The Sweet Illusions: Saenger Theater

Sorry to drop the ball on this one - my camera was on a strange setting that I couldn't fix until after the show, so I could only salvage a few pics and I was so exhausted from the 7 hour drive from Memphis to Mobile that I overslept and I need to beat the hour change to Atlanta from here...so...damn.

So very quickly:

The Pros:
1.) The acoustics at the Saenger were disgustingly good, flowed through my loins
2.) The lighting looked amazing against the backdrop curtain
3.) Graboff gave us a steel pedal licking last night
4.) There were no drunk asshole awards handed out
5.) 23 songs were played

The Cons:
1.) Ryan's vocals weren't as strong as what we've seen so far this tour, very subdued
2.) No setlist surprises
3.) There was some obvious tension and back and forth battles for paces of songs to be changed that made for some disappointment
ie. I love "PV" and "Goodnight Rose" because they are the jammiest
cuts of the arsenal right now on tour, but the solos were more bland than
normal and right when you thought that they were escalating to levels of
glory, they kind of dropped back to flacid. It seemed like Brad and Jon
tried to take songs to new heights, but everything kind of fell short...

Not the heroic, redemptive show I was hoping for last night in Mobile, but the venue was solid and at least we got 23 songs to the face. I'm really hoping that Atlanta is a blowout...

Sorry to run, but I gotta roll...

Saenger Theater 03/19/09: SETLIST

On: 9:44pm EST

1. I See Monsters
2. Fix It
3. Everybody Knows
4. Crossed Out Name
5. Come Pick Me Up
6. Cobwebs
7. Two
8. Freeway To The Canyon
9. Beautiful Sorta
10. Let It Ride
11. Natural Ghost
12. Grand Island
13. Born into a Light
14. Stars Go Blue
15. Goodnight Rose
16. Lost Satelight
17. Mockingbird
18. Cold Roses
19. Shakedown on 9th Street
20. A Kiss Before I Go
21. Peaceful Valley
22. Evergreen
23. Magick

Off: 11:16pm EST