lieu : Paris - Le Zénith

date : 7 Novembre 1996

source : CD

qté : A-

25  titres

set :

Wash

Hail Hail

Last Exit

Once

Tremor Christ

Who You Are

Corduroy

Better Man/(Save it for Later)

Even Flow

Jeremy

Off He Goes

Animal

Daughter/(Improv)/(Androgynous Mind)

Lukin

Rearviewmirror

I Got Shit

Whipping

Alive

enc 1 :

Roadhouse Blues

Sometimes

Black

State of Love and Trust

Porch

enc 2 :

Smile

Yellow Ledbetter

notes : Another upbeat show with the band in good form but the audience behaving badly. Ed speaks a few lyrics from the "broken faces" part of Stereolab's 'Noise of Carpet' after the 'Daughter' improvs. (The Improv merging after 'Daughter' is apparently created on the spot and references a sad letter to Ed from a young fan [Nino], with the "hey, hey, it's OK" part having a comforting feel.) After a cranked 'RVM,' he says, "OK, in this hand is a fast song and in this hand is a slower song," (prompting the crowd to pick). Then, "Since you couldn't decide, let's put the two of them together," leading to 'I Got Shit' and 'Whipping.' A fan makes it on stage during 'Alive' and sings a bit. The first encore begins with Ed talking about how the band decided to enroll in a French class at the local university, but they kept coming up with excuses not to attend. After a crack about Mike visiting the grave of his dead uncle, Jim Morrison, Mike plays a little riff, prompting the band to go into a quite unexpected, short version of The Doors' 'Roadhouse Blues.' (Cool!)
He finishes the story saying that though they never made it to the French classes, he was able to find time to write the next song, leading to 'Sometimes.'