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  1. As a performer, I can totally appreciate why you would feel that way.

    It's like when my students all eagerly answer a math problem that I've posed to them....

    ....um, no it's not.
  2. Well gentlemen (Ed and Ron, anyway), it appears our 2006 reviews have been put on (permanent?) hold - I understand, life tends to get too busy for these kind of things. However, I typed out reviews for the first NA leg and I intend to post them both. One will come today, the other tomorrow.

    How about we simply do our own "show of the month" next time around?
  3. East Rutherford 1 (2006-06-01)

    I am assuming that we are not reviewing the short show played at the Irving Plaza in NYC the night before.

    With only two shows left and them playing (pretty much) their NYC shows (even though they’re across the water, so to speak), one has to have high hopes. They’d still yet to open with either “Oceans” or “Sometimes,” so fingers crossed. I know for sure that they don’t open with “Sometimes” during either show. I’m just trying to provide a little suspense.

    The concert begins with the whirring that signals the start of “Severed Hand” - a pretty good opener. I was expecting “Word Wide Suicide” next but instead they perform “Corduroy” and then “WWS.”

    A hard version of “Do the Evolution” is next then “Marker in the Sand” (which missed the last two shows) follows. The performances of both songs are good but they should have switched the order. Like “Corduroy” and “Evolution,” “Given to Fly” has become a band (and fan?) favourite on this tour and is played next. I believe the appearance of “Dissident” provides a little “refreshment” but then the arrival of “Even Flow” reminds me that this is the 15th show I’ve listened to in almost as many days.

    “Army Reserve” sounds just fine (although I can see why they don’t play it that much these days – it’s certainly not spectacular).

    The best moment of the show arrives as “Immortality” is played for only the second time. Rumour has it that they kept messing it up during the 2000 tour. I haven’t listened to that many shows from that year (at least not in their entirety but the Toronto version sounds great.) I’m going off on a tangent – back to the show.

    “Green Disease” is next (meh) but it segues into “Not For You” – a PJ classic. Admittedly, there was a glitch or two during the song (namely Jeff’s bass) but it included a proper “Modern Girl” tag so it’s definitely a highlight.

    They attempt to play “Alone” but completely mess it up at the beginning of the second verse. I guess you have to admire them for trying it in the first place and even more so for “getting back on the horse” and picking it up where the left off. Afterwards, EV tells the crowd “we know this one” and they break into “Jeremy,” which I’d guess made everyone happy.

    The main set ends with “Why Go,” “Life Wasted” (which seems to be nestling into this near-the-end-of-the-main-set position,) and “RVM.” Very good. Very standard.

    Encore 1 starts with that “Wasted Reprise/Man of the Hour” combo. I hate to say it but “MotH” is starting to bore me. It’s a great song but they have so many others similar to it that could also have played from time to time. I guess this is the first full tour where they get to show it off – almost three years after it was released! I suppose it’s too bad they very rarely play it anymore. Maybe they too got bored of it.

    They continue keeping things relatively calm by playing “Come Back” (fine, it’s the Avocado tour) and “Footsteps” – always a treat. At the end, EV even mentions that this was one of the first three songs the band wrote together. The end the set by playing the other two, “Once” and “Alive” – both are great. The ending of “Alive” is extremely intense.

    Encore 2 is a relatively length one where the band play seven songs. It starts off very well as they played “Last Exit,” which doesn’t get the attention it deserves nowadays. However, “Comatose” is next (in the second encore again, eh?) and it is followed by “Leatherman,” not one of my favourites. Heck, it wasn’t even good enough to make the Lost Dogs compilation a decade ago. For the record, I think somebody screwed up on the PJ admin end and accidentally forgot to include it.

    Back to the concert: This night closes with some fun – and not the usual! A couple of lesser-known tracks from Vs are played (if that designation is even possible from an album as big as {i]Vs). “Glorified G” sounds solid and “Leash” (played yet again after such a long absence) brings the show home.

