Fountains of Wayne Private Showcase yesterday

The music gods were very good to me yesterday. I got in my car, the clock said 3:16, and I made it to the parking lot of the studio at 4:30, which included a pit-stop and going too far down the street and having to back up and turn around. Traffic was the best I've ever dealt with in the metro-DC area; things were moving at a good pace all around.

There were only about 3 dozen of us for the show--wouldja believe I won [I]twice[/I]--I'd gotten an email that I'd won for my online entry, as well. The music gods knew I was quite determined to go to this show, and reacted accordingly. There were only about 34 names on the winners' list. And some of the winners didn't even show, so that made it that much more intimate for those of us that did.

At 5:00, we were ushered into one of the studios. We had to sit on the floor--I thought we'd be standing, like in a club. It felt a lot like nursery school at the beginning, but shit, it was a small space, I'm short, so it worked out better for me.

One of the guys behind me was singing along to the new album, and I asked him how that was possible, and he mentioned he'd gotten the album from illegally downloading it. I told him I'd be arresting him in the parking lot after the show, but how did he like the new album? He said he loved it. I asked him if he liked it as much as "Welcome Interstate Managers," which was my "be all, end all" for a long time, and he said he actually liked it better.

Alex from WRNR came out, and introduced himself and then the band. Actually, it was only Chris and Adam, the two songwriters. At first, I was kind of disappointed, but as Adam sat down at the piano, I realized this would be a cool way to hear FoW songs done in a way we normally wouldn't.

I was right about that. Adam mentioned that he'd just figured out how to play "Hackensack" on the piano about 10 minutes before, and he did make a couple of booboos while playing, but the song still sounded really good. I'd been singing it all day without even having heard it recently, so it was a real thrill to hear it, and good for Adam to be willing to booboo it up in front of an audience.

They played two new songs besides the new single, one a country-tinged song, which I don't know the name of, and an achingly beautiful "I-95", which really made me remember why these two are currently the best songwriters of the "slice of life" group. They also did "Barbara H" off of the first CD, and talked with Alex in between songs, and that was it.

Very affable, the both of them, and they talked about why it takes them as long as it does to put out a new record. Alex asked them about show dates in our metro area, and they told him that they weren't at liberty to say anything yet, but they hoped to be playing some festivals. Alex told them we'd see them at Virgin Festival in August.

I'm sure they'll play club dates before then. I was just ecstatic to be able to see them in such an intimate atmosphere--I'm not a festival person--I'm there for the music more than the party, so this was more to my liking.

They'll be airing the show "Saturday morning at 9 or 10," according to Alex. They only did a half-hour, which went by all too quickly. I'm only sorry that Alex had to ask as many questions as he did, because the music was that good. A funny answer to one of Alex's questions from Adam: Alex asked them how they write their songs, and Adam said, "We write poetry, and then we send it off to this address in Nashville." Alex caught on right away and said, "Robbie Fulks."

The traffic home was good, too. I left at 5:30, and was in my house by 6:50. No problems at all going home--I've had much worse of a commute on the Baltimore beltway. I was expecting rush hour hell and had only a good experience.

I'm so anticipating April 3rd and the new CD. I'm also looking forward to hearing the full band in a club, hopefully in the next month or so, but it'll never erase the wonderful memory of yesterday's private showcase.