Paul Westerberg Man Without Ties
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Paul Westerberg 2005 Tour - Denver, Kansas City, Colombia

Paul injured his leg the day of the show, landing in the emergency room, but played the show anyway and even 'treated' the crowd to a viewing of the injured leg by pulling down his pants and playing 1/2 a song before one of the road crew kindly pulled the pants back up for him. Lots of nice pictures from Columbia, thanks to Kathy, Agnes and Stacy for these.
man without pants sings: photo by roberto
Setlist:


Paul played the Ogden Theatre which is actually right up the street from the Fillmore where Modest Mouse played a sold out show the same night. Kinda funny both them playing on the same night, especially when Paul launched into a great, energetic version of "How can you like him..." considering every musician since Paul has bitten off him...

Paul came out in a long coat, a long multicolored scarf, suit pants, a black vest and t-shirt. And walking in hobbling on a cane!!! I thought that was sort of a Granpaboy-esque deal, but later in the show, when the fans were calling for their favorite songs, the guys were grumbling a little, and the guitarist said "you have no idea what we've been through today... Then the bass player adds "yeah, what a day for a night..." everyone gets fired up. Then Paul DROPS HIS PANTS completely - he's wearing black boxers and showing us a HUGELY taped up knee and says "the whole thing - in half..." then they launch into a great version of "What a day for a night" with Paul playing the whole song in his boxers! towards the end of the song, a roadie comes up to pull Paul's pants up. One of the girls there told me that Paul had messed up his hamstring. and the guitarist also added "Our buss is really fun" - so maybe a buss bump or swerve or something. Paul was hurting - but didn't let it show or slow down.

They were nothing short of amazing - spot on, tight - in a groove, no messing around- powerful, inspiring - just a great show. Paul only had one little flub, during an acoustic version of Skyway where he messed some lyrics - we helped out. But they just blew through songs after song, taking little time to screw around in between...

Some highlights:
  • Opened with Merry Go Round, then into Someone Take the Wheel. Amazing, haunting solo acoustic version of Lush and Green, then Paul takes the same strumming and sound and goes into Swinging Party, but to the tune of Lush and Green, until the end - just amazing.
  • A lot of Tim - all sounded so awesome with the band: Kiss Me on the Buss, Waitress in the Sky, before Little Mascara Paul goes, "This is a little Replacements Numba...
  • Funny covers - If I had a Hammer and I think I Love You
  • Valentine was amazing.
  • On the solo for What a day for a Night - Paul was stoked on the guitar players, smiling and asking, "Have you been practicing?"
  • Ended the show and encore with Folk Star - and threw in a quick line of "This is my single, this is my jingle"
  • Psychopharmacology
  • Left of the Dial was unreal - as passionate and lively as I've ever heard it.
  • Alex Chilton - ground going bananas
  • Can't Hardly Wait - with full band - customary quick drink break during the pause
  • Achin to Be
  • Born for me - solo, cool lights, acoustic - just great
  • played a bunch more - a solid 2 hour show...

    Again, seeing him with that band, that had already played a few shows - I was amazed at how tight they were. So inspiring to see Paul and Friends so on. Everyone had a great time.

    Other tidbits When hearing someone yell Free Bird for the fifth time, Paul: "Is that still funny?" - then someone yells Smoke on the Water and Paul says "Now THATS FUCKING FUNNY"

    Other times when everyone is calling for their favorite songs, Paul: "You heathens, you deserve nothing but bone-crunching Rock..."

    After the show a roadie came out thanking everyone, letting us up front know there was no set list, that Paul calls it all of the hip, and normally they do a signing but with Paul's knee they were getting him out of there.

    Great time - don't miss it
    Andy, Denver



    Mar. 4, 2005 @ The Grand Emporium, Kansas City, MO

    As my brother (who lives in Minneapolis, but was a good sport and drove down to attend with me) and I approached the Grand Emporium a line trailed out the door and down the sidewalk. Considering it was already 7:45 I found it odd that the doors may be closed still. Had Paul's leg created a delay? Were too many tickets sold? No, that was the line for schmucks WITHOUT tickets! Did they really think the followers of St. Paul would not snatch up the indulgences known as tickets? My brother and I skirted around the line, presented our tickets and entered the bar.

