COLUMNS SEHEMBER 26. 1995 Pi^e 3
MY FIRST TRIP TO MARRZ: BETTER
BETTER THAN EZRA
Marrz
Raleigh, Sept. 14
by Talena Chavis
This was my first time inside of the
Marrz. It was also my first time seeing
the Louisiana based group whose album,
Deluxe, I had recendy acquired. My friend,
Kym, and I had bought our tickets in ad
vance so it was a short trip through the line.
Twin green "x"s on our hands and we were
in.
The Marrz is impressive with a ware
house sized dance floor and psychedelic
paintings that pick up the glow from the
black lights that illuminate most of the club
interior. It seems that the only improve
ment to the Marrz could be the addition of
some levels to dance on. After surveying
the place, Kym and I stationed ourselves
near the stage in preparation for the open
ing acts.
The first act was Queen Sarah Satur
day, a group I had seen before with Toad
the Wet Sprocket. I couldn't really remem
ber much about them and once they started
their set I realized why. They sucked.
Conjure up an image of some poorly
thrown together garage band and you've got
Queen Sarah Saturday. They should have
stayed in the garage.
The second act. The Dambuilders, from
Louisiana, were much better. Despite their
lackluster name the band itself was excel
lent Every song was energetic and really
got the audience pumpin'. Fd have to say,
however, that the highlight wasn't the lead
singer but the violinist who sang back up.
She had an awesome streak of white
dreadlocks set against black hair and her
voice and violin together created full-
throated tunes that were at once fierce and
THAN EZRA
unique.
Finally the members of Better Than
Ezra came onstage. Better Than Ezra be
gan their set with "Summerhouse," one of
the lesser known, but highly commendable
songs from Deluxe.
The members of the band include Cary
CoMWt Revieu)
Bonnecaze on drums and back up vocals,
Tom Drummond on bass and Kevin Grif
fin on guitar and lead vocals. I am happy
to report that Griffin looks as good in per
son as he does on the MTV videos. But he
does look a bit different now that he's dyed
his hair black.
The second song was "In the Blood,"
one of the more popular tracks off Deluxe.
The next song was "Cry in the Sun," which
mentions Carolina. The song discusses the
belief that when it's sunny and raining that
that's "when the devil beats his wife." I
happen to think it's the other way around.
Then BTE tried to cover a Connells song.
I say tried because midway into the open
ing of the song Griffin stopped singing be
cause he forgot the lyrics. He quickly re
deemed himself by launching into one of
our favorites, "Rosealia," a song talking
about a Mexican girl who's in an abusive
relationship. BTE also did "The Killer In
side" during which the violinist from The
Dambuilders came out to play. Next was
"Teenager," a song that sounds a lot less
cheesy live. The next song was "This Time
of Year." Griffin told the audience that it
was inspired on a road trip in '94 which is
exactly the feeling you get listening to the
song. Next was "Coyote" which I love
because, if nothing else, of its howling
Southwestern flavor, which evokes images
of the desert, tumbleweeds and prairie fires
at night.
The last song of the evening was
"Good," my all-time favorite. You know,
it's the one on the radio that has the chorus
that goes "Unnh huhhh. Wahh aahh!" Right
before the song finished its final chorus,
Griffin broke off and started singing
Prince's (oh, excuse me, the artist formerly
known as Prince) song "When Doves Cry."
Then he sang the opening lines of Alannah
Morissettes' "You Oughta Know," which
was...um, interesting. He definitely knew
the lyrics and he made sure the audience
did, too. I think I like his version better.
After veering off some more with some
tremendous drum beats by Bonnecaze,
BTE came back and let "Good" build up to
its long drawn-out climax. After the song
ended the band members fled the stage and
Kym and I fled the Marrz. I was pumped
after the show. It had been a long time
since I felt so interactive at a concert and I
really enjoyed fighting my way to the front,
even if I did get a few squashed toes.
Better Than Ezra and the crowd expe
rience that came with them are two things
that I would have kicked myself for if I
had missed either. Now, I hope to take the
knowledge acquired about the concert dos
and don'ts with me to my next concert ex
perience which is slated to be Nine Inch
Nails and David Bowie at the Creek. Won
der how sedate that crowd is going to be?