Concerts Page

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Depeche Mode Pearl Jam R.E.M. Rush

Depeche Mode, The Exciter Tour Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland July 5, 2001

The high and low lights:

• Dream On (Intro) / The Dead of Night. A very nice beginning, with Fletch and the backup musicians coming on to Easy Tiger, then Martin with an acoustic guitar launching into the Dream On intro. Dave makes his entrance and the band drives into The Dead of Night, which sounds much better live than on record.
• Dream On. Translated extremely well live.
• When The Body Speaks. Dave never sounded better than on Exciter and this song best showcases his vocal range.
• Waiting For The Night. A duet by Dave and Martin; beautifully done.
• Freelove. Dead. Flat. A rare case where the added dimension of a live band kills a song.
• Enjoy The Silence and Personal Jesus. Rocked-out versions of these songs, similar to the ones DM's been doing since the Exotica tour. Excellent.
• I Feel You. A much more intense version than on the previous tour, with the crowd singing the "This is the dawning of our love / This is the morning of our love" chorus and Dave in full screamer mode.

Oh yeah... Poe did a great job openning the show for DM. If you have the opportunity, I recommend checking her out.

One other thing... I'd like to thank (not) the good people at Ticketmaster for selling me a seat that did not exist in my section/row. After dealing with my local usher for a few minutes, I'll just refer to her as The Dumb Blonde, I requested her boss who gave me a seat in the same section a few rows closer. So kudos to that guy for quickly making the best of a not so good situation :).

Set List

Easy Tiger (Intro) Dream On (Acoustic live intro) The Dead Of Night The Sweetest Condition Halo Walking In My Shoes Dream On When The Body Speaks Waiting For The Night To Fall The Bottom Line (Acoustic) Breathe Freelove Enjoy The Silence I Feel You In Your Room It's No Good I Feel Loved Personal Jesus Encore Home Clean Black Celebration Never Let Me Down Again

Depeche Mode, The Singles Tour 86>98 Patriot Center, Fairfax, Virginia November 11, 1998

Personal hilights:

• Only When I Lose Myself. The "new" song in the set, a very moody jazz-influenced piece, came off very well live thanks to a good Dave Gahan vocal.
• Enjoy The Silence and Personal Jesus. The versions I'd heard of these songs from the Devotional tour did not impress me. However, the versions on this night were the high point of the show.
• Never Let Me Down Again. If you've seen the versions of this song from Devotional or 101 then you know what happens toward the end. It was just great when they turned the lights on the audience and you could see 10,000 people moving in sync.

Set List

Painkiller (Intro) A Question Of Time World In My Eyes Policy Of Truth It's No Good Never Let Me Down Again Walking In My Shoes Only When I Lose Myself A Question Of Lust Home Condemnation In Your Room Useless Enjoy The Silence Personal Jesus Barrel Of A Gun 1st Encore Somebody Stripped I Feel You 2nd Encore Just Can't Get Enough

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Pearl Jam, Binaural Tour Merriweather Post Pavilion Columbia, Maryland September 4, 2000

"You know... it's not an easy thing to do... play music like this. There are nights when you don't want to do it, and tonight's one of those nights." Not exactly what I wanted to hear Eddie Vedder say about 3-4 songs into the show. Yet play they did for over two hours, but this was clearly not Pearl Jam at their best. The night started off beautifully, with Ed coming out and doing a mini set that included a fantastic version of "Parting Ways." However, it was clear that band was not up for this performance. Doing live staples "Rearviewmirror" and "Porch" they seemed to meander aimlessly through the jam sections at the end of the songs. With that said, there were some notable highlights:

• A great "Daughter" tag, with Ed leading the crowd in a sing-along to Dead Moon's "It's OK."
• A wonderful electric version of "Crazy Mary" during the first encore.
• "Soon Forget," which Ed dedicated to Bill Gates (and he even got the words right).
• A ripping version of Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World" to close the show.

One other note. If you're interested in seeing Pearl Jam live and you haven't joined the fan club, you should. I was able to get seats right beside the soundboard through the Ten Club for a good price. Thanks!

Set List

Ed solo before Pearl Jam Trouble Dead Man Parting Ways (/w Sonic Youth) Pearl Jam Sometimes Breakerfall Corduroy Grievance Dissident Do The Evolution Nothing As It Seems Given To Fly Untitled MFC Habit Daughter Androgynous Mind (segue) It's OK (segue) Lukin Not For You Even Flow Better Man Black Rearviewmirror 1st Encore Leaving Here Insignificance State Of Love And Trust Wishlist Crazy Mary Porch 2nd Encore Soon Forget Indifference Rockin' In The Free World

Pearl Jam, Yield Tour Merriweather Post Pavilion Columbia, Maryland September 18, 1998

It's hard to imagine that in such a short time Pearl Jam has built such an extensive catalog. If you've seen other set lists from the Yield tour, then you know that the sets varied widely from night to night, making each show a truly unique experience. Some highlights from just one show :

• B-sides and non-album tracks. The set included a great electric version of Footsteps (from Ten) and Leatherman (from Yield) as well as State Of Love And Trust (from the Singles soundtrack)... and of course Yellow Ledbetter as the finale.
• Blistering versions of Rearviewmirror and Porch during the encore. During the latter Mike Mcready played an extended guitar solo behind his head.
• Last Kiss. They had a good time with this one. The crowd clapped along with Eddie while the band formed a line and moved in sync with the beat to the '64 classic.

