10/28/96 – Wembley Arena: London, England

set: Oceans, Last Exit, Animal, Spin the Black Circle, Hail Hail, Dissident, In My Tree, Corduroy, Elderly Woman, Not for You, Even Flow, Daughter/(Androgynous Mind), Jeremy, State of Love and Trust, Sometimes, Rearviewmirror, Immortality, Alive, Blood, Porch

enc: Off He Goes, Better Man, Whipping, Smile, Leaving Here

notes: The show begins with Ed stepping to the mic and saying, “The waiting drove me mad. This song’s called ‘Oceans.’” Ed is nursing his throat a bit, drinking tea between songs, but having to stretch a lot to hit notes. Ed leads into “In My Tree” with, “So far this feels nice and cozy. This ain’t bad at all.” ‘Even Flow’ features a cool little guitar intro and Mike’s solo is brilliant! Jeff says “Lemme just say this is the most fun we’ve had in London before.” Ed follows with a talk about how he was watching a TV show about how London dealt with sewage problems back in the 1600s, ” … the point being, you’ve had a lot of shit here for a long, long time–and just finally you’re dealing with it.” ‘Blood’ is a short, but very intense version. Introduced as ” … a request that came up from the front … ,” ‘Smile’ is played live before an audience for the first time.


10/29/96 – Wembley Arena: London, England

set: Release, Last Exit, Animal, Hail Hail, Go, Tremor Christ, Sometimes, In My Tree, Corduroy, Better Man, Even Flow, Daughter/(Suck You Dry)/(Bull in the Heather), Footsteps, Jeremy, Lukin, Rearviewmirror, Immortality, Alive

enc 1: Habit, I Got Shit, Once, State of Love and Trust, Present Tense

enc 2: Smile, Yellow Ledbetter

notes: Apparently even a better show than the previous night in London, with PJ in good form, a good mood, a good setlist and a good crowd–opening with ‘Release’ in total darkness. Jeff and Ed are super on ‘Footsteps’ and ‘Rearviewmirror’ is lively. Later, Ed notes, “As far as I’m concerned, you’ve got a new reputation as good listeners; and this is one that we’d like to kinda share with you intimately” leading to ‘Present Tense.’ ‘Smile’ is played for a second time on this tour, and Ed jokes, “Last night we attempted to play this song … about half way through, one of us messed up really bad. So tonight, we are going to attempt to play it perfectly, just for you. The sentiment in the song also applies.” It is a very pretty version and he tosses his harmonica to the crowd at the end. Mike is sounding great, going wild during ‘Corduroy’ and ‘Yellow Ledbetter’ solos. Ed’s concluding comments: “It’s gonna be a while but we’ll see you again … London was one of the first places to kinda make Seattle kinda something interesting … something you would listen to. Of course, now they trash us, but we don’t give a fuck. You guys are great. Thank you.”

09/21/96 - Maple Leaf Gardens: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

10/01/96 – Marine Midland Arena: Buffalo, NY [120m]
attendance: 21,000
support act: The Fastbacks
set: Oceans, Last Exit, Hail Hail, Spin the Black Circle, Animal, Tremor Christ, In My Tree, Corduroy, Lukin, Better Man/(Save it for Later), Not for You, State of Love and Trust, Rats, Jeremy, Off He Goes, Footsteps, Whipping, Immortality, Alive, Porch
enc: Even Flow, Daughter, Blood/(Heaven)/(Fame), Present Tense, Yellow Ledbetter
notes: ‘Oceans’ hasn’t opened a show since the final show of 1995. ‘Rats’ is started, paused (Ed notes, “OK, we haven’t done this one for a while and we’re gonna do it right”) and the song is picked up again. Lyrical changes to ‘Rats’ include “drag the bones of the Grateful Dead.” After a lyric flub at the start of ‘Off He Goes,’ Ed modifies the lyrics to “… I should relax.” By request, ‘Footsteps’ is played for the first time this tour. A climactic ‘Immortality’ makes the smooth transition into ‘Alive.’ After a problematic ‘Porch,’ the song is restarted … with Ed apologizing and saying he has a lot on his mind with the elections and all. During the ‘Porch’ jam, Ed pulls a kid up on stage who is wearing an old Who shirt and swaps shirts with him. The kid stage dives into the crowd but the shirt is instantly ripped off him by the audience. PJ immediately return after ‘Porch,’ with Ed commenting about a sign in the crowd reading “Don’t delay” and launching into a version of ‘Even Flow’ with a cool jam. ‘Blood’ includes a handful of lines from ‘Heaven’ by the Talking Heads prior to the ‘Fame’ reference. A request that the crowd “listen to the words” is the lead in to a lovely ‘Present Tense.’ Great connection between PJ and the audience at this show.

don't know what it is about this band and Buffalo, but this show and the 03 show are 2 of the most untalked about best PJ shows ever

Hartford is a really good AUD recording.