A secret tour in 1996?

        Jeff did a solo "phantom" tour of small cafes starting in December of 1996 under these aliases. Other names he may have appeared as in at your nearest coffee shop or pub were: Father Demo, Topless America, Smackcrobiotic, The Halfspeeds, Crackrobats, and Martha and the Nicotines. When asked why he toured and did not let fans know, he replied in a letter that was posted to the official Jeff Buckley web site:

        "There was a time in my life not too long ago when I could show up in a cafe and simply do what I do, make music, learn from performing my music, explore what it means to me, i.e. have fun while I imitate and/or entertain an audience who don't know me or what I am about. In this situation I have that precious and irreplaceable luxury of failure, of risk, of surrender. I worked very hard to get this kind of thing together, this work forum. I have loved it and then I missed it when it disappeared. All I am doing is reclaiming it."

All dates are 1996:

• 12/6 - Westborough, MA at Old Vienna as "The Crackrobats"
• 12/7 - Boston, MA at Kendall Square as "Possessed by Elves"
• 12/9 - Buffalo, NY at Spot Coffee as "Father Demo"
• 12/10 - Cleveland, OH at Barking Spider as "Smackrobiotic"
• 12/12 - Manyunk, PA at La Tazza as "Crit-Club"
• 12/13 - Baltimore, MD at Ze Bean as "Topless America"
• 12/14 - Washington, DC at Misha's as "Martha & The Nicotines"
• 12/15 - Washington, DC at Soho as "A Puppet Show Named Julio"