JEB in VT

["O'Neal, Kevin W." <Kevin.ONeal@vtmednet.org>]

Oh my.  
NY, hold on to your hat!
JEB hit's Vermont, and hits it hard.
It's still the talk of the day on the radio.

My sincere apologies to the woman on O&S who posted the very negative review
of JEB in AC.  If the crowed was lame, that sucks.  If the you didn't like
the sound, either it was the venue, or you must have been expecting
something else.
JEB was amazing last night.
I've never seen my wife more psyched about a show.
She, along with all the rest of us, were blown away.

Our adventure began with a Who-huddle at my house.  The minutes will reflect
that my wife Tania, Jeff House, Bjorn, and Bjorn's ride and fellow Who Nut
from VA, Christian were all in attendance.
What a perfect day in VT.  Not a cloud to be found.
Talked Who, drank beer, sat on the deck, and then made our way to the venue
for Matinee Madness.
The following is something I never dreamed I'd be able to say:

I stood 5ft in front of John, while he played and sang Heaven and Hell.

I had to be pinched to verify it was real.
It was abso-fucking-lutely amazing.
His fingers just thundered all over the frett board, complete with frett
marking lights that looked like airport runway landing lights!

Who ever keeps saying that John can't sing in key, it dead wrong.
We all listened to him hit every note of H 'n' H with out missing a one.
And the band was playing LOUD even at the "matinee".
He sings great.

Christian from our very own tribe grasped the opportunity to sing Real Me
with the band.  
The bastard.  He has about 10 digital photos of him and John in the same
frame, side by side, doing Real Me.  To his own surprise, he didn't miss a
word.  The whole room was psyched and already rowdy.  Hell, who wouldn't be
after this intimate and personal show of Sparks, H 'n H, Love is a Heart
Attack (very rowdy song!), Real Me, and others I'm sure I'm forgetting.
Then, it's time to meet................The Man.
Get in line.
Get there.
Shake his hand, introduce yourself. (swwweeet!)
Get his autograph on your favorite photo (solo shot of John at Camden).
Get a picture with him.
Thank him and bow as you back away showing him the level of respect that
John deserves.

That was cool.

Off for a mini-tour of Burlington, and then back to the venue for the real
deal.

John is an absolutely amazing bassist.  It's a wonder to just stand and
watch his fingers do-the-walking as he plows through songs like Sparks into
YMB (I was in another world), My Wife, Trick of the Light, Boris with a
twist, Success Story (to name a few).

No sign of Cousin Kevin.
We did our best to gently encourage them to do it.
I had Bjorn get John's attention with a napkin with "Cousin Kevin ?" written
on it.  John looked down, bent down for a closer look, stood back up with a
big smile, and then an amused snicker, and then gave the "Cousin Kevin sign"
the dreaded "two-handed crossed-fingers", like saying "back, back I say".
We knew the answer.  It didn't matter.

The band *was* loud, by definition, but nothing that I hadn't heard before.
I thought the sound was great, the singing was great, the mix was great.
They *were* loud.  I write "were", because they really were, but also
because about half way through the set, John gets an evil look on his face,
(perhaps due to being fed up with the buzz coming from his rig that no one
could get rid of), and turns the volume up *considerably*. 
This was not subtle.
He just kicked the whole event into a different atmosphere.  The Wall of
Sound was crashing over us.  Heaven.
Even at this volume, the sound was great.  The vocals took a bit of a back
seat to be sure, but they weren't necessary to get to where we were going.
The "wow factor" was kicking in, *BIG* time.  Things were starting to get
blurred, as the band kicked into warp speed.  We all held on for the ride.
All this from 3 feet away, on a clear stary night, in a small cozy night
club in Vermont.
Was that a Moose out back hanging out??????????

I have to say, I'm as proud as can be regarding the size of the crowd (about
300), but more importantly, the energy we gave the band back.  People
dancing, head banging (yours truly included), pogo-ing, yelling, waving
their arms.  I think the band was *really* surprised and psyched by the
response.  They said as much multiple times.  At one point after Steve
Luongo was again thanking the crowd, he began to chant "VERMONT", while
holding his drum sticks (one of which Christian wrangled.  Bastard) in a "V"
position, ala Keith Moon with the Peace sign.  Every time Steve yelled
"VERMONT", the crowd returned the yell.
It was a lot of fun.

It's now 2pm the next day.  That "cotton in my ears" feeling is subsiding.
I've got the day off to recover from the deep into the night partying and
discussions.  3am was seen by *most* (nite, nite Christian, it's been a big
day for you :)
Jeff is driving back to Boston now, probably still wearing that big post-JEB
grin.
Christian is now also in his car.
And I've placed Bjorn safely in the custody of Jet Blue Air Lines this
morning, to be delivered unharmed to Majic in NY.
To say we all had a blast is an understatement.

Lifehouse is alive and well.
A recovering Kevin in a recovering VT

"VERMONT, VERMONT, VERMONT"  Steve Luongo 6/7/01