Fountains of Wayne - Viejas Concerts in the Park - 08/11/2007

Saturday night in Alpine. I was back at the venue where I shot my first show for this Billboard Blog, Widespread Panic. And while that show went off without a hitch, this was to be a different story. But first let me just talk about the good, Fountains of Wayne. They were great. I have not been so happily surprised by a band in a long time. After getting back home last night I went and bought the new album on iTunes. Thanks to them for the photo-pass and the 5th row center ticket and a great set of music. I couldn't have asked for more.

Adam Schlesinger (bass ) and Chris Collingwood (guitar) formed Fountains of Wayne in 1996 and added drummer Brian Young and lead guitarist Jody Porter just before the release of their debut album.
Their set tonight was a mix from all five of their albums, and yes, they played "Stacy's Mom."

The sound was crisp and clean, and the band looked like they were having a blast. These guys should not be opening for anyone.

The highlights of the show in my humble opinion were "SOMEONE TO LOVE" , "STRAPPED FOR CASH" and "HOTEL MAJESTIC" off the new album; Traffic and Weather But when the band started to play "STACY'S MOM" the crowd really responded. Part of this was because Fountains of Wayne were the opening act for Squeeze. Most of the people were there for Squeeze, but should have been there for Fountains of Wayne.

The song that pushed the show over the edge was "RADIATION VIBE", a great song on their debut album, but a better song live. The lead guitar work live was fantastic, and the combining of Steve Miller's "JET AIRLINER" into the song was a real treat.

Now, for the bad. Squeeze did not approve a photo-pass for their show. So when I arrived at the box office I was told that since the the headliner had had said no to a pass, I was not going to able to shoot Fountains of Wayne. I pointed out to the lady at that I was approved to shoot the opener and they needed to figure out a way to make that happen. They finally realized that there could just let me shoot the first band, and not the second. I had no problem with this, but for the life of me I couldn't understand why Squeeze would turn down free publicity. They have not had a hit in years unless you count their music being used in beer commercials. The venue was empty when I arrived, 15 minutes before showtime.

The venue never did fill up. I did not stay for the whole show.
I watched Squeeze from my 5th row center seat for a while, but after a while the bad sound and the annoyingly repetitive video display behind the band started to give me a headache, so I went to the back of the seats and watched from there for a while. I never did make it to the end of the show.

Comments

[BINB]

Great shots as always Alan...I am surprised Fountains of Wayne was the opener....I like the shot between the monitors of the drummer....very cool

[Odessa]

Fountains of Wayne huh, I'm off to buy the album!