Yeah, the setlist was pedestrian (no "Leper" or "No Bones," for instance) but the band were AMAZING. When they started to play "Out There" I groaned, since I thought that they had finally put that one to rest (at least they didn’t play "Just Like Heaven"). But then they kicked the living shit out of the song! The Chicago show last month was great in a really solid way, with the tunes all played well. But this gig showed a fire in their performance that I haven’t seen since ’06. Maybe the light-at-the-end-of-the-tour phenomenon pushed them to dig deep and pull out a wicked performance. Or maybe it was that this was the first packed house they’ve played to in a while (attendance across the middle of the country has been light, according to Lou’s tour diary) — whatever it was, I’m glad I witnessed it.

J was even interacting with people in the crowd right from the start, which was weird to see. And at the end of the show, as the band were leaving the stage (together, which again was weird), J stopped, turned around, and raised his fist at the crowd, which roared in approval. Really funny.

** I think they played "Repulsion" too. And when they asked the crowd what they should play for a last song a lot of people yelled for "Raisans," which Lou and J seemed up for, but Murph nixed the idea. I guess he was tired, though you couldn’t tell from his playing.

The bar for this show was set high since I had just seen the Meat Puppets three nights in a row last week, and witnessed the greatest guitar playing from Curt I’ve ever beheld (which is to say, I witnessed the greatest guitar playing of my life). But this was no ordinary post-’06 Dino gig. This was one for the ages. I had almost given up hope that they could deliver a show like that.

A beautiful way to wind down this (insanely) long tour.

They definitely played "Crumble." But I think "Repulsion" was in there too, somewhere in the middle of the set.

Hopefully a recording of this show surfaces.

On a distantly related note, I was appalled by the extortionate beer prices at First Ave. $6.50 for Bell’s???!!!! That’s as bad as NYC prices.

And I should note that I was even more appalled by MV & EE. My friend and I are still not convinced that it wasn’t some sort of joke-take on the style they were playing. That was easily the worst lead guitar playing I’ve ever heard. It was like the guy was trying really hard to be as awful as possible. And when the guy announced that they were set to play their last song………and it went on for 15 minutes………it was like cruel and unusual punishment.

Someone behind us termed them "toilet music." I couldn’t agree more.

Hey Tubby, that was a great review of the show! I’m glad to see they were rallying for the homestretch. I saw the Puppets just a few weeks ago…and I just have to say….Capricorns (like Curt)….dude, they are so cool they can play the heck out of a guitar without breaking a sweat. I went to the show with a few other guys and they were trying to remember what went wrong the last time the Meat Puppets played at the 40 Watt…they all remembered it getting "out of control" but none could remember much when I pressed them for the details. Freakscener Sweeney, published a photograph recently from that very show…I guess a picture is worth a thousand words…because I can sort of fill in the rest of the story after seeing this photo.
[img]http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs017.snc3/12433_184418402798_612842798_3138573_4569807_n.jpg[/img]