Holy sh*t, what a GREAT SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't even know where to start. I'm fricken exhausted. The rail was INSANE. It was worse than Jerry Cantrell in 2002 and that's saying something because that pit was fucking nuts. Whatever, every bruise that shows up tomorrow WILL HAVE BEEN TOTATLLY WORTH IT...
Ok, I'm lame at remembering set lists, but I'll do my best with what was played. The crowd did a fair amount of cheering before the show even started, hahaha. They were seriously pumped. Njcreedite and I were front and center, right between Chris and Tom! They came on about 9:40 or so and opened with Set It Off. The place went totally and insanely NUTS. I have been to a lot of shows at the Electric Factory and this crowd was by far the loudest and craziest I've ever seen there. I was pretty pumped, so I didn't mind the squishing and shoving, but the rammning got a bit much as I lost my breath twice, LOL. Still, I had enough strength to push back just enough so I could breath.
After Set It Off, they played (not sure of the order) Exploder, Like A Stone, Gasoline, Your Time Has Come and another new one I didn't know. I wasn't a big fan of Be Yourself (which they also played), but the other new stuff I heard rocked. I don't know all the titles, but I dug Your Time Has Come! Like A Stone rocked and everybody sang to every old song. They were so loud they were drowning out Chris. It was AWESOME. He was putting the mic out for certain songs, too, encouraging everyone to sing along. As if they needed THAT, hahahah. I have no voice left from all the singing/screaming.
Then, they broke out the SG stuff and the place went apeshit, no lie. They did Outshined, Spoonman and acoustic Black Hole Sun...Unfrickenreal!!!!!! I REALLY loved the acoustic version. It sent chills down my spine.
I have to say that they all looked really happy and relaxed up there. Timmy had a grin on the whole time. He was just grooving his ass off. Tom made a lot of eye contact with the crowd and I have to say his playing was downright sexy, especially when he'd close his eyes and just do his thang on the axe. It was sooooo great. I was really stoked to be on his side. Chris was all over the stage, running around, jumping up and down and generally having what looked like a kick-ass time. He commented that he thought this show was the most fun they'd had since they'd been on the tour even though he was sick as a dog. He sure didn't act like he was sick. The crowd hardly ever stopped cheering, during songs, between songs, after songs. It was soooo loud and awesome. A MEGATON of energy. Chris seemed really grateful for all the positive response to the new stuff, too. It was well-received in Philly.
The highlight of my night, as much as I loved Outshined, was a surpise Rage tune: SLEEP NOW WITH THE FIRE...I fucking almost jumped the barricade on that one because it is one of my all-time favorite RATM songs. I turned to Njcreedite and screamed my head off. They were so tight it was SICK, SICK, SICK. And Cornell did a decent job putting his own spin on it. He didn't try to be too much like Zach; he just was himself and half-sang it. That is the song I lost my voice on. Tom was getting everybody riled up encouraging us to sing along with the chorus and all. He, too, was all over the stage. It's a wonder he and Chris didn't bump into each other. Chris was really appreciative of the insane applause after this song. He said something like, Thank you very much. That means a lot to me.
Tom is the shit live, which I already knew, but getting to watch him up close was beyond cool. He gets sooooooo into the music. I got some eye contact with him twice, once when I kept mouthing the words Thank You to him and giving him the devil horns. It was sweet!
I forget what the last song before the encore was, LOL, but the encore was kick-ass and I think it included the acoustic Black Hole Sun, the half acoustic I Am the Highway with the band coming back out and then either Show Me How to Live or Shadow on the Sun (I'm lame, I can't remember which one was played when, but they both were played, for which I was grateful because I love them both), then Killing in the Name, which is when I lost my breath. The crowd was downright delirious and wild by then. Chris put the mic out for the crowd a lot during that one as the ENTIRE place was screaming the words. It was incredible. I was really leery about them doing the Rage stuff, mostly because of Cornell, but he did not disappoint. The guys played it great, too. I never got to see SG or RATM live, so it was awesome hearing the songs from both groups.
They ended with Cochise and Njcreedite and I just looked at each other and went...WOW!!!! and a few other words, hahahaha. She is going to New York and DC for the next two shows and I'm insanely jealous!!! ....
After hearing a few of the new songs live, it got my hopes up that the album would be pretty good. I don't think it will approach the debut album, but it will be good enough to buy, I think.
Heh, sorry this is so long.
