The venue is great, although this time, as opposed to the M@W tour, they had the barricades up, so we were front row center, but about two feet from the stage.Ý No big surprises on the setlist -- but I got to hear Long Time Running, (1st encore song), so was happy.Ý They did the Last of the Unplucked Gems intro to Dire Wolf, as they have been for the last few shows.Ý We were too close (!) to hear any rants (getting stage sound instead of PA sound) and Gord seemed a little reserved (for him) as compared to the Toronto gigs.Ý That said, the band was tight as hell and the whole show had a great flow and excellent sound.

There were a few mishaps -- Gord's mic stand was down too low, and when he tried to fix it, he broke it, so ended up crouching down with the mic between his knees whilst trying to repair the mic stand for about five minutes -- he was quietly talking during this, but I couldn't hear what he was saying.Ý Apart from that, just the usual snapped guitar strings (GD and PL both), etc.

This was my last show for this year (pleeeease let them tour again in the new year), so it was bittersweet, but we couldn't have had a better spot in front of the stage...

Sorry no setlist -- I'm shite at remembering that stuff.

JKT

Use
Music
New O
Fully
Grace
Fever
Jet
Bobc
Courage
Good
Meridian
Gift
Wolf
Poets
ABAC
Bones

(Encore)

Long
Ready
Blow

Fifth show that I have seen and by far the most energy from the band and the crowd. Well worth the long trip from Boise, Idaho to the Big Easy.

As mentioned earlier Gord's mic stand broke at the end of Fully and he held the severed piece in different positions saying "This is the Freddy Mercury, this is the David Bowie." Then he spent the opening of Grace crouched, trying to fix the stand. No big suprises in the the setlist and all of the songs, old and new, were met with approval from the crowd (esp. New Orleans). I personally felt the only lull from the crowd was during Wolf with Last of the Unplucked Gems intro, but I really enjoyed it.Ý Hearing Long Time Running was very cool and something I didn't expect. The only other note worth mentioning is that it seemed Gordon shortened the rant at the end of Poets. It just didn't sound right when he started and broke it off when it wasn't working.

We waited outside afterwards to get the setlist signed. Per usual, Johnny made a quick trip to the bus. Gord S. followed signing autographs and graciously put up with this drunk guy who insisted on reading a poem of Gord D's. Rob came out next and when he found out that we were from Idaho he told us that his mother had spent some time living in Sun Valley. About an hour after that Paul came out and was very nice. Gord D. finally came out and looked very tired but spent time talking to everyone. It is great to like this band for their music, but finding out what great guys they are after the show really validates being a Hip fan.

willove
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