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2002 Tour - Indianapolis - Paul Westerberg
 
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Aug 6, 2002 - Indianapolis @ The Vogue Theater

Swizzle-Stick.com - Paul Westerberg: Vogue Theatre: Indianapolis, Indiana

Thanks a million to Anita for this great picture of Paul doing "Unsatisifed" sans glasses.

I went to Westy's show at the Vogue in Indianapolis and thought I'd pass along my thoughts and observations to add to your Tour Reviews.

First, The Indy Star has a show review here:
http://www.indystar.com/article.php?slindq08.html,entertainment

The Vogue was a good venue for Paul to play. The main floor is open and you can go right up to the 4 foot stage and stand within reaching distance of the mic stand. Very intimate setting. As you'd expect, most of the crowd went to the front as soon as he came on stage.

Paul went on at 8:30pm and was wearing his spray-painted secondhand suit that he's been sporting lately. The stage was set up with a couch, a lounge chair, some end tables and a rather cool retro-futuristic lamp. I guess Paul's tour manager told the venue to think "Jetson's" when buying the furniture. He seemed in good spirits and started the show with "High Times". Everyone responded with cheers and sang along. That's a great opening number - I always like it when the show starts with a little energy.

Highlights and witty remarks:
Someone yelled out about wanting to play the tambourine. Paul said he didn't have it with him cause someone from the last show beat it up. He said "That guy made Chris seem like Keith Moon" which got a big laugh.

Before Valentine he lit up a fat-ass cigar and had to drop it before singing the first verse. During the solo, he got flat on his back and picked up the cigar with no hands and stood back up to sing the final verse with the stogie sticking out the side of his mouth. The kids ate it up. On a side note, this continues the streak of 4 shows in a row that 've seen Paul play a solo on his back, althought the first time he get on his back without slipping!

Someone yelled for Waitress in the Sky and at first he shook his head "no". The he relented and said "Alright, but you guys have to help me." Everything was going well until the second verse when no one could remember that "Paid my fare, don't wanna complain.." line and went right into "Sanitation expert, maintenance engineer..." He stopped and said "That ain't right...how's it go again?" He stood there for a moment and thought about it, then tried the line again and fumbled it so he just went with the "Kiss my ass" line about 4-5 times. Everyone busted up laughing and cheered him. Lesson - Paul's fans love profanity.

In between songs the crowd was shouting out requests and Paul said "This is what it sounds like in my mind everyday." Everyone laughed and he continued in a serious tone. "No really. It does sound like this."

About halfway into the show someone yelled a song request "Why don't you play..."(I didn't hear the song title), to which Paul replied "Why don't you eat shit sideways."

He butchered the lyrics to Black-eyed Susan and his voice broke when he tried to hit the high notes on the last verse. He laughed it off on said "Damn, that was an octave too high, huh!?!" Toward the end of the set he played "Unsatisfied" and I was stunned. Other people have said that hearing his newer material in this solo format has made them appreciate the songs more. I agree but have to say I've never heard him play Unsatisfied with the kind of emotion he did tonight. Man, was he "ON" tonight!

All in all a great show and a reminder to me of why I love this guy and his music so much. The local rock critic kinda panned him by saying Westerberg "delivered a solo smorgasbord of half-finished songs and laughed-off lyrics." and in a sense he's right, but then again, anyone who's been a fan of Paul knows what you get when you go to one of his shows. He plays from his heart and he wings it more often than not, which leads to moments of brilliance that make up for the missed notes and fumbled lyrics. His performance was real, it was authentic and it's the way he works best.

Paul is the real deal, which is a rare thing in these days of pre-packaged and calculated music acts. No amount of rehearsal or marketing manipulation can ever get an artist to produce the kind of moment that Westerberg did during "Unsatisfied". Hell, that's the way real life is. Most of the time we stumble around trying to figure out how to make things work and fuck it up. But once in a while, when we're not trying so hard, we get it right and those are the moments we remember best. Alright, enough preaching to the choir. Just pay your $20 bucks and go see a great show. Goodnight.

John Johnson
johnj67@earthlink.net

I qualify this review by saying that I drove 3 1/2 hours from Chicago to the show and back right after- I didn't take notes other than the set list and didn't get this down until after some sleep so I'm pretty blurry on some details.

