Better Than Ezra Stopped in Cleveland Last Night

Submitted by Candis_Hecking on June 24, 2009 - 8:11pm.

Another awesome show last night at the House of Blues. Hopefully you are not here looking for a review of the New Kids On The Block concert that was at Blossom last night. I chose to see Better Than Ezra instead and I'm pretty confident that I saw the better of the two bands. However I did see NKOTB several times in the 90's when I was much younger. I've also seen Better Than Ezra several times so my decision last night was pretty easy.

The show began at 9:45 with "Turn Up the Bright Lights". There was a decent sized crowd but the place was far from packed. I'm always surprised that more people don't attend these shows. It's such a great venue and a good opportunity to hear awesome bands.

BTE has a great sense of humor. Their shows are so personal. While on stage the band seems so calm and sincerely happy to be there. When BTE is on tour I would imagine that every show is completely different. The band made a comment that they have so many songs that it's hard to choose what to play so they try to mix it up during every show. If someone yells out a song title they'll play it. Last night someone wanted to hear "Review" ( I think that was the name but not sure). Kevin Griffin immediately started to play the song but admitted half way through that he couldn't remember the lyrics.

The set list last night included many songs I love from the band including "Good", "A Lifetime", and "Extra Ordinary". Although I do know quite a few of their songs and would of been happy hearing whatever they chose to play. It was also nice to hear new songs off of the recently released album "Paper Empire" including "Absolutely Still" and "Black Light".

So, yes I listened to Better Than Ezra all day today. Hopefully they'll continue to tour in the years to come and if you haven't seen them you can catch them next time. They've only gotten better over the years so I'm sure next time they stop in Cleveland the show will be just as good as last night's performance.

Comments

The song is probably

The song is probably "Rewind".

Perhaps next time a reviewer should be a fan of the band, not simply someone who chose them over NKOTB.

Submitted by Guest from MA (not verified) on June 26, 2009 - 8:11am.

For your information it was

For your information it was the third time that Candis had seen the band.

http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/10353

Submitted by Eugmc on June 26, 2009 - 8:44am.

The song was "Under You" (my

The song was "Under You" (my friend and I requested it)

Submitted by Guest (not verified) on June 26, 2009 - 1:11pm.

Rewind

It was hard to hear what the title was. Even though I'm a fan of the band I never said I knew every one of their song titles. Kevin Griffin must not be a fan of his own band since he couldn't remember all the lyrics to the song.

Submitted by Candis_Hecking on June 26, 2009 - 1:35pm.

Yea he's probably not a fan

Yea he's probably not a fan of the band because he can't remember the lyrics of a song that was written well over 10 years ago and is never performed. The guy has written hundreds of songs. Please forgive him for forgetting the lyrics to one damn song.

Submitted by Guest (not verified) on June 26, 2009 - 10:17pm.

Hey - Give the reviewer a

Hey - Give the reviewer a break. He didn't say he was sure about the requested song. At least he has good taste in music, gave a good review and was not snobbish like many reviewers that go to different bands' concerts. He didn't say he was superfan of the year (nor does he have to be to go to their concert).

Submitted by Guest (not verified) on June 27, 2009 - 5:39pm.

I saw them two nights in a

I saw them two nights in a row: Indianapolis and then the following night in Louisville. I loved it because I was able to get front row each time without being there hours before starting time. There was barely room to stand at the Indy show since it was a smaller venue, but the Louisville show was huge. It was a free one sponsored by Dream Factory and held at 4th Street Live, which is the coolest venue I've been to. I'm heading to St. Louis in late July to see them again. I am a huge fan of BTE, and the reviewer is correct... these guys seem sincere at every show about being happy to be there.

Yes, considering they now have 8 studio albums, I can understand how Kevin might not remember all the lyrics to a song I've never heard them play live. I am assuming the song was "Rewind". I've never heard them play "Under You" live either, but both are incredibly written songs. "Rewind" is the older of the two and came off their 2nd album. Kevin does write a lot of songs for other people, so I absolutely give him a pass on that. I've typically yelled out song names, but I'm not exactly sure how willing they are to play too many requests. It's always worth the effort though.

Submitted by Guest (not verified) on July 1, 2009 - 10:06am.