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GTE Amphitheater
Virginia Beach, Virginia
August 8, 2000

Jump down to...
--> Mike Avera's early report
--> Julio's Full Review
--> Father Time's Review
(more reviews coming)
Also See:
--> The show details.


The Confirmed Set List
  1. Motorcycle Mama
  2. Powderfinger
  3. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
  4. I Believe In You   [electric]
  5. Unknown Legend   [electric]
  6. Dance Dance Dance
  7. Buffalo Springfield Again
  8. Razor Love
  9. Lotta Love
  10. Daddy Went Walkin'
  11. Peace Of Mind
  12. Walk On
  13. Bad Fog Of Loneliness
  14. Winterlong
  15. Words (Between The Lines Of Age)
  16. Harvest Moon
  17. World On A String
  18. Tonight's The Night   [on piano]
    Encore
  19. Like A Hurricane
    Second Encore
  20. Mellow My Mind


GTE Amphitheater
Virginia Beach, Virginia, August 8, 2000

early report by Mike Avera

Oh shit....what a show...

Chrissy opened with The Loner and gushed over Neil. She even kissed the stage once, saying how grateful she is to be sharing it with the man.

It's late, so I wont get into details -- Neil was superb. Surprises included Walk On, Winterlong, Motorcycle Mama .... Words of course.

God, that guy is inspiring... The band was tight.
Mellow My Mind.
World On A String.
Lotta Love.

Wow.


GTE Amphitheater
Virginia Beach, Virginia, August 8, 2000

review by Julio

After driving 250 miles home, I figured I'd better write about this while it's still fresh in my mind or else I'll never do it. I'm just about wasted, so if I make any errors, please forgive...

I now have a new favorite Neil show... : )  The '99 solo tour has been demoted to 2nd place. (I can't count Bridge shows, because they're a special beast.)

What a show. The hardcore fans won't be disappointed. I sure wasn't! I knew it was going to be a great show when I saw a full rainbow when I was almost to VA Beach. I usually only see bits and pieces, not a full one. Oh, and one end of it seemed to fall directly on VA Beach. : )

I went by myself and didn't meet up with any list folks, although I talked to Leo and his pal, and Kevin Union Man. It was good digesting the show all by myself with no distractions. 2nd row, dead center in front of Neil. The people in the first row sat down for 90% of the show (while I stood 90%) so it might as well have been front row.

Tegan & Sara came out both sporting brand new Martins to start things out. They admitted that they were kind of nervous. Their stuff seemed pleasant enough, but seemed to lack a spark or something. Maybe after they've get a few shows under their belts... They did one song that reminded me of something the Tragically Hip would write. I liked that one alot, but I have no clue what the title was.

The Pretenders came out at 8:00. Chrissie said she was sure that nobody in the venue was happier to be there than them. She thanked Neil and said what an honor it was over and over throughout their set. She even excused herself and kissed the stage because Neil was going to be on it later...

They opened their set with The Loner and closed it with The Needle And The Damage Done. The encore was Forever Young, dedicated to Neil and his family. They played a couple of songs that I recognized from the radio, but I'm not that familiar with their stuff so I didn't even try to keep track of the setlist.

Next was setup for Neil... I took the opportunity to go up on the lawn, blend in and activate my cannabinoid receptors, but the crowd was actually pretty sparse up there - and the lawn is pretty small compared to most sheds I've been to. So I'm thinking that this show must not have sold out. Anyway, I ended up skipping the receptor activation which turned out to be fine because the show was so awesome I didn't need it. :)

Stage report:
Far left, was the small pump organ (never used) with the high heel boot from Tonight's the Night days on it. Astrid and Pegi stood to the right of that, with Ben Keith in front of them (sitting). Drums in the back with Duck Dunn wandering back and forth in front of them. Then there was Spooner Oldham surrounded by an upright piano, a Wurlitzer electric piano and a Hammond organ. There were taper candles stuck in wine bottles on several of the amps, speakers and the piano. Oh, and they had a big oriental rug filling the center stage for Neil to roam on. I didn't notice any sage burning this time.

