Hi All,

I just woke up and still have Little Bones ringing in my ears. Wow!

Great, great show last night at the Cleveland Agora. Due to some strange circumstances, I was not able to attend the Grand Rapids show on Wednesday and, from what I've read, that was a good thing. I never thought I'd say that. All went well yesterday and my brother Mark and I were able to meet up with Mark and Pricilla Soliday and a bunch of their friends, all from Erie, PA. How cool. We traded some CDs and had an awesome tailgate before the doors opened and we got inside in time to get some great seats.

Mark and I had been on the lower level for the fall show and this time decided to pick front row balconey seats so that there would be no possibility of anyone blocking our view. What a great choice: we had a ledge for our beers; quick access to refills (they stocked 24 oz. Molson Canadian for the evening); empty seats on either side of us for plenty of room; in perfect position for great sound; and no one ever walked in front of us the whole night.

As a contrast to Grand Rapids, there was seemingly good security on the floor and I didn't see a single crowd surfer. Yeah for you guys that were down there! The floor was packed by the time The Hip came on and seemed generally OK. It's a fair sized area, so as the show progressed it did get a little rowdy down there with slam dancing, but there were some people up front that seemed to get to enjoy the whole show without fear of getting hurt. I only saw a few people that seemed to be slamming just for slamming and not necessarily as an adjunct to the music.

And now, back to the show ...

Gord opened up with "This song is dedicated to the newest inductee into the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame, Joe Chithalen," and then fired up Save the Planet. Here's the rest of what I can remember of the set list, in no particular order except for the encores:

Save the Planet
Fully Completely
Gift Shop
Don't Wake Daddy
Wheat Kings (first time hearing this live!)
New Orleans
Courage
At the Hundredth Meridian
Poets
Thompson Girl
The Rules
Grace, Too
Vapour Trails
Chagrin Falls (a must-do in Cleveland!)
E-1
Escape
Fire in the Hole
E-2
Fireworks
Little Bones

The guys were definately "on". By the second song, I was elbowing my brother and telling him "this is going to be a good show." Gord was ranting more than usual, it seemed. He intro'd almost every song with something or other.

One of the funniest moments was when they came back for an encore and he acknowledged that someone had thrown a Canadian flag on the stage. He said something to the effect that he remembered when women used to throw brassiers on the stage, the universal flag. It took a while, but while he intro'd into the next song, a black lace number was flung his way. He stopped what he was doing and just grinned. Ha!

To Mark S.: I'm glad we got the chance to meet and thanks for the beverages and sandwiches! Enjoy Pittsburgh tonight.

Later, all.

Sharon