BRAIN: Portland, Oregon 9/26

[Michael Galvin]

On Sun, 27 Jul 1997, Kevin Haskel Rubin wrote:

> Well, I just got back from seeing The Brain Surgeons in downtown Portland
> tonight.  They were great, a lot of fun to see.
>
> I didn't keep track of the set list, but they played about half their songs
> and half BOC songs.  They also had a special guest, Richard Meltzer, who
> came on stage and read one of his poems while they made quiet noise in the
> background (and a very weird poem it was).

I had a great time at this show as well.  I was happy to finally see
them out west. It is pretty amazing that the show went down
considering the kind of effort the band made to get out here. Albert
appears to handle every part of the operation, from driving the gear and
setting it up to playing and dealing with merchandise and fans. Seeing
Richard Meltzer added a nice touch to the show. Albert hugged him when
he introduced him and said, "thirty years man". I think Meltzer
responded by looking at some guy in the audience and saying, "longer than
you've been alive".

They started their set with" Cities on Flame" and followed with:

Gun
Kiss is a Promise
Laura's Plastic Swords
Gimme Lovin'
My Civilization
I Play the Drums
Tender Was the Night (middle break w/ Meltzer)
Dominance
Death Valley Nights
Red and Black

I may be leaving out a tune at the end, but I think I got everything. As
the show progessed, it seemed like a bit of a buzz was developing, kind of
like....these guys are good!!  One thing that left a real strong impression on
me was the pleasant reminder of BOC w/Al. It has been so long since I've
seen them with him.  I appreciate his approach to the drums. It was like,
"oh yea, that's how it's done". :-)

Everyone in the band was very friendly and seemed to be enjoying them-
selves at the show. I hope they make it back again someday.

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