Concerts

November 14, 2000
The Middle East, Boston

Fastball

The Middle East, Boston (November 14, 2000)

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» KEVIN MAURER | STAFF WRITER

Fastball The Middle East, Boston November 14, 2000

It looks like Fastball may be on the short road to one-hit wonderville. The trio's new album, The Harsh Light Of Day, is not selling well, and radio won't touch new single "You're an Ocean." Unfortunately for a band with Fastball's live reputation, the tour is not going any better. Playing on a Tuesday night probably didn't help, but the band failed to inspire even the few fans (around 200) that did show up to Boston's The Middle East club.

The show consisted mostly of songs from Harsh, and started in an energetic fashion with "Fire Escape" from All the Pain Money Can Buy and "Morning Star" from the new album. But as soon as the band members realized that the crowd was smaller than they had anticipated, the wind came out of their sails.

For the rest of the show, guitarist Miles Zuniga, bassist Tony Scalzo and drummer Joey Shuffield looked bored. They ran through the motions of their show, but their fake enthusiasm was not convincing. It is a shame because the talented band writes good songs but needs to invest more emotionally for their performance to be effective. Saving their one hit, "The Way" for last didn't help -- it failed to inspire the crowd or the band.

Fastball writes catchy rock songs with good hooks. Too bad it won't be long until people ask "Where are they now?"

KEVIN MAURER |