October 20, 2014 – BMO Harris Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI, USA

Show Notes:

Red Dot plays over the PA before the band takes the stage, possibly for the first time since the 1998 tour. Before Baba O’Riley (unusual in the early set here), Ed mentions how things are going to be different tonight,…

Show Notes: 

Red Dot plays over the PA before the band takes the stage, possibly for the first time since the 1998 tour.

Before Baba O’Riley (unusual in the early set here), Ed mentions how things are going to be different tonight, starting with a guest “from the great state of Illinois…from the city of Rockford, royalty, legend, Mr. Rick Nielsen!” Mike and Rick are playing the same guitar. The celebration starts early, with lots of tambourines and guitar picks flying into the crowd. Ed follows with some call and response with the crowd and then sings the chorus of Surrender, “Mikey’s alright, Rickey’s alright,” and the crowd joins in.

A quick “alright, it’s on,” before busting into Brain of J. Faithfull and No Way follow, and just 3 nights after Moline, it’s the Yield album in full! A few screams of recognition before Faithfull and a few more before No Way, and it builds to a fantastic Given to Fly, before which Ed talks about how there’s royalty in the house tonight, and dedicates GTF to Aaron Rodgers, changing the lyric to “…ran for hundreds of yards…” Jeff is given props for writing Pilate, “words and everything.” Ed says “time to flip the side” before Do the Evolution. Prior to Push Me, Pull Me, Ed says “this was not a…radio single, this was back when we felt like we had the trust of the audience,” and has some fun with it, adding “who the FUCK came up with love…” He tells along, funny story about wanting to try beer as an 8 year old with a friend, they had Hamm’s and Old Milwaukee; he remembers that the slogan was “It tastes as great as its name,” then laughs about how the name isn’t that great of a name and how it’s like “Old Dusty.” After All Those Yesterdays finishes Yield, he teases “now we’re going to play all of an album called Lost Dogs, this is how it starts…” before Stone launches into the familiar Even Flow riff. Mike absolutely rips apart the solo over nearly 3 minutes, maybe the best of the whole tour.

Ed reads a note from a woman named Diane, who had to travel to Korea to take care of her father, to Chuck, saying she’s thinking about you, and dedicates Sirens to him. A cheesehead makes its way on stage, getting a big crowd reaction, Ed jokes it must be a urinal, and says they had a request and that they have to play it “because of…this [points to cheesehead]” and that he can’t put it on because he’s from Chicago, getting a huge cheer from the crowd, and Rats makes it only appearance on the US leg. Ed talks about Aaron Rodgers again, expressing his frustration as a Bears fan:

“You know what would really be great? If Aaron Rodgers… if we can trade him so he can be on the Chicago Bears that would be really great. I did get the chance to say hello to him before the show, and I brought up that theory that maybe we can just do a straight trade of Jay Cutler for Aaron Rodgers. I can honestly say I’ve never seen a grown man laugh so hard. So [I suggested] maybe Jay Cutler and three mini Ditkas?”

They play Setting Forth at his request (Rodgers said after the show that he requested Rise). After Just Breathe, Ed asks the crowd to help him wish Tom Petty a happy birthday, surprising him by going behind a curtain then revealing the entire crowd, then leading the crowd singing Happy Birthday before playing I Won’t Back Down solo electric with the crowd singing every word. Boom throws in some riffs from Paint It Black to the epic Crazy Mary solo. Black is dedicated to Bucks legend Bobby Dandridge, Ed adds some improv lines at the end, “…wish I could call you one last time…just to say…goodbye…” He puts on a “Vedder 10” Packers jersey before Fuckin’ Up, and Stone dons the cheesehead. Green Bay backup quarterback Matt Flynn is lifted up on his linemen’s shoulders during the song. Fittingly, Hummus, the hidden track at the end of Yield, is played as an outro over the PA after the show.