K and I, with another work colleague, had a very stressful customer meeting from 6 to 7:30 pm Tuesday night. We had basically worked on and off for about three days preparing. The only thing that was getting me through was knowing that as soon as the meeting was over, we were going to run out of the building straight for The Pageant to see Pete Yorn.
We missed most of the opening band, Minibar, and arrived in time to grab a drink and get comfy to watch the next opener, Aqualung. Aqualung is kind of like the poor man’s Coldplay. Even though I like their single Brighter Than Sunshine, I was unmoved.
Pete took the stage and launched into a set of fast and slow songs, covers and originals. Here’s the setlist.
We missed most of the opening band, Minibar, and arrived in time to grab a drink and get comfy to watch the next opener, Aqualung. Aqualung is kind of like the poor man’s Coldplay. Even though I like their single Brighter Than Sunshine, I was unmoved.
Pete took the stage and launched into a set of fast and slow songs, covers and originals. Here’s the setlist.
· Black
· For Us
· Atlantic City (Bruce Springsteen) > Murray
· Long Way Down
· Just Another
· Maybe I'm Right
· Closet
· The Man
· Undercover
· Splendid Isolation (Warren Zevon)
· Ice Age
· Life on a Chain
· Dead Flowers (The Rolling Stones)
· For Nancy
Encore:
· Policies
· How Do You Go On
· Strange Condition
· Crystal Village
· For Us
· Atlantic City (Bruce Springsteen) > Murray
· Long Way Down
· Just Another
· Maybe I'm Right
· Closet
· The Man
· Undercover
· Splendid Isolation (Warren Zevon)
· Ice Age
· Life on a Chain
· Dead Flowers (The Rolling Stones)
· For Nancy
Encore:
· Policies
· How Do You Go On
· Strange Condition
· Crystal Village
My one disappointment was that I really didn’t like the live arrangement for the song The Man. It is my favorite on his new album but it sounded different. I think someone was playing steel guitar or there was some weird keyboard effect. At the time I had an obstructed view and couldn’t see the entire stage to figure it out. Everything else sounded great and he played many of my favorites like Strange Condition, For Nancy, and I loved the Rolling Stones cover. We sat in the balcony of The Pageant for most of the performance watching the super mellow crowd below. For most of the shows that we attend, K and I are usually scared to get into the pit because we don’t want to have to lift a crowd surfer over our head. At this show, there were lots of couples spooning and people gently swaying from side to side in front of the stage. I went downstairs to take some pics and easily walked through the pit area and never got kicked in the head doing it. Very unusual!
Pete provided great witty banter ranging from a kid in St. Louis hounding him over MySpace to do the Springsteen cover, to learning a new pop chord years ago on the guitar which prompted him to write Life on a Chain. I think that every town on a tour stop wants to be remembered by the artist. I’ve heard from a number of fans how they like for the artist to say “Hello Chicago!” when in Chicago, etc. Pete took it to the next level. I have read that since the late 90’s he has pretty much toured non-stop so I was really impressed that not only did he tell the audience that he ate a hamburger down the street at Blueberry Hill that afternoon, which is where he had played a gig back in the summertime, but he also told the audience that the first time he played in St. Louis was at Mississippi Nights and went on to tell some stories about the night. He also knew that Mississippi Nights had recently closed. He also said hello to Beatle Bob, a local fixture on the St. Louis music scene who was standing right up at the front barrier. Of course K and I were fixated on the fact that if we weren’t so stressed out at work, WE probably would have had lunch at Blueberry Hill in hopes of running into him!
We went and stood in the pit for the encore and thoroughly enjoyed it. I told K when it was over that I didn’t want to go home because then I would just go to bed and have to wake up and go to work and I wasn’t ready to face it. It’s been pretty stressful with lots of changes. On the way to work on Wednesday I played For Nancy on repeat and sang along with Pete, “Convince yourself that everything is alright, ‘cos it already is” and prepared myself for another rollercoaster ride. --J
Pete provided great witty banter ranging from a kid in St. Louis hounding him over MySpace to do the Springsteen cover, to learning a new pop chord years ago on the guitar which prompted him to write Life on a Chain. I think that every town on a tour stop wants to be remembered by the artist. I’ve heard from a number of fans how they like for the artist to say “Hello Chicago!” when in Chicago, etc. Pete took it to the next level. I have read that since the late 90’s he has pretty much toured non-stop so I was really impressed that not only did he tell the audience that he ate a hamburger down the street at Blueberry Hill that afternoon, which is where he had played a gig back in the summertime, but he also told the audience that the first time he played in St. Louis was at Mississippi Nights and went on to tell some stories about the night. He also knew that Mississippi Nights had recently closed. He also said hello to Beatle Bob, a local fixture on the St. Louis music scene who was standing right up at the front barrier. Of course K and I were fixated on the fact that if we weren’t so stressed out at work, WE probably would have had lunch at Blueberry Hill in hopes of running into him!
We went and stood in the pit for the encore and thoroughly enjoyed it. I told K when it was over that I didn’t want to go home because then I would just go to bed and have to wake up and go to work and I wasn’t ready to face it. It’s been pretty stressful with lots of changes. On the way to work on Wednesday I played For Nancy on repeat and sang along with Pete, “Convince yourself that everything is alright, ‘cos it already is” and prepared myself for another rollercoaster ride. --J
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