farewell show
Sincere thanks go out to everyone involved in the Man of the Match CD release / farewell show on April 19. Both levels of the Pour House Music Hall were full, and we couldn't have asked for a warmer response. The night was abuzz for sure.
Wembley started the evening with a wonderful set of perfect pop. I'd heard great things about them, but had never seen them live. They were a treat and we are so glad they agreed to be on the bill with us. 
Our friends Regina Hexaphone were next. We first played with Regina Hexaphone way back in 2001(?) at the Local 506 on one of PHS's first trips to the Triangle. Their drummer, Jerry Kee, mixed both Tory and Man of the Match. They were always great champions of the Statement and they're true friends. It was perfect that RH played our final show with us.
The PHS has grown from 1 guy in 1998 to an 8 piece ensemble for this show. I really wish we could've
mounted an ambitious show like this every time we took the stage for the past 4 years. But it was hard enough coordinating the schedules of 4 guys...much less 8. So, for the first time ever we had the Statement sounding and looking the way it was supposed to sound and look. I'll spare you all my maudlin ramblings.....look for some tasty YouTube footage soon. Thanks again to all our friends for a great night.
set list: Cocoa Beach - Homecoming Parade - Powerlines - Through My Stereo - Terra Firma - To Zanzibar By Motorcar - The Rain Like a Gentle Dream - The Cross of the Mission - The Space Coast Is Clear - Man of the Match - The Wives of Astronauts - Everybody Says That We're Gonna Make It - Life Long After Space - All Your Best Laid Plans - No Long Way Home - Tory Pt. IV: Home - The Big Ones - They Call Him Moves. encore! - The Light of the ATM (Bravery Will Be Rewarded)
acknowledgements: guitar: Todd Henderson. drums, banjo, accordion: Matt Scialdone. bass, vocals: Chris Williams. guitar, vocals: Chip Taylor. Keys: Adam Pitts. trumpets: Mike Gusefski, Jeff H. cello: John Boles. video: Matt Williams. photos: Derrick Swing, Beth Neel, Paul Corbett.
Man of the Match Review
Nice little write up in this week's Independent Weekly.
Hello, I must be going
You are cordially invited to join us on Saturday, April 19 at The Pour House Music Hall in Raleigh for The Port Huron Statement's farewell show.
I know, I know, settle down, this is gonna be rough on all of us. But there are benevolent forces pulling the 4 astronauts of the PHS in many directions and as a result we've decided to take one final voyage on this ship.
The show will be a celebration of our finally completed third album, Man of the Match. We're playing the album start-to-finish and have some great treats in store for the show. We've added some musicians (piano, horns, cello, banjo) and we've added the visual element of a movie screen behind us. It is unclear what will be shown on the movie screen but it will probably be some combination of NASA footage, and home movies of the early days of the PHS playing in the Cavern in Liverpool.
Everyone that comes to the show gets a FREE Man of the Match CD. We also have some tasty new T-shirts, and depending on alcohol intake, they may end up being free as well.
So come on out! We've got our great friends Richard Bacchus, Wembley, and Regina Hexaphone on the bill as well. Richard gets things started at 9pm. Cover is five measly dollars.
Godspeed PHS,
Mr. Neutron
The Port Huron Statement Gorilla
ps...speaking of Man of the Match, you can buy that son-of-a-bitch right here
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE WORDS AND PICTURES . . .
Some Thoughts On the Original Port Huron Statement, Not the Compromised Second Draft (to be read aloud over appropriate meloncholy music, e.g. Adagio For Strings by Samuel Barber)
It is an odd emotion to "end" something that never really felt like it "started". The words "the port huron statement" have pretty much just been the label I've put on songs I've written since about 1998. (*a bit of trivia: I actually started out calling this The Captains of Industry, and later played a few shows under the inexcusable name The Captains of Upholstery). But it wasn't until the last few years that it really felt like a cohesive band. Even then we never achieved my dream of having a bus with PHS airbrushed on it.
From 97-00, I was living in Chattanooga, TN and recorded about 23 songs onto my four-track. I diligently edited those down to the best 22 and released "Home Recordings". This album was wildly received and embraced by my family and friends but generally ignored by the mainstream media and record buying public. Today it is out of print and very hard to find. Unless you know where I live. In that case, they're in the basement. Help yourself.
It wasn't until 2000 that Chad Nance and I (along with a Boss Dr. Rhythm drum machine and its brother, Dr. Sample) started playing shows live. Later, Chad was removed from the band due to his violent mood swings and refusal to give me back rubs after shows.
Todd Henderson got on board right around 9/11. It was our little way to fight
terror from Boone, NC. I would argue that we were somewhat successful. Al Qaeda is still virtually non-existent up there. We played out quite often and recorded the high-concept album Tory. Critics gushed over how well in tune the instruments were, and how all songs amazingly fell between 3 and 4 minutes in length. The world was our oyster. Well, Boone was our oyster, and Boone was dull. So we left. On to bigger and better things! On to the bright lights and stardom! On to where showbiz dreams come true! Raleigh, North Carolina!
We made some great friends in our new town and finally solidified a 4-piece lineup with the addition of Matt Scialdone and Chris Williams. While families and careers certainly made gigs infrequent, practice unpredictable, and songwriting spotty, we enjoyed a 4 year tenure with this lineup. In that time we periodically met over in Matt's garage (Praxis Audio) and recorded what would become Man of the Match.
I had grown tired of writing songs about British sympathizers, strippers, Chinese restaurants, and the bureaucrats down at the Rapid Transit Authority and decided to make astronauts my lyrical focus. More specifically, the foibles of these larger than life folks that face the same emotional hurdles as a suburban schmuck like me. (I will note that we started this album LONG before we all grew to know and love Lisa Nowak)
The result is, I think, the best album I've ever been a part of. We enlisted some great guest musicians and introduced trumpet, banjo, and cello, for the first time in PHS recording. Adam Pitts, piano, plays a major role on this album as does Mike Gusefski on trumpet. I am convinced that, given 5 more years, we'd have created the next Pet Sounds... or at least the next Kilroy Was Here.
Man of the Match is a fitting conclusion to this portion of my musical life. Todd, Matt, Chris, and I will no doubt continue to make music, very possibly with each other in some combination. Matt's still active with The Octobers and Chris still fronts Maple Stave. But the Port Huron Statement is going away. But please don't be sad. As Matt so eloquently put it, the PHS is not gonna die. The PHS is being driven out to the country to live on a farm where it can live a long happy life, just like those two un-trainable cocker spaniels, Popcorn and Bandit.
The summer air's a symphony... thanks for everything, friends, see you soon.
CTaylor
