Reviews

The first thing that needs to be said about this day is it was INCREDIBLY HOT in Richmond. I think Ed even mentioned that in his tour diary. My friend Karen and I filed into our seats just as ManBREAK got started, and it was a very good for them, including "Ready or Not", "Kut Ups", "Cop Karma", "News of the World", and "Future Days". I had seen them at Hershey and at Merriweather Post, so I was already into their music, and it was good to hear them again. After ManBREAK was done, Luscious Jackson came on stage and began their set, which included "Naked Eye", "Under Your Skin", "Why Do I Lie?", and "Here". I also really dig their song where they just have the audience scream during the chorus, and they sigh during the rest of the song. I was distracted during their set, though, because I eyed Stuart (Stu-Boy-Stu, the drummer for ManBREAK) in the audience watching the show. Being a huge drum freak (why else would I develop a Fan Site for Chad Gracey on the web??), I grabbed my paper and pen and headed over to Stuart to ask for an autograph. He took me around to the side and talked to me for about 15 minutes, and a friend of his came out with a promo poster for me autographed by everybody in ManBREAK! That was really cool, because I had become a big fan of theirs. Mr Blonde (rhythm guitarist and vocalist for ManBREAK) also came out and talked with me, and then we took pictures of Stuart, Mr Blonde, and myself. Unfortunately my pictures didn't come out :-( But they took a picture with their camera too, so I'm hoping to get a copy of that one.. So I bid my farewell to the ManBREAK guys and returned to my seat at the end of Luscious Jackson's set. Then, as soon as the sun was down, the lights went out, and the all-too-recognizable opening sequence of "Rattlesnake" could be heard. The lights came on in a thunderclap of sound, as the guys began a thoroughly enjoyable show. The set list was: "Rattlesnake", "Lakini's Juice", "Selling the Drama", "Century", "Unsheathed", "Ghost", "Waitress", "All Over You", "Turn My Head", "Freaks", "Iris", "Operation Spirit (with new lyrics and an awesome guitar/drum jam by the Chads), and "Lightning Crashes". The encore followed with "Mirror Song", "Heropsychodreamer", "I Alone", and "White, Discussion". The venue was smaller than the other shows I had been to (I think I heard 7,000 were at the show), which was an added benefit, because it made the show seem more personal, and the band seemed to hear and feel the excitement of the crowd, and feed off of it. Considering the heat, the guys did extremely well, and they pulled off a great show. My biggest surprise of the set was "Mirror Song". I was glad to hear it, and also glad for a change, but I'm not sure I like the new drum part Chad Gracey made for it. I think I liked the older one better. All in all, a great night, and my friend came to the show unsure who Live even was, and left a sincere Live (and Ed) fan. Good Job guys!
GREG STEELE

Well we got to the concert very early for some reason. I guess I was kind of extra excited, because it was my first Live concert. I have heard so much about them. I went with my good friend, she likes Live a lot too (but not nearly like me!!). When we first arrived we watched some local band on the side stage then went to get our seats. They were decent, about in the middle of the pavilion. Cleveland has got to be one of the greatest places to see a concert. Well to me at least it seems like it to me. We watched a very loud band before Luscious Jackson. I don't recall their name, but they were okay. Then Luscious Jackson took the stage. I am not a huge fan, but they were good. It seemed like they were never going to stop playing though. Probably because I was so excited for Live. Then after what seemed like days of waiting, Ed and the boys took the stage. The lights flashed and the guitar roared! Then all of a sudden the band popped out and you could hear Ed break into 'Rattlesnake'. Oh man I got chills! The song was a great opening. Next 'Lakini's Juice' was played and what can I say? It sounds that good on the CD, how good do you think it was in concert. I can't remember the exact setlist off hand. But they played everything. 'Selling the Drama', 'I Alone' from Throwing Copper to 'Pain Lies on the Riverside' from Mental Jewelry and almost everything on the new album. Like I said, this concert literally gave me chills. It was so great. The crowd, as Cleveland crowds usually are, was great. Dancing, clapping and singing just as any other crowd would. The encore was probably my favorite. There is just something about it right before the band comes out to do an encore. It's hard to describe. Everyone is yelling and screaming at all their might just for the band to do one more song and after that one more and so on until the lights come on. Well they did and blew the house down. The finishing touch was a lengthy version of 'White, Discussion'. Great, that's all I can say!! Well talking about all this makes me want to go and listen to my Live CD's!!
GREG ZUGRAVE

