I only caught the second half of the show (because I went to Booker T. & the MGs’ early set at the Dakota, which was as stellar as the late set Bream described in the previous post). What I saw was pretty similar to the show Slug and Co. played outside the Metrodome over Memorial Day — and presumably what they’ve been doing on tour ever since — with guitarist Nate Collis playing an especially vital role in creating a stream of moody, dark but ultimately quite uplifting tunes, including “Shoulda Known,” “Yesterday,” “Vanity Sick,” the ever-powerful “Shrapnel” and “Not Another Day.”

The encore is when things really started to feel special, as Slug explained the unusual origins of “Guarantees” – it started with a beat that ultimately was lost to just a guitar backing. That led to a guitar-fueled version of “Trying to Find a Balance,” and then a string of old-school nuggets, “Guns and Cigarettes,” “Like Today” and “Always Coming Back Home.” For the finale, Brother Ali and Blueprint came out and freestyled over the verses of “Smart Went Crazy.” Slug, once again decked out in an Obama 08 T-shirt, ended with a pretty passionate spiel about voting on Tuesday. “I want them to wake up on Wednesday and be scared by how many of you voted,” he said. For once, I think Slug might actually get what he wants.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 3rd, 2008 at 12:10 pm and is filed under Concerts, Local. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.