Paul Westerberg 2002-08-28 Bowery Ballroom New York, NY

 

Aug 28, 2002 - NY, NY @ Bowery Ballroom

With three back-to-back shows in New York City (plus that Long Island gig a week ago) Westerberg surely knew he'd have a large contingent of people in the audience who would attend more than one performance. He's been inclined to mix it up a lot anyway, but the tour finale at the Bowery Ballroom was so different from the previous night's show at Irving Plaza that anyone fortunate enough to attend both definitely got their money's worth.

Maybe the Ballroom's smaller size prompted its proprietors to delay Paul's entrance (have to sell a lot of drinks in a small crowd to keep pace with the bigger boys!), or maybe Paul's makeup artist was held up in traffic. For whatever reason, Paul didn't hit the stage until about 9:45 pm. We knew we were in for something a little different from the previous night when the stage lights went up to reveal PW in full Grandpaboy regalia (essentially the same outfit he wore on the Letterman show, sans the hat he gave Dave that night; but he had another hat, natch!). His shades had the duct tape in big "X's as on the cover of Mono, plus purple lipstick, and he was spoting the "NOW...HERE" jacket. Fired up the electric and it was off to the races. Here's the whole whoppin' 42-song set list (with some interspersed commentary):


1. No Expectations (Stones tune from Beggars Banquet)
2. Lost Highway
3. Long Black Veil
4. Postcards From Paradise
5. Don't Cry No Tears (Neil Young tune from Zuma) [these first six were done in a kind of medley, with just fragments of the first three]
6. Mr. Rabbit
7. High Time
8. Born For Me (absolutely perfect rendition of this, about as soulful as it gets - hit the nail on the head, as someone standing next to me remarked)
9. Between Love and Like
10. Waiting For Somebody
11. Nobody
12. Black Eyed Susan
13. Even Here We Are
14. Achin' To Be (a novel arrangement of this, in a kind of folky/bluegrass vein, until the end when Paul just started goofing around)
15. Let The Bad Times Roll
16. Dirt to Mud
17. No Place For You
18. Kansas City Star (Roger Miller tune from back in '65)
19. Within Your Reach (lots of audience help on this - Paul improvised lyrics after the first verse)
20. Lush and Green
21. 2 Days Til Tomorrow
22. We May Be The Ones (on electric guitar)
23. I'll Be You
24. Can't Hardly Wait
25. Kiss Me On The Bus (had a good groove going with the audience here; at one point the house lights went up so he could see who was singing along)
26. Take Out Some Insurance (old tune done by Jimmy Reed, and later by Tony Sheridan and the Beatles)
27. La Grange (ZZ Top boogie riff tune - just a fragment, as this was the punchline to a brief story Paul told about allegedly meeting Billy Gibbons in Texas)
28. Don't Want Never (played lying on his back on the stage sofa)
29. Jumping Jack Flash (ditto)
30. Someone Take The Wheel (had to tune up a little before this, as he had just "smashed" the guitar a few times, but kept playing it anyway - the guitar sounded like it was in pain for most of the song)
31. Unsatisfied (like almost any PW fan, I consider this one of those definitive songs, a desert island tune, the kind of song that grabs you by the throat when you first hear it and doesn't let go - I've seen Paul and the Mats several times, but never heard him play it until now. I've read about first-rate renditions of it earlier on the tour; about the best I can say is that this wasn't one of 'em, although it was still worth hearing)
32. Knockin' On Mine (the "knowledge is power..." part still missing in action - maybe he doesn't like that part of the song anymore?)
33. Love Untold (geez, another wonderful performance - this was never one of my favorites, but I may need to rethink that)
[couch and stage invitation extended to the audience - about two dozen took him up on it]

