Being and Evangenital-ness

Brettsky Reviews The Evangenitals @ Old Towne Pub 2/23/07

Just for the record, I am an Evangenital and always will be.

And so... let me say how weirdly enjoyable it was being in the audience as a civilian Genital. I had wondered for days what would it be like if I could get off work early and catch the show. As it turned out, I managed to catch the full performance and I really enjoyed myself. The running gag in the band, I've been told, is that I'm now referred to as "coach" during rehearsal and that the goal was to make coach proud. Funny thing is, that's not the first time I've been called that (here's hoping it's a term of endearment this time).

The full band (minus me) appeared onstage with part-timers Dave Salardino (mandolin) and Jason Chesney on guitar. Everyone was standing, including Juli and Lisa (w/ guitars) and I must say they all looked great. Juli started up with some jokes and banter about me gettin' fired and opened with the Ween cover "Cold Blows The Wind" followed by "Lisa's Song" and "Never Again". Three interesting choices. My first thought was it seemed overly ambitious given the limits of rehearsal time available to the band pre-show (especially Ween) but I also knew The Girls were eager to revisit a few old chestnuts we hadn't championed in a long awhile. Ultimately, I gave in to the performances, thanks mostly to the fine vocal performances. Next up was, I think, "Quee Queg". This full band version definitely had legs and it was good to hear after all these months (drums!). "Hello" featured some nice guitarwork from Chesney. I missed my own presence most on "Drunk That Way" but when the set segued into "Irene" the band unexpectedly reclaimed what I thought was my own brand of special mountain magick. "Diggin It" was still good times though even sloppier than ever. The second heavyweight moment was "Fuck Em All". The band really finessed that song and I was definitely taking notes. George and Salad get extra points on FEA for the tasty flavors. "Sun Is Shining" (a song that we've always struggled with live) communicated, especially during the verses and managed to muster a healthy dose of applause. Last up was "Gasoline" (surprise!). This song was pretty faithful to the original and still carried plenty of energy. It was the right song to close with.

All in all, it was a good night. The band, of course, still had plenty of charisma and delivered an inspired performance. I had a blast. It was great fun and enlightening to hear the songs shimmy and sway, to hear which licks and ideas stayed and which were either reinterpreted or discarded entirely. In the end, I'm pleased to report that I loved it all and I still missed me very much.