Dear friends,
Hard Taco fans are the best fans on earth. I've said it before, and when I die I want it written on my gravestone. When we play a gig, we try to really connect with the audience in a deeply personal way. One of the burdens of being that kind of artist is that I can't physically leave the stage at the end of the night unless I have actually made somebody weep.
Anyway, contracts and other legal mumbo jumbo have prohibited us from putting out a live album this year. (Please direct all hate mail accordingly!) December's song is a taste of what would, and hopefully will, be on that album if we ever get a competent freaking manager. (Just kidding, Milo - We still love you!) Anyway, if you ever went to a Hard Taco show in the club days, you may remember 'Minnowman.' It's an a old concept piece from a previous incarnation of the band that we unceremoniously exhumed and dusted off during the Black Bean Tour in '99. One night in Oakland, we came onstage planning to open with the Men At Work medley, but instead were greeted by the sounds of 6,000 screaming co-eds chanting "White Funk! White Funk!" From that night on, 'Minnowman' was the opening tune, and by the end of the tour some fans were actually smuggling live guppies in baggies and hurling them onstage. Very uncool. Those were the worst fans on earth. I'm thinking about putting it on my gravestone as an addendum. Anyway, I was not at all surprised that bumping the Men at Work medley to second didn't seem to lessen anyone's enjoyment of it.
This particular recording of 'Minnowman' was from January 2000, at the Regency Arena in Charlotte. It was a special night for two reasons. First of all, we rocked about ten thousand people "harder than ever," (The Carolina Herald's words, not mine!) Also, it was the night we found out Isaac Asimov had died so the show had that much more emotional weight. Lots of people were weeping when that show ended, and I was no exception.
With warmest regards,
HT
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