Entwistle in Boston....

[John Brawley <brawley@cbl.cees.edu>]

Wow.  What can I say....great fucking show!  John and the band sounded 
much, much better than at the Tramps party.  Even though they have 
improved the sound tremendously, I think they still would like to refine 
it a bit more; at times Godfrey couldn't really be heard, but then again 
we went to hear John, and did.

I don't have the set list on me right now (someone else please post it?) 
but it was similar to the last few gigs.  The highlights for me were 
"You", "Success Story", "Quiet One", and especially the encoure of 
"Summertime Blues" and "Shakin' All Over".  "Shakin'..." was particularly 
excellent as John really got into the groove.  He went out on a long solo 
which displayed his mastery of the bass.  Steve, Godfrey, and Alan were 
also visibly excited during the encoure performance.  Really great.

The warmup act, despite the strange rumors, was Joni's Butterfly.  These 
guys reminded me a bit of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, young and full of 
energy.  They are an excellent band but unfortunately get overshadowed by 
the eagerness of seeing Entwistle & Co.  One could sense the mood of 
"OK...OK...you guys are really good, but when is John Entwistle coming 
on?!?"...which, of course, is to be expected.

I managed to get a "guest" pass for after the show...which was really 
cool.  There were about 7 or 8 of us who were told to wait in an empty 
section of the upstairs club.  After a few minutes John was escorted out 
by a staff member for a quick round of handshakes, autographs, and 
praise.  He seemed a little rushed, they were leaving town the same 
night.  I gave him a fossil sharks tooth (which I had found while living 
on Chesapeake Bay....7 to 14 million years old, really) as a small gift 
which he joked around with for a little while; pretended it was from his 
own jaw...etc.  Anyway, prior to being swept downstairs by security I was 
lucky enough to be invited into the band room...alone.  "Wow!", I thought 
to myself....here I was with the band, alone.  I got to talk with John 
for a bit; actually, he was telling jokes and revealing anecdotes about 
he and Keith....he seemed quite happy.  Almost as happy as me.  They 
finally left the venue for the trip south....I almost considered joining 
them :).  What a night.  There is more to the story but I got very little 
sleep last night and with the complimentary hang-over I cannot think as 
clearly as I would like.  Just the bottom line:  see them if you can!

John