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| Where will the Big Wu be playing next? |
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[9/17/2010]
Ames, IA
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[9/18/2010]
Franklin, MN
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[10/30/2010]
Aberdeen, SD
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[10/31/2010]
Fargo, ND
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[11/25/2010]
Minneapolis, MN
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| Extra! Extra! Read all about the Big Wu's recent appearances. |
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[7/11/2009]
Geneva, MN
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[7/10/2009]
Geneva, MN
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[7/3/2009]
Minneapolis, MN
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[6/18/2009]
Minneapolis, MN
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[5/23/2009]
Geneva, MN
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Whenever the Big Wu is in the news, we try to track it down and post it here. However, this doesn't happen without help! If you know of an article we're missing, please let us know by sending us a note.
The Big Wu, Roseland Theatre, Portland, OR
3/7/2003
Read Article
Author: John Zinkand
Author: jambands.com
The Big Wu returned to Portland in grand style after being absent for close to a year, although the experience has changed slightly from past shows. Jason Fladager has left the band and the Big Wu definitely sounded different as a four piece. This was not a bad thing, however, just different. While there were noticeable peaks and valleys throughout the evening, overall it was a fine show. I could hear the band struggling to redefine old songs at times while other times they seemed to effortlessly spin new twists on old favorites. The scaled down set-up throws everyone into the spotlight a bit more. The newest song the band played, Low Down, was written for the new configuration which was easy to feel. Although it is a relatively new tune, it felt more complete than some of the older tunes that seemed to be missing something without that extra guitar line.
It was a warm and dry Tuesday evening in Portland. The Roseland is not one of my favorite venues, but I figured it would be fine to see the Big Wu there since the place wouldn't be packed to its thousand plus capacity. The balcony, the only place one could acquire an alcoholic beverage at this all ages show, was jammed full with more people than the floor before the start of the set. But by the time the band took the stage, everyone eagerly came down from above to dance on the roomy floor. The venue wasn't even close to full capacity, which was a real treat. Everyone had more than enough room to dance, check out different perspectives, or even hang out in the front row. Very chill, yet pretty good attendance and energy for a Tuesday night in Portland.
They started things off with and old Wu song, Silcanturnitova. The funky song had some strong organ work by Al to kick things off, but guitarist Chris Castino never really took a big solo, mostly providing the rhythm for Al's leads. At the end of the tune some guy in the balcony screamed "SARAH!!!!" at the top of his lungs. Bassist Andy "Padre" Miller ran with it and said, "Sarah, what he's trying to say is that he's so sorry he cheated on you with all those other women and...." It was pretty funny and everyone chuckled at Padre's quick wit. The guy in the balcony then yelled down, "THE BIG WU RULES!!!!" and everyone cheered and clapped. It was a nice little tension breaker to loosen things up early on. After a solid version of the tune SPMC sung by Terry, the band started one of my personal favorites, Kensington Manor. The first jam was a fairly short and sweet organ build up, while the second extended jam got a little weirder. Al was playing all sorts of high synthesizer sounds and getting things pretty tripped out. Chris never really had a full on solo and he played a rhythm/lead mix, ripping off a few lead notes then playing some rhythm strums intermittently.
Next was Texas Fireball and it smoked. They broke the jam down and built it way up until it was slamming away over the familiar twangy chords. Chris began to take a nice solo here but it never developed into anything substantial. Andy on bass and Terry on drums were chugging away on all cylinders and generating some serious energy. They followed it up with a solid Tangled Up in Blue with Terry doing a nice job on the vocals. The tune blossomed into a beautiful thing with Al taking a soothing keyboard jam followed by some great organ work. Next the band played the song Oxygen. I love the groove and lyrics of this one. Andy kept it fresh with a nice little bass solo while Al added a brief solo on the lap-slide guitar. Then the jam really began to build up some organ tension with Chris bending notes and making the guitar whine and howl over top until it all became quite sinister and gritty. The entire thing eventually broke down into a loud chaos and slammed right into the song Elani, Queen of Afghanistan. Chris started to play hard at this point and traded some ferocious licks with Al. Jazz 88 was the next song and it felt a little bit different with the scaled
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