December 27th, 2003

      Right off the heels of last night's gig we kind of stumbled into this one. With basically only a night's sleep separating the other gig with the prep for this one, we didn't really have time to shift mindsets. That said, we were pretty fired up. The band arrived late to the venue, so we didn't have time to practice (again!). In fact, when i got there at 2:30pm, 2 of the bands were already there. This was 3 hours early, mind you. Anyway, the band & co. eventually showed up and we got to work with setting up the sound system. In some kind of freak accident, we were actually about 10 minutes ahead of schedule for the entire afternoon.
      by 5:30, all bands were accounted for, and Factor8 was ready to take the stage. then, they took the stage. the metaphorical stage, of course, as Watson Hall doesn't have a real one. No-siree, just four hard walls, wooden ceilings, and a hardwood floor - making quite the sonic brain-fuzz. Their set was pretty decent, but the crowd wasn't really warmed up at this point. So are the tribulations of the opening band, i suppose. Or perhaps it's just a reflection on the DIY scene in houlton maine. i suppose we'll never truly know...
      After factor8 was Dustin Saucier's current abomination (i joke). Basically, the rest of Primer abandoned him the week before the show, and left him on his own. He was supposed to do an acoustic set, but instead assembled a band and prepared a set of material with them. Since MinorSetback Geoff was playing bass, we named the band G-Love and the D-Sauce, whether they liked it or not. Kind of like the way they finished their set whether we liked it or not. One of these days we're actually going to see Primer in it's theoretical form, i wager. until then, long live GLATDS!
      Following hot on the metaphorical and physical heels of GLATDS was Shoot The Piano Player, who we played with last night. These guys are sort of new friends to Softer, so it was cool for them to make the trip up from Orono, and from NYC before that. They're pretty hot stuff too, and it's great to see some new and developed bands up anywhere in Maine. They played a short set and really impressed at least 2 of the girls standing alone in the center of the floor. Also, Jess flipped out at this point of the show.
      Local MinorSetbacks Good Call kept the show rolling. This is the first time in a year we've seen these guys with the full lineup. We played exactly 1 year ago on this day at the same venue, and they've gotten quite a bit of zip and a little bag o' shake-yo-leg since then. They played with Softer for ERICROCK back in august, and they surprised us then - without their full lineup. It's kind of cool to have seen these guys grow up from tiny little Holding Down The Fortes up into what they are today. We have to give them more stuff. Much like the way they gave Ian a special anniversary cake! GOOD CALL!
      Our set was next. I didn't think it was as good musically as the Orono show, and i'm pretty sure that sentiment was echoed by the rest of the band. The night was fun though, because being our old-hometown, we knew lots of the kids, and lots of them actually came to this show for our set. This is the first show in a while that i can remember the population of the room crowding up near the performance while visibly enjoying the music. Much thanks to everybody who requested songs or sung along. Sorry we couldn't play all the requests. Gabe's throat was being a diseased girl and he couldn't sing them all. But hey, at least jon had to switch guitars, enabling us to perform "I Would Walk 500 Miles" in the pause.

caleb.


SETLIST
Confessions...
1913
Stopping Sound (Impossibles cover)
Calico
Atlantic Ocean
I Would Walk 500 Miles
TNT
ENCORE:
Element of Subtlety
It Always Snows

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