FU:EL Tour

Venue: 300 York St, New Haven, CT 06511
https://toadsplace.com

Reviews: ¹

From: IN%”SCREWBALL@ 16-NOV-1994 07:16:45.28
To: IN%”sugar@csua.berkeley.edu”
Subj: REVIEW: Toad’s Place, New Haven, CT (includes setlist)

Toads’ Place is a small, very nice-sounding room, and the all-ages
crowd got filled the venue fairly quickly–a pleasant change from the
Providence gig. The acoustics and the attitudes of the venue staff
were vast improvements over that experienced the previous night in
Providence.

The room was fairly well packed by the time Magnapop took the stage.
Again, a very eager, very pumped-up crowd. Magnapop were again
delivered one hell of a fine set to a very warm response. They came,
they played, they impressed the audience–but that doesn’t mean that
they didn’t leave anything for Sugar. Not by a long shot.

The audience took a few minutes to get into it, exploding into frenzy
with “The Act We Act.” Plenty of audience bouncing around, much
crowd-surfin (ouch!), much cheering. The band delivered another rock-
solid performance, and the audience responded accordingly, the energy
level reaching into and beyond the explosive zone, going from height
to height, strength to strength.

The climax of the show, perhaps, came towards the end, was when the
band pulled a screaming 180-degree turn, going from the pensive,
wrenching emotional outpour of “Explode And Make Up” straight into the
twin pop explosions of “In The Eyes Of My Friends” and “Gee Angel,”
paralleled by a similar burst of crowd activity.

Five minutes of applause ensued, culminating in an inspired cover of
the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me,” performed as a duet between Ruthie
Morris of Magnapop sharing lead vocals with David Barbe. The song
erupted into a searing, strobe-lit stage frenzy that saw David Barbe
passing his bass to Ruthie, without missing a single note, picking up
a drumstick, and bashing on one of Malcolm’s cymbals.

Total set time: one hour; with encores, one hour, sixteen minutes.

——————————————————————
soundcheck

Company Book
Hoover Dam

set

Gift
Company Book
Hoover Dam
Going Home
Where Diamonds Are Halos
The Act We Act
Granny Cool
Running Out Of Time
Frustration
Changes
Slick
Clownmaster
Your Favorite Thing
Explode And Make Up
In The Eyes Of My Friends
Gee Angel

If I Can’t Change Your Mind
Mind Is An Island

You Really Got Me
——————————————————————

Next stop: Philadelphia.

btousignant@ “Bob Tousignant” 16-NOV-1994 09:45:09.38
To: IN%”sugar@soda.berkeley.edu”
Subj: 11/15 New Haven show & Sonicnet Conference

Two items here .. last nights ripping show at Toads and Monday night’s Sonicnet conference..

SONICNET – Bob was on-line for about 90 minutes from Providence before the show at the Strand. Although I wasn’t part of the conference, a friend of mine was and passed along the following :

– Bob was very relaxed and in good humor
– Favorite pastimes : bowling & mini-golf (seriously!)
– Wasn’t too psyched about the sound at the Strand
– Favorite works of his : Workbook, Zen Arcade, Copper Blue (in
order)
– Doesn’t mind moshers and surfers as long as no-one gets hurt
– Didn’t care for the SPIN article and the way it emphasized the
gay issue to the exclusion of almost everything else
– Talked about the merits of Subway grinders !!
– Before signing to RYKO, was courted by Geffen but found out that
they only wanted to sign him as an opening act fot Tommy Keane !

I’ll try to get the transcript and post it. It sounded pretty cool. There
were only about 7 people on-line with only 3 people asking questions. The
only testy time was when some AIDS activist logged in and started ranting.

NEW HAVEN SHOW – I’ll leave the posting of the set list to others (Paul ??)
but this show ripped!!!!! I unfortunately missed Magnapop (and I was at the
club at 9:30!!!).

Sugar tore into Gift at about 10:30 and rocked non-stop! The place was
packed so there was no pit but a small and steady crowd of surfers. No
stage divers like in Providence the night before (thank God!).

Highlights : Explode and Make Up was easily the high point even though it
could have gone on longer than it did. The subdued emotion was incredible,
even with the hype others have laid on this song this tour.

Clownmaster was great. Frustration much better than on disc.

Encores : IICCYM and Mind is an Island (rocked! … again)

Finale : cover (yes, a cover of a cover!) of Van Halen’s You Really Got Me
with the vocalist from Magnapop joining the band.

Lastly, about a month ago, someone posted a message saying how Bob is far
from a great guitarist. My response is simple : SEE SUGAR LIVE!!!!!

