30 June, 2000 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox
with 764-HERO and Carrissa's Weird

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review by Neil

I can't even begin to describe how unbelievable last night's show was. All I can say is that I strongly recommend doing whatever it takes to get your hands on a bootleg. Mark has never sounded better, and he treated a packed house to an intense set that moved from a variety of covers to his own material. He sang with unmatched intensity, but looked relaxed and even made a few wise cracks between songs. (At one point he looked frustrated as he searched for a towel. Finally spotting one on top of the kick drum, he picked it up, shook his head, smiled, and said something like, "Well, howdy, asshole. It was right there the whole time!")
The band consisted of Mike Johnson (acoustic and electric guitar), Ben Shepherd (electric guitar), Alan Davis (bass), and Bill Rieflin (drums). They performed flawlessly. Mike added some scorching guitar solos, especially on Borracho and one unknown (new?) song. Mark Hoyt came out to contribute backing vocals on Badi-Da. The set included some unknown songs, two of which were obviously covers (including a country song), and a couple more that might have been Mark's.
The highlight of the show was On Jesus' Program, which was even better than the album version (believe it or not), building to an intense climax instead of fading out at the end. After playing for more than an hour, Mark and the band came back for two encores. Given the strength of the performance and the appreciation of the crowd, I'm sure Mark will want to do this more often. If enough people find out what an amazing show he puts on, he might have to.
Here's what they played -- based on my sketchy (and almost illegible) notes, as all of the setlists had been swiped before the band even left the stage.
Carry Home
Badi-Da
Creeping Coastline of Lights
I'll Take Care of You
Consider Me
Together Again
(unknown)
(unknown)
On Jesus' Program
Boogie Boogie
(unknown)/The River Rise
Pendulum
(unknown)
(unknown)
Bell Black Ocean
Hotel
first encore:
Mockingbirds
Borracho
second encore:
Where Did You Sleep Last Night

review by Angela

I think Neil pretty much summed up how I felt about last night's show. "On Jesus'Program" was so amazing that I literally turned around and mouthed "wow" to Neil when it was over. It was as intense and moving as you could hope Mark to be. I can add that one of the unknown songs was called "A Taste of Honey" - It was one of the only ones I could see on the set list. The lyrics were something along the lines of "your kisses are sweeter than wine".
Mark also said before one song "this is an old song" then paused and said "peformed by some old people" and then by God - he smiled! More than once!
For you Ben Shepherd fans (and you know who you are...) Ben was looking dapper and happy (exchanging smiles with the drummer) as he created these weird noises/feedback on his guitar. Caught him looking at the setlist once and saying "fuck! fuckin'A!". I wondered if they hadn't snuck a song in on him! He played Borracho with a broken string.

I got to the Showbox around 8:45 and after a quick pitstop, wandered up to the bar area, and found Doug (my best friend who had already found Pedro, Mark's ex brother in law). I caught up with Pedro & Doug for the hour before the first band came on. Saplings wise, I met up with Neil and friend in the bar, then saw Angela just before and after Mark's set. Celebrities included Mark Arm, Dan Peters, and Krist Novoselic.
I won't be shy about my feelings towards Carissa's Weird (first band): I fucking hate them. But for tonight at least that didn't matter much, since from where I was in the bar, they didn't even play loud enough for anyone to fucking hear. 764-Hero (second band), on the other hand, I have a couple of their CD's, and they don't do much for me, kind of droning on and on, BTS style. But live, the guy really was alive and screaming for 6 of the 8 songs, I would see these guys again.
So, then it was time for Mark, and it got really hot in there all of a sudden, I started sweating, and some yokel walked up front next to Neil and spent the rest of the show being a complete fucker. Aside from him the crowd was really into it......and I don't think I've ever seen either Mark or the Trees play for as long as he did last night.
Here is the setlist, stolen from Neil with a few lyrical notes:
Carry Home
Badi-Da
Creeping Coastline of Lights
I'll Take Care of You
Consider Me
Together Again
(unknown) has lyrics "a taste of honey...much sweeter than wine."
(unknown) has lyrics "seen you found somebody new"
On Jesus' Program (rocked, amazing)
Boogie Boogie
(unknown) possible new intro to River Rise, has lyrics "watching the summer."
The River Rise
Pendulum
(unknown) has lyrics "passion play" loud on electric guitars
(unknown) has lyrics "promise me...seem like a miracle." possibly the end of above.
Bell Black Ocean
Hotel
first encore:
Mockingbirds
Borracho
second encore:
Where Did You Sleep Last Night