More from 1999 - Good Friday Experiment at MJQ (1999-12-29)

Here is the download - The Good Friday Experiment 1999-12-29

This is a show recorded at MJQ back when bands actually played the main part of the club (and not the Drunken Unicorn). They were officially called Good Friday Experiment by this time, and not their original name, which was Beale Street Green (after the Big Star record).

This recording was of the short-lived 5-piece lineup of the band, including Marcus Lowe on drums, Mathis Hunter on guitar, Rich Morris on keyboards, Justing McNeight on guitar, and Ed Rawls on bass. I thought the picture of above of them playing MJQ as the original four-piece was from this show, but I guess I was mistaken. This was one of my favorite incarnations of the band, with a great mellow California-style twang running through it.

At this time we were just starting to experiment with quiet music in our lives, and these guys took it to a respectable atmospheric level. I remember "working the lights" on this show, and in the trance of the music kept everything so dim that they couldn't see their own equipment anymore. We used to have these light boxes at The White Lodge where I lived with Ed and Rich that would randomly dim different lights in the series at different times, creating a very soothing experience while listening to ambient records late at night. I tried to replicate that idea here, but it didn't really translate to a club environment.

Soon after this, Marcus moved back to Arkansas to live on a farm and raise a family, and the remaining members of GFE pushed on as a quartet with switched instruments (Mathis took the drums and Justin took over guitar and lead vocal duties). They released several CDs, etc. but this is one of the only recordings in this special state.

Enjoy the drone.