Karl's Corner - 06/07/2001

6/7/01: das boot 2: NYC! +the return of Speed

Today's show was truly an adventure! The contest winners were directed to a "secret location", namely a pier on the Hudson River side of Manhattan. Meanwhile, all the gear and everything had been set up on a medium-size cruising boat (i dont know the terms- it looked bigger than a yacht, but wasn't like the "Love Boat" or anything. Well, actually, there was a lotta love on that boat! The guys soundchecked, the winners boarded, the boat launched, and we started on a long journey halfway around Manhattan and back. Due to the low cieling and lack of stage, the people in front were asked to sit down so the people way in back could see the band. After a round of old hits from Queen over the P.A., the guys took the, uh, carpet, and rock was achieved.

Today's performance of "Undone" had a special "guest rapper", namely Tim "Speed" Levitch, an old aquaintance of the band who is possibly the oddest, yet most interesting person in New York. Tim's "sweater rap" is featured on the '96 Y-100 Sonic Sessions acoustic Undone, and he performed his Undone meltdown at several shows back in '97, so this isnt the first time Tim has joined the guys to weird things up. (Adventurous types should go rent the documentary film "The Cruise" for an in-depth look at this hombre...)

Todays show also featured the brand new songs "Burnt Jamb" and "Keep Fishin'", to the obvious delight of the fans.

Before the show the guys were interviewed at length for Mtv.com. Im not sure when this will become available nor in what format yet, but it was a pretty good group interview...Unfortunately, however, the interviewer asked the guys about their recent split with their management. While the guys knew that this type of thing would be asked about sooner or later, it still served as a painful reminder of the worries that are on everyone's mind at this point. The guys are realy hoping that everything somehow turns out ok in the end...