Setlist: Bob Mould — Cabaret Metro, Chicago, 02 Oct 1997

Wishing Well
Hoover Dam
Your Favorite Thing
New #1
Vaporub
High Fidelity
Along The Way
First Drag Of The Day*
Reflecting Pool*
Moving Trucks*
Sweet Serene*
Beautiful Time*
No Reservations
See A Little Light
Lonely Afternoon
Sinners And Their Repentances
If I Can't Change Your Mind
Poison Years

I Apologize*
The Act We Act* [aborted]

Too Far Down
Thumbtack

Solo acoustic show except (*) solo electric.

Thanks to Mark Weygandt, from whose website (now defunct) this information was retrieved, along with the informal show reviews and comments below, which were originally posted to the Sugar internet mailing list:

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From: drewc

Show #2 on this tour was a 180 degree shift from last night.  He played
the same new songs, but radically changed the balance of the set towards
a much more emotional edge.  Bob had a cold--after introducing Vapo Rub
he mentioned he could use some himself.  He got progressively more hoarse
through the night.

Your Favorite Thing (funnily, of all the new songs in the set this is the
song Bob forgot some words to--he started it, got through the first part
of the first verse, and then mouthed something along with the melody. 
Then he did a full stop, laughed, and started up again.)

Vapo-Rub (Much better than last night)

High Fidelity (still great, but didn't shine as much as last night's one)

Beautiful Time (yes, he jammed again (and this time announced it as "I'm
gonna jam for a while".)  Apparently he remembered what he did last
night--I honestly wasn't expecting to hear this again, based on what he
said after last night's show.  Brilliant, again.  I think this is my
favorite new song, at least up there with High Fidelity.  He then
mentioned after the song how it really sounds better on his 12, but
wouldn't play it because it involves too much retuning.  RECORD THIS,
BOB!)

See A Little Light (he seemed immensely pleased with this choice after
the song, and it was a STEAMING version)

Lonely Afternoon (Again, no-holds-barred.)

Poison Years (Absolutely, no contest, the best EVER version of this I've
ever heard.  He was hoarse, he screamed, he whispered, he played the hell
out of this song.  You could see the emotion drain out of his body
towards the end.  I've never seen a singer go through such catharsis
during a song.  He had absolutely nothing left after this one, and I for
one don't blame him.  He expended such emotion and energy during this
song I'm truly surprised he came back out for the encores.)
The Act We Act (well, kind of.  He broke his low-E string towards the
beginning, tried to plow through, and then stopped and put the electric
down.  Then, after strapping on the 12-string and plugging it in, he
launched into...

Too Far Down (wow.  I suppose it was fitting for tonight's show, since he
was beat, messing up/breaking strings, and not as energetic as last
night.  Amazing version, very emotional and draining.)

So, it was quite different than last night.  He was far less chatty than
before--he seemed like he was coming down with something.  I don't think
he was as satisfied with the way he did the new stuff tonight as he was
last.  He was more willing to take audience requests for the acoustic
stuff after the new songs (i.e. See A Little Light, and after seeing how
great that went and mentioning how well the "Workbook hits" were going
over, played Lonely Afternoon).  Very chatty audience, though.  

But still a stunning and spectacular show.  

Andrew Duplantis' opening set was great.  His writing style is a great
mixture between Bob's and Verbow's, ironically.  I don't think he has
anything released solo.  Last night after the show I asked Bob about
having Andrew open, and he said he's got a few tapes of Andrew's solo
stuff in the car, so maybe we'll get to hear some of his stuff some more.

----------------------------

From: GREG LIESTMAN

    Wow. This is the first time I've posted in ages. I've been on the 
list for about two and a half years and this is my first post in 
probably a year. Oh well. I feel inspired after the last two nights. 
As has been previously mentioned, the shows were great. They each had 
their own feel though, and I felt that different songs stood out on 
each night. On the first night, I felt First Drag Of The Day and 
Reflecting Pool really stood out, as well as Beautiful Time. On the 
second night, I thought Moving Trucks absolutely smoked. Man I can't 
wait to hear that song with a LOUD band. Along The Way grabbed me 
more on the second night too. And I've said it before and I'll say it 
again, High Fidelity ranks up with one of the best songs Bob has ever 
written. 

    Over all, I felt the first show was the better of the two, 
however the first night we definately got the "happy Bob." Although 
it's great to see him having a good time, I think I prefer the shows 
where we get the "emotional, tear your heart out Bob."  So having 
said that, I think I actually liked the second show better, even 
though the first was more well played. Poison Years was absolutely a 
stunner on night two, and as always, Too Far Down was an emotional 
whirlwind. Plus, I had requested I Apologize earlier in the evening 
and he played it,  so that too made me a happy man on the second 
night.

-----------------------------

From: KewlBeans1

At the second Metro show in Chicago, there was a request for Dog On Fire and
Bob didn't know how it would translate on the acoustic but he did give us a
glimpse of it.  Did anyone else catch that?


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