    9 years earlier I had seen Paul at a bowling alley in Omaha and sweated clean through my t-shirt. Of course that was June, the height of humidity season. The Grand Emporium took that to another level; bodies swarmed together and the beer glasses sweated instantaneously. Inching my way past the bar and to the back of the alley-shaped club allowed my to stare directly at the stage. A few apologies and disgruntled cursing from the crowd was rewarded with a late 'entrance' by Paul and the band. They fumbled around behind the curtain as Hank Williams (I think) poured out the speakers.

    A final flurry of activity led to Paul stepping out with a Gram Parsons inspired suit and the opening chords to "Merry Go Round" segwaying into "Someone Take the Wheel." the rest of the night is a blur. Paul is the Suburban Raymond Carver. He details all the heartache of life, and he has continued to grow. The Replacements were the soundtrack to my "youth" and since that time he has continued to score the screenplay of adulthood, marriage and parenting. Who could have ever know that the kid behind "Gary's Got a Boner" would grow to write "My Dad". Of course neither of those were actually played at the show.

    We devotees paid homage to The Replacements outsinging Paul on classics like "Alex Chilton", "Kiss Me on the Bus" and "Can't Hardly Wait" (the closer, with a pause to light a new cigarette, very cool!). But what I love about the Westerbergian Monks, is the continued devotion. It's not about seeing a song-writer relive his youth, because "What a Day (For a Night)", "No Place for You", and "Love Untold" were also sing-alongs.

    I know it's cliche', but the moment I KNEW that Paul was MY songwriter was the first time I hear "Here Comes a Regular." When he sang that song, alone on the stage in KC, I experienced chills. Has anyone EVER written a better line than "Used to live at home/Now I stay at the house"? Anyone?

    Othe highlights: "Born for Me", snippet of "Kansas City Star"(?), "Achin' to Be" (aren't we all?), "I Will Dare", and a revelation from Paul: "This is the first song I wrote after years of not writing a thing." -- "High Times."

    Thanks again Paul. Don't stay away so long.

    Lloyd Hoshaw (English teacher but not from Vancouver)


    • Merry Go Round
    • Someone Take The Wheel
    • Live Forever
    • Final Hurrah
    • Kiss Me On The Bus
    • AAA
    • Knockin' On Mine
    • Making Me Go
    • Let The Bad Times Roll
    • No Place For You
    • As Far As I Know
    • Little Mascara
    • Born For Me
    • High Time
    • Valentine
    • Psychopharmacology
    • Skyway ( solo )
    • Here Comes A Regular ( solo )
    • What A Day ( For A Night )
    • Achin' To Be
    • Love Untold
    • I Will Dare
    • IOU
    • Alex Chilton
    • Left Of The Dial
    • Kansas City Star ( about 1-2 minutes worth )
    • Can't Hardly Wait
    Michael Bland is a friggin' MONSTER on drums. Matter of fact, I was really really impressed with the band period. They were much tighter than I expected, & did a great job on both the older AND newer stuff.

    "Knockin' On Mine" : just a furious version...the last minute or so just kept getting faster & faster.

    DiggityDawg


    Looking back on it, I almost didn't go to the KC show. I almost didn't go to the one in Columbia the next night either. I had just bought flight tix for my vacation to Arizona to catch some Spring Training baseball games. I was to fly out on Friday, March 4, the day of the show at the Grand Emporium. Then a couple of days later, almost by coincidence (long story), I found out about the show at Columbia's Blue Note. The show hadn't even been posted on Paul's site yet. No midwest shows had been posted. I thought the west coast shows were it. Nothing else. I learned from calling the Blue Note that the show had only been finalized a couple days earlier. Talk about timing.

    So I immediately contacted my travel agent to see if I could change my flight from Friday March 4 to Sunday March 6 with no financial penalty. Luckily, the answer was Yes. Talk about being pumped! I'd have to eat tickets to a Cubs/Giants game, but hey, Paul hadn't come thru Missouri in 9 years! And then the Kansas City show was announced for the night prior to Columbia. Should I try to go to that show also, since Thursday was my last day of work before vacation? Hmmmm.

    As the KC show got closer and closer, I knew I had to hit the road to the Grand Emporium. Turned out to be one of the best decisions I've ever made. That and changing those flight tickets.

    The Grand Emporium was oversold that night. Capacity is supposed to be around 350. I heard upwards of 400 were packed into it. And it was dark in there. Once my friends and I found our spots relatively close to the stage, we stayed put. Let's just say this: two people I was supposed to meet there, I never saw. And it turns out, they both were there. That's how packed and dark it was.

