, and for all the fans to come on in. He thanked the people that chipped in extra $, and told them that they would get free CDs and posters and stuff after the show, but that Cracker wanted to put on a rock show, so they wanted their to be a rock crowd right in front. That was awesome. Coolest moment of the day. Everyone was all excited, and all the fans moved up front and got ready.
Holy Crap. They rocked hard. Very hard. I loved it. The last couple times i've seen Cracker they played their country stuff, and some other stuff. I like that stuff too, but sometimes I'm just in the mood for rock. And lots of it. Sunday was almost all rock. It was awesome. The highlight for me was "Another song about the rain", which I don't think i've ever seen them play live. They played for about an hour, and seemed to be having a great time on stage. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Cheers to David Lowery for letting all the fans come up in the roped off area. That made a big difference.
It was a fun day of music. Afterwards we found the supposed bar with the cheap PBR. The price had gone up: it was now $4 for a pitcher. That was still a good deal, so we got a couple and then headed home.
The end.
posted by Hutch at 8:57 AM
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