Impala Café 1996.11.24 [Los Angeles, CA]

Live fan show review by "Miss Eva" - found in the digital archive. [-AArtVark]

November 23, 1996 - Impala Cafe, Los Angeles, CA

  The evening of the last Babyland show for 1996 started for your humble narrator by watching LA based band THC. The stage setting was very appropriate for the mind-blasting (mind-numbing?) beats they assaulted to crowd with... all smoke machines and strobe lights, and a little equipment on an otherwise barren stage. The music definitely had its techno-oriented drums, loops, and samples drawing attention, but with the lack of activity on stage, it didn't manage to keep me focused. A few songs into the set, it felt more like a party with good music as a background to conversation, not in the foreground as they, and I, might have hoped. 

  One might say Babyland got a start on the wrong foot this night... before their set one of their speakers went out and Dan's vocals had to be piped through monitors, meaning he had to scream the vocals for them to be heard all the way around the cafe. Also, Dan was feeling a bit under the weather, and the combination was just enough to keep an energetic set from lasting too long.

  After a good twenty minutes of setting up, Babyland jolted us with 'Stomach', working the audience into a spastic frenzy. Dan and Smith followed up with 'Plain Talk', a great song to get older fans of the band riled up into a punk-minded riotous dance. Added as a twist was the sound of Dan screaming at the end of the song "I will never give in, I never did". New songs 'Omaha' and 'Five Fingers' were on the list as well, dancy, groove-oriented songs that fit in well with the rest of the set, including 'A Slow News Day' and 'Begin Again'.

  The definite high-point of the night was 'Arthur Jermyn', before which Smith chanted 'HPL HPL HPL'(the initials of author Howard Philip Lovecraft, who wrote the story 'Arthur Jermyn') after introducing as 'a song no one ever requests'. It was a rare moment where no one was thrashing around and all attention was diverted straight to a writhing Dan and a manic Smith.

  With a noticeably short set, it was a pull in two directions: satisfaction at seeing an incredible set and disappointment that it was so fleeting. But all good things come to an end... Good luck to the boys in 1997.

Sacred Grounds 1996.11.09 [San Pedro, CA]

Live fan show review by "Miss Eva" - found in the digital archive. [-AArtVark]

November 9, 1996 - Sacred Grounds, San Pedro, CA

  The Sacred Grounds show offered Babyland as the 7th of 8 bands to play at a show starting at 3 in the afternoon. My friend and I, however, did not arrive at the show until 9pm, so I was only able to catch E. Coli and Babyland. E-Coli wasn't at all bad... They had an interesting take on the too-often stagnant guitar pop-rock genre... nothing mind-blowing but the band members seemed honest and kept the music interesting. Their set was noticeably short, whether for lack of time or for lack of interest by the audience (most of the people at Sacred Grounds were outside smoking) I can't be sure.

  Babyland took longer than usual to set up, Sacred Grounds being so small all of their equipment had to be stored outside until they went on. They opened with the crowd rousing 'A Slow News Day', and even more crowd rousing came from Smith's shower of small toys and whistles to "bribe" the crowd out of sitting on the chairs. The climate was good, Babyland being well-received; though they weren't headlining it seemed most of the crowd came to see the band, or at least knew who they were. We were offered the oft-played single Omaha, a spark-inducing Dismissal, the dance-urging Begin Again, and two new songs; appreciation was shown with bouncing and interactive audience drumming.

  Unfortunately the evening took a bad turn and the set was abruptly ended after only 6 songs. More of the crowd toy fare were cans of fake snow, which ended up being sprayed in Dan's face by a small boy and caused great pain and the set's close. All in all, though short, the show was great. Yet another Babyland satisfied evening.

Faultline, The 1996.11.02

Live fan show review by "Miss Eva" - found in the digital archive. [-AArtVark]

November 2, 1996 - Faultline, Los Angeles, CA

  Well, I would have a review of the show here, BUT I WASN'T OLD ENOUGH! Feh. I'm 20. Why can't there be any 20 and over shows :P Anyway, I'm trying to coerce one of my elders to give me a summary of this show so you left with more than just my ranting and raving.