———————————————————————–
| Bob Tousignant “Bye … thanks for showing up ” |
| btousignant@ – entire transcript of Bob’s |
| stage banter. |
| |
———————————————————————–

From: IN%”JDM93002@ “Jim Miller” 16-NOV-1994 11:34:48.05
To: IN%”sugar@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU”
Subj: Toad’s Place New Haven 11.15.94

Since Screwball seems to be keeping track of the set lists, I’ll just add a few personal observations re: last night’s gig.

Toad’s was pretty well packed, even if the show never actually sold out–
good crowd, lots of enthusiasm, crowd-surfing, etc w/o too much beery
inconsideration going on. Personal high points of the Sugar set: “Mind
Is an Island” on the first encore, a beautiful version of Barbe’s
“Frustration”, and of course the big-buildup rendition of “Explode and
Make Up”. Second encore was “You Really Got Me” with Magnapop personnel
helping out — worth waiting for the ten minutes it took them to come
back on.

Nothing else remarkable to add, except that we didn’t get backstage as
one of the label reps had promised. No matter — it was a quality evening
all around.

Oh yeah — if they say they’re going on at 8:30, they’re going on at
8:30…we operated under the standard (8:30–>10:00) assumption and
missed out on Magnapop…

From: IN%”DCARRANO@ “Dean Thomas Sebastian Carrano”
16-NOV-1994 11:38:04.43
To: IN%”sugar@soda.csua.berkeley.edu”
Subj: Sugar @ Toad’s 11/15 (setlist included)

Although it wasn’t THAT loud, my ears still have a low ringing…
Magnapop came on at 8:45, and failed to impress me too much. The guitarist
and the drummer were maniacal, which was neat. But I found the songs to
be pretty samey, and the singer’s voice was pretty whiny. I can see why
they’re opening, however; they seem to be kindred spirits to Bob, even if
they’re not nearly as good at doing that loud pop thing. They were done
about 9:30.

Sugar came on at about 10:00. I can’t remember the order, so I will list
the songs played by album (previous setlists give you the idea of what
gets played when):

The Act We Act, Changes, Hoover Dam, If I Can’t Change Your Mind (1st encore),
Slick, Where Diamonds Are Halos, Clownmaster

Gift/Company Book (openers), Your Favorite Thing, Gee Angel, Granny Cool,
Explode And Make Up, Frustration, Mind Is An Island, Going Home, In The Eyes
Of My Friends

One of these went along with IICCYM as the 1st encore, but I forget which.
Highlights for me were Explode and Make Up (wow!), Changes, Slick (which
I usually don’t like much, but great here), Clownmaster, Gee Angel, and
Frustration. Hmm, that’s a lot of them 🙂 “Frustration” was really great,
quite dreamy and compelling. Bob prowled around the stage with a totally
predatory look on his face which was so scary it was funny (maybe something
he’s picked up from pro wrestling :-), yet strangely effective in terms of
enhancing the song. Throughout, Bob was in top form. David’s
songs were righteous, but his voice was a little off a lot of the time.
Unlike what other people have reported, the sound system seemed to favor
Bob’s voice more. The drummer looked nothing like Malcolm! I don’t know
what went on here, but maybe Malcolm was sick or something. He was ok,
though,
and he had a neat twitch: he jerked his head to the side EVERY SINGLE TIME
he hit the snare. He looked quite like a demented puppet.

The crowd was pretty unruly at the start; lots of shoving, and I (a pretty
short person) was concerned for my safety. But once a mosh pit opened up,
the losers could bang themselves around without causing a chain reaction
(luckily, the mosh pit was in the middle of the crowd, rather than the
front; I started off right up front, but ended up about 6 people back).
The mosh pit only contained about four people, so it just goes to show you
there’s four in every crowd who screw it up for everyone else 🙂 [sorry,
but I *do* get worried when I get pushed around against my will].
Crowd-surfing also occurred. I thought the crowd was more sedate than I
was worried it might be. But I should note that a friend of mine had a
miserable time, complaining that ten people got dropped on his head and
that the crowd knew nothing about the music. Bob definitely had a problem
with SOMETHING that was going on, I thought. During tuning breaks, shouts
of “A Good Idea!” and “Tilted!” rang out, but no dice. After the first
encore, he said “Goodbye” in a way that made me quite worried that he wouldn’t
come out again. He seemed to really mean it. The crowd had to shout for
quite a while before they came out again to do “You Really Got Me”, with
Magnapop’s guitarist backing up David on vocals. That was it. Due to the
omission of the requested rockers, the crowd left a bit disappointed, as
was I. It was great, but I got the feeling that Bob didn’t pull out his
biggest guns for whatever reason. Concert ended at 11:30 sharp.

