<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><HTML><FONT SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">I, too, attended Joe's performance here in Chicago... however I was not disappointed in the slightest; it was everything that I expected and then some! There was a lot of humor... but it was dark in the classical Joe Frank sense (that bit about Suicide where he talked about lining up behind the cows at a Slaughter house! Come on now: That's pure brilliance!). Sure, it seemed a tad short; but, really, that's the highest compliment a performer can get (always leave the audience wanting more!)....<BR>
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<B><I>"Also, the material was too dark for me. I much prefer the surrealist sequences to the "I'm thinking about committing suicide" stuff."</B></I><BR>
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Maybe I'm just a fruit-loop, but the darker elements in Joe's work have always appealed to me in a special way. I guess if you've lived through feelings of that nature it strikes a more resonant chord within your soul. And, again, Joe dealt with the suicide concepts in a masterfully humorous way during the performance. Few men can accomplish such a delicate feat! And, on the real, this is <I>JOE FRANK </I>that we're talking about here. I don't think that Joe's work can ever be "too dark". It simply is what it is, and, if you dig it, you dig it like a preacher digs the word of God! <BR>
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Joe's versatility is unbelievable, too. No matter <I>what </I>comes to your mind, I guarantee you that you'll be able to find material in Joe's body of work that is reflective of those thoughts. His work is all-encompassing in a mind-boggling way. And, in my opinion, he touched upon a little bit of everything during his performance here. Parts of it were dark, and parts of it were uplifting; parts of it made me laugh till my ribs were sore, and parts of it made me sob like a colicky baby. It was brilliant, and it was provocative, and it was enthralling. I was entertained in a way that only Joe Frank has the capability of entertaining me in, and I couldn't have asked for anything more.<BR>
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<B><I>"I had never seen Joe Frank in person before, and I found he looks far older than I expected based on his voice and the other pictures of him I've seen. He looks old but he doesn't look dilapidated, though; not that appearance is all that important, but it is part of the overall impression. He looked rather distinguished, really."<BR>
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</B></I>I should hope that I'll look that good at Joe's age! I'd already seen all of the commercially available footage of Joe (Playboy Videos, his brief cameo in "The Game", etc.), so I wasn't surprised at all by his appearance. I loved his gear -- Suit Jacket, T-shirt, White Sneakers! The man's got impeccable class, and cuts a rather dashing figure (the group of ladies sitting across from me remarked, after the show, on how sexy Joe looked! I was like, "Aww, yeah! Joe's a pimp!" haha!).<BR>
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<B><I>"One thing I didn't like- the sound guy miked Joe wrong, in my opinion. It was nice crisp audio but sounded a little "thin" to really have that "Joe Frank dark" sonic color."<BR>
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</B></I>I'm not a sound-guy, or anything... but what I figured was that Joe was simply going for a more natural, subdued sound (kind of like you hear in some of his phone conversations). So, while it didn't sound like the classic "Cocktails Before Dinner" style Joe Frank voice, I thought it was very effective in an entirely different way... very organic and natural. He sounded phenomenal!<BR>
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Tara Nicole Hughes was a real firecracker, fellas, let me tell you! Boy was I happy each time she came out! haha! Geez Louise! And Ed Valfre was smoking over those tracks (classic Joe Frank music!). I was really impressed with his playing. He really tore those tracks up! It completed the whole mood that Joe's reading evoked so nicely!<BR>
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In a nutshell (the nutshell of one fan's personal opinion) Joe Frank's performance in Chicago was brilliant beyond words. Indubitably the greatest live event (of any kind) that I've ever had the pleasure of attending.<BR>
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By the grace of Allah --<B> </B><I>please, please, PLEASE -- </I>may Joe Frank return to the Windy City again some time soon to bless us all with his inimitable works-in-progress!<BR>
Hegesias<I><BR>
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