34. Skyway
35. If Only You Were Lonely
36. Crackle And Drag
37. Sadly Beautiful
38. Alex Chilton (a couple of women on stage got up and started dancing at this point, immediately putting into relief the fact that the rest of us dorks had just been standing around all night)
39. Left Of The Dial Encore:
40. Here Comes A Regular (with kazoo accompaniment during the instrumental breaks)
41. Things (finished and said "I think I've played enough now," but some guy on the stage persuaded him to do one more...)
42. Never Mind (pushed the vocal volume knob up to 11, perhaps to guarantee that this WOULD be the last song)
From the beginning Paul sent signals that this was going to be a much looser performance than the previous night. For the most part the approach paid off - as many have commented, Paul usually finds ways to make sloppiness work in his favor, and some of the material clearly benefitted from a good dose of swagger - but something wasn't entirely clicking tonight. There were a few problems with the sound on stage - PW asked for more volume on his acoustic more than once - and about halfway through there seemed to be some disruption coming from people in the audience. I was about five "rows" deep and off to one side of the stage, so I couldn't really tell what was going on, but a few of these incidents were enough to break the mood Paul had struggled to create. When this happened on some of the quieter tunes, he would just finish off the song and move on - it was kind of like watching the air go out of a balloon. The net effect of this was that Paul had to work harder to hold the audience and I think it was a little exhausting, depending on how he went about it. One of the most memorable moments was the contrast between "Knockin' On Mine," where he used volume and speed to put the song over (which didn't really work - by the end this was almost painful to watch) and "Love Untold," where he dropped the fast/loud rule and delivered one of the best performances of the night. The tone Paul set here finally hooked the entire audience and was sustained through the end of the gig.

In sum, it was a classic "warts'n'all" Westerberg show. And that ain't bad! So all you folks in the South and West can now start beating the drums...maybe you'll convince Paul to visit your town. We wouldn't want him crawling into that basement for another three years, right?

- RK from Teaneck, NJ

Bowery Ballroom - 8/28/02 - (Paul played for about 2 hrs and 15 minutes, HE CAME OUT AS GRANDPABOY!!!, before then reverting to a more normal Paul attire)

Lost Highway/Long Black Veil/Postcard from Paradise
unknown cover
High Time
Mr. Rabbit
Waiting for Somebody
Nobody
Born For Me
Achin to Be (as a kinda honky tonk version until almost the end, when he stopped the song and said he lost himself, ending it in the normal version)
Let The Bad Times Roll
Within Your Reach (super-sweet moment where he took a postcard from a guy in the front row and apparently the guy traveled 10,000 miles from Thailand to hear that song. Paul said, "10,000 miles for a song I don't know. That's no pressure." Then he played it, making up one verse as he went, but overall, pretty amazing.)
Black Eyed Susan
Lush & Green
Dirt Into Mud
Between Love and Like
No Place For You
Don't Want Never (played lying down on the couch)
Jumping Jack Flash (played lying down on the couch and he tried to smash his guitar afterwards, unsuccessfully, thus tuning it back up and playing the next song)
unknown cover (that led into an anecdote where Paul was in Texas and met the artist who I know I should know, but don't. Paul then played part of that artist's famous and recognizable song that again, I can't think of) (K: ZZTop)
I'll Be You
Can't Hardly Wait
2 Days Til Tomorrow
Love Untold
Even Here We Are
Kiss Me On The Bus (which began as a train wreck of a sing-along)
Someone Take the Wheel (with Paul really trying for the Tommy part at the end)
Unsatisfied
Knocking On Mine
Skyway
If Only You Were Lonely
Sadly Beautiful
Crackle & Drag
Alex Chilton
Left of the Dial (performed standing on a table)
Here Comes a Regular (where one audience member accompanied Paul beautifully on the kazoo)
Things
Nevermind
Random notes on the Bowery Show: this is the set list I think I left most incomplete; and since I don't know where else to write this, at one point he acknowledged someone's request for "Let's Not Belong" but never played the song; he also said about Sixteen Blue "I haven't heard that song in 15 years."

Overall, 3 truly great shows, among the best concerts I've ever seen in my life. With these and the in-store earlier this year, I finally got my chance to see Paul and man, was it worth the wait. Each night had some great small surprise. I can die happy. Paul, I love ya man, thank you so much for this tour. Now get some sleep and take your son to his first day of school.

-Brendan H.

There's something here I better say, this has turned into yesterday, 3 little words: OH MY GOD!