Dean Thomas Sebastian Carrano I, Esq.
dcarrano@

rom: IN%”taw@w “Tom A Walat” 16-NOV-1994 13:39:39.22
To: IN%”btousignant@ “Bob Tousignant”
CC: IN%”sugar@soda.berkeley.edu”
Subj: RE: 11/15 New Haven show & Sonicnet Conference

On Wed, 16 Nov 1994, Bob Tousignant wrote:

> Finale : cover (yes, a cover of a cover!) of Van Halen’s You Really Got Me
> with the vocalist from Magnapop joining the band.

Ahem. “You Really Got Me” is a song from The Kinks.

Tom, exercising great self-restraintFrom: IN%”plh@ “Paul Hilcoff” 23-NOV-1994 12:21:58.88
To: IN%”sugar@soda.csua.berkeley.edu”
Subj: New Haven notes

Continuing the saga with the 15 Nov 1994 Toad’s gig:

–Just the opposite situation from Providence–big line at the box office.

–Toad’s is partitioned into several segments. The over-21 and under-21 areas are separated by netting and access to the over-21 area is guarded, yet there’s a second bar (beer only?) in the under-21 area. Very peculiar arrangement.

–Better-behaved crowd than Providence. Fewer fratboys perhaps. A more eclectic mix in any case. Most people were really into the music; the truly clueless were few and scattered.

–*Tremendous* Magnapop set, with Alex Chilton’s “Thirteen” (absent from the New York and Providence gigs) added back in.

–Spotted a bank of video monitors on the upper level above the bar. Inquiry about video recordings elicited the response that recording could be arranged in advance…at the band’s expense. Hell, a few fans could’ve chipped in for that: I think they were only asking $100. Of course, there’d still be the permission factor to contend with.

–We got the attenuated-scream version of “Explode” tonight, but it was still an emotion-packed rendition.

–Second night in a row for “You Really Got Me,” this time with Ruth Morris on vocals. Neat.

–Solid performance overall. Mutual exuberance between band and crowd, and a comfortable setting.

Paul Hilcoff
plh@

 

Article: https://www.courant.com/1994/11/17/bracing-taste-of-burnt-sugar-fuels-toads/

 

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20000830174535/http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~stevie/sugar/reviews/New.Haven.94.11.15[↩]

Venue:
Address: 59 Sainte-Catherine Street East, Montréal, QC H2X 1K5

Métropolis, now officially known as MTELUS, is a historic 2,350-capacity concert venue in the heart of Montréal’s Quartier des Spectacles. Located at 59 Sainte-Catherine Street East, it is a premier destination for rock, pop, and electronic acts, and is heavily utilized during major festivals like the Montreal International Jazz Festival ¹)

Reviews: ²

From: IN%”stephane.gelinas@
11-NOV-1994 01:09:37.12
To: IN%”sugar@soda.berkeley.edu”
Subj: Sugar in Montreal

I’m back from the 10 Nov 1994 Sugar show in Montreal.

The opening band was Magnapop, which was quite good actually. I wasn’t familiar with them, so I thought they would be some lame band a la
Pearl Jam or something like that. Well, needless to say I was pleasantly surprised. My only complaint is that the set was too short. They played for approximately 45 minutes, with no encores. Then again, they didn’t get much reaction from the crowd after they finished playing. I guess we were all too anxious to hear Sugar 🙂

Anyway, Sugar did one hell of a good gig. Bob seemed to be in a very good mood. He didn’t talk to the audience (I kind of expected that from
what people posted here 😉 but he did smile a lot during the gig. After the 4th song or so, I figured that he was such in a good mood, he wouldn’t play “The Slim” and be in a depressing mood for the rest of the night. I was right…

To make that up, they did play two songs I didn’t expected: A Good Idea and, yes, Tilted!!!!!!!!! Have you guys ever watched bob’s hands while he plays that tune? I’ve got simply one word to describe it: amazing.

My only complaint is that Bob and David’s voices were muffled by the other sounds. A lot of the songs basically sounded like instrumental versions as far as I’m concerned! They could improve on that, but the rest was super fantastic. They did two encores.

During Magnapop I was on the balcony, but when Sugar went on stage, I went right in front of Bob. I had to deal with the “moshing” but it wasn’t too bad. There were only 4 or 5 times when I had to watch out because some loser tried to “surf” or stage dive. The rest of the time, people were moshing around me, but didn’t touch me. Much better crowd than at some hardcore concerts I’ve been.

I don’t have a setlist as I was too busy admiring my musical God 🙂

Here’s what I remember they played (first 4 songs are in order, the rest, well, not at all 😉 Maybe Mark remember the setlist better than I do.

The Gift
Company Book
Hoover Dam
??? (Maybe on the new EP they released, I wasn’t able to get it yet 🙁
When Diamonds Turns to Halo
Frustration
A Good Idea
Running Out Of Time
Your Favorite Thing
Changes
Granny Cool
If I can’t change your mind
Tilted
??? (Maybe on the new EP they released, I wasn’t able to get it yet 🙁
Clownmaster
Armenia City In The Sky
Explode and Make Up

Did you guys noticed that both David and Malcolm wears earplugs but Bob
doesn’t? Anyway… Bottom line I hope they come back soon.

