Adrian Belew, the genius madman behind more guitar sounds than God even imagined that instrument could make was out front, along with Rob Fetters, a masterful songsmith and musician in his own right. The great Bob Nyswonger wrangled the low tones with deft touches when he wasn't balancing his bass on his head and Chris Arduser kept the beat hopping with his terrific drumming.
"Rise and Shine" was their new album of the moment, and they played a few choice cuts from that great recording. One of the things I remember very clearly from that show, besides just how much the crowd enjoyed it, was the enormity of Belew's pedal board. I've never seen anyone use that many guitar effects at one time. There probably should be a surgeon general warning label on it in a prominent place. But use them all he did, and he sounded fantastic, as did the rest of the band. Veterans of the Cincinnati music scene, they were known without Belew as the Raisins, and later, psychodots, and their brand of power pop was, and still is, intoxicatingly invigorating. Hey, I'll always be a sucker for a good melody.
Plus there's nothing like a good melody to help slip in a little socially-relevant message or two. And yes, Belew got the explosion sounds in this song with just his guitar and effects right there on stage, much like Jimi Hendrix did it when he played "The Star Spangled Banner" at Woodstock. The whole band sounded great, and they seemed as though there was no other place they'd rather be than on a tiny stage in a tiny club in Huntington, WV. It was a great show, and I'm glad I got to be there for it.
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