8/13/97 The Flood Zone, Richmond, VA

8/13/97 The Flood Zone, Richmond, VA
1: Green Thing > Whiskey For Breakfast > Over the Waterfall, Zombie Jamboree, Doin' My Time, Hot Corn/Cold Corn, Dance On Your Head, Baby Hold On, 70's Lick, Mama Boulet, 4:20 Polka, Whispering Waters, Better
2: Ask the Fish*, Fastest Song*, Bend in the River*, Boogie, Breaking Through, Troubled Times, Midnight Blues, Booboo, Highway Song, Danger Man, Hey Joe*, Euphoria, Jokester, River's Risin'
E: Lick It > Wake and Bake
* - with Danny Nicely

Hey guys. What a night we had on Wednesday! The boys were sooooo happy to be able to play more than 1/2 hr., and we were ready for them to kick it all night. We got to the venue about 9:45 and breathed a sigh of relief as we saw only a small number of people milling about in front of the place. I didn't think the boys would sell the place out, but I had this nagging fear in the back of my head that we would show up at the last minute and be turned away at the door. I had one Panic virgin with me, and two Salmon newbies who had each seen a show. There was one other guy I tried to get out there, but he was too stubborn. I even offered to refund him money if he didn't like it. Still couldn't do it. I made sure he knew that when he finally does see these guys, he would be kicking himself for a couple days afterwards remembering that he skipped getting to see them for $10 in town.

The crowd was very sparse, so we headed up front and positioned ourselves right in front of Mark. Actually, we were directly in front of the brick, to be more exact. I was telling my Salmon virgin friend that Mark plays a mean brick. He looked at me pretty funny 'til I told him I was just kidding. After Fishman and his vacuum, just about anything is possible there days. After only a couple minutes, I looked around to find that most of the crowd had moved closer to the stage and were starting to focus their attention to the stage. Finally the boys hit the stage with grins on everybody's face. Vince gave the brick a nice introduction. He said they picked it up in Columbus when they were up there playing with Ekoostik Hookah. Any of you at this show remember anything about a brick? It actually looked like a big Pez they way it was sitting on the stool. I wanted to tell Vince that to see if he would make anything of it. Anyway, the brick was featured many, many times throughout the night. Mark even used his mic to let the brick take a quick solo. It was great watching Mark hold the mic up to the brick while members of the band made faces to show they really liked what the brick was doing. True Salmon wackiness at its best.

Kicking things off with the Green Thing had me grooving hard from the get-go. Unfortunately, a friend came up with a beer for me sometime toward the beginning of the show, and a flying elbow smacked it out of his hand and spewed most of it all over the floor making a nice puddle. I felt kinda guilty and almost headed for the bar for a rag, but instead decided just to keep dancing in the puddle, take on the risk of busting my butt myself, and try and make the best of it. We may have gotten the girl dancing beside us since she bailed soon after, but I don't know. I certainly hope not. Anyway, the whole Green Thing > Waterfall series was great. Zombie was super upbeat and kept the placing hopping. Actually, there didn't seem to be a whole lot of dancing. Several folks were watching intently, so I knew they were enjoying themselves. I just don't understand how these folks can hold still like that when the Salmon are kicking it. Doin' My Time was absolutely huge. The peak they brought that jam to was completely stunning. I was hoping for a Levee in the middle there, but no luck there. By this time, the band was going absolutely berserk! Everybody was jumping up and down and Vince was strutting all over the stage. All that pent up energy from the HORDE shows seemed to be exploding out of the band before our very eyes. Corn was a great time. Being right in front of Mark, I was sorta listening to what he was saying. At one point, I distinctly heard a "What the hell's a jimmiejohn" from him. Vince led the room in a very organized "Hot!" "Corn! Dance On Your Head was the first big treat for me. I've got in on a couple tapes, but seeing it live was too much fun. I love that slick, Cajun groove.

Baby Hold On was the surprise jam of the night for me. Usually this one slows things down a little too much for me, but somehow, Drew managed to rock on this one. I couldn't believe it. Can't wait to hear it again. 70's Lick was another big surprise. It wasn't as long and tight as the one on Ask the Fish, but I'd never heard it anywhere else, so I wasn't even sure they did it anymore. I *love* Mama Boulet. Another of those slick, Cajun grooves that gets my shakin' it hard. Everybody was loving the 4:20 Polka! Man, they jammed this one hard, hard, hard. Before leaving, a friend asked me to pass on a Whispering Waters request for him, so being so close to the stage, I was thinking about calling it out. I think I'd been freaking hard enough that I had the band's attention. Well, I think I must've gotten the request out there through ESP, 'cause the very next song was Whispering Waters. That one was for you, Pete. Nice fat Waters jam. I've really gotten hooked on that tune a lot. The Better closer sent everyone to setbreak a little outta breath. After Vince introduced the tune, I warned my friend to go ahead and kick it into high gear for this one. As they tore into it, you should've seen the smile that split his face as he started dancing like a maniac. That set of Salmon had him hook, line, and sinker.

