Listener Supported

“Y’all smell good this evening.” This is a legendary show, but—and I say this knowing I’m going to catch more than a little flak—I think it only achieved that status because it was released (with video no less) at a time when there wasn’t much official live material available. I literally played through the CDs and had to buy a second copy. I’m sure I’m not the only one; it imprinted on us and turned it into something more than it was. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I’m trying to be at least a bit objective. Listener Supported was the only way to hear anything live from Before These Crowded Streets, or to hear #41, Crash Into Me, or Granny live with the full band. It’s otherwise a middle-of-the-road show from their golden era, which is to say it’s very good but not especially noteworthy. The setlist omits CRUSH, ONE SWEET, HELP MYSELF, and SAY BYE, all beloved songs that were played at a third (or more) of Summer 1999 stops; obviously, it also omits BTCS bangers DREAMING TREE, LAST STOP, PIG, all of which were played regularly in Summer 1999, albeit not quite as often. What defines this show for me is the sound quality (absolutely top notch), Dave’s vocals (peak with only a few exceptions), Dave’s Martin DM3MD (such a great sound, and captured better here than on LT34), Roi’s soprano sax work, and how Stefan is mixed in. The front half of the show is really exceptional, but after CRASH I feel like it falls off quite a bit; there’s something about the run from JIMI through TRUE that, while very good, just doesn’t quite captivate me. I should say that RAPUNZEL, STONE, #41, and TWO STEP are among my favorite performances of those songs, which is saying a lot, so again: there’s nothing wrong with this show at all, I just think it’s overrated.