Storytellers Recap - with stories

bat2144bat2144 Posts: 33
edited June 2006 in Given To Fly (live)
I'll try to recap to the best of my memory.

One of the girls taking id's outside told me there were about 400 people. Seemed correct. It was first come first serve seating, which was exactly the opposite of what they stated in the last email. Luckily I got there an hour early and was 3 people back on the floor, dead center. Closest I've ever been at a PJ show. I feel bad for some of the people who arrived later, who had to stand behind people on the balcony. There were definitely people who didnt have a good view. So, sorry to whoever that was. It was also about 90 degrees the entire time.

On to the show:

Setlist: Betterman, Unemployable, Worldwide Suicide, Gone, Sleight of Hand, Army Reserve, Insignificance, Alive, Here's to the State of George W, Life Wasted

They came out, Ed said a little intro about what someone told him, "never let the truth get in the way of a good story" and that the administration has taken that advice wholeheartedly, but he said, he would be there offering nothing but the real truth and went right into betterman. Then Ed spoke about how he had learned about women in abusive relationships and how it is harder to get out of those relationships than he thought. And then compared George Bush and the administration to an abusive relationship that we cant seem to get out of. (The entire show was incredibly political. It felt like they did the show just show Ed could Bash the administration on national tv. But we're used to him doing this at concerts, so it wasnt much different really)

Then he gave an intro to Unemployable talking about how the corporate outsourcing of jobs has left many american workers fucked.

Worldwide Suicide had no story I dont think...

Before Gone, Ed talked about how the band now has 5 or 6 songs that take place in a car, driving away from someones problems (he said rearviewmirror, everyone screamed, he smiiled and said, well we're not playing that tonight). Made a reference to Bruce Springstein, saying he has like 40 car songs, and he's still the Boss but theyre working their way up to assistant manager, everyone laughed. Then he starts Gone, and about 15 seconds in he stops and asks for the fan blowing in his face to be turned off because it was doing a "Steven Tyler thing" to his hair. Then they started it up again and it was awesome. Pretty much the only part they had to do another take of. I thought thered be more.

Before Sleight of Hand, Ed talked about the times when your sitting in traffic, like dead stopped traffic, and you wonder why you didnt get off the last exit, and then sitting there alone you start to ponder all your decisions over the last 5 or 10 years wondering how you got to where you are.

Before Army Reserve, you can pretty much guess exactly what he said. How its young people over there dying for a lie, and how much one death affects so many people, (with a refence to the festival 6 years ago.) And for all the wrong reasons these kids are dying makes it even worse. Something to that effect.

Insignificance didnt really have a story.

Alive was by far the highlight, and most emotional part of the show. Ed spoke of the lyrics and story, and said he knew the guy it happened to, and then people kinda laughed and then he said it happened to him. And then came the best part. He said that when he wrote the song, the line I'm still alive, was what he referred to as "the curse." Because his father was dead and he was still alive with the burden of never knowing who he was while he was alive. But then he said as they started singing that song live at shows, they saw how the fans took that chorus and found their own meaning in it, in the fact that they, while singing it, felt the celebration of being still alive. And Ed said that when the fans changed the meaning of that line, that the curse was lifted for him. Huge cheer, very emotional. I wished there was more of these kind of stories instead of the political agenda, but, its Ed, so its to be expected.

That ended the first set. Then Ed came out with an acoustic guitar, all alone and told us about a song by Phil Ochs, which had evolved many times over the years, being titled originally "Heres to the State of Mississippi, and then Heres to the State of Richard Nixon, and then recently Tim Robins had wrote even newer lryics to update it for the current regime and war. Ed said he made a few alterations, and then sang it. It was just a straight out bash of the administration, naming names, and everything. I wonder if it will actually air on VH1. But it was cool. At one point, he said, "I dont know if Phil Ochs planned this, or if the chords have changed over the years, but look at my left hand" he was still playing the riff at this point, and the positioning of his hand to make the chord was middle finger to the top, other fingers down. Everyone saw and laughed. According to the set list the song was titled, I assume by him or tim robbins, "heres to the state of George W."

Then they set up for the Q&A. While we were waiting outside for two hours+, they handed out index cards for us to write our name, where we're from, and our question. Apparently the band went through them and picked out ones they liked. Ed had the stack of hand picked cards, and gave the first one to mike, who said the name of the author, and then instead of letting the author get to one of the designated microphones to ask the question himself, mike just read the question, which was how did it make you feel to see Ed sing some of the lyrics that you wrote (for inside job). He basically said it made him very emotional, he tried not to cry in front of the guys when he heard it, but admitted to doing so.

The rest of the Q&A was pretty bad. They continued not letting any of the authors of the questions actually ask the questions. None of the questions they picked were really that good. Matt answered the question, what would you all be doing if you werent in a band. And he didnt answer it at all, and just said they all wanted to be musicians all their lives, and are thankful they could do that, which was not nearly what thea question asked. The Q&A was not very good.

