It still feels like I woke up from a dream! It was absolutely mesmerizing to finally see them perform live! I hope you'll indulge me a little as this post will be rather long.

Last night I went to see The Church perform at the Tralf music hall in Buffalo, NY with my brother, David, whom I only recently converted. There were a lot of parking places when we arrived about half an hour before the show, which was both a good and bad thing, because I worried the show might be poorly attended. However, upon going inside, I saw that I was wrong, as there were quite a few people there already. The Tralf is a really nice venue, and there really isn't a bad seat in the house! We got a table in about the middle, on the first rise of the floor. I went over to the merchandise table early on and bought a nice t-shirt of recent album covers, as well as the "Tin Mine" compilation, which I have been wanting to get forever! They also had free posters, so I took 2. Also free were SK's poetry card, "Eden", which I already have a signed copy of that I got years ago at Karmic Hit. I thought about taking another, since they were free, but decided to let those who don't have one already have a chance. Being optimistic, I had brought with my copy of "untitled #23" and a Sharpie, as well as my digital camera. Anyway, the opening act, Adam Franklin and Bolts of Melody, came on promptly at 8pm. I had never heard anything by them before, and they were quite good! Some of the music had a very Church-ish flavor to it, with a lot of atmospheric guitar sound - my brother even commented that they reminded him of Spawn (who were a Buffalo band we really liked years ago, who also had a very Church-ish sound, who sadly have long since broken up). Their set went for an hour, and they closed with a sublime instrumental, after which each band member left the stage one by one. Anyway, for the next half hour, the stage was being set up for The Church. Tiare Helberg was one of the stage hands, and I recognized her immediately. I saw Marty come from back stage, over to the merchandise table to talk with the guys back there. I thought about getting up to see him, but decided maybe I shouldn't bother him while he's getting ready for the show. He went backstage again shortly. My brother and I were joined by a couple Canadian Church fans, who arrived near the end of Adam Franklin's set, so we talked with them a little. Actually, quite a few more people arrived before The Church's set. Finally, just after 9:30, the lights went down, and they came onstage, opening with a very rocking "Tantalized", then going into "Block". (Before I continue, please note I tried to remember the order of the tracklist, but with my short term memory, I'm sorry I just can't. I do remember all the songs they played, though, and what they ended with.) They went on to perform "Happenstance" and "Pangaea" - Steve introduced them by saying that they have a new album called... and then acted like he couldn't remember the title, before finally saying "Untiled #23"! "Happenstance" was the only song they performed where Marty sang any lead parts. SK said that "Pangaea" was about when the earth was one continent, and everyone lived in harmony, with little blue birds flying around everywhere - a long, long time ago! They performed a stunningly awesome rendition of "You Took". I mean, they really gave that song a workout! I have to say, the guys are masters of their craft onstage! It was just such an amazing rendition, and I've been listening to "Blurred Crusade" a lot lately, so I thought it was great they performed songs from it. They actually played "Almost With You" a few songs before "You Took", and Steve said was from their second album in 1982, which "was never released here because it wasn't fucking good enough". I thought this more electric rendition of it was impressive. "After Everything" was also played, which, given it's personal significance to me, meant a lot. When they played "Deadman's Hand", Steve said that it was a reference to Billy the Kid - I wasn't aware of that, so it was cool to find out. He said a joke that Billy the Kid had 3 ears - right ear, left ear, and front ear. I didn't get it right away. I was really surprised when they played "A Month of Sundays". They also played "Under the Milky Way", "Day 5", and "Operetta" through the course of the evening. A lot of the songs they really extended, which I thought was great! The guitar mastery throughout was just exceptional, as was Tim's drumming! I noticed that Marty was quite the showman on guitar, while Peter acted more cool and calm, performing the more atmospheric parts to complement Marty's rocking out. Of course, they changed instruments occasionally, with Marty sometimes on bass, and all 3 of them at some point with an acoustic guitar. Tim was the only one who didn't switch out. They really loved the audience, too. Steve kept telling us what a great audience we were. People shouted things like "Thank you for coming to Buffalo!" to which Steve would reply, "Thank you. That means a lot to us". At one point, some guy shouted "We'll take you guys over U2 any day!" to which Steve added "We're also a lot taller than they are". Also, occasionally people were shouting out song titles, and Steve simply said, "If you shout it, we're not going to play it because we're contrary bastards". (That being said, they did play UTMW, which someone shouted early on). He was really great with his audience rapport. He did introduce the band members before the first encore - their guest keyboardist was also Adam Franklin's bassist. I know for the first encore they did "An Interlude" (another surprise), and "Reptile". I'm pretty sure one of the songs I mentioned