By setbreak, the beer puddle I was dancing in had dried up and just left the floor a little sticky. I figure that helps with better traction during dancing. I love setbreak at clubs. We got to go outside and catch a little air away from all the smokiness an noise. It's too bad a couple others friends were out-of-town because they live in the building across the street from the Flood Zone. Would've been nice to shoot up there for a little privacy. Oh well. They're gonna be kicking themselves over this one. Finally met fellow Panic/Salmon fan Chris Nystrom outside briefly. This Internet thing is cool, but meeting people face-to-face is the best part. After that you seem to see them at shows all the time. Also ran into a friend from Blacksburg outside I hadn't seen in a while. Took a little walk to reset things for set 2 and chat a little with more Richmond friends I ran into outside. Jason, the Salmon virgin, was talking up Salmon like crazy. He ran into some other friends of his on the street and was trying to get them to come back for set 2. There definitely was gonna be another $10 worth of music to come out of those Salmon, that was for sure.

As we settled back into the club and the boys hit the stage, I noticed a guest on mandolin and assumed he must be a McGraw Gap boy. Never actually seen them, so I didn't know for sure. Later, Vince introduced him as "Danny Nicely, the man with the prettiest name is show business," as he usually seems to be introduced. Ask the Fish had a long, super psychedelic intro. Good version that had more people grooving than there were first set. Since Danny was up there on mandolin, Drew switched over to the fiddle. He went absolutely ballistic on that thing during the Ask the Fish jam. Crazy, crazy stuff. With a set opener like that, I was really looking forward to seeing what came next. Fastest Song was there. Great version of Bend in the River with Danny Nicely adding some sweet mandolin and backing vocals. Boogie had everybody doing just that. Another song I love for its romping groove at breakneck speed. Breaking Through showcased Drew's vocals very well. I wasn't familiar with Troubled Times, so I spent a lot of that tune figuring out what it was. Same for Midnight Blues, if that's what it's called. I remember them singing about the blues tonight or something like that, so I'm just guessing. Never remember actually hearing that phrase. I really look forward to hearing these again when I find copies of the show.

Booboo brought the fast groove back to everybody's feet. Highway Song was so nice. I can't get enough of Drew's vocals. Being a mountain boy myself, I love that higher tenor sound. Danger Man was another treat that I've only got on one tape, I believe. I was hoping for more off the wall songs like this, but we didn't really get that many. Instead Salmon just kicked the crap out of their usual tunes. Gotta hate that. Anyway, my two guitarist friends had been talking about Hey Joe all day. This was the one they really wanted to see, so when it kicked it, I had almost as much fun watching them as I did the band. Great version, and I believe Danny Nicely joined in again. I can't remember if he played on anything else. I loved Euphoria. When the groove peaks and everyone calls out "Euphoria!" I feel just that. Jokester caught me a little off guard that late in the set. I used to seeing it early on with Carnival Time and songs like that. Certainly didn't hamper my enjoyment of the tune. I love the steel drums effect that Drew uses on the mando for this one. The River's Risin' that closed the show was perfect. This and Valley of the Full Moon are probably my two favorite slamgrass tunes. At the break before the fast ending, the crowd was squalling like it was the end of the show. I just stood there and waited......1 2 3 4 and slam back into the jam. I love that. Orgasmic ending to the show.

The band returned to the stage with the plastic Salmon and did some of those crazy noises with it. I don't believe they brought it out in Ask the Fish, so maybe they were just trying to make up for that. I'd never heard Lick It before, but there's no mistaking that tune. Interesting lyrics. When they got to "Suck It!" and "Smoke It!" there were smiles all around. The inevitable Wake and Bake was great! We got most of the lyrics, and the crowd kept it going for a while after the band left the stage. We were trying to compete with the house music, but they just kept turning it up. I kept squalling "Rise up!" until I couldn't do it anymore. Great ending to the show. We hung around to stare at all the fine women and chat a little with the band. They were all coming out into the crowd and super friendly. I never know what to say right after a show to band members, so I just shook a few hands and stood around. Finally, we tore ourselves away and headed back to the house for some guitars and munchies. I haven't had my ears ringing like that in a while. Whoever commented about the volume was right on. It was loud! I took a hearing test at work yesterday (1.5 days later), and I had a little drop in the higher frequencies in my right ear. I'm pretty sure I was still reeling from the show. I hope they don't make me rest. Oh well. Even if I did lose a little, it was still worth that, the $10, and the day off from work, which I really needed the next day to recover.

What a time. Can't wait for the boys to come back. See y'all out there next time.