hey, I KNOW they aren't a cult... I'm just relaying some things I've heard from others... I find it an odd reaction and when I try to explain how ludicrous it is to think something like that, I get responses like "but they wear those matching robes" or "there are so many of them" or "that guy is so intense and he leans way out over the monitor and it's like he's preaching or something"

yep... that proves it! cult for sure

oh, and I never for a minute thought he was as happy all the time as he presents himself at the shows... generally, I think that only someone with a dark side could produce something like that...

sort of like stand up comedians tend to suffer from depression... not all of them, of course, but a very large percentage of them

he was pretty funny though, he mentioned Monty Hall and let's make a deal, then said, "i'm giving away my age" and, yeah, unless he is extraordinarily well-versed in pop culture, knowing about Let's Make a Deal puts him at 35 at a minimum LOL

I think they are great... the friends that went with me loved them too... one of them was a first-timer... a couple of them --who had seen the band before and like them--did complain about the "hard sell" for the merch table at the end of the show... and he did go on for at least 5 minutes... I was less forgiving than my friends were... that's a big group to tour with!!... but a couple of them were super super turned off when I mentioned how expensive it must be for them to tour with a group that big, they basically said something to the effect of "harumph!! they are on a major label! they aren't an indie band"

just FYI, I didn't have a problem with it myself, but it was for sure a very hard sell.... LOL and I don't remember him doing that the last time I saw them... in fact, I don't remember him talking as much generally the last time I saw them... he was really rattling on! personally, I enjoyed it

kinda miffed me that they didn't play 2000 Places though... at the end of the set, they did at least a snippet of almost every song on that album, and some they did the whole song... except for 2000 Places. And it was funny, because near the very end, there was a quiet moment and about 12 people around the room yelled "2000 Places" One person yelled "Hold Me Now" and it was that song that got played.

2000 Places is my fave song of theirs, so I would have liked to have heard it... and apparently I was far from alone. My guess is that the show is very pre-planned and choreographed and "Hold Me Now" was on the set list and so that's what they played. I didn't get a sense there was a whole lot of improvising going on. either that, or he just doesn't care to do the song anymore, because when all those people screamed it out, he said "I can't understand a word you people are saying" (though clearly he could) funny yes, but it was the one song I most wanted to hear

just wish they toured more often... this is the first time they've been up here since December 2004... and if selling more merchandise helps them do that, than okay by me!