This is RM. The people who complain about our culture project their collective impression of all the posters they don't like as a whole on individual posters. The problem is, that collective impression which is taken from a variety of posters, adds up to a persona that exists for pretty much no poster.

b/c its usually positive, which is not the usual tone around here

This show was great. There's really no way around that. Much improved from last fall in many ways.

Random thoughts-

I love getting Lowlight early in these sets. The Pendulum -> Lowlight -> Small Town opening isn't particularly juicy, no, but Lowlight is always a highlight for me. Thought they played it well enough.

Go got me going. In fact, Go->DTE->MYM->MFS->Corduroy->Lightning Bolt, this whole stretch was killer, and half of the tunes were from the last album. They fit. And no forced sing along in DTE. They just blasted through these.

I'm glad they've revived Pilate on a somewhat regular basis. Love that song.

I thought the tags on Not For You and Daughter were nice. Like a picture on a sunny day. Longest WMA tag I've heard, obviously a reference to Ferguson. I was glad Ed didn't actually try and soapbox the issue, I thought the extra attention to the WMA tag was appropriate. The local StL folk around me picked up on it as well.

Imagine was interesting, but only in the sense that it was a debut. It was received well, and I'm glad I heard it, it was nice. But I hope it doesn't continue regularly. Just Breathe and Thin Air kinda sucked the energy. I like Thin Air and all, but meh

Footsteps was the highlight of the entire show for me. It was captivating, and it sounded perfect for the moment. Brought everyone back into focus and grabbed total attention.

The non-song highlight was when Ed acknowledged the chick with the 100th show sign. It was genuinely emotional. He wanted to make her day, do something special, and it wasn't planned. He tried to get his bottle of wine up there, and she was visibly moved by the gesture. It almost brought a tear to my eye. Everyone around me felt the moment.

From there on out, it was a pretty predicatable, but enjoyable. NOthing really striking one way or another. Down was nice. Chloe/Crown sounded pretty good, Mike really stood out here from memory, more so than most Crown of Thorns versions.

They were all certainly enjoying themselves in the 2nd encore. Ed needs to take care of himself, though, he was clearly limping on a bum knee. He wasn't drinking much, and thank god. He might have broke a hip, too.

Recording up on Dime A Dozen.

Wow, seriously great recording.

Yeah, his stuff is top-notch. Haven't had a chance to listen yet, but I sure will this evening.

I second this. Listened to it today. Loved it. Why I didn't go? No idea.

Finally getting a chance to post some thoughts / a review.

The merch line was just stupid. Maybe in years past I would have waited it out but there is nothing that I "must have" anymore to make it worth waiting 3-4 hours in line...especially when I could use that time to explore a city I've never been to before, which has recently become something that I do...use PJ concerts as an excuse to travel.

I've heard mixed reviews on the city of St. Louis but I, for one, really enjoyed it. Would love to go back some time and catch a Cards game...perhaps rent a car and head over to KC for a game as well. Pappy's BBQ was AMAZING. I recently saw an article posted by the Wall Street Journal, which I did not read, but got the impression that is spoke to STL as still being a very segregated city. Only being there for 48 hours I didn't get that impression too much. We had fun visiting the spots that we hit. Went for a run Saturday morning through downtown...seems like a nice place. (Turns out a few days later there was a fatal drug-related shooting just a few blocks from the Peace Arch at an intersection that I had walked through).

To sum it up: Great city, gorgeous baseball stadium, ugly football stadium, subpar beer, outstanding BBQ. I'd go back.

Pre-show we went to the Wishlist Foundation pre-party and I met Monkey_Driven...that was cool. The place was packed. As I recall the two highest selling items were an all-band autographed copy of Lightning Bolt CD (for about $400) and a Will Ferrell autographed cowbell.

On to the show itself...No problem getting inside the venue. Once inside it was your standard arena setup...medium sized I guess. Reminded me a lot of Key Arena. We were near the top of the lower bowl on Stone's side. Not great seats, for missing out on the 10C lottery, oh well. Paid face value. (We ended up switching seats with the people to our left because my buddy and I were up and jumping around the whole time blocking their view, so we let them move in front of us).

Throughout the night Ed made several comments about the Cardinals and his beloved Cubs. Through his mumbling it was hard to tell if he was hating on the Cards, giving them props, or making fun of the Cubs futility. Got a few laughs throughout the night, and when the Cards won their game that night and he announced the final score the place went crazy.

I'm getting a little tired of Pendulum as an opener...think I've seen it 5 times now so that's just me. Seems to be a favorite of the LB album so for people who haven't seen it yet...they are probably pretty satisfied.

Low Light is a personal favorite.

Elderly Woman - Go - DTE is a great stretch which includes two of my favorite Live PJ moments. The crowd screaming "I just wanna scream HELLO" with the house lights up, and the crowd singing "Hallelujah" with the house lights up.

Mind Your Manners is OK...good fast paced song.

My Father's Son...hadn't seen it yet, glad I saw it.

Corduroy - Lightning Bolt - Pilate - Even Flow - Swallowed Whole...not bad. I don't think a lot of people in the house knew Pilate very well. A bit of a momentum killer.

Why Go - Not For You - Daughter - Jeremy - Lukin - RVM...great stretch. Love that shit.

Break.

First encore... Imagine (everyone was into it).

Just Breathe - Thin Air (I love thin air).

Footsteps - this seemed like a big highlight for the crowd. I'm sure this song fulfilled quite a few PJ bucket lists. Awesome.

Last Kiss played to the back of the stage. I like how they play to the back of the stage but, please God, make them stop playing Last Kiss. Ugh, hate that song. Good for a pee break though.

Once - Down - Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns - Porch. I love Once. A lot. Down seemed like a weird choice. Crown of Thorns is another live PJ highlight for me. Ed wasn't up to riding the light bulbs during Porch.

Break.

Given to Fly - Setting Forth - Betterman - Alive - Baba. Decent stretch...classic hits with Setting Forth thrown in for some reason. When they played Alive I thought that would be the final song and was surprised we got one more. Ed handed the mic to a kid in the front row to sing the chorus...he freaked the fuck out.

At one point Ed had a bottle of wine taken back to a woman with a "100th show" sign that she brought. Next time I have good seats I am making that sign for myself even though it isn't true. In recent years Ed has really made a point to do something for audience members (whether it be handing out gifts, dedicating songs for marriage proposals, cutting a guy's dreadlocks on stage, etc.). I want in.

Pretty much as always...I can't think of anything else I'd rather have been doing for 3 hours. The only things that would have made it better woulda been closer to the stage (but I really refuse to pay over face value) and see Leash which is my personal bucket list song at this point. It sounds/looks like the GA Pit is annoyingly calm but for the first 2-3 rows...and I am not interested in waiting in line for 24 hours to get up there. I was there on the rail in 1996 and I think I still have bruises on my ribcage. Nothing is going to top that, I'll just hope for good GA seats on Mike's side next time around.

Oh, and...the customary round of high-fives with people sitting around us when the show ended.

Always a great time.

Jeah, brah!

Listening to the official boot for the first time. I haven't bought a boot since 2010. I'm loving the FLAC format.

Found this cool video of the show in St Louis six-ish weeks ago. Starts with a pretty spine-tinging version of Imagine, and the rest is great too!

Live in St Louis