Blues Traveler
July 12, 2003
Mississippi Nights, St. Louis, MO


Source:  AKG c480b+ck61->Apogee Mini-Me->DAT FOB (at first drink rail)
by Owen Williams (owen@theclerk.com)

Transfer:  DAT->HD via Prodiff Plus using Samplitude Project 5.5
Tracked using CD Wave
by RevKev

Fades added to the start and end of sets using WaveLab 3.0
by RevKev


Disc One:

Set One:

01. "How's Everybody Feelin'		00:55
02. This Ache->				05:16
03. Felicia				07:30
04. Can't See Why			04:03
05. All Hands->				05:03
06. Mullin' It Over			08:41
07. Thinnest of Air->			03:32
08. Regarding Steven			04:20
09. Support Your Local Emperor->	07:59
10. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly->	02:59
11. All Hands				06:07

Set Two:

12. "Don't Forget to Tip. . ."		01:03
13. Gotta Get Mean->			06:56
14. The Joker				10:11


Disc Two:

Set Two:

01. Song intro rap			00:16
02. Defense & Desire->			03:53
03. Slow Change->			07:15
04. My Blessed Pain			05:31
05. Crash Burn				04:23
06. Bagheera->				06:59
07. Love & Greed			05:46
08. Sweet and Broken			04:44
09. Business as Usual			08:51
10. The Path->				09:04
11. Hook				05:09
Encore
12. Band Intros->			01:40
13. Freedom				05:12

- Thanks to the Louisiana Baked Beans that got me through the show and RevKev for the gear

My review to the blackcat mailing list:

A more detailed review of 7/12 after some sleep and a listen to the tapes (which sound phenominal, btw, thanks to RevKev's gear, which made their return to a BT gig after a three year hiatus).

I pull into town around 4:00, take a wrong turn, and end up in a part of St. Louis I wish to never return. "Hey baby!," she said as she wiggled her hips and waved from the distance. No free parking to be found, I finally pull into the $5 parking lot behind the venue and next to the Mississippi River. It's at this point I curse myself for not putting sunscreen on the arm that was hanging out the window during the three hour drive down from Bloomington. Sucker still burns two days later. Run into Ross immediately, who I think was on his third bottle of LiveWire Mountain Dew (and, as I later found out, he had also downed a bottle of Red Bull at this point). Also ran into Aaron, Jon G, a lurker who will hopefully identify himself, as it was way too loud when we were originally introduced, Dan C, and others. We had a nice netter reunion going. Not quite Red Rocks, but fun none-the-less.

I like This Ache, and it works for an opening song, as it probably has the best groove out of the songs on the new album. Other BT songs that fall into good openers include But Anyway and Love & Greed. I wouldn't put it up there with those two, but a good choice. Felicia is Felicia...always liked the groove towards the end of the song. Can't See Why is sorta "ehh" for me. It just doesn't seem to go anywhere. The All Hands sandwich was the shit, though. They did a great Mulling It Over segue in St. Louis last year and did it justice again this summer. The transition from Mullin' to Thinnest of Air was pretty cool, as was the transition from ToA into Steven. I'm really starting to dig things once I hear the bass line into Emperor, which, in my opinion, was a bit better than the 7/4 version. I have to say that the first big moment for this St. Louis crowd was the huge harp solo in Emperor. Just a phenominal response from everyone. Huge smile on my face at this point...and then we slide into a good groove with the Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I can't really ask for more than a Regarding Steven > Emperor > GBU segue. They finish the set sliding back into All Hands with Tad's solo, which always seems to bring out the best in those who've had a few too many (and we're not even to set break). He does some funky stuff and we close the set with the huge All Hands finale.

While I will always long for the five minute Chan guitar solo into Gotta Get Mean from years long ago, I'm always happy to hear this, especially as a set opener. Rich Mahan added a nice touch with his guitar work. I'm not a huge fan of the Joker cover, it did it's job and got people moving. We then go into a streak of older tunes, minus Blessed Pain and Sweet & Broken. Outside of Sweet & Broken, the rest of the show was just LOUD. Slow Change, Crash Burn, Bagheera, Love & Greed, Business as Usual...I was expected Business to close the set, but with at least 25 minutes to curfew, we get The Path which was segued with a really nice piano solo from Ben into Hook. Band comes back on with nine minutes to curfew and continues the loudness of the second set with a nice Freedom. Really like the repition of the opening chords to close the song. I think someone mentioned they had started doing this a few shows ago.

Per BT show tradition, I take a wrong turn on my way out of town and have to backtrack for about 10 minutes. The trip home gets slowed down even more when the exit to 55 North is down for repair. Talk radio keeps me alive on the way home (Should YOU breast feed in public? Can you communicate with your cats on a conscious level?). 55 North from St. Louis to Bloomington is *not* the most exciting drive in the world.


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