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The JEB In Orangevale And Reno




I had the good fortune of attending two John Entwistle Band gigs this weekend
and wanted to offer a few great moments that were had at the concerts and
at the
Matinee Madness before the two shows.  I'll try and do this again in somewhat
chron-illogical order:)

This past Friday 10/31 JEB played Orangevale, a suburb of Sacramento.  Matinee
Madness is a time before the actual concert where fans are allowed to view the
set up of the equipment (sound check) which is followed by a meet and greet 
where auto and photo graphs may be given by the band.

First off, we have a fan who is currently in the hospital recouping from
elective surgery who's name I will not mention.  I was not able to select a 
single get-well card for the band to sign but was able to boil down a
selection
of three cards.  With those cards in hand and after the set up of the
equipment
I found John free and in hopes that he would be willing to sign a card told
him
of the circumstances of our friend.  He immediately took interest and told me
to follow him, that these would be the first things he would like to sign.
Once he found his coffee at the end of the bar he selected a card.  At this
time
he further enquired with sincere interest as to what the physical nature was
of the surgery.  After signing one card and passing it on for signatures from
the rest of the band decided to select yet another card and signed that and
passed it along too!  All four taking great interest to express there good
will was truly a splendid and fun thing to view.  These guys are very
approachable and interested in there fan base which makes me even more
happy to
be the FANatic that I am of them.

When much of the meet and greet was over I had the chance to have a nice
little
chat with drummer and I think it's safe to say 'co-producer' of The JEB
Steve Luongo.
One of the things I brought up was how frustrating it is for us fans to not
have any JEB
music to play at home, that some of us were suffering along with whatever
boots 
might rear there little heads and that we new that there were problems that
The JEB
was having with there record company releasing there new CD 'Van Pires'.
Well Steve
looked at me and said 'follow me, I'm about to make your day'.  Steve took
me into
there bus and allowed me to hear a tape of the final cut of the CD!  Wow
folks,
this thing is damned good!  From just off a tape and not the greatest sound
system I
could tell that the audio quality was very well produced.  There is great
diversity
between the songs in that each cut sounds very different from one another,
all good rockers,
but yet there is a very unifying theme that bundles it all together.  Man
if the public
were to hear this thing knowing that the record company was holding back on
it's release,
I would be afraid for said music company's well being.  This is some of the
best if not
THE best music that features John outside of The Who.

The band is performing very well these days.  I also saw them last February
and again in
July or August when they played Slim's in S.F..  Every time I hear them
they're more tight,
there guitarist Godfrey Townsend (no H and no relation) is more integrated
now with the
overall sound and John and Steve are playing with more cohesion than ever.
John is absolutely
amazing to see up close and Steve is one hell of a drummer!  

Anyway, I gotta tell you about these cards.  I took them to the hospital
Sunday morning before
heading up to Reno and our friend was still in ICU (but thank god making a
remarkable recovery).
Still with tubes and junk in her I said, 'John and the band didn't sign a
card', and she said
that's okay, I understand' then I said 'they signed two'and gave them to
her!  It was really something
to see her eyes just get wider and stuff.  Definitely took days off of the
convalescence:)

After which, went mobile and got up to Reno in time once again for MM.  I
did tell the band the reaction
I got when I delivered the cards.  Suffice to say they were very please
with themselves and as well they
should.  After the sound check and after people got there signatures I had
a very nice talk with Godfrey.
He told me how much of a Who fan he has been, about meeting The Who and
finally what it was like to be
working for John.  Now certainly no promises but I believe this leg of the
tour will be winding down by
11/15 and given a couple of days for Godfrey to catch up on the laundry and
stuff he did express an
interest in perhaps being in a chat room with us where he can answer
questions and impart information
that he is allowed to.  Keep you fingers crossed and keep an eye out for an
announcement on the list.

Once again a very tight set was delivered but to only about 50 to 75
people.  I had a table about
15 feet from John where it was a real deal to relax with a drink and just
watch the man do his thing.
It is just amazing to watch this guy up close.  All ten digits are just
flying along those strings!

Now listen up, if some of you are hemming and hawing on going just get
yourself up and go.  They 
really are tight and it's a lot of fun to say hi to them all.  They can be
a bit hard to find so
keep checking John's web-site REGULARLY as dates come and go within a few
days.  And whatever you
do don't forget to bring something to sign and EARPLUGS!

Beau (and loving it!) McCrury