It was four years ago today...
I just logged on to The Guided By Voices Database (www.gbvdb.com -- a great resource for any GBV fan) to see how long the fourth side of the first Acid Ranch album is (FYI--the Database doesn't list this, but I was able to find out that the second record is 41:56 long ... these are the things I wonder about during the day). Anyway, in the "On This Day in GBV History" box for today, it was noted that on this exact day, four years ago, GBV played in Columbus at the (I assume now-defunct, because I haven't heard anything about it since) Music Factory.
Why is this significant? Well, I guess because it's one of the 20+ GBV shows I attended. Ron House played a great opening set, and of course GBV rocked the house. The show was so good, I even wrote a review for the Flyer News (securing my position as the only person that year to write for each of the FN's four sections--News, Opinion, A & E, and Sports). I have to admit, though, four years later my lead ("On a weekend when the Grammys seemed to captivate the music world, the real action took place Friday at The Factory in Columbus, where Guided By Voices reminded everyone that awards are meaningless.") doesn't sound as cool as I thought it did then.
Looking back, though, perhaps the most memorable thing about that show was MTV-VJ Dave Holmes' appearance on the side of the stage. I guess he was there as part of some MTV-sponsored event at the club attached to the Factory. Actually, come to think of it, some of my friends from UD ended up at the MTV thing after the show and met Craig Krenzel there (they said he was a pretty cool dude, actually). Anyway, Dave Holmes' appearance is a distant second in my pantheon of Columbus "Where the hell did ____ come from?" concert moments (#1 being Eric Clapton's appearance on stage with Stevie Ray Vaughn's brother before a Bob Dylan show that I wrote about here).
Why aren't there any more bands like GBV, for whom a 49 song set is routine? We may never see their likes again....
