Aha, someone with a couple of years on chris@secretsounds...(surprised you gave it up ras'). I went to the PBS taping, arriving several hours before the doors opened and sitting on the sidewalk -- drinking soda from a brown paper bag for the total wino ambiance -- was worth it. Although the sound quality was not good where I sat behind the guitar amp missing most of the vocals (two seats away from chris but not nearly important enough to mention), it was wonderful to see the band. They were so young and so nervous that you had to love them even without knowing the music. The Sunday show more than made up for anything missed on Friday. I think that any of the "roughness " that people have been commenting on was probably due to nerves or shyness, which was wearing off as the weekend wore on. I think that the amazing crowd reaction helped them loosen up a bit as well -- at the taping people were much more subdued and I don't think they got as much "feedback" -- people were pretty much huddled in the cold studio. On Sunday we, too, were imposed upon by the Times' photographer. She certainly had a way of spreading herself out and getting in the way -- and that flash!! -- at one point Stuart Murdoch put his foot up to block a shot, and the guitarist kept waving her away. I thought the Times review was lacking, with too much emphasis on things like instrument changes and too little attention to the magic of the music. For the record, it was so hot that they couldn't lower the mike because their fingers were sweaty from playing -- Doug was more than happy to help! Michele (sorry chris)) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister@majordomo.net -----------------------------------------------------------------------