In a message dated 7/5/98 11:28:53 AM, whiskeytownavenues@onelist.com wrote:

<<Did they show up, and if so, how did things go?>>

sorry for the delay...in case you all are still interested, here is a slightly
amended review from that which i sent to my friends on the afghan whigs
list...

i am a *brand new* fan so please bear with me, and just remember the days when
you were an excitable and naive newbie! ;-)

july 3rd, hershey park, pennsylvania.

i missed a show that whiskeytown had played here in april with fastball--as
often happens, i discovered the band/got the record immediately *after* the
gig--so when i heard they were touring with john forgerty, i didn't want to
miss out again. the closest stop was this past friday at nissan pavilion in
virginia, but as that was the same night as girls against boys at the 9:30
club, an alternate venue was required. the next closest place was hershey
park--about a 3-hour drive from d.c.

as you all know, the band had cancelled a boston show earlier in the week b.c
ryan had some sort of medical problem which had acted up. i had been sick all
week myself with a sinus infection and was worried about driving all that way
to hershey only for the band to not show up. but the already-paid-for tickets
were 40 bucks (!) a piece, so i figured we might as well take the chance. ;-)

and it was worth it b/c whiskeytown were there in full-stride, and they were
great! slightly different than i expected though...i have both strangers and
rural free, but having never seen the band live, and not even knowing that
much about them yet, i mistakenly figured the show would be somewhat
atmospheric and introspective, so when i heard this rollickin sound from the
parking lot as we hustled to get into the venue (they went on at 7:30
exactly), i thought, "that can't be them." but when i rounded the corner and
saw caitlin on the violin, i knew i was in the right place. :-)

ryan was hysterical--had all the rock (almost punk) star moves down--again,
surprising b/c it wasn't what i normally associate with country/folk behavior.
(this is the first band in the genre i have actually been interested in--most
of the other stuff i listen to is pretty aggressive altrock.) and yeah, as i
had read, he was sort of cocky, but i actually found it quite charming. i
guess 'cause he is still so young. they only played one song i
knew--yesterday's news. i guess the other songs were new, but i honestly don't
know--some of the selections may have been pulled faithless streets.

there were 6 ppl on the stage: a keyboardist, caitlin, ryan, a drummer, a bass
player and one other guitar player. i am not familiar enough with the band
yet to know if any of these folks are the same that have played on any of the
records. anyway, the last song was particularly memorable b/c ryan draped
this white towel on his big head of black hair, and it never came off the
whole song, even though he was jammin all over the place. it was like the
towel was mysteriously attached. then he went up to the drum kit, and i
thought he was gonna duet with the guy or merely bump him off, but instead, he
took the drummers place, and then the drummer went down and took ryan's guitar
and they finished the song on each other's instruments.

the whole scene was like being a teenager and watching your older brother's
band in the garage on a saturday afternoon. (or like watching the band that
the main character in "welcome to the dollhouse" had a crush on.) the 30-40
minute set was really fun and energetic. the audience seemed to like them
too, though it was pretty obvious i was one of the few ppl who came
specifically to see whiskeytown. i was really happy we made the trip.

fogerty was also fantastic. 2 hours straight of all the CCR hits from my
childhood--he couldn't have played more than 5 songs for which i didn't know
all the lyrics by heart. i'm thinking, "jeez, these guys cranked out a lot of
hits in a relatively short time!" his voice still sounds great as does his
guitar playing. and this new drummer he has is one of the best drummers i
have EVER seen. do any of you know anything about him? he is pretty young
(27-33?), and looks sort of like alexis from gvsb. i could not stop watching
this guy. when fogerty introduced the band, the drummer got a the biggest
response--even a standing ovation from some. his name is michael something
italian. i thought it sounded like canneloni, mom thought is was provolone.
i guess we were hungry! ;-)

anyway, that's what my virgin experience with whiskeytown was like. i would
go see them again in a second. (in fact, i can't *wait* to see them again!)
i don't need to tell ya'll that ryan has an incredible amount of charisma and
is a fantastic songwriter, packing in far more wisdom in his voice and lyrics
than you'd normally expect from a 23-year old. (no offense to the young'ins
on the list!) i expect big things from this band. :-)

so that's the scoop--thanks for reading.
laura