18/05/2000
watching me fall
want
fascination street
open volume change slight lyric change
the loudest sound
maybe someday
shake dog shake
sinking
from the edge of the deep green sea
inbetween days
the kiss
prayers for rain slight lyric changes
one hundred years
end "she stopped loving me" chorus
39
bloodflowers
there is no if
trust
plainsong
disintegration
play for today
just like heaven "you you you" last chorus
a forest
all cats are grey
faith almost extra lyrics
and a good one to get things started in the states!! the recording is quite good, not a soundboard or a radio broadcast, but an excellent audience recording...great mix of instruments and vocals all the way around, good balance...and a steady recording overall...good!!
the band is strong and ready w/"out of this world" and "watching me fall," both are excellent and robert is in great voice on "watching me fall." "want" and "fascination street" also work--the band is ready to take the states--and the sounds are cool.
"open" is good as well, robert has a few changes in the lyrics--even though i don't think that they're too meaningful, just slight...and the volume changes, getting softer about half-way thru "open," and the recording improves a little (it's good, just slightly better)...luckily, it's not one of those shows w/lots of back and forth changes in the recording quality and/or volume.
"the loudest sound" is really nice, it's got all sorts of really subtle sounds working..."maybe someday" is nice and clean, w/roger's keyboards in the middle section coming out a bit more than usual...
next is "shake dog shake," which is good--and the following performance of "sinking' is pretty nice too...it's got a great mix of sounds working together...
the next one is much more interesting--a really good version of "the kiss!!" not only is it "the kiss," but robert plays some really excellent guitars and the recording/mix from the show is great--you can hear everything and it works great. kick arse. a good "prayers for rain" (w/a few little lyric improvs in the last verse) keeps things dark and kinda angry, which leads right into..."one hundred years." the drum machine is a little low in the mix, but that kinda works well when the band comes in fully--not bad--and the rest of the performance is good.
"end" comes next...and starts very shaky--some very awkward moments during the intro, simon kinda feels like speeding up (i think) and gets up ahead of things a bit, but jason starts putting down some extra beats on hi-hat to get everyone back together...and it gets better. robert sings "she stopped loving me" in the choruses here..."she stopped loving me...i was none of these things." and actually, this one turns out really strong--excellent guitar sounds and screaming vocals from robert!!
"39" is a cool one, thumping and flailing around--robert stays on top of his vocals and does a good job w/them, and interaction of robert and perry's guitars in different places (robert's squealing solo lines/perry's noisy feedback and parts) is good stuff..."bloodflowers" ends the set, very strong.
they come back w/"there is no if" because fans had been asking for it and robert felt like playing it, according to robert's intro of the song...and luckily, this recording captures it well, getting all of the sounds in the mix...and just as good is "trust," where roger's piano parts (slight flourishes and additions to the original lines) come thru and sparkle. "plainsong" follows and it's really good, as is "disintegration." robert delivers a good vocal and the mix/performance is top notch--solid!
"play for today" and "just like heaven" come next, and while they get people up out their seats, they don't quite pack the emotional punch of darker material...robert muffs the lyrics in "play for today" pretty quickly (and roger actually hits a bum note in there as well!), but "just like heaven" goes over like...."just like heaven." that one never fails to please. this one is really energetic and poppy w/the "you you you" take on the last chorus...
"a forest" is good and clean, simon's bass guitar has some real bite to it when he comes in and the guitar parts sound sharp as well...all around solid stuff w/"a forest."
but a brilliant (!!) "all cats are grey" comes next and just sounds excellent/good performance/good recording...the synths/keyboards swirl and swim over the repeated drum/bass patterns...killer--and then--to top itoff, roger plays the wrong last note...only to have robert play the right one soon after. the last song is "faith," and the recording/sound is super...it must have sounded perfect in atlanta (solid drums/right bass sound/perfect six-string bass sound), and it's an excellent way to end the night. robert sounds like he almost wants to sing more lyrics when he adds some words in the mix...but then pulls back, playing more six-string bass and ending the song w/the normal patterns.
making an excellent show/recording!! i hadn't really taken the time to get inside this show until now, but this atlanta dream tour recording is a real keeper--almost must have for everyone!! given that there are lots of 2000 live shows out and about, certain nights/songs/set-lists make some shows more important to some people than others...but this one is highly (!!) recommended for any curefan and every curefan, almost a must have, and certainly worth your time/effort =)