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From: Novotny, Joe

After having gotten there a little late (damn work), I managed to check
out some of Varnaline's set which was a lot better than the one in
Baltimore. I think they played about 50 minutes, eating into some of
Archers of Loaf's time. This pissed them off, and in turn they kinda
seemed like assholes. They were mad when they were told to leave at
10:10 pm (Bob was scheduled to go on at 10:30). After Bob's 5th song, he
said, "Normally we'd leave, but since we're headlining we get to play
some more." Touche, sir Bob!

In any case, I have to say that Bob is God. Yeah, it's an overstatement
to most, but not to me. This show blew away the 2nd night of New York,
and maybe came close to the first. First of all, the band started off on
the right foot with a nicely done version of Moving Trucks (better than
the one in Baltimore). The next highlight for me was I Hate Alternative
Rock...very loud, and it sounded tight. Stand Guard was a nice surprise
again, but the biggest surprise of the evening (after the terrific
versions of Skintrade and Eternally Fried) was BRASILIA. This version
was fucking scorching....it started off nicely and quickly grew very
sparse. Bob was practically singing it accapella and then like a tidal
wave they rammed it out at the end. It was PERFECT...I can't listen to
that song on CD ever again after hearing that version, since it was not
unlike the intensity of the live version of the Slim from the Besides
bonus disc. 

The best in my opinion, though, was the chainsaw-going-through-glass
encore of Hanging Tree. It was played a little faster than the version I
heard in New York...and what was great was when Bob left his Fender
against the amp and let the distortion wail. So that's my report from
DC. Great, great show and the band seemed to enjoy it a lot. The
funniest part was when Michael's guitar strap broke in the middle of
Hanging Tree and he was holding it up with his teeth. The rest of the
band saw it and were laughing, but Bob didn't notice...he was in another
world. SIGH! What a finale for me and Rick...the past few days have been
exhausting, but truly amazing. BTW, after the show, Bob reiterated this:
no reunions of any sort (Husker, Sugar, electric stuff, etc.) That
implies a major tour with a lot of dates, and he is NOT going to do
that. This tour has been pretty hectic for him, and I think he's really
psyched about getting home in November and getting into a writing groove
around the new year. He hopes to do solo acoustic gigs by May (but that
is all VERY tentative of course). I think he is enjoying this tour, but
it will be a great relief for it to be over, too. The other members of
the band said they don't want it to end, though.

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From: DCGaySLP

Ok...operating theory is...the bigger the city, the better the show....so far
the most amazing shows (even by the bands' admittance) have been Chicago, NY
(especially Friday....I was there Sat)...and DC.

I've never seen Bob so animated and smiling!  He was most definitely feeding
off the electricity in the room...some suprises...SCATHING version of Brasilia
(oh yes...special "f*&% you's" go to the shitheads who were TALKING during
Brasilia and Anymore Time Between)...the acoustics in the 9:30 club were
nearly perfect and every guitar note was crystalline along w/ all the softly
whispered lyrics (botched by the talking f&%$heads...).....enough
yammering....STELLAR SHOW...

Moving Trucks set the tone, and the house rocked through the whole set....

I've been to a LOT of concerts and had many experiences with meeting bands and
getting autographs and things.....this night tops them ALL!  

Varnaline was VERY good tonight!  Seemed to me on previous nights, the band
dragged and 'ballad-ed' all night making me incredibly sleepy!  The DC show
was much more inspired....thanks to a nearly packed house early on in their
set, I think.

Archers....outside of the absolutely MANIC antics of bass-player Matt (very
obviously a desciple of Flea....hehehe), Archers had only a few songs that
truely impressed me....they also have a VERY strange sense of humor (the 'cold
sore' joke....don't ask...you don't wanna know!)

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From: Alex Hastings

As the general opinion seems to be, this show ROCKED! Just start to finish
full of emotion, and truly unforgettable. Everything sounded great, but I
especially liked Michael's guitar and vocal work. It really let Bob stretch
out in solos (witness Skintrade and Hanging Tree) and backed up his voice.
Michael was also nice enough to give me his setlist after the show! The
stretch from Anymore Time Between until Brasilia was absolutely incredible!
I didn't hear people talking too much, but the bar clatter during Brasilia
was shitty. Favorite moment: after Brasilia, Bob took a big swig from his
water bottle, walked to the front of the stage, and spewed it into the air,
pro wrestler style!!! Scans of the setlist and a little tour flyer I found
are coming next week. Again, great show. 

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From: Jeff Runnels

I'm finally back in Milwaukee after playing deadhead with Bob and
company. I just wanted to weigh in on the DC show.  First off, in a room
containing what I 'm guessing to be around 1200 people, it was amazingly
quiet during Bob's apparently off-the-cuff version of Brasilia.  Now I
saw him do this very same song twice before - in Milwaukee and
Minneapolis  - and this was a completely new approach to the dynamic of
the song and for me the highlight of the evening. Even the venerable and
inscrutable Mr. Hilcoff said something to the effect that Bob surprised
him with it as if he 'pulled it out of his hat'.

I've also never seen Bob do the spewing water overhead thing and I found
it quite enjoyable.  As for the Old Master's entrance,  he looked to me
as if he spotted some old friend or something in the crowd which
elicited a big-ass grin and a playful swagger.  At some point between
songs, some drunken dork ( ?) in the audience yelled "play that one good
one" which I think Bob actually enjoyed.  He responded with the obvious
question: "which one is that?" as he made a fairly lewd gesture.

As for the Archers, when I talked to Bob in Milwaukee he seemed
genuinely excited to have them playing backup for him.  I have to agree
though that they were pretty rough live - but I do like their new
album.  I struck up a preshow conversation with someone in the crowd who
mentioned something about this only being the second show of the tour.
When I stated that Bob, in fact, had been out on the road for at least
three weeks already, she informed me she was speaking of the Archers
(silly me).

I've noticed a pattern in the 4 shows that I've now witnessed; when Bob
announces that the band will be skipping ahead it appears to me that he
is not 'getting in to it' all that well.  It makes me wonder if he drops
the more difficult songs if he feels his playing isn't up to par.  I
hate to say this out of respect for all the people who were at
Charlottesville, but I thought the band (and Bob)  actually screwed up a
fair number of the songs.  He didn't skip anything in DC and this was by
far the best of the 4 shows I got to see.