The Chart Online

Concert offers great fun to new Ezralites
Jeff Reid

Executive/Online Editor

It s hard to remain an objective journalist doing a simple concert review after seeing the greatest band ever.

It had been almost four years exactly since I had last seen this group in concert, and that is far too long to go without seeing Travis, Kevin and Tom - collectively known as Better Than Ezra. Oct. 19 provided a chance to view a repeat performance.

Everybody filed into Curly s - which appeared to be nothing more than a warehouse with a bar in Tulsa - and immediately began to crowd around the stage for the opening act, Cowboy Mouth.

The last time I saw Cowboy Mouth was at a Dare to Care concert in 1996 in Springfield, Mo. The only thing I remembered about the group was that it was a slight one-hit wonder, with a single I couldn t even remember.

After the first song, though, I found myself thinking that for a one-hit wonder from six years ago, the band was pretty good.

After a couple more songs, the whole crowd, myself included, was really starting to get into the music, even though none of us (well, maybe a couple) knew any of the band s songs.

Cowboy Mouth played with a passion and energy that is hard to find in new bands today, especially bands that have been around six or seven years.

At one point during the closing song, the lead singer/drummer (a very interesting combination that has to be seen in person to truly appreciate), Fred LeBlanc, had the whole crowd, the WHOLE crowd, squat down on the floor. The fact that everybody in the crowd ducked down was, to me, a sign everyone was really into the band, despite being virtual unknowns.

Anyway, the whole crowd ducked down, and then, when the lights came back up, everybody jumped into the air at the same time, a sight I m sure looked cool from the stage. Better Than Ezra s Travis joined Cowboy Mouth to perform what was guaranteed to be the first ever cymbal-only solo.

Then the houselights went up, and as the stage techs came out to clear the stage, the entire crowd pushed harder and harder to get to the front of the stage. Better Than Ezra, the complete ensemble, was only minutes away.

Now let me say this right now - I am not the greatest writer in the world, nor will I ever be - so although my description will never truly do justice to the concert, I will try my best.

To begin with, you need to understand what it s like to meet a BTE fan, to be at one of the group s concerts.

While it isn t the biggest band in the world, I have no doubt BTE commands the most loyal and dedicated following in the world. Ezralites, a name given to the most dedicated of fans, at any concert will stand in the crowd and sing the word to every song; they will own every CD. Prior to the start of the show, you will hear and see clusters of them in the crowd talking about past BTE concerts, favorite songs, how they almost caught the football that is thrown out during This Time of Year, or how one of their friends got to go up on stage to play This Time of Year with the band.

I ve been to many concerts and have never seen a following this loyal.

From the opening note of Extra Ordinary, BTE had the entire crowd eating out of its hands. The band played all of the singles and all the songs that, to Ezralites, are practically singles, like Porcelin, Rewind and several others. However, the one complaint I have is that the group didn t play anything off of Artifakt.

It was great, though, to finally have my friends who had never seen BTE live finally understand why I always speak of the band and its concerts in awed terms. It was incredible to see the way my friends came around to the band and the excited looks on their faces when we left the concert.

The way the band plays to the crowd, the energy it puts into every song - just everything about the way the band plays - is incredible.

BTE can be playing an upbeat song like Good and move into a heartbreaker like A Lifetime. Nothing seems out of place.

Quite honestly, there is nothing like a BTE concert. I ve been to many concerts, and they all pale in comparison to seeing Better Than Ezra live.