The final show was beyond belief; a masterpiece; one of my top five concerts of all time. Paul Westerberg took a sold-out Bowery Ballroom crowd and combined us into a group of friends partying in his living room. I was completing the NYC trifecta and feeling a bit crazed after too much drink and too little sleep as I took my place on the balcony with a clear shot of the stage. As the lights dimmed a special guest stepped onstage - Grandpaboy, complete with hat, makeup and mitten savers attached to a Bowery bum jacket. For the first time on my personal four stop tour I didn't keep notes on a set list, and you know what, I don't care, so exact details are sketchy.

Paul played by far the longest set of the tour. He was all business at first, playing note perfect versions of "High Time" and "Mr. Rabbit" but then something happened. He flubbed a few lines and this started an ongoing conversation with the crowd, a friendly relationship that would later save his life. As for the songs, I remember Neil Young's "Don't Cry", "Kiss Me On The Bus", "Even Here We Are", "Someone Take The Wheel", "Postcards from Paradise", "Love Untold", I'll be You", "No Place For You" and at least 25 more songs. He also did some great little segues like "Lush and Green" fading into the chorus of "Looking Out Forever". And little throwaways like the opening riff from "Space Truckin'" and ZZ Top's "Grange" that was the punchline to a little story about touring in Texas.

The show really got wild when Westerberg decided, for no apparent reason to smash a beautiful (Les Paul?) guitar. The roadie tried to stop him but Paul would have none of that and then commented, "I bet it still plays great". And after a deft display of one handed tuning he proceeded to play three more songs in perfect tune. A guy yelled out "I love you Paul" and added "And I'm not Gay". But nothing could have prepared me for the end of the show. The invitation to come up on the stage brought at least 50 people onto the small set. Paul sat on the couch and had the roadie bring him guitars and mikes through the throng. Requests were made and played with full audience participation until he rose and moved towards the front of the stage. Finding no place to stand he mounted the flimsy table that held his cheat notes and the fans protected him by grabbing the table from all angles creating a marginally steady makeshift stage.

From his perch Paul was now jesus walking on the sea of fans. "Unsatisfied" was belted out with total commitment and then, as if it was a clear farewell message, Paul Westerberg told us: "And if I don't see ya, in a long, long while, I'll try to find you ... Left of the dial". I was now in tears. A perfect ending .. but wait, there was more. An encore was in store this time ending with "Never Mind". To a person the crowd yelled our farewell "The Words I Thought I Brought I Left Behind, So Never Mind".

As I filed out past the tour bus I had thoughts of another talk with Paul, but it was time to let it go. I leaned over, kissed the bus and faded off into the rainy streets of the Bowery.

Jake McBean
Rockaway, NJ
Well, the final word on the final night -- I watched this show from upstairs as well, standing behind the sound booth. Paul was in a much looser mood than he had been at other shows, coming out in full GPBoy regalia and starting off the show with some of the country covers he did at the Guthrie. I was irrationally happy to hear him do "Postcards From Paradise"! Every time I get my moment at the bus to talk to him, I want to ask him why/how he ever hit upon that song to cover but needless to say, I always forget.

I had been telling the guys I was standing with (Scott and Steve aka the "Date To Church" guys) about this beautiful version of "Even Here We Are" Paul did in Detroit, with this amazingly delicate guitar work and what do you know, he played it a little while later, one of my favorite moments. "Between Love and Like" was also a highlight, I absolutely love that song. And we all owe a little thanks to Tom from Singapore, who traveled 10,000 miles for these shows and handed Paul a postcard (see left) asking for "Within Your Reach" -- Paul's crusty reply" "10,000 miles for a song I don't know, no pressure there!" but of course, he ended up playing it, with lyrical help from the audience and lots of improvisation.

During the couch session, Paul played a perfect rendition of "Crackle and Drag", with someone holding the lyrics for him, I think it was the first time I've heard it all the way thru with all the lyrics and wow. For everyone who has emailed me abotu how much they love this song and where/when they can get it, I did get the chance to pass along to the Powers That Be how much people love this song and hope it will be available soon.

The show ended with Paul perched precariously on a table on the stage, HOWLING out "Nevermind". All over but the shouting.

Kathy

Link