Then Ed said, ok lets play one more song, and they went into Life Wasted with no story to end the night.



All in all, it was amazing. A tad too political. I was hoping for more personal stories about the band and stuff, but Ed cant help himself I guess.

Great night, closest Ive ever been. I'm sure I'll be seen a few times during the pans of the crowd.

Thats about it. If I left something out, anyone who attented, feel free to add in more info. Sorry to everyone who missed out on it. I was just incredibly fortunate. It was definitely a special night that I'll never forget.

Time for me to go to sleep. Hope My recap was helpful.

Peace.
i was a fool b/c i thought the world
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • eekamouseeekamouse Posts: 267
    Awesome recap thanks. When does it air?
    Love is more important to me than faith.
  • sophiesophie Posts: 13
    The people there from VH1 that I asked about the air date didn't even seem to know. I guess in a couple of weeks.
  • bgirl59bgirl59 Tucson AZ Posts: 888
    eekamouse wrote:
    Awesome recap thanks. When does it air?


    Thanks very much for the recap--nice job! Lovingly I am sure 10c will tell us when to tivo?
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  • belfast1belfast1 Posts: 788
    nice recap cheers

    wonder when it airs over here in europe????
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  • Thin HairThin Hair Posts: 67
    thats an excellent write up of the night. I could imagine it all in my head has i was reading it. Good work.
    ' take 2 bottles into the shower?......not me, I've got no fucking hair!'


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  • reeferchiefreeferchief Posts: 3,569
    belfast1 wrote:
    nice recap cheers

    wonder when it airs over here in europe????


    I wouldn't hold your breath for that.:)
    It'll be much easier just downloading it of the net.
    Oh and thanks for the recap.
    Can not be arsed with life no more.
  • C2V3NC2V3N Zagreb, Croatia Posts: 449
    great review, cant wait to see this on vh1
    one, two, three, four, five against one
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  • Bathgate66Bathgate66 Posts: 15,813
    Excellent review and breakdown ! Thanks so much- I cant wait to see/ hear this on VH1 . I hope they dont over edit it and take out all that controversial subject matter !
    October22- yours was also nice ! Awesome to read al the different vantage points from the show !

    This is by far my favorite part and should serve for all the Bruce naysayers:
    bat2144 wrote:
    Before Gone, Ed talked about how the band now has 5 or 6 songs that take place in a car, driving away from someones problems (he said rearviewmirror, everyone screamed, he smiiled and said, well we're not playing that tonight). Made a reference to Bruce Springstein, saying he has like 40 car songs, and he's still the Boss but theyre working their way up to assistant manager, everyone laughed.

    Just FYI- its Springsteen

    thats a very common mistake you see around- mis-spelling The Boss' name . Just had to clear that up !


    cheers !
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  • Marie CurieMarie Curie Posts: 1,250
    thanks for the detailed recap, can´t wait to watch it!
    “Life is life everywhere. Life is in ourselves and not outside us. There will be men beside me, and the important thing is to be a man among men and to remain a man always, whatever the misfortunes, not to despair and not to fall - that is the aim of life, that is its purpose.”
    Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  • pj4900pj4900 Posts: 14
    Great review! Thanks for spending the time putting the experiance in words.

    If it was that political maybe it won't be aired until 2008, when Bush is out of office.
  • pickupyourwillpickupyourwill Posts: 3,135
    gracias :)
  • hugepjfanhugepjfan Posts: 114
    Yo, bat, its Nick...I'm still jeolous, but I am glad it was such a cool experience. From the tone of your recap, it seems as if you were just slightly dissapointed with the whole thing. I am looking forward to seeing it on TV and looking for you in the crowd. I'll see you either tonight or Sat.
    HugePJFan
    "...You try it, I give you the room, you try..."
  • oktacomaoktacoma Posts: 335
    Very cool, especially the part about Alive. I can't wait to see it. Thanks for the recap! By the way, where was it?
  • gusturtlegusturtle Posts: 442
    Bathgate66 wrote:
    This is by far my favorite part and should serve for all the Bruce naysayers:
    Just FYI- its Springsteen
    thats a very common mistake you see around- mis-spelling The Boss' name . Just had to clear that up !
    cheers !

    Glad to see someone else giving props to Bruuuuuuce.
  • PJCruiserPJCruiser Posts: 4
    That was great, in a little way I feel like I could see it all.
    Ransom pays the Devil, he whispers pleasing words, triumphant are the angels if they can get there first.

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  • wolfbearwolfbear Posts: 3,965
    Great job with the review, good details. Thanks for taking the time. :)
    "I'd rather be with an animal." "Those that can be trusted can change their mind." "The in between is mine." "If I don't lose control, explore and not explode, a preternatural other plane with the power to maintain." "Yeh this is living." "Life is what you make it."
  • yield2meyield2me Posts: 1,291
    Storytellers seems to usually have an "unplugged" feel to it, songs seem to be slower and softer, was this the case with the boys or did they tear it up like at a normal show?
    “May you live to be 100 and may the last voice you hear be mine.” - Frank Sinatra
  • Unemployable? Why the hell would they play that one?
    "All the rusted signs we ignore throughout our lives"--Ed
  • PureandEasyPureandEasy Posts: 5,805
    yeah it did kind of make you feel like you were there

    thanks alot :)
    Don't come closer or I'll have to go
  • Get_RightGet_Right Posts: 13,251
    this was a truly special experience
    they did play a suprising amount of new songs
    It was full electric, pedal to floor for most of it.

