Ed walks out onto the stage and proclaims that “it’s gonna be a looooong night,” setting the tone for the final show of 2016. The first 13(!) songs are all from the 90’s, paying service to the long-time fans that…
Show Covered by Podcast
Main Set: Oceans, Footsteps, Off He Goes, Better Man, (Summertime Rolls)/Corduroy, State Of Love And Trust, Why Go, Animal, Given To Fly, Immortality, Black Red Yellow, Deep, Jeremy, I Am Mine, Wishlist, Of The Earth, Lukin, Mind Your Manners, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Throw Your Arms Around Me, Man Of The Hour, Last Kiss, Got Some, Comatose, Even Flow, Don’t Gimme No Lip, Sonic Reducer, Blood
encore 2: Crazy Mary, Surrender, Alive, All The Way, Time Has Come Today, Rockin’ In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter, I’ve Got A Feeling
Ed walks out onto the stage and proclaims that “it’s gonna be a looooong night,” setting the tone for the final show of 2016. The first 13(!) songs are all from the 90’s, paying service to the long-time fans that have made Chicago such a memorable place to see them play. Unique setlist construction in the beginning of the show, as Footsteps, Off He Goes and Better Man are played in the 2, 3, and 4 spots. Ed gives a shout-out to the folks on the rooftop at Wrigleyville, saying it was there that he witnessed a “certain smoking utensil” for the first time. Prior to Corduroy, Ed’s voice fills the air with a snippet from Jane’s Addiction song “Summertime Rolls” for the first time since touring Lollapalooza in 1992 24 years ago. After Animal, Ed toasts the crowd and says they are so grateful for being asked to play there again. When they were asked, Ed responded “we’d have to sleep on it…when I did, I woke up in the middle of the night and had a dream that the Chicago Tribune headline said ‘lightning strikes twice,’” calling back to the infamous weather delay from the 2013 show. Black, Red, Yellow is played for only the 7th time, dedicated to the Chicago Bulls. Bulls legend Dennis Rodman joins them on stage and attempts to recite his answering machine playback line featured on the studio version. I Am Mine breaks the streak of 90’s material. Another rarity is broken out later in the set, as the unreleased Of The Earth makes an appearance. This version has a ton of power behind it, with a jammy and explosive bridge creating a euphoric, thunderous moment when the bridge transitions back into the lead riff. The momentum comes to a halt during Lukin, as Ed stops the song to call out an overzealous fan shoving his fingers in a woman’s face. The fan is escorted out by security as the crowd gives him the “hey hey goodbye” treatment. Then they pick up exactly where they left off, finishing Lukin with intensity. In the encore, Ed jokes that the fan who was kicked out looked like Steve Bartman (infamous Cubs fan known for interfering with a fly ball during an important playoff game), and makes mention of the flags around the ballpark, dedicating Throw Your Arms Around Me to all the travellers. A fan named Bob gets to sing along during Even Flow and gets some credit from Stone, before Stone takes the mic himself to sing lead on Don’t Gimme No Lip. The encore ends with more throwbacks to the early 90’s, ripping through loud and furious renditions of Sonic Reducer and Blood. Boom’s B3 is prominent on Crazy Mary, as he matches the sound of the Wrigley Field organ during his solo and tags the Rolling Stones’ Paint It Black. Ed tells a story about the late Cubs Hall of Famer Ernie Banks and how during the 2013 Wrigley show, Ernie asked to keep Ed’s mitt which he said had a lot of love in it. Ed received his mitt back that night and proclaimed that a lot of magic is gonna happen there in the next few months (the Cubs would break their 108 year World Series curse that October). Ed’s Cubs anthem All The Way is played for the final time, as after the Cubs won the World Series he stated that he’d never play it again. A cover of Time Has Come Today, originally performed by The Chamber Brothers, is debuted late in encore 2. Rockin’ in the Free World has a lyric change, “Cubs colors on the streets,” and I’ve Got A Feeling, the song that closed out the show from The Metro, just down the street from Wrigley, in 1992 closes out this show. An instant classic, full of fun covers and 90’s fan favorites.
Written by: Randy Sobel