Review: Son Volt - 12/18/98 - First Ave. - Mpls, MN

Son Volt
First Ave. - Minneapolis, MN - 12/18/1998

1. Flow
2. Caryatid Easy
3. Right on Through
4. Picking Up the Signal
5. Medicine Hat
6. Tear Stained Eye
7. Blind Hope
8. Hanging Blue Side
9. Creosote
10. Back in Your World
11. 10 Second News
12. Driving the View
13. Cemetary Savior
14. Question
15. Drown
16. Route
17. Straightface
(encore)
18. Dead Man's Clothes
19. Windfall
20. Strands
21. Last Time Around
(encore)
22. Chickamagua
(encore)
23. I Gotta Right
95 minutes

Brief review -
Well, the boys are back in the US of A.

It's been less than 10 weeks since SV's last First Ave. appearance (10/8);
not surprisingly, the set list didn't change much. Differences: tonite they
played everything they played in Oct except "No More Parades" and they added
3 songs - "Straightface," "Chickamagua" and "Dead Man Clothes." Even though
the song selection was similar the tour has definitely changed in this
phase. No more "sit down set" at the beginning, although there still were
plenty of "soft" moments. The finale was a bit more intense this time
though; for about 20 minutes they were rocking like a hurricane. Even though
most of WST was unfamiliar to the crowd in October (they played here the
week it came out) a lot of us were disappointed not to hear the distorto
opener, "Straightface." Well, nobody was bummed after they did it tonite. As
has been discussed here lately, it is one of the show's highlights, especially Jay's lip-burning harp solo.

Also, a number of songs are presented in different arrangements. "Creosote"
is even slower now - it barely breathes at all but is still exquisitely
beautiful. "Medicine Hat" (surely one of the songs of the year) now features
a solo intro with a dramatic full band entry. It's much more of a production
now than the simpler "unplugged" versions from earlier in the tour. Both
versions are crucial - I think Jay and the band could do a polka version and
it would still be mesmerizing. "Cemetary Savior" is now done full-blown rock
style and was a huge hit with the crowd. "Drown" is no longer being done in
the acoustic blues version; it's back in all of it's Trace glory complete
with that crunching e-guitar riff. And most surprising, our tender, delicate
little friend "Windfall" is also being served up as a, gasp!, big rocker.
Through all of SV's recent tours this song has been done basically the same.
Not anymore.

The covers were the same as October. Bummer, but given the recent
discussions on the list concerning rigid set lists, I guess I'm not
surprised. The Del-Vettes cover was a bit flatter I thought, although
Chickamagua (no UT at all in Oct.) and the Iggy cover totally smoked. This
could've been the best Chickamagua I've ever seen. We waited all nite to see
Jay play lead, and then we get a blistering double dose right at the end. No
disrespect to secret weapon Dave B., but more Jay, more!

Given the increased familiarity with the new stuff the crowd was pretty
revved up by the end. Of all of their First Ave./7th St. Entry shows (10, 11, 12 - I'm too tired to check) this was one of the best. Maybe tomorrow nite we'll get
a surprise or two.