    The song introductions and the brief q&a was the best part.

    Ed's intro to alive was really moving.
    Insignificance, wws, alive and life wasted were the highlights for me.

    very intimate and enjoyable experience
  • smithnicsmithnic Posts: 1,563
    Damn I can't wait to see this!! I am so excited to hear how political it was!! That's our boy!! Stepping up to the mike to say something important!!
    Go Get 'Em Tigers!
  • manhattanmanhattan Posts: 258
    That was a great write-up. Thank you. I can't believe you actually went to sleep afterwards! I think I would have been wide awake for a week!
  • edvedder913edvedder913 Posts: 1,810
    Get_Right wrote:
    this was a truly special experience
    they did play a suprising amount of new songs
    It was full electric, pedal to floor for most of it.

    The song introductions and the brief q&a was the best part.

    Ed's intro to alive was really moving.
    Insignificance, wws, alive and life wasted were the highlights for me.

    very intimate and enjoyable experience


    Glad you had fun!!!!!!!!!! even though I am green with envy!
  • intodeepintodeep Posts: 7,240
    Unemployable? Why the hell would they play that one?
    Because it is good.

    And it has a great story in it :)
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  • Get_RightGet_Right Posts: 13,251
    Glad you had fun!!!!!!!!!! even though I am green with envy!


    Hey C!
    We were very lucky to get in on this one.
    I met Tim and he was telling me this was the toughest ticket since the showbox RA show.
    Have fun tonight, I need to rest and spend some time with my son.
    Hope to see ya Saturday!

    A
  • Unemployable? Why the hell would they play that one?


    My thought as well, but after reading the review it seemed to fit the agenda.
  • Uncle LeoUncle Leo Posts: 1,059
    Depending on what is aired, I wonder whether they will be the new Dixie Chicks.
    I cannot come up with a new sig till I get this egg off my face.
  • NickyNoochNickyNooch Posts: 629
    Unemployable? Why the hell would they play that one?

    First thing I thought when reading the setlist.

    9/17/95-New Orleans,LA 8/14/00-New Orleans,LA 4/8/03-New Orleans,LA 4/13/03-Tampa,FL 10/8/04-Kissimmee,FL 8/5/07-Chicago,IL 6/16/08-Columbia,SC 6/23/09-(EV Solo)Atlanta,GA 5/1/10-New Orleans,LA 9/21/12-Pensacola,FL 11/1/13-New Orleans,LA 4/11/16-Tampa,FL  4/23/16-New Orleans,LA


  • yahamitayahamita Posts: 1,514
    bat2144 wrote:
    I'll try to recap to the best of my memory.

    Then he starts Gone, and about 15 seconds in he stops and asks for the fan blowing in his face to be turned off because it was doing a "Steven Tyler thing" to his hair. Then they started it up again and it was awesome. Pretty much the only part they had to do another take of. I thought thered be more.



    Before Sleight of Hand, Ed talked about the times when your sitting in traffic, like dead stopped traffic, and you wonder why you didnt get off the last exit, and then sitting there alone you start to ponder all your decisions over the last 5 or 10 years wondering how you got to where you are.




    Alive was by far the highlight, and most emotional part of the show. Ed spoke of the lyrics and story, and said he knew the guy it happened to, and then people kinda laughed and then he said it happened to him. And then came the best part. He said that when he wrote the song, the line I'm still alive, was what he referred to as "the curse." Because his father was dead and he was still alive with the burden of never knowing who he was while he was alive. But then he said as they started singing that song live at shows, they saw how the fans took that chorus and found their own meaning in it, in the fact that they, while singing it, felt the celebration of being still alive. And Ed said that when the fans changed the meaning of that line, that the curse was lifted for him. Huge cheer, very emotional.




    Peace.
    HAHAHA! Great visual! I would have loved to have seen the fan/hair ordeal Thanks!

    Ed's comment about sitting in traffic and pondering life. This made me bust into tears, and I am still crying. Who hasn't felt the heartache, anquish, even joy over decisions made in your life. It touched my soul. An how emotional the explanation about ALIVE..I couldn't have contained my emotions at that point. Thank you for sharing this. It was written very well. I could feel what you were at that moment.
    I knew all the rules, but the rules did not know me...GUARANTEED!

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  • MelissaphishMelissaphish Posts: 150
    bat2144 wrote:
    And Ed said that when the fans changed the meaning of that line, that the curse was lifted for him.

    That is awesome! Thanks so much for sharing!
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