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April 15, 2003 - Bronco Bowl - Dallas, TX, US Concert review by Dave Matt introduced the opening band, The Children's Hour, stating that they are Zwan's favorite band. They were amusing but I was turned off by the singer's fake Icelandic accent. C'mon they say they're from Chicago for goodness sake! David Pajo provided the drums for the middle half of the band's set. Despite the fake accent, the sound pumping thru the PA was pristine, perfect. My wife remrked that it sounded like we were listening to a studio recording. I was fairly disinterrested but certainly enjoyed Pajo's drumming. After listening to some modern, instrumental, dub music thru the PA, Zwan triumphantly took the stage. The audience greeted the band with cheers and photo flashes. With guitars chiming like bells, sounding like indy-rock veterans, they opened with 'Mary, star of the sea'. Sounded absoultly perfect! Pajo took over bass duties during the Beatle's cover of 'Don't Let Me Down' and played keyboard on 'Of A Broken Heart'. Acting like someone with 1 hour of work and an 8-hour work-day to fill, David paced himself and did nothing to draw attention away from his leader. He played 2 Gibson SGs. One red, one White. Matt, in addition to his fine guitar playing, added his vocals to a few songs. He mostly played a black Gibson, (looked like a 335) except on one or two songs where he played some fancy looking Strat. Paz traded her bass duties for violin during 'Of A Broken Heart' and keyborads on 'Don't Let Me Down'. She wore the tiny-est pink shorts that were probably bought in the little-girl's section, pink heels to match and a 'Hawaii' shirt. She rocked on the bass and was note-perfect on her harmonies. Could Zwan perform 'Lyric' without her? Certainly not! Jimmy rocked, of course. I thought he and Paz were going to explode my internal organs during the final encare of 'Spilled Milk'. My goodness, the decibles! Billy was ultra-confident and happy. He attempted some fancy pick-tossing, trying to catch a pick in his mouth, then behind his back, then tossing a pick to David. (which he caught) Afterward, my wife and I got to meet the band (minus Pajo) thanks to the back-stage passed won from the local alternataive radio station. We were given promo posters for the album and cool, triangular passes that said 'Zwan Guest'. About 40 people got to mee the band and get autographs, photos, whatever. Jimmy was the only one that seemed happy to meet the fans. The rest were starving and ready to leave the venue and get some food. Jimmy was ultra-excited to see the Starchildren 7-inch that he and Billy signed for me. 'They only made like 3 of these' he said! Billy seemed un-emotional about the meet-n-greet session. I asked him about the Zwan song 'Glorious', wondering if it would ever see a proper release. He shook his head and replied that it would not 'since everyone asks about it'. Should I have expected a reply that was any different? Probably not. He thanked us for coming to the show and we left satisfied by the perfect evening. Hilights? For me...'El Sol'. Perfect! 'Heartsongs', 'Broken Heart' and 'Desire' seemed somewhat lacking compared to the drama of the recored versions. All in all, it was wicked-awesome. If Zwan comes to your town, Don't miss the show! Maybe they'll play 'Ride A Black Swan' and 'Come With Me' at your show. (the tunes I wanted to hear)
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