25/04/2000
and this is a good audience recording...pretty nicely done, good mix of instruments/vocals and stuff...not too much audience noise, but enough during bigger moments to let you know that the crowd is really involved. good stuff.
"out of this world" sounds good and solid, the crowd noise swells when different instruments come in, and again when robert starts singing...cool...nicely done and into "watching me fall." the band is pretty hot on this one, the intense parts are pushed hard and it really sounds good. "want," "fascination street" and "open" are all equally aggressive...rawk!! really excellent
the first change of mood comes with "the loudest sound," gently done w/some nice synth washes...but then it's back to more energetic stuff before robert lapses from french (remember this is paris) to english and kinda laughing at himself while introducing "the snakepit." it's got good mood, nice atmosphere--and it sets up "from the edge of the deep green sea" really well.
a slowly unfolding "if only tonight we could sleep..." leads into "siamese twins," which is excellent. it's a slow burn..."siamese twins" to "prayers for rain" to "one hundred years," then "39" and "bloodflowers."
watching me fall
want
fascination street
open
the loudest sound
maybe someday
shake dog shake
the snakepit
from the edge of the deep green sea
inbetween days
if only tonight we could sleep...
siamese twins
prayers for rain
one hundred years
39
bloodflowers
cold
the figurehead
pornography
there is no if
trust
plainsong
disintegration
boys don't cry
a forest
the band comes out w/three songs from "pornography" for the first encores...pretty sweet, these three plus "one hundred years" and "siamese twins" from the main set. "cold" is ok, but "the figurehead" and "pornography" are much better...
"there is no if" is simple and clean, "trust" follows nicely...i could swear that you can hear someone--perhaps the person recording the show--striking a match or something, kinda strange. "plainsong" is great and sparkles. that never seems to disappoint or fall short--always beautiful. a noisy "disintegration" comes after, very aggressive performances all around from the distorted bass to the cutting guitars...strong from start to finish!!
the band ends the night w/two singles...robert starts playing around w/the guitar parts for "in your house," but they soon jump into a very up and poppy version of "boys don't cry." and then "a forest" ends the night...the start is actually kinda unsteady, i'm sure there were many laughs and smiles back and forth on stage--but they pull it together.
an excellent night in paris--and an excellent pick up for fans!! the recording isn't soundboard quality or radio broadcast quality. it's a fine and solid audience recording, but the band is really in top shape--sharp and aggressive performances from beginning to end, and great songs (no "just like heaven?!!" how strange, but true!!) from every period...a great set to have.