    I should add that probably the most interesting part of the show (the tour?) occurs “ ends and EV mentions that the last time they were in the area they played a particular song (he doesn’t not actually name it but any semi-educated PJ fan knows that he is referring to “Bu$hleaguer”) and that it hadn’t gone over too well. He then asks the audience to respond via cheers or boos how they’d feel if they played it “now” – although he insists a couple of times that they have no intention of playing it. The number of boos definitely overpower the cheers. EV goes on to discuss how the last time they played in the area someone brought a sign saying, “play Leash, pussies.” Whether you wanted them to play the song or not, who in their right mind would take the time to make such a sign? An idiot, I guess – I hope it wasn’t you, Ed. In any case, they played “Leash.”

    So “RITFW” and “YLB” to close things up? Not tonight. Instead we get my preferred combo, “Baba O’Riley” and “Indifference.” Awesome.

    Highlights: Dissident, Immortality, Not for You, “Momma-Son,” Last Exit, Baba, Indifference.

    Rating: I could go as high as 4.5 but I think a few glitches keeps it at four stars.
  4. Oddly enough, I'm listening to Pittsburgh 2000 right now which means I'm just finishing off the first NA leg from that year.
  5. Originally posted by RUMMY:Well gentlemen (Ed and Ron, anyway), it appears our 2006 reviews have been put on (permanent?) hold - I understand, life tends to get too busy for these kind of things. However, I typed out reviews for the first NA leg and I intend to post them both. One will come today, the other tomorrow.

    How about we simply do our own "show of the month" next time around?


    so sorry Matt .. i know it's a pity at this point and you're definetely right .. but when The Boss is around he sucks almost all the lifeblood hehe
    (Bowie last release got a lot of attention too)

    do you mean picking "randomly" a gig from a "random" tour?
  6. ^Exactly. We could agree upon a certain year and pick one show each from that year - or even a pair/triad of shows if it was at the same venue.

    For example, we agree upon choosing the 2000 tour. Ed picks the three Jones Beach shows, you pick one show (or both shows) from Italy, I pick the Toronto show, and anyone else could pick a show (Glasgow, Kieran?) Obviously, we don't have to choose shows from our home regions but you get the idea. We would then listen to and review one of these shows (or one set of these shows) over the course of a month.
  7. got it ... it's a very nice and workable idea for me
  8. Originally posted by RUMMY:Well gentlemen (Ed and Ron, anyway), it appears our 2006 reviews have been put on (permanent?) hold - I understand, life tends to get too busy for these kind of things. However, I typed out reviews for the first NA leg and I intend to post them both. One will come today, the other tomorrow.

    How about we simply do our own "show of the month" next time around?


    Hey Matt. Been in Boca a lot past few weeks. Now my Rangers are in the playoffs and DMB are starting their yearly summer tour. Im going to 7 DMB shows this summer, so I have been playing them nonstop.

    I really havent listened to PJ much at all. Their lack of touring and lack of new material has frustrated me to all time highs of annoyance

    That was a solid review of NJ N1.

    Show of the month sounds good.....maybe this will kickstart me a bit.
  9. Hopefully everything will be good with you and PJ by the fall. I'd be shocked if their tour didn't included a night or two in NYC and maybe we'll even get a new album.

    I have to admit that I haven't anticipated the release of a PJ album since Yield!
  10. ...and here's night #2

    East Rutherford 2 (2006-06-03)

    The last of 16 shows on the first leg of this tour.

    Well, I was hoping for a classic opener but instead we got “Severed Hand” – and I couldn’t really here the whirring intro on this one! Oh well, I got over this pretty quickly since what followed was pretty incredible.

    I know they’ve played this one most nights but “Corduroy” still sounded pretty fresh/energetic to me and there’s no knocking “WWS” here – they had to play it and they played it well. “Hail, Hail” makes a return after missing several shows and it sounds fantastic – and it leads very nicely into “Animal” – yet another rockin’ start!

    It’s time to slow things down a bit – good call with “Love Boat Captain.” It’s not as heavy as the earlier songs but it still has lots of oomph, as does “In Hiding” which follows.

    It’s the last show of the first leg so “Even Flow” must be played. It’s only missed one show on the tour. I’m sure the crowd loved it. “I Am Mine” follows – good positioning as its tempo suits the calm required after the band plays one of their biggest hits.

    The somewhat mellow mood continues as a really nice version of “Gone” is next. Like “LBC” it’s not a rocker but it has a lot of passion. I love the line, “When the gas in my tank feels like money in the bank.” They should bring this one out a few times WHEN they tour in 2013.

