Toad the Wet Sprocket

Toad the Wet Sprocket's Latest CD, Welcome Home: Live at the Arlington Theatre, Santa Barbara 1992

Media Play - October 18th 1997

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Media Play - October 18th 1997

On October 18, 1997 at 2pm I saw Toad the Wet Sprocket while they were doing a little acoustic set at Media Play in Orem. I don't think that Media Play realized how large a crowd they were going to have. There were people standing on the book tables and sitting on the CD racks. Toad played 5 or 6 songs mostly from the Coil CD but a couple off of their Fear CD. Glen, the lead singer, said that they hadn't done anything like this in about three years. I think that their popularity has increased a ton since they did this last.

After the songs they were going to stick around and sign stuff. I waited in line with my friend, Laura Mahoney. When there were only ten people between the group, and me, it was announced that the group was supposed to leave 15 minutes earlier. Then they announced that they were going to stay another 20 minutes. When we finally got up to have them sign our CDs, they weren't very talkative. They had played in Boise the night before and then rushed down to play in Orem. Then they had to get to SLC for a sound check before they opened the doors at 6pm. So I think that they were really worn out.

I think that the band pretty much stuck around until everyone got something signed. I had run home in the hopes that I could get my camera and get back in time to get a photo. When I got back the line was almost gone. (Which was around 4pm) So I did get a few pictures of them while they were signing. I just wish that I had had my camera when they were performing.


This is a picture that Randy, the drummer, took at their little Media Play show. He posted it on their web site at www.toadthewetsprocket.com. I've circled where I am.

About Toad the Wet Sprocket

So named in honor of a sketch by the Monty Python comedy troupe, Toad the Wet Sprocket's mellow, melodic folk-pop sound made them one of the most successful alternative rock bands of the early 1990s. Singer Glen Phillips, guitarist Todd Nichols, bassist Dean Dinning (the nephew of Fifties hitmaker Mark "Teen Angel" Dinning) and drummer Randy Guss formed the group in 1986 in their native Santa Monica, California; after honing their skills in area bars, in 1988 they entered a nearby studio and recorded their debut LP Bread and Circus in just eight days at a cost of $650. Originally sold as a homemade cassette in Santa Barbara record stores, the album made its way to the Los Angeles offices of Columbia Records, which signed Toad only after agreeing to the band's request to reissue Bread and Circus in its original form, without any alterations or remixes. The somber Pale, produced by Marvin Etzioni, followed in 1990; after years of persistent touring, Toad the Wet Sprocket's commercial breakthrough followed with 1991's Fear, as the single "All I Want" -- quite nearly left off the album -- became a Top 20 hit. Another single from the LP, "Walk on the Ocean," was also a success. Three years later, Toad returned with Dulcinea, which generated another Top 40 hit with the single "Fall Down;" In Light Syrup, a collection of unreleased material, appeared in 1995. Coil, Toad the Wet Sprocket's fifth proper LP, followed in 1997.

-- Jason Ankeny All-Music Guide

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