Art's Solo Show

The Knitting Factory

We got there really early and we were the second group in line. We still had about an hour and a half until will call opened and we could get our tickets. And then another two hours until doors opened. Suprisingly though, it went by pretty fast. I didn't get really excited until the guard came over and took us to the door where we would go in and head for the front of the stage. It was then that I realized we were going to see Art.

A few minutes later another guard opened the door from the inside and started taking tickets. We were inside in a matter of seconds and standing front and center of the stage. We knew that Art was going to be standing right in front of us.

So the first guy came out, he was the only opener. His name, obviously his stage name, was John Doe. He was pretty good, playing only an acoustic guitar and singing songs written by himself. I thought he was good. It was quite funny how much of a kick he got out of my two younger sisters' hairstyles. I had done their hair in two Princess Lea type buns, and he kept commenting on them throughout the whole show.

After John Doe left the stage, the curtains were not immmediately closed. I hoped to see Art walk onstage and not keep his fans waiting, but the curtains were closed a few minutes later. The crowd kind of moaned but then started talking amongst themselves, and quickly forgot that the curtains were a sign of a long haul until showtime. And we had no idea what a long haul it would be!

What time is it? We all kept asking the girl behind us with the wacth. John Doe left the stage about 10:15pm and it had only been about 15 minutes since then, although it seemed much longer. We waited and waited and waited. And Art sill did not come out. The crowd started getting anxious and a few people yelled out things and started clapping, but nothing seemed to work. It was nearing 11pm now and Atr was still nowhere in sight! Each time the waiting music song ended, we hoped it would be the last. And each time another song started, we asked what time it was.

It was almost exactly eleven-o-clock when the lights in the balcony went a little dimmer than before and the curtains started to open. The fans cheered in excitement and joy that Art was finally coming onstage.

The opening song was Song From An American Movie Pt.1, and he followed up with saying, "All right, enough of that wimpy stuff," and then played Heroin Girl. The first song was beautifully played, the acoustic guitar sounded so great. And you could tell that Art was having a good time and playing real hard because he broke one of the bottom strings during the first or second song. So he took the guitar over to what I think was his tour manager, and grabbed the second guitar that was waiting on a stand for him, towards the back of the stage.

The stage was set with only those two guitar and a small table towards the side which held a tamborine, a maraca, and a shaker thing. And then there was a small red keyboard leaning on a stand next to the table. I don't remeber what the third song was, or what order any of the songs came in, but here's a list of all the songs I can remember him playing:

(In no specific order, although I am going by cd, starting from WON on to GTFABA, but they were not played in this order at all...)

Fire Maple Song

Loser Makes Good

Heroin Girl

Santa Monica

Summerland

Strawberry

Heatrspark Dollarsign

The Twistinside

Pale Green Stars

Everything to Everyone

I Will Buy You a New Life

Father of Mine

Why I Don't Believe In God

Song From An American Movie Pt.1

Here We Go Again

Out of My Depth

Good Witch of The North

Volvo Driving Soccer Mom (new song)

Happy Hour (b-side)

Local God (b-side)

the intros to Night Moves, and Night Train to Memphis (both covers)

So here's what I remeber during a few select songs...

He pulled people up to dance and sing during Volvo Driving Soccer Mom. And of course I wanted to get onstage. So I raised my hand and stayed calm. He saw me and told me that he would pull me up there later. So I nodded in contentment and watched as other fans climbed onstage to sing the newest everclear song. They sang the na na's in Volvo Driving Soccer Mom, and a few of the... but now I'm a Volvo Driving Soccer Mom.

The next song he pulled people onstage for was Father of Mine. Art told me, "No, no, you're too young... I'll get you up here later, I promise." Turns out he was pulling people onstage to dance to what I now refer to when I talk about this show, the Sexy Dancer Song. If you saw a solo show you know what I'm talking about. But if not, Art was telling us how he had been doing this and it was really fun because some people make fools of themselves and it was fun to watch. He needed people to come onstage to dance really sexy while he played Father of Mine.

And he got an interesting crowd... one guy took off his shirt and he was really skinny, and Art talked to him a few times. It was pretty funny. And a few of the girls did some crazy stuff while standing behind Art. It was great because everyone in the audience got to see the look on Art's face while these people were doing crazy stuff. Like Art said, it was very fun to watch.

I remeber getting very emotional and teary eyed during The Twistinside. He did not play Wonderful, which is usually my emotional crying song. lol So I think at the time last night The Twistinside spoke to me and made me realize how lucky iI was to be there and how lucky I was to have his music in my life.

And as I had been told, Art needed someone to come onstage and play the kyboard for Everything to Everyone. Me, me... I want to play the keyboard!! lol Art almost picked me, and as he was going to he said, "Man if you come up her and you're like a deer in the headlights I'm gonna cry. Do you wanna make me cry?" haha I was like, "No, I don't. I won't make you cry, I promise." But some other chick was screaming her head off babling about how she was a piano teacher and all this stuff. She looked so desperate to do it, so Art took her instead. But before he started playing the song he reassured me that we would get me onstage later.

The chick who played the keys actually did pretty good. I was impressed. I was glad she got onstage, she looked really happy. And it was so cute because she kept trying to rock out on this tiny little red keyboard... she looked like she was having an awesome time. :-) So that was fun to watch too.

At the end of the show, Art said, "All right, I need some more people." And he walked over to me and said, "Come on, get up here... and bring all those little girls up here too." He was referring to my two sisters in the Princess Lea buns. So I climbed onstage and pulled up my two sisters, and grabbed my friend's hand to help her up too. She was more excited than I was because she had never been a dancer. So it was me, two of my friends, and my two little sisters, with about ten other fans. We were all crowded aorund the mic singing and dancing to Santa Monica when Art kind of stopped because he messed up the words and he said, "Man I hate this song." The whole crowd laughed and Art just laughed too. He asked this girl what song she wanted to hear, and he ended up playing part of Local God.

It was so cool... I was psyched. I jumped and danced and sang, but eventually stoppped jumping because it's hard to jump to an acoustic Local God. lol After Art played that I think he played a little bit of Why I Don't Believe In God. He only played part of it, and slowly eased back into Santa Monica. So he ended with Santa Monica, as expected, and turned to talk to all of us who were onstage.

I gave him my ticket stub to sign and handed him a letter I had written that day. The last time I met him I dind't talk much, because I was so happy. So this time if the same thing happened, I wanted him to know how much his music meant to me. So that's what the letter was for. I gave him a hug and my sisters and friends did the same. We all walked offstage and stood waiting with the rest of the fans to talk to Art down on the floor.

He was sitting on the edge of the stage with all the fans surrounding him. We didn't have to wait long, because we were right in front. Everyone in my group took pictures with him, and had him sign various things. I didn't have him sign anything else of mine, but asked to take a picture. Of course he did, and I said thank you and left. So I know I didn't say a whole lot, but that thank was for everything, not jusyt for tkaing the picture with me. And plus, I explained in great detail how I felt in my letter that he would probably read later that night.

The show was awesome, and I had a great time. It was very different from an everclear concert, but just as wonderful all the same. The experience was something I will never forget because it was so intimate and so personal. The way he talked to the audience constantly throughout the show was great. And the whole feeling of being so close and so relaxed and so connected, was just an exciting and new experience. I really loved it.

*Pictures Coming Soon*

Pictures from this show are on the way~ I have pictures of Art while he was playing, and pictures of me and Art. So hopefully I'll get around to fixing my scanner soon so that way you guys can see them...