earlier was also in the first encore (I should have written down the songs as they played them). The second encore, Peter got behind the drums, and Steve kept asking him things like "Can you do we're ready to rock?" and "Can you do honky-tonk rhythm?" and Peter did each one quite well (I think there were 4 or 5) until Tim came out and Steve was like "Uh-oh" and Peter returned to his guitar duties. Anyway, Steve introduced the next song, citing they hadn't played it in years, so if they mess it up, to please forgive them. It was "Buffalo" - I knew they had to play it at some point! Well, if they really haven't played it in so long, I wouldn't have noticed. they did a great job with it! They followed with a very psychedelic "Hotel Womb" and ended the show with "Space Saviour". (Whew, I think I got all the songs listed!) But what a fantastic show! Steve was so animated onstage, and the whole band really seemed to be enjoying themselves, having a really good time! So after the show, I went over to the merch table once more, thinking about buying one more shirt. All of a sudden, Steve walks up to the side of the table and says, "Okay, give me something to sign". As there were 2 or 3 people ahead of me, I ran back to my table to get one of the posters and "Untitled #23". I got right back over, and saw that the guy in front of me also allowed Steve to have his picture taken with him! As if on cue, my brother grabbed my camera from my jacket pocket and ran over. My turn came and I gave Steve the poster and CD to sign (and my Sharpie). I thanked him for coming to Buffalo, and told him that I own one of his paintings. He asked, "Which one?" and I told him "Skeptic Glance". He said, "That's an old one". I replied, "Yeah, it was from when you first started". He handed me the CD and poster and I asked if he'd be willing to take a picture with me. He put his arm right around my shoulder and my brother snapped the photo! I then shook his hand and said what a great show they put on and thanked him again. My brother also told him how much he enjoyed the show. As we walked back over to the table my brother says "Wow, you're really shaking." I was like "I am?" and realized I was! God, I hope I wasn't shaking that bad when I was talking to Steve! I have to say, though, he was very gracious and seemed very appreciative of the adulation. I think I was shaking more because here was the lead singer of my favorite band for 17 years, and there's so much more I would have loved to tell him about how much his music has meant to me over all these years, but I didn't want to come across as an overbearing fan. I had to at least tell him I have one of his paintings, though. So, I thought it was cool I at least got to meet Steve and he signed my poster and CD, as well as had his photo taken with me. Then I saw Marty onstage, putting away equipment with Tiare, and a few people were gathered, so I headed over there next. He was just talking with some of the guys down there, very pleasant and cordial. I let one guy borrow my Sharpie so Marty could sign his poster, but then I didn't see where he put it, so when it was my turn, I had to borrow someone's and it wasn't as good as mine - even Marty commented "This is a horrible Sharpie". But then he caught me off guard, asking me "So what's the last progressive rock album you bought?" I was speechless, because I honestly don't have a lot of progressive rock (I wonder of Autumn's Grey Solace could be considered prog rock?) but not knowing what to say, I replied "Probably your's". He just laughed, and I thanked him for coming out this way. He thanked me for coming to the show. I saw my Sharpie on a table, and grabbed it. Then I saw Peter come out from backstage, and he headed over to a corner where he sat down with his laptop and headphones. I wasn't sure if I should bother him, but my brother said he probably wouldn't mind. So, I walked up to him and asked him if he'd sign the poster. He graciously obliged, and we let him know what a great show they put on, and he thanked us for coming. Finally, Tim came out from backstage, and I asked him to sign it, and he also did! He actually engaged us in converstaion a little, asking if we were from the area. I told him I'm from the southtowns, but my brother lives in Buffalo. He commented on how quiet downtown Buffalo is, and we agreed (because it is! - At one point during the show, Steve said the same thing, citing sarcastically that he went outside his hotel to smoke a joint and thought, "Gee, I hope I don't get caught"). My brother asked him if they'd be going to Toronto and he said "Not this time". Then we thanked him for coming to Buffalo, and told him what a great show. He thanked us for coming, as well. After that we left.

I'm still mesmerized by the whole thing! I still can't believe, after 17 years, I finally had the opportunity to see my favorite band ever live, and get to meet all of them on top of it! I'm glad I got all of them to sign the poster - I didn't want to be overbearing and have all of them sign the CD, too - especially since I didn't want to bother Peter for long. As for the photo of me and SK, it came out good, but in all the excitement, I left my camera case in my brother's car, which has the cable to hook it to the computer! So, I'll have to wait until he comes on Sunday to upload the pictures to my computer - I also took a couple of the whole band on stage, but they didn't come out as good. I will post the photos as soon as I can.

Anyway, I'm eternally grateful to Steve, Marty, Peter, and Tim for coming to the Buffalo area to perform! This was the best (pre) birthday present I've ever gotten! image

"Where oblivion is beckoning, where Leviathan is reckoning."