Time passes,
Events become mere memories,
The past...

And yet,
What is the future,
If not something 
We are building
Today?

But more, 
What is the "stuff" 
Of which we shape
The future,
If not the foundation of
The past?

Or rather, do we not build
On what has been...
Do we not reshape 
What has come before,
And what is now,
To create what is to come?

Ancient Greece,
Michelangelo,
Mozart,
Dickens,
A song in a darkened room...

Art itself, both
A building block,
And the building.
The past, the future
The present...

They are one.
They are you,
They are me,
And they are brought together 
By a common language
That spans all time...

The music 
Of life itself.

           

Brian Fitzpatrick 
at
The Bitter End
2/28/03

The set opened with the wistful, and disappointment-tinged, "Caroline"...

"As time moved on she slipped away
Trying to find herself;
What was I to do...?"

...before the band once more launched into the musically upbeat tune with which they'd begun their show just two nights earlier, "Shoot The Moon"...

      "Don't waste time
          on those useless
          dances...

       Fly within these
          circumstances..."

...and the always fantastic "murder song", "Cross That Line"...

"You know    I'm
bal-
ancing
on a dime...

'Cause
I ain't
killed 
you
yet...

But 
one
of 
these 
days..."

Next came that "oldie but goodie" from Brian's first album... "I Can't Be Your Savior"...a beautiful song when performed as a solo acoustic number, and (as I've previously mentioned) also one  beautifully enhanced by the competent additions of Brian's consummate band of musical brothers... 

   "Home's a place
       where you
       can stay...

    If I can't stay
       there, too,

    Then I guess
    I've got no home..." 

After this Brian called to the stage "a great singer/songwriter, a great person...and a fun guy!"  That guy, of course, being Michael McDermott, who paused momentarily to play a couple notes on Ed's piano before joining Brian at the microphone for a rollicking performance of the tune he created...and which Brian and the band have since continued to re-create, "Kung Fu Videos"...

"Ashtrays, bottles, banter and booze,
I've got dust in my eyes, and, 
blood on my shoes..."

Needless to say, more Fitzpatrick-penned creations followed, including a song sure to be an integral component in Brian's next album, "Further Down The Line"...

    "All those 
     things time
     can disavow...

    Thought I might
     roll the dice,

    And break 
      through
      somehow..."

...and an integral component of his last album..."Sweet Maria", which required a bit of quick instrument switching while the crowd waited in appreciative anticipation...

"Oh, sweet Maria, she knows how I need her,
She knows what she's doing to me..."

After this, Brian gave the band a short break while he performed alone on the beautifully simple, and  simply haunting "Valhalla"...

   "The December
        sun is rising
        and I 

     Just can't 
       escape the
       memory of
       your eyes..."

...before calling the boys back again for another tribute to a lost friend, one about whom those who knew him are surely all frequently "Thinking"...

   "I found myself
       thinking,

     Wondering what
        went wrong

     On that misty 
         August evening

      When I found out
         you were gone..."

...and announcing that they'd play two more songs, and then be "out of here". Brian offered the first of these, the new -- and incredibly energetic -- "Madonna In Rags" to his lovely girlfriend, Melissa...

"In the
 cold
 morn-
 ing 
 light

In the
dark-
ness
she waits"

...before indeed concluding with, not a ride into the sunset, but rather, a journey to the "North Woods"...

"As I wander amongst the weak, weary and the tough,
I won't lose faith in what I know to be...."

On which note I once more conclude with...

...much thanks to Bri and band!

And, of course...

See you next time!