Setlist at Columbiahalle Berlin, GER on May 19, 2003

Set One
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground 191
Black Math 174
The Hardest Button to Button 225
Jolene 208
I Think I Smell a Rat 17
When I Hear My Name 106
I Think I Smell A Rat (Reprise) 14
Take a Whiff On Me 67
I Think I Smell A Rat (second reprise) 52
Mr. Cellophane 77
I Think I Smell A Rat (third reprise) 88
Hypnotize 144
Death Letter 281
Grinnin' In Your Face 126
Seven Nation Army 223
I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart 208
In The Cold, Cold Night 188
You’re Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl) 101
Hello Operator 163
The Big Three Killed My Baby 172
We're Going To Be Friends 139
Offend In Every Way 174
Apple Blossom 129
Ball And Biscuit 343
I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself 163
Look Me Over Closely 145
Let’s Shake Hands 144
I Fought Piranhas 204
Let's Build A Home 83
Goin’ Back to Memphis 402
Sugar Never Tasted So Good 169
Fell In Love With a Girl 112
Astro 98
Jack the Ripper 68
Screwdriver 239
Boll Weevil 233
Columbiahalle
Berlin, GER
May 19, 2003

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Setlist at Columbiahalle Berlin, GER on May 19, 2003

Set One
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground 191
Black Math 174
The Hardest Button to Button 225
Jolene 208
I Think I Smell a Rat 17
When I Hear My Name 106
I Think I Smell A Rat (Reprise) 14
Take a Whiff On Me 67
I Think I Smell A Rat (second reprise) 52
Mr. Cellophane 77
I Think I Smell A Rat (third reprise) 88
Hypnotize 144
Death Letter 281
Grinnin' In Your Face 126
Seven Nation Army 223
I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart 208
In The Cold, Cold Night 188
You’re Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl) 101
Hello Operator 163
The Big Three Killed My Baby 172
We're Going To Be Friends 139
Offend In Every Way 174
Apple Blossom 129
Ball And Biscuit 343
I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself 163
Look Me Over Closely 145
Let’s Shake Hands 144
I Fought Piranhas 204
Let's Build A Home 83
Goin’ Back to Memphis 402
Sugar Never Tasted So Good 169
Fell In Love With a Girl 112
Astro 98
Jack the Ripper 68
Screwdriver 239
Boll Weevil 233

Show Notes

live sound by Matthew Kettle
mixed and mastered by Bill Skibbe at Third Man Mastering 

5/19/03 Berlin

Columbiahalle

 

Just as the broadcast from Boston felt like the band’s official return to the stage, the way they sounded on the broadcast from Berlin was as if they’d suddenly hit their live peak. Having been moved from the Casino to the larger Columbiahalle due to demand, the band’s setlist is similarly expanded here, a masterful 30+ song display. Coming just weeks after the breakout shows in April and the exploratory performances in Scandinavia, Berlin takes the Elephant set and firmly baselines it into a 90 minute powerhouse. Like watching a racehorse lap effortlessly around the track, over and over, they just sound so healthy here. From the whammy-and-feedback opening in Dead Leaves and The Dirty Ground to the final singalong in Boll Weevil, you get the full course – a virtual blueprint for the rest of the Elephant tour. The Hardest Button To Button gets a unique spot near the top of the set just after the openers, which extends the energy rush to great effect. Listen for the ad libbed line “Beating up Swanson and Damstra with a baseball bat!”, a funny reference to tourmates Whirlwind Heat during the marathon version of I Think I Smell A Rat, which also features When I Hear My Name, Take a Whiff On Me, and Mr Cellophane, now in its official live arrangement - complete with Jack letting the audience know when it's time to adjust the rhythm of their clapping.  After an excellent Hypnotize, Jack introduces the band to the audience with an appropriate “Hot and sweaty in Berlin!”. Death Letter follows and is just about perfect, complete with Jack yelling “Let’s go Meg!” which she responds to by joining him in a run that culminates with a fantastic burst on the kick drum. This sets up Grinnin' In Your Face, one of the first times that listeners had ever heard the band perform the Son House song live.  Again, just about perfect. There are performance highlights all over this show, including the adlib of “I can tell that we are going to be friends...Berlin, Berlin, Berlin” and the nod to Burt Bacharach and Marlene Dietrich before Look Me Over Closely. Even the out of tune guitar that pops up during the transition from Let’s Build A Home into Goin’ Back to Memphis still ends up resulting in a wonderful improvisation that they use to push through and close the main set. The encores play out like a continuous medley, including a complete version of Fell In Love With A Girl, the rare occurrence when they played the song in full. Having also used the soundcheck to record the future B-side cover of Soledad Brothers’ St Ides Of March, on this night they really could do no wrong.  Do yourself a favor and fall in love with Berlin all over again, a mandatory performance from the Elephant tour.

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