The night begins with a massive surprise as the arena fills with atmospheric sound coming from Josh in the back before the drum patter of Setting Sun creeps in. This is the first instance where a Dark Matter song has opened up a show in the two years they’ve toured for the album. With no background visuals involved which have aided the performance when used in the closer role, this version still maintains a sense of calm poignancy and powerful emotional impact. It’s captivating, and sets up the first batch of songs on a high wave of momentum. The next five are all played consecutively without pausing to address the crowd. Ed does say “hello hello hello hello” to the crowd during Corduroy’s bridge and asks how it feels out in North Carolina. After finishing through the six straight songs, Ed says they feel a little guilty for not playing in North Carolina more often, and then tells a story about one of his earliest memories of touring there:

“The very first time we were here, it was a small place I was reminded of, Cat’s Cradle baby. I’m not sure where we played the night before or two nights before, we didn’t really have days off. But I remember doing a soundcheck, and I remember one of the crew guys had an old fashioned Schwinn 10 speed bike, I asked him if I could borrow it for a minute. I just remember getting a block away from the venue and then getting ten blocks and just kind of getting lost in these great, peaceful streets with trees over the middle of the streets. Small houses that looked easy to maintain, and were nicely maintained. Here we were in a place we’ve never been before, and it always stuck with me… this didn’t happen everywhere. This didn’t happen in… I can’t say because they’ll hear about it. This is a memory I hold close to my heart and very distinctly because it only happened here that I thought we could really live here. It’s true. And now 34 years later I’ve never moved. I guess Seattle worked out pretty well, but you’re first on the list.”

Prior to Dark Matter, Ed notices a fan on the rail wearing a sequined jacket very similar to the one he’s worn on the past few tours, dubbing it either the Harry Styles or Taylor Swift jacket. He asks for the jacket and puts it on for part of the performance. Something of note here, this is the first show of the Dark Matter era that does not include Wreckage, ending a strong 45-show run. Ed says that the band is honored and humbled to be playing songs from the new record, and after 34 years as a band, it’s still great to be able to create new music. After joking that Jeff signs his autograph with the “2017 HOF” insignia like a basketball player, he goes around the room and introduces everyone as a Hall Of Famer – including Matt, who of course is now a two-time inductee. In a bit of a throwback to the 2000 tour, Even Flow is introduced as “standing in the kitchen naked eating leftovers”. Before Immortality, Ed mentions the Hurricanes winning to improve to 3-1 in their playoff series in the building the night prior. He says that in order to prepare for it, the crew had to breakdown the stage until 3 am after night one’s show, and come back in at 3 am after the game to put it all back up. According to a member of their crew named Gomez, he was told that they live for this shit. Immortality is a massive performance with a powerful solo section, and the ending gelled together with a remarkable effort from Matt Cameron. Waiting For Stevie is played in celebration of Stevie Wonder’s 75th birthday, but the song is a late addition into the set, forcing Got To Give to get cut. Ed sings about a measure or two of the lyrics for Untitled before breaking into the James Taylor song Carolina In My Mind. The crowd is extremely invested, and it starts a great call and response moment from the locals. The wonderful improv leads into MFC, and is followed by In My Tree, presumably played as a reference to Ed’s bike story from earlier. Lukin has a plucky intro leading into it, while Porch for the second night in a row in Raleigh is the main set closing number.

Ed and Jeff come out for the encore, Jeff has an acoustic guitar in hand. Ed shouts out some people for their birthday, and then acknowledges a fan who’s celebrating his 100th show. The sign this fan brings reads four songs that he hasn’t seen live yet: Brother, Angel, Of The Earth and Just A Girl, which Ed comments that after 99 shows they start to get bossy. Then Ed talks about supporting strong women before getting into a performance of the rarity Bee Girl. After a nice rendition, Ed mentions a woman named Nicole who wrote the band a letter sharing that she was undergoing chemotherapy and is in attendance for the show. Ed makes an impassioned speech about how we shouldn’t have to go through all that to appreciate our lives, and mentions we are in strange times where things happening to others can soon happen to all of us. Life Wasted is played after the speech, with an unbelievable version of Black (the first since Peter Frampton’s appearance) and a riled up Better Man follow. After Alive, the ladies from Teen Jesus And The Jean Teasers are invited on stage to sing backup vocals for Leaving Here. They stay on stage for Rockin’ In The Free World as the two night stint in Raleigh comes to a close.