Brain Surgeons in Altoona

[Steven Tice]

Concert Report:  the Brain Surgeons at Sebastiano's in Altoona, PA 11/8/97

Neither drenching rain nor football traffic would keep the Brain Surgeons
from visiting Altoona again this year.  It was another terrific show (no
surprise there!).  The setlist:

St. Vitus Dance
Gun
Medusa
Needle Gun
A Kiss is a Promise
Laura's Plastic Swords
Gimme Nothin'
My Civilization
I Play the Drums
Dominance and Submission
The Revenge of Vera Gemini
Cities on Flame

This is pretty much the same setlist as the previous concert in Altoona
(although I would have liked to have heard Donkey Show again :-).  Added to
the setlist were Needle Gun and A Kiss is a Promise.  I'd never heard Needle
Gun before, but it was a solid straightforward rocker.  I enjoyed the live
version of Promise a bit more than the original...the expressive percussion
really stood out, and Deb's singing was terrific.  Albert drummed the club
during I Play the Drums, which is always tremendously fun, particularly
because the ad libbed drum lines demonstrate a certain structure...I really
admire Albert's ability to avoid the complete randomness I daresay most
drummers would resort to when creating percussion lines with these makeshift
instruments.

Following Dominance, Albert asked the audience for requests.  One wag
(obviously a BOC fan--he had the Saturn/Kronos symbol on the back of his
jacket) called out "Revenge of Vera Gemini!"  Always game for something
offbeat, the band played the song!  After inviting the fan up to speak the
opening lines, they launched into an unrehearsed rendition of Vera Gemini,
with Albert playing guitar and singing lead, Deb doing a marvelous job
filling in for Patti Smith, and Peter Bohovesky playing the drums!  I
especially enjoyed hearing an Albert Bouchard guitar solo...thank goodness I
got the whole show on tape!  They wrapped things up with Cities on Flame,
much to the delight of all the BOC fans in the audience.  Billy Hilfiger's
solos in both Cities and the end section of Dominance were just dynamite.  I
only wish they had managed to squeeze Red & Black into the set again (or
Death Valley Nights, which was an option on the setlist, and something I've
never heard the Brain Surgeons play before...Malpractise should solve
that...and hey, what's with the British spelling on Malpractise anyway? But I
digress...:-)

So, to sum it up, it was another great performance from a band whose members
always exhibit tremendous enthusiasm when they play.  I suppose we should
expect no less from any band featuring Albert Bouchard!

Steven Tice
11/9/97