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At the Ellicot Theater CD Release Party , March 1997 (JCST).
In some ways this was a very different performance than the others i've attended. Like the January ET performance, it was being filmed (Caroll County cable), and the band seemed very concious of it, even cutting the first set short to confer with the TV crew. The stage was still set as a castle from a play running at the theater. This restricted the band's movement, but contributed to the Celtic atmosphere, and this was very much a St. Patty's Day show.
The opener was the new arrangement of "Please the Ploughboy", and the other tunes from the new EP were naturally featured throughout the evening as well. Before they piled into "Finnegan's Wake" Don mentioned that the Salisbury show was done without mikes, and their voices were suffering. That didn't stop them from giving it their best. The angled surfaces of the stage flats may have changed the ET accoustics as well, since unlike the October and January ET performances, the drums didn't overwhelm the vocals.
Most of the audience didn't seem to be getting into the the music as much as at previous performances: i never saw more than a half dozen people dancing during even the liveliest numbers, and clapping and stomping in time to the tunes was fitful. Unlike previous times no shakers or didjs were passed around, whether in deference to the TV cameras or due to exaustion of supply i'm not sure.
Ted Watkin did have a new set of juggling shakers in the shape of fruit (one each orange, lemon, and lime), and demonstrated several new moves. Tim used several new didjs, including the black monster which debuted at the Salisbury release gig. Don showed the wisdom of having two "Funky Divas" when he broke the string on his primary. He nonchalantly swapped in the backup and was whanging away within seconds.
During the encore Tim called Ben Griffith up to didj, and Ted Porter called Neil Gladd to strum. After a call for closet didj players, i also went up with my PVC didj and nearly hyperventilated trying to keep blowing through the didj jam and "Two in the Bush".
© 1997 Bob Savage, all rights reserved. Send comments or questions to Jon Stewart-Taylor Last modified: Thu Feb 5 11:58:43 EST 1998