| Scranton, 7 November 2007 |
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| Written by Greg | |
| Thursday, 08 November 2007 | |
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Set One Speak To Me Breathe On The Run Time Great Gig In The Sky Money Us And Them Any Colour You Like Brain Damage Eclipse Set Two Shine On You Crazy Diamond 1-5 Learning To Fly Take It Back Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun Nobody Home Pigs (Three Different Ones) On the Turning Away Wish You Were Here One Of These Days Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2 Shine On You Crazy Diamond 6-9 (short version) Comfortably Numb Encore Run Like Hell The gang took the stage Wednesday night with one line-up change. Ola Bienkowska rejoined the band, taking the "third" back-up vocalist position. It was another packed house and I must say, a disappointing crowd. Late arriving for the beginning, late returning after the break and populated by way too many drunken fools. It was distracting and highly annoying, although eventually security took care of a few issues and the rest went without a hitch. As usual, the performance was brilliant. Both Ian and Damian sounded like their voices benefited from a day off. Carl's deft reading of STCFTHOTS was fabulous, it stood out against all of his other note perfect licks. Besides the minor burp the band was immaculate in their presentation, but this night belongs to Jamie Humphries. We arrived at the venue at approximately 5:30 and the band was in the middle of sound-check. We waved from the wings and went to the front of house position to say hi to Gareth. I noticed Jamie wasn't there and Gareth says, "We might have a bit of a problem". He went on to explain that Jamie had awoken with what was described as a pinched nerve in his neck, resulting in sharp pains running through his right arm and down to his right leg. He had spent the better part of the day in hospital and was being attended to by a massage therapist and a chiropractor as we were speaking. No one was sure if he'd be able to do the gig and I thought I was about to witness a true crisis. As sound-checked ended most of the band adjourned to catering for a bite before a pre-show meet and greet.We were sitting there chatting as Jamie walked into the room, all I could think was, "no way he plays tonight"...he could barely move, almost unable to move his right arm, shuffling his feet..quite the opposite you get from him day to day. The rest of the band went off to the meet and greet not really knowing what was going to happen. We wished everyone well and went to find our seats wondering what was going to happen. As the video began to play and the intro music started, through the half-light came the familiar silhouette, labouring to his position, moving methodically and slowly. It was like watching a train wreck, we felt horrible for him. It looked as though he literally had to swing his right arm in order to lift it to his pedal steel for Breathe. Then the professional took over, aided by a seat and the attentive guitar techs for most of the show Jamie ripped through his duties. Barely missing a note, he subtly made his pedal steel weep in Breathe, ripped up the solos in Money, trying to stand at times, then reaching to clutch his neck, shoulder and leg when he was idle. I've never witnessed anything like it. The highlight for me was when it came to his brightest spot, imho of course, the solo sections of STCFTHOTS...it was absolutely stunning! I think this is the one point in the program where he's allowed to really cut it loose and to see it done from a seated position with even more lightning than I'd seen before, priceless. If anyone ever tries to speak against the will of this man to have "the show must go on", they'll have to go through me! Jamie, thank you for your perseverance, professionalism and a damn big set of balls to pull that off! It was something we'll never forget....We hope you're feeling better today bro! Greg |
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