Hobart, IN 7/6/02 Show Recap
Okay....I won't withhold my enthusiasm for last night's show in Hobart, IN...it was awesome. I brought my wife along, and I was hoping to convert her into a Fixx Fanatic, and IT WORKED. Throughtout the week I had given her a crash course on their music, which she patiently agreed to. Then on the car trip over from Fort Wayne to Hobart, I played a tape that I recorded off of the radio on 4/1/84. It was from a radio show called "the Source." It featured the Fixx live in concert at The Ritz in New York. It set the tone for a wonderful evening!
We pulled into the Hobart parking lot just prior to 7 p.m., and to my surprise the band was finishing their soundcheck. Can you imagine how exciting it was to get out of our car, and immediately hear and see the band going through the end of "Deeper and Deeper." Wow! We got a couple of gyros, fries and a few tall cold one's and settled in to wait. Almost no one had arrived yet. To our luck we were able to sit at some tables near the front of the stage, along the right side.
The opening act was a rock band called, "Mirrors." Neither one of us had any clue whom they were. We thought that they were going to take the stage at 7 p.m., but they didn't go on until 8 p.m. Their lead singer was a cross between Steve Perry and Steven Tyler. Meanwhile, they bassist looked like a cross between David Bowie, but more like Christopher Walken. The music was hard rock, but there was no depth in the lyrics. Regardless, we enjoyed their music, but it was their theatrics during the show that stood out the most. Their lead singer kept walking out into the audience. In fact, at one point he literally set his guitar on fire nearby us. However, the real fire took place once the Fixx hit the stage. After Cy invited the crowd to move up to the front of the stage, my wife and I were right there. We were directly in front of Jamie along the right side.
They opened with a new song, "Touch." We loved it! The beat was very easy to dance to, and it was a sexy song. I definately could see this one becoming a successful single. The lyrics were very catchy too. It made me want to hear more.
Next they moved into "Stand or Fall." To be so close when this one was played was fantastic. The band was definately into it, and they cut loose on this classic. It helped work the audience into a frenzy.
The third song they called "You Don't Have To Prove Yourself." If you remember, on an April 24th posting of their set list, someone had remarked that the title wasn't finalized. My guess is that this will be the name of the song. We loved it!
Calm Animals was the fourth song, and the funky beats were well received by the audience. I thought Adam's drums were great, and Jamie and the new bassist (Gary Tibbs) seemed to be really enjoying this one. It showed, and the audience responded. It all sounded great!
The fifth song was the title cut of their upcoming album, "Want That Life." I really like this song! Rupert's keyboards stood out to me. I can't wait to hear what the studio version will sound like.
"Driven Out" was next, and then "Less Cities More Moving People." "Phantoms" is my favorite Fixx album...so I really enjoyed "Less Cities."
As the band was preparing to break into the 8th song, Cy started talking about the song, and he remarked how many might remember it. I screamed, "Are We Ourselves?" Cy then said, "Hey, that guy got it right." WOW! I didn't think I had yelled it loud enough for him to hear, and then for him to react onstage to something that I said, WHAT A THRILL!
"No Hollywood Ending" was the ninth song. I loved it! The trademark Fixx sound was there. It reminds me of the slow steady rhythmic pace of "Outside." The lyrics were delievered with a lot of feeling by Cy, and they were very powerful.
They then concluded the set with: "Secret Separation," "Woman On A Train," "One Thing Leads To Another," "Deeper and Deeper," and "Red Skies."
Of course, "One Thing Leads To Another" got everyone's attention. However, I had know idea that mid-way through the song they would literally cut everything off for a split second, and then resume playing. What a nice surprise! I didn't see, until today, an earlier post that the band was doing this.
"Deeper and Deeper" was very powerful. It was unbelievable to be right up front and watch Jamie's guitar work. Unfortunately, at one point, during the song, he had to mess with some of the equipment in front of him. It created a small distraction, but the band quickly recovered. My guess is that his playing was too powerful for the Hobart equipment. Smile!
