I caught the show in Seattle last night - it was simply fantastic! Not sure if it was Meshell, the band, the venue, or all of the above, but it was a better show than the last 2 times I’ve seen her (San Fran ’06 and Whistler ‘08). The band was tight, the songs flowed easily and were representative of her entire catalogue (except Peace Beyond Passion and Spirit Music), and the crowd was receptive to both old and new material. The show began promptly at 7:30 PM and ended just after 9 PM. Meshell was confident, relaxed, and appeared to really enjoy the night.

Here is the set list. I may have missed a song or two, and I certainly do not have them in the correct order. I assume (hope) Matthew will correct the errors. I found the set to be very cohesive, and thus lost track of what was played when.

Crying in Your Beer
Bold way to open the show. Nice and meditative. Meshell played guitar on this and many others throughout the evening.

Lola
Classic Meshell, emphasizing the expletives in the live setting.

Blood on the Curb

Die Young
First song to use a light show. Cool star-theme in the background that added to the outer-world vibe. A little slower tempo than on the recording.

Dirty Mind
Awesome Prince cover with Chris Bruce wailing on guitar.

Fool of Me
Crowd went wild for her Bitter songs. Her voice was in great shape.

Article 3
Frantic, loud, and awesome.

Eve / Dead Nigga Blvd (Pt. 1)
Not sure if it really was Eve as a keyboard solo beginning, but it sounded similar. Dead Nigga Blvd. was totally reworked and was perhaps the highlight of the show. Tons of energy with Meshell just totally in complete control of the song and crowd. Not sure even how to describe it. Kinda space-funk spoken word poetry.

Untitled (from Plantation Lullabies) / Outside Your Door
Just Meshell on bass/vocals and Chris Bruce on guitar. Really nice change of pace from the full-band energy.

Love Song #1
Good, but perhaps the song with the least energy of the night. Pretty close to recording.

White Girl
Sounded more atmospheric and open than the recording. Very cool.

Faithful

Fellowship

Solomon
Spoken word intro by Meshell, including the modified line "For my sons..." (I guess their baby was born)

The Sloganeer: Paradise

Mass Transit

Love You Down
Encore. Crowd was happy for an encore, but wanted more. Sadly, the house lights came on, so we knew it was over.

Only thing that would have made it 100% perfect would have been a 2nd or 3rd encore featuring a Peace Beyond Passion song or another one from Cookie. Really looking forward to Matthew’s thoughts. It was a magical evening for me. I had goose bumps through many of the songs.

Cheers.
-Bruce

Seattle was the best sounding of the shows I've seen of this tour. (Two shows in Minneapolis, two in San Francisco, Seattle and Bellingham.) Didn't hurt that the sound system cost around $1.5 million for the Triple Door.

The emotional night for me was of course the first night. Teared up hearing "Fool Of Me" for the first time in concert. I know she doesn't care to do the old songs -- but does them to appease those that need to hear the old stuff. I have always thought the best shows were the ones where there were songs I either hadn't heard live before, or songs I've never heard before, period.

The best show of those that I saw was the San Francisco show. Rewatching what I shot, Deantoni and Meshell seemed to be feeding off one another. The version of "Sloganeer" at the San Francisco show is the best I've heard/seen to date.

For me what really came across with this tour and band is that I don't recall seeing her this happy. I'm sure she gets tired of hearing that, but it's true. A lot of humor with everyone involved. A lot more interaction with those that came out to see her as well -- which hopefully helped at the merch stand and in sales of the new album.

I may have lost my job due to making plans well in advance -- and telling my boss that I couldn't work those days -- and if I did, it was worth it. 7 years may be a bit too long at one place anyways.

Small note about the Seattle show. When I arrived, I was asked if it was just myself. I asked what the Triple Door employee meant, and she said that there was me plus one. So I called a friend and she came to the show. She said afterward that she was "ruined for concerts forever" -- "until the Little Dragon concert next month!"

I bought her the CD and Meshell signed it for her. There really is nothing better than turning people on to new artists and them loving it.

Another friend of mine that I only knew online but had never met in person was at the Bellingham show. We'd known each other for about ten years. We spent the 2 hours leading up to Meshell taking the stage talking. Her husband is a bassist and loved the show. Bought her the CD as well.

It's times like that, spending the show at Amoeba Records and at The Independent with Lisa that I'll remember most. Experiencing her amazing band with friends just can't be beat.

san francisco was magical...

I'm sorry I didn't shoot more video from that night. I just assumed standing that close to Deantoni, that it distort the sound. I was wrong.

The Amoeba show is going to have to wait until I get back from Hawaii. I need to figure out a way to cut it in 3 or 4 chunks. Can't upload a 30 minute clip on youtube or facebook. Thanks for your patience on that

it's crazy i know, but believe it or not folks i'm JUST NOW seeing all of the great footage m got from these Washington shows

I've got a LOT of catching up to do

So far looks like i've seen every song from Seattle set except Love Song#1, and i've seen most of Bellingham too (btw does anyone have the track order from the Bellingham set?...wait nevermind it looks like m has a direct link to the videos and they look to already be in order...matt you are the MAN dude!!

now i'm off to go look for the Amoeba set and Sanfrancisco footage

M i cant thank you enough for taking the time and energy to share with the rest of us. Next paycheck dude, i'm donating whatever i can to the site as a show of appreciation man. THANK you Bro!!

Thank you Derek. There's been so little feedback on all of that footage that I shot that your words mean a lot

Well Matthew I thank u too! Sorry i did not know u were responsible for those videos. I just wish it was alright for all venues to let you record.Because I wished everyone could have seen the show she had here at the Black Cat.(DC) Peace to everyone