October 27, 2013 – Baltimore Arena, Baltimore, MD, USA

Show Notes:

The first show in Baltimore in the band’s history doesn’t disappoint! Pendulum, Hard to Imagine, and Small Town serve as a perfect soothing trio to open the show. Ed addresses the crowd, saying “Twenty-three years. Twenty-three years. We have been…

Show Notes: 

The first show in Baltimore in the band’s history doesn’t disappoint! Pendulum, Hard to Imagine, and Small Town serve as a perfect soothing trio to open the show. Ed addresses the crowd, saying

“Twenty-three years. Twenty-three years. We have been a band for 23 years and this is the first time we have had the opportunity to say these three words: ‘Good evening, Baltimore!”

Lukin just howls and massive versions of Corduroy and Given to Fly work the crowd into a frenzy. A fan in a yellow shirt up in the rafters is noticed by Ed, who asks for the house lights and says “you made quite an impression…” Lou Reed passed away earlier in the day, and Ed pays tribute, the first of many, with the Daughter tag, “Walk on the Wild Side.” After soothing the crowd with Wishlist and bringing them back up with a cathartic Present Tense, the band breaks out the vinyl combo, Spin the Black Circle (dedicated to Dischord Records, with Fugazi’s Ian MacKaye in attendance) into Let the Records Play, and they sound perfect. Setting Forth, Unthought Known, and a frantic RVM close the first set. Before Yellow Moon starts the encore, Ed pours a drink of wine for a fan’s 21st birthday and continues, referring to Reed’s passing:

“…in some ways it’s been a hard day, we’ll talk more about that later, but so far music has been kind of healing, so let’s continue with that…

Following, the band plays 4 straight “man” songs (the ‘Man’ Quadrilogy?), including the first and only performance of the Velvet Underground’s “I’m Waiting for the Man.” Man of the Hour is dedicated to Reed and his wife Laurie Anderson. Do the Evolution, Blood, and Porch cap an absolutely raucous end of the first encore. The Who’s Love Reign O’er Me is a highlight of the second encore – the crowd is fully engaged and Ed delivers the goods on vocals. Black, Alive, and Rockin’ in the Free World end the show on a huge high note. Stone totally kills the Rockin’ solo, and the band is joined on stage by the fan from earlier in the yellow shirt.