Concert Review: George Clinton And The P-Funk All-Stars @ the Newport Music Hall, Columbus, Ohio (6/30/96)

There are many things I enjoy and appreciate about my time at Bowling Green State University, but one the best was the free stuff. Not tuition, or books, or food; stuff that would been useful. What I'm talking about is entertainment. How did we get free entertainment? Glad you asked.

One way was the campus movie theater, which showed advanced screenings of movies. Basically, you signed up in an office ahead of time, and if you got their early enough, you'd get on the list. When the movie was over, there was usually a comment card to fill out. Over the the years, I saw movies such as Grosse Point Blank, While You Were Sleeping, PCU and a few other this way.

Another way was via the campus radio station I worked at, WFAL AM 680. Working in the music department, we had access to piles of free promo cds, most of which never got played on the air. We also sponsored concerts and other events, so when the Violet Femmes, Wally Pleasant or Ani DiFranco came to campus, we promoted it and got free tickets. We also sponsored movies, like the premier of Trainspotting and an anime festival. But the really good gets were the concert tickets outside Bowling Green.

RIP Shawn Smith

I remember the first time I heard Shawn Smith's voice. Spring 1996, Bowling Green State University during one of my regular shifts at WFAL 680AM. We had a promo cd single for the song "Without Love." It was either in regular rotation, or in our recent released "Currents" stack, from which we had discretion to play a few times an hour.

It didn't slap me upside the head immediately, it was more, hmmm this is different, I like this. It was urgent and soulful, and several years into the alternative explosion of the 90s, grunge, etc., I was diving into other sounds than just heavy guitar rock. First it was the alternative country of Wilco, Son Volt, Uncle Tupelo and The Jayhawks. Around that time, I discovered and devoured albums by Cibo Matto, Hum, Soul Coughing, The Tragically Hip, Poe, Guided By Voices, Tricky and others thanks to our fearless music director Matt Shiverdecker.

During the summer the album The Family was released, which I picked it up at either Finder's or Madhatters in BG. I wasn't aware A) this was the second album or B) that lead singer Shawn Smith was also in several bands at the same time. Turned out that my friends Keith and Jason we're already ahead of the curve on Shawn Smith, and fans of the first Satchel album EDC, as well the debut album Shame with his other band Brad, which featured Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam.

Concert Review: Wally Pleasant @ Founders Hall, BGSU, Bowling Green, Ohio (Fall 1994)

I have evidence I went to this show, as you can see there is an autographed Wally Pleasant ‘Houses of the Holy Moly’ cd, even if I can't remember when it happened.

My best guess is sometime in 1994 or 1995, as I was living in Founders Hall at the time, and the concert took place in the expansion area of the cafeteria, the same place I would play two rock shows, one with 10Watt my final year of college in 1998, and a year later with The Stepford Five, our first show ever.

Apparently, Wally is still doing his thing has he’s got a website with current tour dates and lots of albums I never heard. I went back and listened to this album not too long ago, and I’m not going to claim it still holds up, but there were some enjoyable moments in the vein of They Might Be Giants or Ween, two bands I do no claim to be a fan of. Yet, certain tracks still charm me.

I’m fairly certain our radio station, WFAL, had a hand in bringing Wally to BGSU, which is probably why I was even at the concert and ended up buying a cd. Maybe we’ll have him on Dig Me Out someday.

(Update: After some back and forth with Wally himself and some fans on Facebook in 2017, we narrowed it down to Fall of 1994, so while not the exact date, almost there)

Concert Review: Wilco @ the Majestic Theatre, Detroit, MI (2/21/97)

I actually wrote up a whole article for this show back in college, which you can read online somewhere (I'll link it, I swear). By far, this was one of the most fun rock shows I’ve ever been too.

What wasn’t included in the story was what happened after the concert, when I whipped out my WFAL College Radio business card and secured a private meet and greet for myself and the friends who had come along. First we talked with bassist John Stirratt and guitarist Jay Bennett, who told us he had designed the concert tees we had bought. They signed memorabilia, and then Jeff Tweedy joined us for a brief few minutes to say howdy, at which point I mentioned how the station was playing the crap out of Wilco and really supportive of the band, which was appreciated by Jeff, John and Jay, though they clearly wanted to get back to their bus and relax.

SETLIST
Misunderstood
Far, Far Away
Forget The Flowers
That’s Not The Issue
Someday Soon
New Madrid
Red-Eyed and Blue
I Got You (At The End of The Century)
Someone Else’s Song
Why Would You Wanna Live
I Must Be High
Passenger Side
Hotel Arizona
Monday
Kingpin
Outtasite (Outta Mind)
Encore:
Box Full of Letters
Casino Queen
We’ve Been Had
Encore 2:
Gun
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?