A quick mini-review of the shows this past weekend. No setlists, unfortunately, but the ones I can remember from Thursday & Saturday (didn’t go Friday) are listed below. I probably missed a few as well.

Saturday, I thought, was better than Thursday. Maybe it’s just where I was standing as the sound seemed a bit muddy on Thursday. Lou wasn’t very happy w/ the sound, either, nor J’s placement of a 2nd set of amps in the middle of the stage pointed directly up at him, kinda boxing in Lou both physically and aurally. Lou left stage rather abruptly after the main set on Thurs because of this. He had a long talk w/ Noel the sound guy afterwards.

Sat was great. EPIC solo on ‘Gargoyle’. Absolutely mindblowing. The band seemed way more into it, exchanging a few smiles throughout. Another thing I’ll add is that J’s singing was *great*, especially on Saturday. Much, much more assertive than I’ve seen in the past. He’s been working w/ a vocal coach a little bit and warming up more and it’s definitely paid dividends — "Repulsion" and "Budge" benefiting greatly. oh ! Almost forgot — there could have been a great moment if not for the lunkheaded bouncers at the Abbey — right at the start of "Chunks" (last song), a dude jumps up onstage and managed to get out "My brothers !" into the mike w/ Lou but was dragged off quickly thereafter. Lou said later that he would have loved to have him sing the whole thing himself as he seemed to be a diehard fan who showed Lou his "bad" Dinosaur tattoo earlier in the evening. I think it was version of the Green Mind cover w/ an alien head instead of the girl, I guess. Lou also said that this same guy was right up in front being repeatedly bearhugged/assaulted by his behemoth of a friend throughout the show and would give Lou this sheepish "what can I do ??" look each time it happened. I actually think I might know him as well.

Awesome Color were good — very "Detroit" proto-rock in the vein of the Stooges/MC 5, etc with a bit of typical Ecstatic Peace feedback thrown in for good measure.

Lou’s set on Saturday was ….. chaotic. He was cranky due to the chatty crowd but at least buffered it w/ some self deprecation. He initially walked off after 1.5 songs but came back and played for another 20 mins or so. The crowd was appreciative after this but he still kinda regretted playing in a market like Chicago instead of keeping his slots to where he hadn’t played before eg the crowd in Canada was positively reverent.

Anyways, here’s the list of songs I can remember. Sorry no full setlists.

Almost Ready
Crumble
Pick Me Up
Back To Your Heart
This Is All I Came To Do
Been There All the Time
What If I Knew

Repulsion
Gargoyle
Mountain Man
Little Fury Things
Kracked/Sludgefeast
The Lung
Raisans (?)
In a Jar
Freak Scene (nicely played in the middle of the set Thurs instead of encore)
Budge
Feel the Pain
Out There
Chunks