For an encore, the band stuck to two songs: "Shut it Out," and "Saved By Zero." They did not play the new song, "Taking The Long Way Home." In the past, "...The Long Way Home" had been the first song to start their encore, but it wasn't played last night. When they dropped it from their set, for a moment I held supreme hope that they might replace it in the set with "Happy Landings." Alas, that didn't happen!
Overall, great show! I haven't seen the Fixx for quite a few years! Previously, I caught them during the 1983 Reach the Beach Tour at Chicago's old Comiskey Park. They were joined by a pre-industrial rock Ministry, A Flock of Seagulls, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and The Police at that show. It had been a great stadium show; one that in 1984 Cy had described to "Rockline" as his most memorable show up to that point. However, it never delivered the special intimacy that can come with smaller shows. Besides the 1983 show, I also caught the Fixx in 1986 at the Chicago area's Poplar Creek Venue. It was when they opened for the Moody Blues.
Besides the show, I was also looking forward to what many of you had written about at previous shows, where afterwards they come out to "meet and greet" their fans. In preparation for this event, I brought along many of their cd covers. However, I wasn't sure what, if any, I would get them to sign.
As a minimum, I wanted Cy to sign the lyrics to "Happy Landings," and he did. I couldn't believe it. The song has been so inspirational to me, and I have always shared on this forum, my strong feelings for the song. After he signed it, he paused for a second, and then he gave the Elemental CD booklet a blank stare. It was as if he had just realized what he signed. He then looked up, and stared at me for the slightest second. I imagine that rarely has someone put the exact lyrics to a song that he calls his "mums favorite"in front of him for him to sign. I'll tell you, getting that signature in person, on those lyrics, was a quite a special moment for me. Cy, thank you!
Rupert and Adam signed the cover of my "Reach The Beach" cd. After Adam signed, I said, "I just want to thank you for the music. It has meant sooo much to me. Thank you! I also appreciate you taking the time to come to Indiana." He smiled and responded by saying, "Well, we appreciate you coming out, and giving us the support."
I also got Cy to sign the cover to my favorite Fixx cd, "Phantoms." My wife got Gary Tibbs to lend his signature to that cover too. We also asked for, and received, signatures on the "Walkabout" CD cover. Each of the band members agreed to sign their specific cover photo, except of course for Gary, since he wasn't with the band back then. How exciting it was to get those signatures. The band seemed to get a kick out of it too. As Rupert signed "Walkabout" he told my wife, "Oh Walkabout! Oh, that's a good one. We should play more on that, especially "_______." She didn't recognize the song he mentioned, but after smiling she responded by saying, "How about Happy Landings?" Rupert then said, "Oh yes...that's a good one too." I was proud of my wife for dropping that comment about "Happy Landings" in there.
Finally, Gary signed the cover to my "Missing Links" cd, and Jamie signed the cover to my "Ink" cd. If I had known they would have been this accessible, I would have also brought along the covers to "Shuttered Room," and "Calm Animals."
As you can imagine, we were so glad to have brought the CD covers along. In fact, after the show, they were signing mostly only concert t-shirts, and promotional concert posters. I was the only one with CD/Record Sleeves, except for one lady that had the cover to the "One Thing Leads To Another" 45 single.
Since we got so wrapped up in the autographs, we forgot to take some pictures with the band. Fortunately, I was excited that Rupert was willing to take a photo with me. However, everyone else had moved away from the fence. It was at that time I learned from my wife that she was smitten with Jamie, and she wanted to get her picture taken with him. I then spotted the drummer of Mirrors (the warmup band), and as he was about to make his way to the backstage area. I politely asked him if he would go ask Jamie to come back over for a photo. Much to my surprise, he agreed to, and yes, Jamie came back over for the photo. I said to Jamie, "We really enjoyed the show." He said, "Yeah, I saw you guys down there." I then said, "My wife would really love a picture with you." He then put his arm around her, and I took the photo. We shook hands and thanked him, along with a sincere thank you to the drummer of Mirrors for helping set this up. I don't think my wife came down from that moment until many hours afterwards!
We then left Hobart, Indiana riding on "Cloud Nine." What a wonderful experience! THANK YOU FIXX!!!!
Fondly,
Mike (and Tricia)
