pumpkinxyu
07-31-2003, 02:12 AM
hey. just got back from the APC show here in atlanta. i'm not an APC fan, but for James Iha, you bet your balls i'm gonna make it out. i got to the Roxy around 3:00 in the afternoon. i was about twentieth in line. no familiar pumpkinhead faces in front of me, sadly. not too much happened. i wandered out of the line a few times to see what was going on by the tour buses. i caught james walking onto the bus. he gave a little wave but avoided eye contact with all the APC fans across the street. the rest of the band eventually went onto the bus. i went back to the line.
i managed to nab a spot directly in front of James on the rail. it also gave me a great view of Twiggy (Jeordie White). i'm a big fan of his as well. but i'll try not to get ahead of myself. the opening band was Pigmy Love Circus. Danney Carey of Tool is their drummer. he's phenomenal. easily my third favorite drummer of all time, behind Jimmy and John Bonham, but Pigmy Love Circus sucked horribly. Danny had a few shining moments, but overall...bleh.
APC came on not too much later. as previous reviews have said, the stage was organized with James to the far left (of the audience) on a pedestal, with Maynard on a pedestal in the middle and Josh Freese on a pedestal on the far right. Twiggy and Billy Howerdel were both lower down, with Twiggy just left of center and Billy just right of center. it was an interesting setup. Maynard sang behind a sheet for the first song. once again, i'm not an APC fan so i can't give too much info, but i'm semi-familiar with the songs on the first album, so here's what stood out to me:
-James was wearing all black, except for his converse sneakers.
-during "Magdalena," James started rocking out and he did this Beavis kick with his left leg. it was classic Iha.
-Maynard let James tell a joke about going to a gas station and making friends with the attendant. Maynard said that there was a joke deep inside of what James was saying.
-James was tweaking a lot of knobs on his amp during the show. i guess he's still adapting a bit. he was playing out of Mesas for those of you keeping score at home. he used a black Les Paul for the entire show, if i'm not mistaken. his setup didn't look too complicated. there was one main effects processor, and he had a wah pedal as well. couldn't make out much more than that, even from the front row.
-the band closed the show with "Judith," which James was getting into. shaking his hair.
after the show, James walked straight onto the bus, carrying his guitar. the rest of the band came out slowly. Twiggy talked to everybody. he was very sociable. one girl asked for a hug, to which he replied, "no thanks, i just showered." the girl looked so devastated that Twiggy patted her on the head. Howerdel came out a little later. i should've asked him about Paz, but i forgot. Maynard went straight onto the bus. so did Josh Freese, but he came back out later to sign stuff. somewhere in the middle of this, Danny Carey walked through the crowd and shook everybody's hand. he didn't want to sign stuff, but he did make a couple of exceptions. i was happy to just get a handshake. lastest but certainly not leastest, James finally did come out. me and two of my friends were pretty much the only people there to see him, but a couple others rushed forward anyway. he signed a couple ticket stubs, and then i handed him my Let It Come Down booklet to sign. when he saw it, he looked up and smiled at me, which completely made my night (and hopefully made his a little better too). he signed stuff for everybody else. i shook his hand again before he left and he thanked us for coming. then Josh Freese stepped off the bus and yelled, "JAMES IHA," so James sort of ran at the crowd of fans and acted like he was gonna bow or something, then just smiled and walked onto the bus.
and that's the end of my story. it had been 2 and a half years since i last saw the Iha in person, so tonight was very refreshing. i hope the future sees him playing non-APC gigs, but for now, i'll take whatever James action i can get.
i managed to nab a spot directly in front of James on the rail. it also gave me a great view of Twiggy (Jeordie White). i'm a big fan of his as well. but i'll try not to get ahead of myself. the opening band was Pigmy Love Circus. Danney Carey of Tool is their drummer. he's phenomenal. easily my third favorite drummer of all time, behind Jimmy and John Bonham, but Pigmy Love Circus sucked horribly. Danny had a few shining moments, but overall...bleh.
APC came on not too much later. as previous reviews have said, the stage was organized with James to the far left (of the audience) on a pedestal, with Maynard on a pedestal in the middle and Josh Freese on a pedestal on the far right. Twiggy and Billy Howerdel were both lower down, with Twiggy just left of center and Billy just right of center. it was an interesting setup. Maynard sang behind a sheet for the first song. once again, i'm not an APC fan so i can't give too much info, but i'm semi-familiar with the songs on the first album, so here's what stood out to me:
-James was wearing all black, except for his converse sneakers.
-during "Magdalena," James started rocking out and he did this Beavis kick with his left leg. it was classic Iha.
-Maynard let James tell a joke about going to a gas station and making friends with the attendant. Maynard said that there was a joke deep inside of what James was saying.
-James was tweaking a lot of knobs on his amp during the show. i guess he's still adapting a bit. he was playing out of Mesas for those of you keeping score at home. he used a black Les Paul for the entire show, if i'm not mistaken. his setup didn't look too complicated. there was one main effects processor, and he had a wah pedal as well. couldn't make out much more than that, even from the front row.
-the band closed the show with "Judith," which James was getting into. shaking his hair.
after the show, James walked straight onto the bus, carrying his guitar. the rest of the band came out slowly. Twiggy talked to everybody. he was very sociable. one girl asked for a hug, to which he replied, "no thanks, i just showered." the girl looked so devastated that Twiggy patted her on the head. Howerdel came out a little later. i should've asked him about Paz, but i forgot. Maynard went straight onto the bus. so did Josh Freese, but he came back out later to sign stuff. somewhere in the middle of this, Danny Carey walked through the crowd and shook everybody's hand. he didn't want to sign stuff, but he did make a couple of exceptions. i was happy to just get a handshake. lastest but certainly not leastest, James finally did come out. me and two of my friends were pretty much the only people there to see him, but a couple others rushed forward anyway. he signed a couple ticket stubs, and then i handed him my Let It Come Down booklet to sign. when he saw it, he looked up and smiled at me, which completely made my night (and hopefully made his a little better too). he signed stuff for everybody else. i shook his hand again before he left and he thanked us for coming. then Josh Freese stepped off the bus and yelled, "JAMES IHA," so James sort of ran at the crowd of fans and acted like he was gonna bow or something, then just smiled and walked onto the bus.
and that's the end of my story. it had been 2 and a half years since i last saw the Iha in person, so tonight was very refreshing. i hope the future sees him playing non-APC gigs, but for now, i'll take whatever James action i can get.