    Going into this show I was a bit nervous. I had questions about Paul's voice after the hoarse rendering of As Far As I Know on the Craig Ferguson show. And I wondered how tight the new band could be after just a few shows. But shortly after they kicked into the "All Shook Down" classics, Merry Go Round and Someone Take the Wheel, I had both my answers and more. This new band was tight and rockin'! And Paul was on FIRE!! Live Forever, a song I didn't recognize but heard was a cover, was next, followed by Final Hurrah.

    And then things really took off. Kiss Me on the Bus with Paul playing the kick-ass lead, AAA, Knockin' On Mine, Making Me Go. Man, this band is dead-on! I'm thinking this is Paul's best band since '93 for sure! The Eventually tour band was great, but this new band is even better. Trust me, when Paul refers to Michael Bland as "the greatest drummer in the world" as he did in Columbia, you don't doubt him!

    Paul slowed it down a bit for Let the Bad Times Roll and No Place for You, before rocking it back up with As Far As I Know (the only song from "Folker" on this night) and Little Mascara. Then came Born For Me and High Time followed by another show hi-light: Valentine. After a rousing Psychopharmacology, the band took a break. Paul strapped on the acoustic guitar for a couple of 'Mats faves, Skyway and Here Comes A Regular. The band came back for a semi-rough, What a Day for a Night. A request for Achin' To Be to was next, and the boys delivered. Nice twangy leads from new guitarist Kevin. I'm sure Jim especially got into this one being formerly of alt-country rockers Sun Volt.

    Paul strapped on the Fender electric 12 string for a great Love Untold, so I knew what would be coming next, and I was right: I Will Dare! And Kevin was nailing that Peter Buck solo from the original recording!

    I didn't think it could get any better, but then the band truly kicked into overdrive for the show-closing, and show-stopping threesome: I.O.U., Alex Chilton and Left of the Dial. Bang, bang, bang. One after the other, with no stopping between songs. All I can say is, simply incredible! I knew I had never seen a show closed with this level of intensity by anyone, ever. It reminded me of bootlegs I'd heard of the Rolling Stones closing their shows in '73 with Rip this Joint, Jumpin' Jack Flash and Street Fighting Man. Saving the best for last and with no break between songs. That's the only thing I can compare it to, and that's as good as it gets, if you ask me.

    The band came back for a brief attempt, in typical 'Mats style, at Kansas City Star. They then kicked into high gear for a rollicking, Can't Hardly Wait. And Paul has the reputation of not enjoying touring? He coulda fooled me! The guy was having a blast up there! And he hasn't lost anything! Nothing! If anything, he's better than ever! He's playing more leads than I've ever seen him play and smokin' ones at that!

    We didn't stick around for the meet and greet in KC. The line was really long and we had that long drive home. I knew I'd just seen as good of a show as I'd seen by anyone since Paul's set at Mississippi Nights in St. Louis in '93. Which reminds me why you should always try to catch at least two shows on every tour. Each night is different. The set list is different. The venue is different. The crowd is different, and the band's energy level is different.

    Steve Rager


    Mar. 5, 2005 @ The Blue Note, Colombia, MO

    Just got back from the Columbia, MO show. It was a three hour trek for us. Paul put on an amazing show and the band was really tight and sounded great.

    There was some confusion though. The tickets said the show would start at 7:30, but when we got to the Blue Note the said the doors didn't open until 7:30. Paul came out around 8:30 and played solid until 10:30.

    When he did take the stage he was in full Grandpaboy dress and had a cane but showed no sign of injury or limping, he was wobbling around so much I thought it was typical of his character. Dressed to the hilt with the full jokers cap, gloves attached to sleeves and long scarf. As the night went on he peeled off the layers, even dropping the hat to a fan in the crowd. After the show I did see a roadie get it back from that fan.

    Paul and the boys played a great set and sounded better than I would have ever expected. The most interesting event of the evening was when they left the stage before the first and only encore a roadie took Pauls mike stand back stage with him. Paul started taunting the crowd, asking if this was MIZZOU or Magoo. He also called for bras and panties on the stage or they weren't coming back out. The crowd was going nut and it got really loud and the band did take the stage back, minus Paul. He performed two encore songs from back stage behind the big black curtain. We were in the balcony and could see a little backstage and could see him moving the curtain a little bit and some showdowy figure. It was really funny and confusing at the same time. After the two songs everybody stayed and kept yelling and finally a roadie took the mike and said that Paul was really hurting and can't come back out and to drive safe.