Merchandise report:
You'll have to get that somewhere else. I used to be such a sucker for that stuff, but I've now sworn it off. I don't even look at it anymore. I'm sure they had some t-shirts... : ) Besides, I bet Neil only sees a small percentage of that cash. I didn't come to make a bunch of money grabbers richer than they already are.

Neil Fashion report:
Black t-shirt that looked kind of old with a home made looking white silk screen on it. It had "Why do I keep fucking up" in really small letters inside of some kind of round design. On the back it had 'A HEADS' and I think there was a Harley logo at the top, but his strap covered it so I'm not sure.

Natural (absence of dye) knee length shorts (Not baggy like '96) and sandals. He came out at 9:23 wearing a straw hat. It looked like the one in the Big Time video... Neil was looking lean, mean and as fit and happy as I ever remember seeing him. It was a joy to watch him.

On to the set list...

This is when they left the stage...

Encore:

It was now 11:18 and the band left the stage once more and the lights began to flicker on. "That's it," I guess. People start milling out. A bunch of us moved up toward the stage trying to score a pick. All of a sudden I notice Neil in the back. The lights go out and here comes Neil again, picking up the Telecaster! Now the lights come on for good. I hung for a minute hoping once again to score a pick, but it was a mob scene up front so I just wondered off to the parking lot in a daze. It took me awhile to find my car!!!

Now it's after 5am in the morning. I have to go to work sometime today. It's time to send this and go to bed!

Peace, love and Neil dreams,
-julio

PS: Neil is married to a hottie... Pegi was looking pretty damn good in that tight black dress!

PPS: For the first time I took some of my favorite incense cones and burned them at the show. It added a nice touch for me. Then I had a bright idea... Wouldn't it be cool if we could get a bunch of Rusties sprinkled in the first few rows to bring bundles of sage and burn them? 10 or so would probably be enough to make it to the stage. I bet Neil would appreciate it! and maybe he'll reward you as well...


GTE Amphitheater
Virginia Beach, Virginia, August 8, 2000

review by Father Time

Well, well, what a perfect night it was. My expectations weren't that high, cause I was kinda disappointed to see he wasn't touring with the Horse. But my god -- I have been a little down in the dumps lately, and this show set me free. Delivered me from all the junk weighing on my mind of late.

Used to love The Pretenders for their first 2 albums, but I always thought they weren't the same since James Honeymann Scott died. However I loved every song they did last night. Opened up with The Loner! It included a psychodelic guitar break that was really cool. My City Was Gone (Ohio) rocked like crazy. And the real topper was a song off their last CD that I think is called They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To -- a song about the Britney Spears pop scene.

Chrissie kissed the stage cause she was so thrilled to have a chance to play on the same stage as Neil. She also did this in the past with Iggy Pop but he's no slouch either. She said many times how happy she was to be on the tour, and they closed with an electric version of The Needle And The Damage Done. She said she thinks Neil wrote the song about her life. Then they did an encore, where she dedicated Bobby D's Forever Young to Neil and his family.

Neil came out with a cowboyish hat on and opened up with a rockin raw version of Motorcycle Mama. The setlist had a lot of surprises. My personal highlights were a truly great version of I Believe in You and an excellent Razor Love. Loved the full band version of Daddy Went Walkin'. Peace of Mind was a very pleasant surprise as well.

There was an amazing long version of Words, with some great lead guitar. Never dug that song much but it was just incredible last night. Winterlong was a great one. And the biggest highlight for me: for the last song Neil went behind the piano for the only time during the show, and the band did a fuckin' authentic version of Tonight's The Night.

Like A Hurricane was great as usual for the first curtain call. Because the audience was so nuts, even though the lights came up for awhile, the crowd stayed and they came back to do a second encore. It was, of all things, Mellow my Mind.

So memorable, it was.

Father Time


(more reviews coming soon... --RE*AC*TOR)