songs from black mountain tour: live in concert at the variety playhouse, atlanta

the four founding members of live

ed

atilla and i hit variety playhouse sunday night. i know everyone raves about the tabernacle, but i still think the playhouse is the best place to see a show in atlanta. it's in a great neighborhood (as a matter fact, the one i live in) with a ton of character and has a much smaller, more intimate vibe. the tabernacle definitely has better acoustics, though.

anyway, to the show. atilla brings two of his boys from the big h. en route from chez wintermute we get hit by a tremendous downpour. half way through the sprint up euclid ave i decide that the brewhouse is too far and we settle for the euclid yacht club for pre-game beers and sandwhiches.

some dillhole named michael shapiro was opening. he had big muscles, i'll give him that. where on earth do they find these opening acts? i've heard better music at smith's olde bar on tuesday nights. it's not like live needs the opening act to sell tickets, for fuck's sake.

live hit the stage around 9:00 pm. for the life of me, i couldn't find a set list in the two weeks preceding the show (and i looked freaking everywhere). so here's the first complete list of live's set list for the 'songs from black mountain' tour:

1. Rattlesnake
   
2. Selling the drama
3. The river
4. Mystery
5. Heart and soul
6. Walk the line (johnny cash cover)
   
7. Wayne 's (new song)
   
8. Lightening crashes
9. Lakini's juice
10. Dolphins cry
11. I alone
12. I don't need no one
13. Show (new song)
14. Sophia (new song)
15. Water
16. White discussion
17. Iris
18. Beauty of gray
19. Shit towne
20. Closing Song (don't know the title)

ed dominates the stage, in fact almost to the exclusion of the rest of the band. the spotlight was on him for 99.99% of the show. a bit weird, considering that they're touring veterans, and that patrick taylor (their lead guiatrist) especially has a really strong stage presence.

anyway, earlier reviews had panned ed for jacking off the crowd, rubbing his nipples, and generally pandering to the non-existent teeny-bopper crowd. the crowd for this show was pretty much entirely 30 and up. given that demographic, surely some other fans found the virtual absence of songs from 'mental jewelry' disappointing. the one song from their first real album was beauty of gray, and it was probably the worst song of the night (just didn't sound tight, which sucks given that the rhythm is so syncopated for that song). no 'tired of me?' no 'operation spirit?' no 'pain lies on the riverside?' are you freaking kidding me?

and they played lightning crashes. that songs still sucks, ed.

but everything else rocked. ed kept the justin timberlake moves to a minimum. he moved around a lot, danced a bit, and high-fived the folks in the front.

in terms of song selection that i liked, 'white discussion,' 'iris,' and 'lakhini's juice' rocked big time. 'juice' is practically a heavy metal song and arguably my favorite live song of all time. wish they had played 'waitress' or 'stage.'

the johnny cash cover sounded great--ed introduced it as a "good cover of a great song." the new songs were pretty good, especially 'show.'

the structure of the show was a bit odd. the first set was 63 minutes. they left the stage for 2-3 minutes, then came back on and played for another 40 minutes. and then they left. it seemed like two separate sets, or just an unusually short set with an unusually long encore. i have to say, the last song sucked big time. ed suggested that the crowd sing along--some song i've never heard of (and neither had any of my four friends with me) that proved to be a weak finish on an otherwise rocking show.

anyway, it rocked. am hoping to catch them in LA in two weeks.

i got some video, too. still figuring out how to post it using google video.

atilla and his boys coming in from the rain

the whole crew