i mother earth / moist
29-01-1997
civic centre, ottawa
(when i get back to the alter-reality, something else will appear in this space.)
moist was opening for i mother earth on this tour. i was there with a largely disinterested friend of mine; i was more into i mother earth, he was more into moist, but i went to see both bands and he really didn't care about i mother earth. i actually ended up moving away from him during the show (there was a third person there, but i can't remember who it was) and sitting a little closer, by myself, so i could pay better attention to the guitar work during the i mother earth set, while they were talking about video games or something. they nearly left during the i mother earth set...
the moist set was distant. they were kinetic on stage, but the sound was quiet and the venue was seated, creating an overall feeling of watching rather than participating. you'll forgive my blurry memory: it was literally over 20 years ago, now. but, what i remember is wanting the venue to be smaller. this was only the second concert i'd been to, and was actually a smaller venue than the first one, but it was the first time i really understood why arena rock gets a bad reputation. i wanted to be a part of the show; it was just impossible, due to circumstance - i had no choice but to sit and observe.
the i mother earth set was actually a little less constrained by the nature of the venue because the band seemed more cognizant of the constraints and tried a little harder to react to them by being a little bit more participatory. but, the same basic problem apllied: the sound was poor, and we were stuck in seats when we should have been on our feet. i'll also point out that i found the setlist a little bit radio-heavy, but i can't reasonably complain. they were better at edgefest a few months later...
as an aside, if you have a full set by i mother earth from this period then please upload it and send me the link - i can't find anything at all before 2015. this moist set is from about two weeks previous...