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2002 Record Store Tour - Boston
 
 
2002 Record Store Tour - Boston

May 1 - Boston @ Virgin MegaStore

Boston Pics - Emerick
Boston Pics - Chris

Hey guess what? Because I maintain the site, I get to post the first review for Boston! Mine is probably going to be the worst one because I took no notes and basically was dumb-struck for the entire hour. So thanks to the other people who sent in reviews because they helped me remember minor details like what songs were played..in what order...and by the way, Boston is just the best when it comes to Paul. Boston.com did a big feature on Paul, with a contest for people to write in with questions, photos from the show and SOUND CLIPS - check it out.

I'll spare you the boring part about the 3 hour wait for a spot in front of the stage. Paul came out at about 7:10pm, wearing a light grey suit that he (or someone) had decorated with spray-painted circles, and a pink shirt, shades and that unmistakable Westerbergian hair. To say he took to the stage is pushing it -- it was a platform about 7 inches off the ground so those of us up front, were really up front! There was a couch at the back of the platform and after every few songs, Paul would flop down on it for a few seconds. Otherwise, the stage was just a mike and a table for his various waters/sodas and a thick black binder full of wrinkly pages of hand written lyrics.

The Music:

  • Waiting for Somebody
  • Looking out Forever
  • Once Around The Weekend
  • Hootenanny
  • No Place For You
  • Eyes Like Sparks/All I Really Want to Do
  • Born For Me
  • Two Days til Tomorrow
  • Mr. Rabbit
  • High Time
  • Alex Chilton
  • Crackle and Drag - thanks to the poster on a.m.r who asked Paul about this song that has been popping up in several shows. It's about Sylvia Plath and is called "Crackle and Drag" after a line from one of her poems. No plans yet on where/when it will be released. It is a beautiful song.
  • Skyway
  • Unsatisfied
  • Let the Bad Times Roll
  • Someone Take The Wheel
  • Blues-y song "..oh Sandy came from West Virginia" which rolls into:
  • Psychopharmacology
I finally have all the song and in correct order!

Observations/moments:

  • At one point, someone called out for "Runaway Wind" and he said "Do you guys really like that song?" The crowd whooped it up and he said "I do too but I have no idea how it goes" and then launched into "Hootenanny" - wooo!
  • When he played "Unsatisifed", he mumbled/murmured the verses and then howled out the chorus. It was incredibly intense. I had to turn to the person next to me and say "Am I standing 5 feet away from Paul Westerberg watching him sing "Unsatisifed" solo, I cannot believe this!"
  • In the middle of "No Place For You" he said something to the effect of "This is a true story, she was starting a new job on Monday, getting married on Saturday and she hung herself with a shower curtain on Friday night". He has mentioned in a few interviews that this song was written for a friend of his who had committed suicide. Sad moment.
  • Skyway was great - he was singing away and singing away and all of a sudden, he looked down at us and said "Did I forget the part about "the stupid hat and gloves"? and we were like "Yes!" and he said "That's the only good line!" so he started playing again and we all shouted out that line.
  • Great version of "Alex Chilton", he screwed up on the guitar at one point and he and us just burst out laughing and then he went right back to the song.
  • He did a real slow rendition of "Psychoparmacology" that everyone was really getting into and then for some reason, the roadie started tuning up a guitar on the side of the platform so loudly that it played over Paul's playing...Paul stopped playing and went over and playfully kicked the guitar strings of the wayward instrument but it broke the mood and when he turned back around, he finished a souped-up version of the song. During one of the quiet moments in the song, a little kid shouted up "Oh, yeah! Music!" and Paul smiled, it was sweet.

    I don't know how Paul manages these signings -- the line was soooo long and he was so patient. He played for about an hour, took about a 15 minute break and then started signing and he signed for over 2 hours and was still going strong when I left at that point. I cannot wait for whatever kind of tour he comes back with this summer. 6 years is far too long for Paul to ever stay away again. I am still on a high from the show and it's now Friday at 5pm :)

    He was wearing a teal-ish suit (adorned with spray paint?) and a pink shirt, along with the usual blue glasses. Here's my recollection of the setlist (order somewhat scrambled), along with any other comments:

    • Waiting for Somebody
    • Looking out Forever, into
    • Once around the Weekend (He started this pretty slow, and then slowed it waaaay down. To the line "If you look hard, you can see my tracks" he paused a beat and added "in the snow." -- Debunking (?) an allusion to shooting up that I'd never noticed before?)
    • Eyes Like Sparks/All I Really Want to Do/Kickin the Stall (medley, just the > "in your black stacked boots" line from Kickin' -- he was really into the Dylan cover, and, like Mr. Rabbit, like Nowhere Man off the I am Sam oundtrack, he made it his own)
    • Hootenanny (one verse)
    • Born For Me into
    • 2 Days Til Tomorrow ("didja notice those are the same chords?")

      Lots of people yelling requests. Someone called for "Runaway Wind." "You guys really like that song?" To my ears, it was a real mix of "yes" and "no" in reply to that query. "Well, I can't remember how it goes anyway.

    • No Place For You (When finished, he says, "It's true. She got a job, started work on Saturday, (missed what he said) on Monday, and on Friday she hung herself from a shower curtain." I don't think I've ever quite realized how pervasive suicide imagery is in his stuff.)
    • Skyway (After the guitar solo, he stopped."Did I miss the stupid hat and gloves? That's the only good line." So he started up again, being prompted, couldn't quite find his place, "Sing it, damn it," he exhorted the crowd, and wound it up to big applause."
    • Alex Chilton (Ripping version, choked on one riff right at the end, gave a big smile and an "oops" and dug right back in.
    • Unsatisfied (Very cool -- mumbled the lyrics between the Look Me in the eyes parts, I couldn't tell if he was improvising. "That was the best part of my day," a woman yelled from the back when he was done. "Don't be so sure," said Paul, deadpan.)
    • People keep calling out songs, for the most part they are just rolling off his back. He cracked up a little after Hootenanny when someone requested Buck Hill. "I'm going to play one you don't know," he says, and then plays a beautiful version of that very fine Sylvia Plath song (I love the structure of the "Cadillac waiting outside" line. That's a tremendous song. I hope it's not destined to be a "Stain> Yer Blood" -- a great song that either never gets onto disc or can be found only on some obscure soundtrack -- a completist's exclusive.)
    • More requests. "I'm going to play one even older than that, it goes back to 1859," this delivered in a whiny cracker voice." Mr. Rabbit into a very slow and bluesy/bass heavy
    • Psychopharmacology (which then gets taken uptempo as the show ender)
    "Goodbye" he says, and heads off. We skipped the signing. Didn't have the Virgin wristband, and also had two kids ready to settle down and go home. It was great, and we were all really glad we went. Definitely a most excellent adventure!

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