Blind Melon w/ S.O.Stereo
Tremont Music Hall
Nov. 30, 2007
The Deal: Blind Melon returns to the stage with new singer.
The Good: The night started out with locals S.O.Stereo winning over a lot of the crowd. I was asked numerous times - "Who is this?" "Where do they play?" "Where can you usually see them?" While most in the crowd were talking during the first half of the set, they slowly won over more and more throughout their set. The crowd was ready for Blind Melon. From the first notes of "Galaxie," frontman Travis Warren did his best to prove he's the right man for the job (he replaced original singer Shannon Hoon who died of a drug overdose) and the fans appeared to agree. He began the night wearing a mask for two songs before shedding it. The band sounded fantastic as Warren did his best with the old songs. The new ones fit right in and are sure to add on to a great musical collection by an under-appreciated band. A four-song encore started with Warren alone on stage to perform "So Real" by Jeff Buckley. The band was all-smiles, full of life and poured everything they had into the 20-song set. I definitely had chills when the crowd sang, "Change."
The Bad: While some may say that Warren is trying too hard to be Hoon, most fans will see it as a fitting tribute. The only bad thing was that Shannon will never be on stage with the band again. I wish they would only play the "Ripped Away" version of "No Rain" instead of going from that into the original version.
The Verdict: About as good as you can get without the original singer. The show was a fine tribute to Hoon and a great foreshadowing of things to come.
Setlist
Galaxie
Wilt
2x4
Soup
Wishing
Toes Across
Sleepy
Change
Tumbling Down
Skinned
Hypnotized
Soak
For My Friends
No Rain
Drive
So High
Pusher
Encore
So Real
Mouthful of Cavaties
Paper Scratcher
Time
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