… Experience varies directly with equipment ruined.
— Blue Wave/QWK v2.10

——————————————‘
From: IN%”markw@ “Mark WINFORD” 11-NOV-1994 02:50:12.09
To: IN%”sugar@csua.berkeley.edu”
Subj: Sugar in Montreal

Sugar just rocked Montreal. Set list was roughly as follows: Gift,
Company Book, Hoover Dam, (and then out of order) Changes, A Good Idea,
In The Eyes of My Friends, Going Home, IICCYM, Granny Cool, Mind is an
Island, Your Favorite Thing, Frustration, Clownmaster, Where Diamonds
Are Halos, and then (thank god) they ended the set with Tilted. The
first encore was Aremina City in the Sky followed by Gee Angel. The
second on encore was Explode and Make Up.

It was a good show. The volume was perfect. I didn’t were earplugs and
my ears aren’t ringing–but I have yet to go to bed which is the true
test. The mix was good. The vocals were pretty buried. But the
trade off was that Bob’s gorgeous guitar sound was front and center in
the mix.

Highlights? Most definately Bob freaking out during the Octavia pedal
rift in Gift. Going Home, Gee Angel, and YFT worked really well. And
of course the tried and true _Copper Blue_ tracks came off great.

The crowd was pretty mellow. They freaked out mostly to A Good Idea and
Hoover Dam. Seems as though they liked Company Book quite a bit also.

Like most people have said, Bob smiled a lot and generally looked like he
was having a good time. I noticed that Malcom went through a remarkable
amount of drum sticks. I don’t know if he breaks them or if they just
fly out of his hands. But it was funny, they just kept zinging off over
his head, and then he’d grab some new ones without missing a beat.

That’s about it. Others who were at the Montreal show can add
stuff. Looking over my cd’s I notice I forgot to mention that they
played Running Out of Time also. The above tracks with Running Out of Time
are, I think, everything that they played.

Mark Winford
11-NOV-1994 16:21:08.23
To: IN%”sugar@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU”
Subj: re:random bullets

A few quick points :

1. Caught the show in Montreal, the song that still stands out the most was Gift. I couldn’t believe all that guitar noise permeating the air. It was quite awe-inspiring.
2. If you are a real Bob fan, you should be more than happy that Sugar is finally receiving some moderate exposure. The last time I checked, even Musicians had to pay rent. I read the mini-interview with Paul Westerberg in the latest Rolling Stone, I felt rather sad about the fact that here we are now, ten or so odd years down the road, and he’s never found commercial success (despite loads of talent IMHO). I guess if Bob means anything to you, you should be more than pleased about the fact that younger fans have purchased the albums and gone to the shows despite the fact that Bob has not compromised his artistic integrity.
3. I was shocked and appalled at the fact that no Sugar T-Shirts were being sold at that show 🙁
Would any compassionate soul out in Sugarland do me the big favour of picking one up for me during one of the upcoming shows ?
I can only imagine how cool the print must be…I would be eternally grateful (please e-mail me personally If you feel like making a very positive contribution to my life)
later
Ed Taboada

___________________________________________________________
| If you were a pill, I’d take a handful at my will |
| and I’d knock you back with something sweet and strong… |
| |
| -Paul Westerberg |
|___________________________________________________________|

PS. we got to hear Tilted and A Good Idea……

From: IN%”pretzel “Stephane Rouleau” 11-NOV-1994 20:51:23.58
To: IN%”sugar@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU”
Subj: Sugar in Montreal

Hi there. Was at the gig last night (of course!). Been waiting to see Bob live since I missed his last appearance in Montreal, … 7 years ago.

What can I say? It wasn’t even half as loud as I thought it was going to be. Heck, from reading the digest I was going in there expecting to get my face peeled off.

And it was a bit short. But thinking back on it, if you factor in the no-talk-between-tunes bit, then I guess it amounts to a normal show.

They also played that TV Mix B-Side tune (I’m terrible with names!)

I couldn’t stay afterwardsm but my girlfriend did and got two of my CDs signed. A friend of ours was bugging Bob to write something witty on it, and he kept saying “I’m not good for that kind of thing.”

So she said “Write something like ‘Eat green eggs and ham’!” So he wrote “Steph, eggs.” And shrugged. Ha.

Oh and Stephane Gelinas, sorry if I bumped into you, was just following the crowd around. (Which, by the way, looked very lost for most of the B-Sides they played)

Steph.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M_Telus_(concert_hall[↩]
2. https://web.archive.org/web/20000830174441/http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~stevie/sugar/reviews/Montreal.94.11.10[↩]