Set List - 06/25/06 Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA

by *rhondda*

ah, excellent show tonight! believe it or not, it was actually LONGER
than the Vegas show and included 3 tour premieres. she did the same
number of songs as the Valley Center, Brooks, Oakland and Portland
shows, but some of the songs seemed a little more extended, i.e. Royal
Station 4/16 and Meet Me in the Back. 

after yesterday's very long day of travel, Jib and i took it
relatively easy today since the show was local. she worked a little,
and i vegged. <g> the heat wave followed me from the Bay Area, so
both Portland and Seattle have had temps in the 90's. thankfully,
we're not doing GA shows this tour. 

i commented to Jib that it's rather appropriate that we've been
driving her mom's Prius to the 2 PNW shows. MLE would be so proud of
us! 

when we arrived, i chatted with my buddies Mare and Pam for a bit. we
wondered if we'd be able to rush the stage at some point. unlike some
of the other venues, the Paramount pit section really didn't have that
many seats in it at least on the house left side where we were
located. luckily, Jib and i had seats on the left hand side aisle
which would prove to be strategic for our future assault. ;-)

the Seattle Pride Parade just happened to be scheduled today, too,
which MLE referenced quite a bit throughout the show. as soon as the
show started, just in case anyone wondered why the "girl couple"
sitting next to them suddenly passed out it was because the beer they
had at 11 am finally kicked in. LOL...

Seattle was a good audience but they sat down more than the one in
Portland. maybe the parade and the heat tuckered everyone out? <g> 
they still had good energy, though. i didn't feel like i was bugging
anyone when i did stand when others weren't, so all was good. 

after she did IWTCO, MLE told a Bailey story this time (she's told a
few Beckett stories over the past week). someone had given MLE a
small rainbow flag which she held as she told the story. TLM had
taken Bailey to WeHo for some reason, and Bailey wondered why there
were a lot of rainbow flags around that area of town. TLM mentioned
that the rainbow flag represented that you were gay and you were out.
so Bailey bought MLE a rainbow flag so "she could be out." awwwww! 
MLE cracked, "I don't know how I could be more out than I am right
now." LOL...very cute.

Shriner's Park was a real surprise. i'd have to check my archive, but
i think the last time MLE tried to play this song at a show i attended
(Fillmore 2004?) she actually had to stop playing it because she
messed it up so badly. i think the last time i saw her perform it for
real was back during the YLS tour. i had already written down Nowhere
to Go in this spot, because she introduced the song by talking about
Leavenworth. so i had to scratch that out in my notes. anyway, in
her intro, MLE mentioned that in her travels she runs into people she
knows from home. today she ran into someone who brought her 9th grade
yearbook. apparently, MLE had tried to do the Farrah Fawcett
feathered haircut in those days but it just didn't work on her (in
more ways than one, i believe <g>). 

MLE said that she had big dreams and she was always looking out for
those other kids who were just like she was...folks who were a little
different and didn't fit into a specific mold. she told us that her
friend, Maurice, did her hair and took her to the prom. of course,
the way she told us about Maurice led me to believe that he was
"family", too. <g>

she also made friends with a girl who was very curious about MLE. MLE
was wild and wanted to move to LA to be a rock star. apparently, they
did "stuff" <wink>. some time later, she would be at their usual
meeting point, and her friend didn't show up. this happened a few
times, and MLE heard that her parents had sent her away. she was
worried that her friend's parents had sent her away to "fix" her. a
few years ago, MLE was in Leavenworth (i'm guessing for her reunion),
and she asked what had happened to her friend. it turns out that she
got married and had had a couple of kids. MLE wrote Shriner's Park
remembering these times with her friend. 

MLE told her usual story about how she wrote Royal Station 4/16, but
included an addendum for the kids in the audience. when she sings
"I've got this whiskey...," it was really apple juice! but apple
juice isn't very rock and roll, now is it? <g>

the past few times i've seen MLE play Royal Station, she's worn a neck
harness for her harmonica a la Dylan or Springsteen, but she didn't
have one on tonight. so i wondered if she would even do the harp
portion, but she pleasantly surprised us by pulling one out of her
jean pocket. Philip played some tasty slide guitar to the song. 
later on, when she and Philip were jamming, MLE blew her harp and
Philip made his guitar sound just like a train. magic! 

when she strapped on one of her Ovations after I Run for Life, i
thought maybe she was going to skip the electric song that usually
appears in that slot (we've had If You Want to, Kiss Me and Must Be
Crazy for Me in that spot), but she surprised us with an extended Meet
Me in the Back. we got a little information about MLE's sex life in
her intro to the song - maybe a little TMI, but what the heck, right?
when MLE was diagnosed, TLM asked her doctor, "There's something that
I've got to know. Can we still...?" (fill in the blanks, people!) 
sure, MLE's doctor replied, but she may not want to. hah, it was good
to know that MLE was getting some action while she was going through
hell. <g>

as we approached the usual rushing time (BMSW), i noticed 2 of the
security guards on our side discussing the pit. from their gestures,
it looked like they were going to let us into the pit, but alas that
proved not to be true. i told Jib to get ready and as soon as BMSW
started, i walked directly down to the pit with Jib following closely
behind. my buddy Mare joined me down there, too, but security would
only let us stand in front of the pit's entrance. luckily, the pit's
entrance was really close to the stage, so it was *almost* like being
there. but we had an unobstructed view of MLE, because we were above
the pit people. 

i don't think i've mentioned it in any of my previous reviews, but MLE
includes the usual "best 2 weeks / subsisting on crappy food (usually
Captain Crunch) / feed my dog" story mid-Piece of My Heart that she's
been doing for years (check some older boots). this time, she threw
in some weird metaphor about baskets, plates and saucers - basically
making the point about how you might misrepresent yourself to someone
you're interested in. it was certainly...different. LOL...

there was a little blonde girl who asked our security guard if she
could go into the pit, and he told her that he'd see what he could do.
he did slip her in about midway through All the Way to Heaven. Mare
and i asked the guard if we could step into the pit soon because MLE
was going to shake hands with the front row soon. he agreed. when
MLE came over to shake hands, she made a distinct beeline to my
position and stuck her pick in my left hand. SCORE! i had an inkling
that that might happen because she usually hands the last pick to a
person standing on the far house left in front of the stage. i yelled
out, "Thursday, I'll see you Thursday!" as the Long Beach/LA shows are
next on my itinerary. 

it's a black pick with her signature on one side and on the other side
there's one of those "sacred designs" MLE referred to in her blog when
she talked about her stage set. 

whew, what a show! OVER 3 HOURS! 

start: 7:40 pm
end: 10:43 pm

here's tonight's set list:

Come On Out Tonight
If I Wanted To
No Souvenirs 
I Want to Come Over
Come to My Window
Shriner's Park (YES!) 
The Different
Royal Station 4/16 (HOLY, FREAKY DEAKY, YES!)
Angels Would Fall
I Need to Wake Up
Silent Legacy -->
Scarecrow -->
Tuesday Morning
Meet Me in the Dark 
Brave & Crazy 
This Is Not Goodbye
I Run for Life
Meet Me in the Back (YES!)
Bring Me Some Water -->
I'm the Only One -->
Piece of My Heart

Encores:

Like the Way I Do 
All the Way to Heaven

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