Which bootlegs are you listening to right now?

mcgruff10 wrote: »

...You play this set at msg and it s top five of all time.

Thanks to everyone for your feedback on my ramblings about the Newark show. Sorry if I went off the deep end a bit. This band'll do that to a person sometimes!

McGruff, that's an interesting comment. The Newark crowd on the boot doesn't bother me a bit, but I know what you're getting at. I was originally going to mention "Indifference" in my review as well. I was going to say that the Newark version is excellent but that it was totally blown out of the water two calendar nights later at MSG1. I actually think both versions are pretty comparable as far as the band's performance goes but the crowd response at MSG just sends that one into the stratosphere. I agree: It definitely would have been cool to play the Newark set list for either of the MSG audiences.

And you got to see Hartford, Newark, MSG1 AND MSG2 in 2010?! You may color me Exorcist-green with envy, sir!

mcgruff10 wrote: »

toronto 1 2011. gotta be in my top five shows.

I much preferred the 2nd night...... the first set on the Monday night was rockin'. There's never an off show. I haven't seen a show since Buffalo '13, I'm really hoping to get tickets to a show in 2015 - if they tour.

Mansfield 2 2003

Rolling Stones
Sept. 25th, 1981
JFK Stadium
Philly, Pa.

90,000 in the crowd for that show and there was some CRAZIES. Crowd was awesome but the band was sloppy. I had a BLAST though.

Amsterdam 2/12/92

Lincoln 2014
The outro/"to and fro" of Pendulum has a really nice groove about it thanks to Matt. It's subtle, but I enjoyed it. Ed's guitar tone for Sometimes has a somewhat "cold" tone to it that works well for the somber tune. Nothingman is as beautiful and haunting as always, confident vocals. Ed greets the crowd after it, earlier in the show than normal. Go kicks maximum ass, a rocking version right into Why Go with no pause! I love that combo! Go-Why Go, both sounding incredibly full of energy. Ed's vocals on Go are a tad above average, pretty strong here. The bridge of Why Go sounds a tad off on Mike’s end but it is nothing discerning. Getaway benefits from the rush of adrenaline. Matt and Stone sound good on Getaway. It's an all-around good play on a song that I don't believe translates well live but sounds decent here overall. Corduroy is lively too, Matt’s on fire.

Light Years comes after Ed speaks to the crowd, being kind of playful with his jokes. LY is dedicated to his uncle, and is performed awesome here. It gave me chills. Mike and Stone especially, just beautiful tones. Best Light Years in some time, in my opinion. MYM hits the spot after that powerhouse play on the Binaural rarity. Who would have thought MYM-Sirens would work dynamically together without being too odd? A weird combo but it works so perfectly. Sirens has a laid back sincerity to it here, it's powerful but Matt's drumming is so smooth and fluent. His work during Mike’s solo is subtle but utmost effective. I really enjoyed this play on Sirens. Mike starts PT as soon as Sirens’ chant ends, incredible set flow! Eruption as an intro to Even Flow gets the blood flowing, especially as EF starts up! Even Flow solo is amazing by entire band. Ed's speech about taking parts and time of life for granted is heartfelt and humorous, but so meaningful. Infallible to follow that is pure Ed. It's wonderful. A few mismatched lyrics in Infallible but it's not too distracting at all; a good, emotional performance. DTE is to "all us monkeys!" DTE is pure raw energy here; the boys are on fucking fire.

Ed comes in a tad early for Gods' Dice, kind of like the version in Cardiff 2000. A couple mismatched lines, but a professional performance of the rarity. It keeps the blood flowing nicely. Insignificance makes a double shot of Binaural, always welcomed in my book. Matt's toms and kick sound wonderful on the intro and his work during the bridge is really nice. Ed has a brief moment of missing lyrics, but I've heard far worse. A decent take on the rarity as a whole. The intro to Half Full is sonically near perfect, each instrument represented beautifully. The solo too, the whole band actually, is just so damn ear pleasing. Dependable takes of Betterman and Porch end this excellent main set. Matt and Jeff towards the 4 min mark of Porch is brilliance. Matt's right foot sounds like two, a nice double bass effect.

Ed's story about Walgreens put a smile on my face, wonderfully followed by sweet takes of You've Got to Hide Your Love Away and Imagine. Both felt incredibly solid with beautiful vocals. Small Town to follow is smooth set flow. The rhythm section between Jeff and Matt sounds so warm in the first verse of GTF. A decent LB kicks the energy up even higher, but some of Ed's vocals are pretty winded. An incredibly haunting outro to Jeremy into the melancholy intro of Black is perfect. Some of the vocals to Black are noticeably flat, but still it’s a decent play on the live staple. A dynamic RVM with energetic drumming by Matt ends the solid, but somewhat vanilla encore.

Smile is mostly dependable but I've heard better versions. The full band cover of Open All Night feels incredibly out of place to me. Not exactly my personal favorite choice for a cover either. Alive brings us back to a good place. RITFW-Ledbetter ends the gig. I'm not sure if Ed was just letting the crowd sing the entire first verse of YL, but it doesn't translate well to the boot, sadly. While one was there I bet it was cool.

The main set blew me away, encore 1 was pretty damn good, but encore 2 felt lacking to me. A good show and boot, but the second half doesn't live up to the first.

no I said it was top 5 set of all time if it was played at msg. there's a lot more to a show than just the set. the band was not on fire that night, they seemed very flat. and the crowd sucked (and yes I was there on the floor).
after the very terrible play calling by the refs tonight in dallas i'm listening to a very angry version of blood....san jose 95.

Newark 2010

Before I delve into the US 2014 boots later this week, I'll spin Live On Two Legs. Still one of the best live albums out there.

MSG 1 2008