17 August 1999
Retama Park Polo Grounds,
Selma, TX
support: Mercury Rev, Wilco
soundcheck: Perfect Circle / Half A World Away / Undertow / Lotus
Disc One 62:08
01. Lotus
02. The Wake-Up Bomb
03. So Fast, So Numb
04. Electrolite
05. Suspicion
06. The One I Love
07. Daysleeper
08. Pilgrimage
09. The Apologist
10. Sweetness Follows
11. Everybody Hurts
12. The Great Beyond
Disc Two 64:00
01. Losing My Religion (intro cut)
02. Find The River
03. At My Most Beautiful
04. Pretty Persuasion
05. Walk Unafraid
06. Man On The Moon
encore:
07. Hope (Stipe solo)
08. Why Not Smile (Mills & Stipe)
09. What's The Frequency, Kenneth?
10. Tongue
11. Cuyahoga
12. Dallas (part) / It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
Notes:
-Before SFSN MS asks the crowd if they are feeling beautiful "Because I like to surround myself with beauty". After the song "You probably know I used to live not very far from here. Some very formative years of mine were spent on a scary Army base about 65 miles from here I think". He then pivots to introducing Electrolite which he says "it's about a road on top of a hill in Los Angeles that's several planets away".
-Before Pilgrimage MS introduces Don the monitor guy "He's an easy blush. Well here we are in the polo field. What the fuck is that? There's a magazine called 'Polo'. Are you a polo player? Obviously, you're tall enough. I hate people taller than me but I like to look at them. Wow you're an easy blush too. This magazine called Polo, they're probably very nice people but they called me and asked if I wanted to be interviewed I had to honestly say I had no fucking idea what polo is and I'm really very honored but I'm going to have to pass, thank you".
-Before Great Beyond MS proceeds with a fairly standard intro to the song until he gives the title "It's called...actually we changed the title tonight I think. I didn't ask. Hey Peter? Mike? Do you mind if we put a 'the' in front of it? [MM] I think we should. [MS] Peter? Hey Peter? Yeah? Ok. We just changed the title. That's hardly worthy of applause I think. But we changed the title just now, we put a 'the' in front of it because it's easier. So this is [cut]
-Before Find The River MS gives a brief account of the regions they have been to since returning from Europe with special attention paid to the elevation of Denver. He adds that FTR was written in Miami. After the song he mentions "Iggy Pop with an afro again [I think it's a shirt he wears, this was referenced in one of the LA area shows]
-One of two Pretty Persuasions in the US leg
-MS returns for the encore ith an Elvis-ism "Thank you, thank you very much". He practices his guitar part for a moment then reminisces some about past experiences in the area "I just have all these memories of San Antonio. I can't get them out of my mind. I talked to my father on the phone tonight because their dog had an operation and I was concerned and so I talked to them on the phone and said I'm in San Antonio and you know the river walk and all that. When I was a kid and I lived here the river walk was like a sewer. It was it was a...what? Whatever it's a sewer. We're talking centuries ago here. I remember going down there--apparently we were here for a funeral, which I have no recollection of the funeral, I didn't know the guy. I was 11 years old. My mom bought a pitcher of sangria. This is not applaudable. And she sat me and my sisters down and we drank a sangria and it was really good. My grandmother was there and she didn't approve so she wandered off and scared the life out of everyone". He resumes playing Hope for a few bars before asking for the guitar to be turned down in his monitor "Because I can't play that well". He resumes and gets about halfway through the song before he makes a lyric mistake "Whoops". He starts again briefly then "I know the words. But thank you that was very generous. Is this entertaining or annoying? Ok let's start the 'questioning' part again. 'And you're questioning...' I mean it's a D and a G how hard can that be? I've really been trying. You can't get by on charm forever. I learned that at a really young age". By this time MM seems to have wandered back onstage and MS asks him "Can you just give me a D and then go to a G for me?" The song finishes but is cut right at that point.
-MM and MS absolutely nail Why Not Smile? then MM "I got to tell you, the best that there is--is right there [presumably referring to MS].
Grade: B
-There are some cuts after tracks that I did not note