The best thing was they seemed to be realy enjoying themselves, especially Eddie Vedder. Eddie didn't talk that much during the show. After Wishlist he commented there were people in the audience holding up signs with song titles (a common practice since the band sometimes takes requests); he said "You want your desert before you've had the main course. You'll ruin your appetite." He improvised a line at the end of Wishlist, referring to Clinton's recent problems: "I wish I was the President and I could change my ways." He also reminded us that they had played Merriweather once before years ago "before everything got crazy." All in all a great show.

Set List

Note: the song in red (Untitled) is the version that appears on the Pearl Jam album Live On Two Legs.
Hail, Hail Animal Given To Fly Daughter I Believe In Miracles (segue) WMA (segue) Corduroy Wishlist Immortality State Of Love And Trust Even Flow Footsteps Mankind Alive Better Man Leatherman Jeremy Do The Evolution 1st Encore Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town Brain Of J Untitled MFC Crazy Mary (intro) Rearviewmirror Black Porch 2nd Encore Last Kiss Yellow Ledbetter

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R.E.M., Up Tour Merriweather Post Pavilion Columbia, Maryland September 10, 1999

Personal highlights:

• A frenetic openning, with Lotus, What's The Frequency, Kenneth?, and The Wake-Up Bomb.
• A beautiful version of Camera, a song Michael said "we've only played live 3 times since 1985, but we like it", early in the set.
• Low Desert. A great song from New Adventures in Hi-Fi was a rarity on the tour ("We don't play this much, but I like to do it because the lyrics are so cool" - Michael).
• Everybody Hurts. Another rarity on this tour built toward it's crescendo with Michael screaming "You're not alone! You're not alone!"
• Coyahoga, one of my favorite "old" R.E.M. songs, was beautifully played.

Set List

Airportman (intro) Lotus What's The Frequency, Kenneth? The Wake-Up Bomb Suspicion Camera Daysleeper Low Desert Everybody Hurts The Apologist Sweetness Follows The Great Beyond The One I Love Find The River At My Most Beautiful Finest Worksong Losing My Religion Man On The Moon Walk Unafraid Encore Hope Why Not Smile Pop Song 89 Tongue Coyahoga It's The End Of The World As We Know It

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Rush, Vapor Trails Tour Nissan Pavilion Bristow, Virginia July 9, 2002

Another "Evening with Rush", the tour again had no openning act. I have included my notes with the set list and a few random thoughts at the end:

Set List

1st Set Tom Sawyer Fantastic opening! Distant Early Warning New World Man Roll The Bones A crowd favorite, but I could have lived without it. Earthshine Went over very well live. YYZ The Pass Bravado Alex's solo at the end is a thing of beauty. The Big Money Between The Sun and Moon My favorite song from Counterparts; great live! Vital Signs Natural Science A beautiful epic piece, but I would have loved The Camera Eye here. Tide Pools Hyperspace Permanent Waves 2nd Set One Little Victory A nice dragon video intro to the song combined /w pyrotechnics (I could feel the heat 18 rows from the stage). Driven Ghost Rider My favorite song from Vapor Trails, came off "just OK" live. Secret Touch Definitely the best of the new songs live. Dreamline Red Sector A Leave That Thing Alone (drum solo) Neil is still the uber-drummer; big band section at the end a nice touch. Resist (Geddy & Alex acoustic) A nice touch here. Geddy sounded fantastic on this. 2112 Overture Temples Of Syrinx Limelight La Villa Stangiato The Spirit Of Radio Encore By-Tor and the Snow Dog (1st half) Cygnus X-1 (middle third) Working Man
Overall, my best Rush concert experience, primarilly because of my seat (18 rows out, right in front of Geddy). My only concern was the obvious lack of Vapor Trails material (4 songs) in the set list, which gave the show an unseasy "oldies" feel for me.

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Rush, Test For Echo Tour

USAir Arena, Largo, Maryland
November 7, 1996

Billed as "An Evening with Rush", the tour had no openning act and two full sets with a twenty minute intermission (or, as Geddy Lee put it, a quick Geratol break). The new material was integrated well with the old, and translated very well live (except for Test For Echo, which came off a little flat). My personal highlights:

• The Trees. I've seen Rush in concert 6 times (see below), and it's just the second time I've heard this song. It's always a highlight.
• Natural Science. This is the first time I've heard this one played live.

However, the ONE highlight of the tour for any TRUE Rush fan had to be the complete performance of 2112 at the end of the first set. The 20+ minute epic piece sounded just as fresh as it did on All The World's A Stage 20 years ago.

Set List

1st Set Dreamline The Big Money Driven Half The World Red Barchetta Animate Limbo The Trees Red Sector A Virtuality Nobody's Hero Closer To The Heart 2112 Overture Temples Of Syrinx Discovery Presentation Oracle: The Dream Soliloquy The Grand Finale 2nd Set Test For Echo Subdivisions Freewill Roll The Bones Time And Motion Leave That Thing Alone (drum solo) Natural Science Tide Pools Hyperspace Permanent Waves Force Ten The Spirit Of Radio Tom Sawyer Encore YYZ - Cygnus X-1

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Rush tours 1994 back to 1985. Note how ticket prices have kept up with inflation :).

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