First the set list:

  • 1 high time
  • 2 valentine
  • 3 psychocharmachology
  • 4 mr. rabbit
  • 5 waiting for somebody
  • 6 black-eyed susan
  • 7 lush and green
  • 8 achin' to be
  • 9 2 days til tomorrow
  • 10 mr. tamborine man (cover/dylan)
  • 11 i'll be you
  • 12 dirt to mud
  • 13 no place for you
  • 14 let the bad times roll
  • 15 waitress in the sky
  • 16 you just may be the one (cover/monkees)
  • 17 crackle and drag
  • 18 let's not belong
  • 19 best thing that never happened
  • 20 unsatisfied
  • 21 skyway
  • 22 love untold
  • 23 first glimmer
  • 24 things
  • 25 between love & like/silent film star
  • 26 alex chilton
  • 27 swinging party
  • 28 i will dare
  • 29 don't cry (?)
  • 30 knockin' on mine
  • 31 insurance (cover/?)
  • 32 no expectations (cover/stones)
  • 33 never mind

    Random recollections:

    • Paul was in great spirits, which probably resulted in the long set list
    • At the end of "Between Love & Like," while still strumming, Paul announced, "It's the same damn song," and played a few bars of "Silent Film Star."
    • More muffed lyrics than I've read in most reviews but everyone including Paul had fun with them- he caught himself on the second verse of "Waitress In The Sky" and said something like, "That's not right is it? Well, then sing the right ones..." "Things" on the otherhand was flawless, unlike in Cincy.
    • At the end of a very rocking "Mr. Tamborine" with a thunderous guitar and an expression like he wanted to kill the tamborine man (though he did mention the tamborine player in Cincy kindly and offered an imitation of Chris), over the guitar he rolled his eyes and asked, "he wouldn't play any more of this, would he?" and went straight into "I'll Be You."
    • In brakes between numbers, of course, dozens of song titles were simutaneously shouted out. At one point, Paul offered, "This goes on in my head all the time!" One guy kept shouting for "Unsatisfied," and I remembered an interview Paul did a few years ago where he said that performing songs take him back to where he was when he wrote them, and mentioned that song in particular as a place he didn't want to go back to (drugs, etc.), from which I read that we wouldn't be hearing it concert again. A searing rendition proved me wrong.
    • Paul took the stage with about a third of a stogie going, he started "Valentine" with it in his mouth, and it fell to the stage on the first line. Later in the song he flopped onto his back still playing guitar. Most of the crowd had to think it was just a goof to lie down and rise without breaking the song, until they saw that he had the cigar back in his mouth when he got up, and sang the rest with it secure.
    • "Love Untold" was stellar, though when he sang 'rocky mountain street' a second time, he quickly realized the flub and added, "It was crummy as shit."
    • At one point, during a song he flung his glasses to the back of the stage and announced, "I can't see a damn thing... I like this better."
    • I apologize if this is old news, but I liked the second chorus to "Swinging Party" where he sang something like, "If bein' wrong's a crime I'm serving for years, if bein' strong is what you want then I'll try holding back these tears."
    • 10 MATS TUNES, including a sing-along with "Never Mind" (he got us singing the sustained 'never mind' while he sang the echo).

    I hope someone with more detail writes in as well,
    Greg


    Wow. That's pretty much all I can say about last night's Indy show. Two full hours of Paul rockin the house. From the previous reviews it seems that he may be starting to hit his stride: fewer blown lyrics, no smashed guitars, a more cohesive set list. Some highlights: --Started with High Time, Psychopharmocology, and Mr. Rabbit. --Paul going to the mat (pun intended) during a song (can't remember which one!), both hands still playing the guitar, to retrieve a dropped cigar with his teeth, then coming up to finish singing the song with the cigar in his mouth. --An incredibly raw, powerful version of Unsatisifed, during which he ripped his sunglasses off and tossed them to the back of the stage. The Mats at their peak would have been hard-pressed to do it better. --Beautiful versions of Skyway, Achin to Be, Best Thing that Never Happened, Swingin Party, Things, Crackle and Drag. --A thirty-minute encore, with Swingin Party, I Will Dare, Alex Chilton, and a few more I can't remember. --Closing the show with a killer version of Nevermind. --Sitting on the steps of his bus, graciously signing autographs and posing for pictures with a line of fans that must have numbered close to 200. If anyone recorded this show, I'd love to have a copy. It's one for the ages.
    David mckinley67@msn.com


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