This was an amazing show! I had not seen them since 1994 when they played Nashville, TN during the Throwing Copper Tour. It was a very humid night in Columbus. A couple of my friends and myself were in the 12th row center for the show. Ed's enthusiasm really played off on the crowd. I did not know what to expect in the way of stage set-up, quality of sound, and also attendance. I had a pretty good idea of what to expect when it came to the setlist since one flaw of the tour has been the group has not really changed the setlist at all. It did not matter to me what they played because it had been such a long time since I had seen them last, so whatever they played I was going to be happy. It seemed that a lot of the crowd was only happy when they played stuff off of Throwing Copper and when they played 'Freaks', 'Lakini's Juice', and 'Turn My Head'. Most of the crowd was not educated with their other superb work. Overall, I thought the show kicked ass! Here is the setlist (not correct order) : 'Rattlesnake', 'Lakini's Juice', 'Selling the Drama', 'Century', 'Unsheathed', 'Iris', 'Waitress', 'Turn My Head', 'Freaks', 'Operation Spirit', 'Ghost', 'Insomnia and the Hole in the Universe'. Encores : 'Merica', 'Heropsychodreamer', 'I Alone', 'White, Discussion'.
JOSHUA P. TENISCI

Manbreak and LJ were pretty good, if only because they got everyone in a grooving kind of mood. Manbreak got no respect from the audience, and LJ was good, but I thought they'd be better. Before Live came on, we got to see the crew fixing things up and adjusting the set which was neat. When they came out, the crowd just exploded. They went straight into 'Rattlesnake' and started rockin'. The lights and set really added to the show, especially songs like 'Waitress' where the lights were matched to Gracey pounding the drums. During that same song, Ed got everyone to whistle along with him at the end of the song, just like is done on the album ... and people actually did it! Including me! The set looked like a Moroccan restaurant/Muslim inspired type thing. It made for really beautiful backgrounds during songs like 'Ghost', where incidentally, Ed more than made up for the lack of a back up singer. A couple of times, if you lent your attention to the crowd, it was awesome to hear 8 or 9,000 people singing every single word to the song. Ed mentioned that since they hadn't come to Cincinnati on their last tour, that there must be an "Awful lot of Live virgins out there". =) When they did 'Operation Spirit' it was awesome. They turned it into a slow verse/fast chorus type song. Ed got everyone to sing along with "Did you give it up?" They also had John Gregory, a violinist come out and play on 'Turn my Head', and *surprise* 'Horse'. Which were both outstanding with the accompaniment. For the encore, they of course did 'White, Discussion', which could not have been more full of energy. Ed ran around the stage, danced like a crazy man and a couple of times went behind Gracey(who was raised from the rest of the stage) and danced behind him, and he also did his Dennis Rodman impersonation with the sequins and feather boa, which he ended up taking off by the end of the song. As they exited, Gracey threw out drumsticks, Taylor picked up Ed's boa, put it on, and threw out some picks, and they all thanked everyone profusely and said goodnight. I think they started out something like this: 'Rattlesnake', 'Lakini's Juice', 'Selling the Drama', 'Century', 'Ghost', 'Unsheathed', (after this, I forget, but I know they also played the following songs) : 'Turn my Head', 'Freaks', 'HerPsychoDreamer', 'Waitress', 'Iris', 'Lightning Crashes', 'All Over You', 'Horse'. (The encore was something like this) : 'I Alone', 'White, Discussion'.
SAMANTHA SHRADER