WaterboysFans - Review

Waterboys Review ~ Fillmore, San Francisco ~ 18-Oct-2001
By Linda Lenards/Shaw  (Lynn)

The anticipation of seeing the Waterboys return to the United States for 
their Autumn 2001 tour began building the minute the dates were posted.  
Within a week of the announcement, plans were formulating among the 
Waterpeople to join together in various cities to meet, drink and be merry.  
New friendships were formed where none had existed before, a result of our 
mutual love for the music of Mike Scott.  

Little did we know what a roller coaster of emotions we would ride in the 
ensuing months.  Nothing prepared us for the devastation that would rock 
America to its core on the morning of September 11, 2001.   The destruction 
of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington threw 
the entire world into total shock.  The smoke, dust and debris we all 
witnessed storming down the streets of New York did not stop three blocks 
away, or 3,000 miles away, but seemed in essence to cover the entire globe.  
We are all breathing the dirt of this incomprehensible act of terrorism into 
our lungs.

As a result of grounded air travel, and the uncertainty of world events, 
there was much concern that the tour would be cancelled, as so many others 
had in the wake of this terrorist act.  We waited anxiously for Mike & Co. to 
tell us their plans - go ahead, Mike, we could use a laugh!!  There was much 
joy when it was announced that the tour would proceed as planned.  "Thank 
you" does not begin to convey the gratitude that was felt among the fans.

Thursday night at the Fillmore in San Francisco was a wonderful experience of 
seeing old friends, making new friends, and hearing great music.  At long 
last, I got to meet Paige, Georgia, Ed and Lisa Lee!  What a pleasure it was 
to put faces to names, voices to words, and hugs all around.  Before the show 
started, we passed around a "touchstone" that I found last week on the beach. 
 We said the name(s) of someone we wanted to be there in spirit...so if you 
got a tingling feeling around 9PM PDT...you'll know why :-) Hope you enjoyed 
the show as much as the rest of us!!

Without further ado, this is the set list as I jotted it down, along with any 
notes I made at the time.  (Quick comparison ~ it's almost identical to the 
El Ray/LA set list from 17-Oct.)

* Let It Happen ~ everyone around me is grinning like fools!
* We Will Not Be Lovers ~ Yep, Steve & Mike on their backs.
* Glastonbury Song ~ Sean!
* Malediction ~ very rocking version.  I look over and notice that Rich is 
totally absorbed...more so than usual.
* Wind in the Wires ~ took three starts to get going; Lisa and I are dancing 
back and forth by now...which we will do a great deal of during the rest of 
the show!
* Medicine Bow ~ great fiddling by Steve!
* Dumbing Down the World ~ 
* Is She Conscious? ~ ahhh ahhh ~
* I Know She's in the Building ~ again a rockier version; Jo has a beautiful 
smile on her face :-)
* The Pan Within ~ one of my favorites, but was a bit disappointed that the 
drums overshadowed the fiddle.  The drumming was great, but it's the fiddle 
that drives that song home for me.
* Too Close to Heaven ~ woman next to me takes the opportunity to yell "nice 
ass" to Mike for the umpteenth time.  This is the first time I've heard the 
song (!) and enjoyed it all the more when I looked down the row of faces 
lining the rail and basked in the glowing smiles of our Waterpeople :-)
* Whole of the Moon ~ you called it Jon!
* Open ~ at this point I must thank my husband, Eric, for silencing the 
obnoxiously noisy women who have made it up to the front.
* Hank ~ as introduced by Steve in his southern accent.
* Don't Bang the Drum ~ (Mike and Rich) lovely piano intro by Rich; nice 
dramatic pauses by Mike. And at the end, the look...the look...Mike had on 
his face...I was wishing the security guy, John, would go away for a minute 
so I could take a photo.
* Bring 'Em All In ~ Steve coming in part way with the fiddle
* Crown ~ nice ending with Rich grabbing the theremin
* Fisherman's Blues ~ audience spontaneously took over singing the chorus; 
couldn't tell if Mike was surprised, or was expecting it...?
__________

* Lonesome Day Blues ~ from Bob Dylan's new album.  Loved the sunglasses 
Steve and Mike donned for this number. 
* This is the Sea/That Was the River ~ the fiddle really came through for me 
on this one -- nice ending to the show.

And, we get to do it all over again tomorrow night!
Not to worry, we'll be taking all of you along with us...again!
Bells included at no extra charge :-)

I had a few more notes, but will save them for another day.  Right now I
think I need to savor the memories alone... and get some more sleep...zzzz

All my love, Lynn xx