    Things pick up immensely as they break into “Comatose” (glad it’s not in the encore) and “State of Love and Trust” (could be saved for the encore). They two songs are hard and heavy at the right moment in the show. These are followed by “Rats” and “Garden” – great, but lesser known songs from their earlier albums – perfect for the long-time, hardcore fans.

    Mike McCready gets to show his stuff as the main set ends with two riff-infused songs, “Inside Job” and “Porch.” I think EV chose his songs very wisely tonight – the best songs from Avocado and the right mix of earlier popular and not-as-popular songs from previous years.

    The first encore, surprisingly, does not open with “Man of the Hour” but “Army Reserve.” However, this really seems insignificant as “Hard to Imagine” follows. Like “Wash” this is a song that I never paid much attention to until a year and a half ago. It’s a beauty and it goes to show you that even though you might own all of a particular band’s albums there’s always still more to learn.

    I’ve always called “Last Kiss” the most overrated song PJ has recorded. This opinion wasn’t improved by two awful performances earlier in the tour. Also, I was surprised to hear that they played it on this evening due to request from the crew! Anyway, this evening’s performance wasn’t all that bad, I will confess, and it didn’t hurt that another great version “Black” (which included the “We Belong Together” tag) followed. I was waiting for “Alive” to close out this first encore but “Crazy Mary” and “Last Exit” (very poetic, sort of) finished.

    Encore 2 starts out with the “Wasted” combo - maybe a bit late for the last encore of the last show of the first leg but I do like the paring of the two songs. An intense version of “Lukin” runs into “Leash” (Again!?!!?!? Wow!) and then it’s time for Stone to take the mic. Will it be “Mankind” or “Don’t GImme Know Lip?” I guess I’m not one of those fans that loves EVERYTHING by the band (although I don’t love everything from ANY bad so...) so when Stone gets to sing I must admit I’m a bit let down. All of this said, he performance (of “DGMKL”) isn’t too bad. “Why Go” follows – a great song but I would have loved it if they chose to play “Breath” or “Deep” here instead.

    It’s time for a near-the-end-of-show cover song. It’s not “RITFW” It’s not “F’n Up,” either – and they played “Baba” near the end of the previous New Jersey show. Instead, they bring out “Leaving Here” (dedicated to all the ladies in the crowd). This is a long-time PJ cover and another one of those songs that I’ve only recently started to appreciate. It’s a fun song.

    For the first time in the 16 leg 1 shows, I thought “Alive” was going to be omitted from the setlist but it makes an appearance in the second to last spot. I believe it’s the only non-Avocado song that was played at all 16 shows. As expected, they put a lot into this performance.

    The show closes with, of course, “Yellow Ledbetter” – and I’m glad it did. Although I have a bit of a problem with this song’s overuse as a show closer, I have no issue with it being the last song of any given leg of a tour.

    Highlights:

    Rating:

    Tour Comment: Although the band did a great job performing most of the new album (thankfully, no “Big Wave” – yet) and a wide variety of stuff from their back catalogue – including long-shelved songs like “Why Go,” “Garden,” “Rats,” “Satan’s Bed,” and “Leash” – there are a dozen songs (one that would realistically have been played in 2006, I should specify) that I would have liked to have heard at least once. They are: Oceans, Deep, Breath, Tremor Christ, Sometimes, IN MY TREE, Habit, Nothing as it Seems, Light Years, Breakerfall, Of the Girl, and Can’t Keep. All 12 of them were played in 2003. Fortunately, many of them (but not all) will be played at least once in the 2006 shows that follow.
  11. Originally posted by RUMMY:Hopefully everything will be good with you and PJ by the fall. I'd be shocked if their tour didn't included a night or two in NYC and maybe we'll even get a new album.

    I have to admit that I haven't anticipated the release of a PJ album since Yield!

    Im sure by then I will be in my PJ mood. In the fall,I tend to listen to Radiohead and PJ a lot. I listened to Radiohead a lot this past winter, they are the perfect band for when you are miserable..lol

    Warmer weather..means DMB on the road and new music and good times..!!!!
  12. Didn't you see DMB four times last winter?
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.