The Preshow that Was and the Preshow that Was Not

The Musical Box
Electric Factory
Philadelphia, PA
Wednesday, October 15, 1997
General Admission
$18

94 WHJY presents
16th Birthday Concert
w/ Paul Rogers [sic] & Guests
The Strand
Providence, Rhode Island
Thursday, Rocktober 16, 1997
General Admission
$9.94

I was so excited. I was going to see my new boyfriend Roy for the first time in over a month. We'd get to spend five days together. I was going to see my favorite band Yes ten times over the next two weeks. But the Yes tour didn't start until Friday and there were other shows to go to too.

These first Yes shows and the preshows got added to my itinerary by a stroke of luck. I really wanted to see opening night of the tour. USAirways had a hub in Philly and had just introduced their USAir Express regional line. The newspaper ad showed rates, including a very cheap fare to Boston. I was still at my temp job at the stock brokers. I wouldn't have been able to e-mail Roy until the evening, so I called him from a payphone outside to tell him I could get to the first two shows of the tour!!! Roy still used a travel agent back then, and arranged to fly to Philly on Wednesday for the Musical Box show, fly to Boston with me, and then return home to St. Louis after the weekend.

I was living at home and I tried to keep my life private from my parents. I hadn't told them about Roy yet. Whenever he came to town, we stayed at a hotel or B&B downtown and I let my parents think I was off traveling somewhere. I've become such an expert in hotels in Center City Philly, it's funny to remember the old days. I knew where I wanted to stay - just as the El goes from being an elevated train line to a subway at the downtown border, it passes by a hotel. It was just the Comfort Inn on Delaware Avenue, but I liked seeing it everyday and having a reminder that Roy was coming and we were going to stay there. I still had a valid Student Discount Book and a valid-looking Student ID, so I was able to get a good rate. The place was nice enough, but not a convenient walk to the rest of Center City.

I met Roy at the airport and we went to the hotel. They offered a shuttle service to some local spots, and could take us to the Electric Factory. The shuttle was free, but had other passengers as well, so we got to the Electric Factory later than we planned. We met up with Linda there. Roy wanted to see the Musical Box more than I did - they've never played St. Louis. I would rather have spent this time catching up.

I've never liked this venue much. Problems with sightlines mostly. The last show I had seen there was all-standing and even up in the balcony, I couldn't see at all. This time, there were seats. But by the time we got there, doors were already open, and my view would be blocked sitting that far back anyway. This was the first "general admission-Rhea can't see concert" I went to with Roy, so he didn't know I liked getting there early and getting a good spot. Anyway, there were some bleachers off to the side, and I convinced Roy it would be better to sit in uncomfortable, but raised, seats. Linda had been at ProgDay with us a month earlier, and she showed us some of the pictures she had taken.

The Musical Box were my introduction to old Genesis live. They are a classic Genesis tribute band, and they strive to recreate the concerts - the same stories, note-for-note music, costumes, hairstyles, stage sets. This show in particular was a re-creation of the Selling England by the Pound tour. I mentioned in my blog entry about seeing Genesis that I got into them during the 80s and saw them on the We Can't Dance tour. I had heard some of their older material within the last couple years, but I still wasn't too familiar with it. I knew the band was theatrical, but I had no idea it was like this. Peter Gabriel hadn't just worn a different costumes for each song, he became a whole different character. It gave me a new appreciation of Genesis and an understanding of why people were going nuts over a tribute band.

There was one very cool thing about the Electric Factory. Electric Factory wasn't just a venue, it was owned by Electric Factory Concerts, the local concert promoter. I think they eventually got bought out by Clear Channel. Electric Factory Concerts also produced Yes' Union tour, not just the Philly show, but the whole tour. And a piece of the stage set - one of the six petals which folded down around the round stage - was on display at the Electric Factory. "Display" is too strong a word, it was just sitting there with no note about its history. But at another concert, my friend Scott recognized it. After the show, Linda, Roy, and I went up to the balcony to look at it.

Linda gave us a ride back to the hotel. The next day, we headed off to New England. This was the only time I've been to New England in the fall. We did driving from Boston to Providence to Boston to Hartford to Boston to Providence to Boston again. Thankfully these cities are all close by! The scenery was just beautiful - the highways were all tree lined and the colors were peaking. I didn't go out of my way to see New England in the fall, but I was the beneficiary of good timing.

We were supposed to get a preview of Yes - Jon and Chris were going to perform at a radio station's birthday concert at a club in Providence the night before the start of the tour. The headliner was Paul Rodgers of Bad Company and Free. I want to say that we heard an interview that day that Yes were still rehearsing and they wouldn't be able to make it. This show was the whole reason we stayed in Providence that night. We drove down to the club, but then decided it wasn't worth going to the smoky, hot, standing show if no Yes guys would there.

We drove around a bit and got to Brown University's campus. It was dinner time and Roy stopped someone to ask for a recommendation. They pointed us to Thayer Street, that street near every college that's home to restaurants, record and book stores, and other boutiques. We ate dinner there and walked around some more.

I didn't know it at the time, but Yes was rehearsing at Meadow Music Center, where they'd be playing the next night. Security was pretty lax, and I heard reports from people who were able to sneak in, see the band rehearse, and even meet them. I wish we had known, but I enjoyed the night.