Set List: Of The Girl, Corduroy, Insignificance, Brain Of J., Evacuation, Nothing As It Seems, Jeremy, Daughter/(?/It's OK), MFC, Whipping, Wishlist, Better Man, Leatherman, Grievance, Even Flow, In My Tree, Black, Spin The Black Circle, Rearviewmirror;
1st encore: Light Years, Crazy Mary, Do The Evolution, State of Love and Trust, Last Kiss, Breakerfall;
2nd encore: Soon Forget, Smile

After about 1000 miles of traveling to Va Beach and Charlotte and then back to Greesnboro, I was pretty exhausted to say the least. But the adrenaline was pumping from the moment I woke up on Sunday morning. The first two concerts were incredible, but somewhat similar as far as setlists go. With the exception of Once, Present Tense, and Habit in Charlotte, most of the songs were the same, which is fine, but it left me wanting more. For the Greensboro show, I figured the band would most likely play a set that was much different from the previous two shows, but I had NO idea the band would play the songs they did....

Of the Girl was a fantastic opener. Mike's solos were coming in strong and clear, maybe even a little too loud at first (we were sitting on Mike's side of the stage about 15 rows up), but this was quickly changed and the mix was great from that point on. Ed picked up his guitar and Corduroy followed. The crowd loved it, and the band completely nailed it. Mike was smiling at the crowd and pointing to people off to his right, as he did throughout the entire night.

Evacuation was a surprise for me and it sounded great - this song is much much better live. Nothing As It Seems was up next, and Mike completely tore it up (that's a good thing). His solos were absolutely amazing! Jeremy was another surprise (they didn't play it much in Europe) and Ed got his usual help from the crowd to finish singing the song, saying something to the effect of "help me out here."

Whipping was introduced as a song they don't play very often. It was extremely intense and fast, just as perfect as the last time I heard it in Charlotte 96. Jeff got some more classic air, jumping all around all night. Wishlist featured more flubbed lyrics and a little laughter (like the previous two nights), but it clearly didn't matter - the audience cheered and loved it. He changed the lyrics to "in open North Carolina skies" which also went over well with the crowd. When the band played Leatherman a few songs later, I knew the set was going to be full of surprises for the rest of the show. Grievance was probably the best version I had heard yet. Matt was definitely ON, adding great fills. Mikes mini-solos throughout the whole song gave it a slightly different feeling to it. Ed seemed nervous about playing In My Tree - this might have been the point where he popped opened his second bottle of wine, but I can't quite remember. The crowd went nuts during an amazing Rearviewmirror rendition, and cheered even louder when Ed threw his guitar way in the air and caught it right as the song ended to close out the first set.

First encore: let's not even talk about Crazy Mary - words basically can't describe it. It was unbelievable.

Last Kiss was crystal clear with cool lighting, and the audience singing loudly at the very end. Breakerfall was a great, but surprising, song to end the encore. Ed broke a string early in the song, and it was obviously bothering him (but not hindering his playing), so finally he just ripped em all of and left it laying on the stage as the band walked off after the song. The crowd knew there was more to come ....

Before Soon Forget, the audience was encouraged to be very quiet with "no clapping or whistling," and they complied. He explained how he had enough trouble singing the song without messing up, so when he sang "he's pissing" instead of "he's stiffening," he stopped, laughed, and went back to correct himself. The crowd loved it! After Soon Forget, when Jeff walked over to the right side of the stage and picked up a guitar, I was extremely excited, as were the people behind me, who also seemed to know that the band was going play SMILE. Perfect way to end an amazing show!! The band was obviously having a great time the whole night. Stone and Mike were smiling a lot, and Ed was receptive to the audience, acknowledging Thank You signs in the audience. In my opinion, the best overall concert of the U.S. tour so far.

Photo credit: Conrad Lowman