    We found the bus and hung out for a while and finally heard someone say that they were going to let people on the bus one by one. But later were told that he had pulled a muscle in his leg and was hurting to bad.

    It was a great show with minimal hiccups and forgotten lyrics. The highlights for me were:

    I'll be you, Valentine, Left of the Dial, As far as I know, Swingin' Party, Bad times Roll, Psycopharmacology, I will dare, Folk Star,

    Another funny note: At the end of one tune Paul says "Kind of a waste of the worlds best drummer." The crowd went nuts and he introduced him and got a rousing round of applause. Simply a great show and totally worth the 20 or so years that I have waited to see him.

    John


    The Blue Note is a former theater and holds maybe 900. The sound for this show was spectacular, as was the mix. But from the opening song, Final Hurrah, I could tell the band was going to pace itself more than in KC. Word was they planned to play for 2 hours. The KC set lasted 100 minutes.

    This show had some great surprises though, like I'll Be You, Man Without Ties, Swingin' Party, Waitress in the Sky, I Think I Love You (Partridge Family) , and three songs from "Folker", As Far As I Know, Now I Wonder and an amazing, Folk Star. For me anyway, it blew away the studio version.

    It would have been close to impossible to beat the way the band closed out the KC show. Following the already mentioned rockin' Folk Star, the band kicked into Can't Hardly Wait. You knew the set was coming to a climax. But then Paul chose to slow things down with Bob Dylan's Only A Hobo. Nice version, but the crowd didn't seem to know the song, and the momentum was broken. But a rousing I.O.U. closed the set.

    The band returned to their respective places on the stage for the encore. But Paul didn't join them. Or did he? His mic stand was missing from its normal front and center position on the stage. But all of a sudden the band launched into I Will Dare. Paul was playing and singing, but no one could see him. All that was evident was movement behind the stage curtain.

    At song's end Kevin yelled into the mic, "Show yourself! Show yourself!" It wasn't to happen. But the band treated us to one last song, a cover of the totally unexpected, If I Had a Hammer. Peter Paul and Mary and the Partridge Family in the same night! You've gotta be kidding! But it rocked (just like I Think I Love You) and everyone went home happy. Great show. Great set list. Great crowd. I was just really glad I'd been to KC the night before. That show had been one of the best I'd ever seen by anyone, ever.

    I stood in line at the tour bus for the meet and greet for quite some time. Eventually it was my turn to enter the bus. There sitting at the very back making small talk with a couple of other fans, was Paul and his manager, Darren. Paul signed my book version of "14 Songs". He was very gracious and quite generous with his time. Just how you'd hope he'd be.

    I was one of the last to make it onto the bus, and thus was very lucky to be asked by Darren (whom I've known for a long time), to hang with the band at a bar a couple doors down from the Blue Note. As much as I needed to get some rest before my flight the next morning, I sure couldn't pass up a chance like that! So Darren, Jim, Kevin, Paul, myself , the owner of the Blue Note and a couple others, headed for Otto's, the corner bar.

    I actually got to chat it up with Paul one on one for maybe five minutes. We talked baseball: our respective teams, the Cubs and Twins and what we expected from them this season; my impending trip to Arizona for Spring Training games; the steroids and Barry Bonds controversy; going to games at the MET in Minneapolis; the Sammy Sosa trade and his fall from grace in Chicago; and a little rock'n'roll talk: some Rolling Stones and Faces, and yes, that unbelievable show in KC the night before.

    Prior to the Columbia show, Darren told me that he agreed with my assessment. KC had been the best show of the tour up to that point.

    Columbia set list:
    • Final Hurrah
    • I'll Be You
    • Kiss Me on the Bus
    • Merry Go Round
    • Someone Take the Wheel
    • Live Forever
    • Makin' Me Go
    • Now I Wonder
    • As Far As I Know
    • Let the Bad Times Roll
    • Little Mascara
    • Valentine
    • Born For Me
    • High Time
    • Psychopharmacology
    • Man Without Ties
    • Swingin' Party
    • Skyway
    • What a Day for a Night
    • Love Untold
    • Waitress in the Sky
    • Knockin' on Mine
    • I Think I Love You
    • Folk Star
    • Can't Hardly Wait
    • Only a Hobo
    • I.O.U. encore
    • I Will Dare
    • If I Had a Hammer
    Two amazing shows. Two great but very differently paced sets. Two very different venues; one a relatively small club, the other a former theater. See more than one show if you can. And to think I almost didn't see any shows....

    Steve Rager