You know you Zwan it...

Here's another concert review. Enjoy!

Concert Review -- Zwan @ Verizon Wireless Theater 04-14-03
Zwan Review 04/14/03 Houston Verizon Wireless Theater

I can only sum it up by saying Zwan is the ‘Shock and Awe’ campaign to the musical battlefield. They hit you hard, they hit you fast, and they hit you loud!! Wow, what a performance. Zwan are Paz Lenchantin (bass, violin, vocals), David Pajo (guitar and keyboards), Matt Sweeney (guitar and vocals), Jimmy Chamberlin (drums), and Billy Corgan (guitar and vocals) This was probably the most fantastic concert I’ve attended. I’m probably one in the minority here, but I can’t stand crowds. I’d rather have a seat and my space at a concert and enjoy the performance. For this show, I elected to buy balcony seats for the above stated reason. Standing for long periods of time can be painful. However, I was disappointed to have to swap my seat for a general admission ticket. After Heather and I did our traditional buy a shirt and stickers routine, we headed for the floor. Not wanting to fight for my space in the crowd, we decided to stake our claim behind the sound engineers board. Turns out, for this particular venue, this is nearly the best spot in the house: center stage, unobstructed elevated view of the entire stage, and plenty of elbowroom. We took our seat (our floor space) about 40 minutes prior to show time. The crowd was fairly sparse, but that was to change when Zwan came on stage.

Children’s Hour was, to say the least, different; basically a duo, or rather a duo and a half? David Pajo filled in on drums for several songs. The band was very folkish sounding; with the singer’s voice a cross between Bjork and that chick from the Cranberries, Dolores Mary O'Riordan Burton. Not my kind of music, but, hey, they’re touring with Zwan.
Twenty-five minutes after Children’s Hour left the stage Zwan took it, with force. The set list included, in order played (Heather asked for the copy of the set list that the sound engineers were using and he gave it to her. I was going to put a picture of it here, but I dropped my camera tonight)

Endless Summer
Declarations of Faith
El Sol
Love Lies in Ruin
Honestly
Lyric
Heartsong
Riverview
Baby Let’s Rock
Jesus, I / Soul Machine
Broken Heart
World Goes Round
Settle Down

1st Encore
Mary Star of the Sea

2nd Encore
A New Poetry (this is what the set list says, but they played Spilled Milk)

Unfortunately, I don’t have a photographic memory and can’t describe each song in detail, but there are some notables that I shall point out.
The first 3 songs were played loud, very loud. But everything was still hearable. Great energy, the band got into a groove early and stayed there the whole night. The next memorable part was the intro to Riverview. Jimmy gave an excellent thundering drum solo that Paz then joined for a rhythm section romp. Very cool song! This was a song I had not heard before, but it immediately became one of my favorites of the night. I need to get my hands on that one soon! During Jesus, I / Soul Machine, Matt and David, just sat back and let Billy do his thing. His solo was absolutely amazing. Shock and Awe is the best way to describe it. It’s amazing the speed and control he has. His fretwork is awesome. I can't say enough about his abilities. This was my first time to see him live, and it's always a joy to watch him perform via DVD or TV. I wish for just a fraction of that talent. Another pleasing thing to watch was the way Paz was grooving to the music – she spent most of the time with her back to the audience swaying her hips in that o-so-sexy way. And those teeny little shorts were nice too.

I was hoping they'd break out the acoustics for Broken Heart, but they didn't. It's still a moving song. Paz added beauty with the violin. I've always thought that the violin makes a great touch for those emotional heart-felt songs.

The triple guitar attack was impressive. Each taking his own turn at a solo, all guitars meshed wonderfully, in a dance of mesmerizing notes. Unforgettable. All are great guitarists.

The original set list ended with A New Poetry (which I have not heard yet). However, due to the emotion of the crowd, Zwan gave us the option of a slow sappy song or a high power rock n roll song to end the night with. The obvious choice was to rock the night away. So, Zwan begins a guitar intensive Spilled Milk. Another song I haven't heard before, but wow, what a song to end it with. The energy was unbelievable. Towards the end of Spilled Milk the band posed in a poster picture-taking pose (wish I had a camera) and then picked up with the rest of the song. There were several false endings to this song. I actually think this is a novel idea. Just when you think the song is over, wishing there was more; it happens...there's more. It's especially great if there is a great, catchy hook in it, like Spilled Milk. When the song was done, all the band members waved good-bye to the crowd and exited stage right (well, stage left from their viewpoint), except Billy. He stayed to shake hands with several people on the front row, and tossed the extra guitar picks from his stand, Matt’s stand, Paz’s stand and David’s stand. He left with a very big smile on his face. And so did Heather and I.

It was an inspiring pleasure to be in the presence of probably one of my favorite musical idols. Billy's style is unmatched by anyone. His ability to write songs with such power, bite, love, sadness, joy, alienation, and hope is truly amazing. One could study him a lifetime and not match his abilities. I hope to learn from him. He brings me much happiness.