The Cockburn Project has been gathering setlists, photos, and reports on the current YOU'VE NEVER SEEN EVERYTHING tour. This is the first in a series of fan reports from the road. There are many additional setlists and reviews posted in the 2003 Archives.
21 July 2003 - One of the first reviews came to us by Nancy Bouwma, of the
18 May show in Perch, Ontario.
The 2 July show in Brantford, ON. was also reported on by Fiona.
These are a few of her observations:
We saw Bruce last night at the Sanderson Theatre in Brantford
Ontario. The theatre lived up to it's advance press in terms of
beauty, that's certain.
Apparently this was the first concert with the new lineup -- Ben,
Steve, and Julie Wolf. As Bruce noted toward the end of the show, it
"didn't suck too bad for the first time", although the show was
plagued by small technical problems. Bruce's mike wasn't turned on
at the beginning of the second set, and once or twice his guitar cut
out. I've never seen that kind of thing in a a BC show before. On
the other hand, as the show went on, they really loosened up and
enjoyed themselves. Bruce looks extremely pleased with Julie Wolf,
and well he should be, she was tremendous. My only complaint was
that occasionally it turned into the Julie Wolf Show. Most of the
places where in the past Bruce would have played a guitar solo, Julie
now does the honours on keyboards or accordion. At times, it was
hard to pick Bruce out at all. At first I vacillated between loving the show and being really
disappointed about the lack of guitar.
Bruce did something I'd never seen before -- he completely turned his back on the crowd and did the kind
of guitar solo that would have looked at home in a 1980s Van Halen
concert. If it hadn't been such a good solo it would have been
extremely amusing. The only thing he didn't do was play with his
teeth.
Some of his comments were very amusing. He played YNSE, and into the
dead silence of the theatre (the crowd was completely silent between
songs, it was weird) he said "After that song ends, I sometimes have
a voice in my head that says 'Have a nice day'."
He said Tried and Tested was about the events of his year-long
sabbatical. Apparently he was looking forward to a good rest and
some time to himself, but instead one thing happened after another,
including (to start the year off) "someone close to him who caught a
heroin addiction."
Burn Baby Burn is being included as a nod to a "young kid" in
Vancouver who has some kind of debilitating disease but is still
completely alert (that's a quote), and who keeps asking for it. He
hopes that the guy will be at the Vancouver show to hear it.
The other really funny thing was during Lions. Bruce was trying to
get a pretty stiff audience to join in with the singing, and
commented that we should try to imagine what it would be like if it
was Shania Twain on the stage instead. There was much laughter and
then he said something about not being quite as cute as Shania, to
which I responded that we could debate that point, to which he
responded that it was all what you were looking for. He also said at
some point that if he was to come back and start all over again as a
female singer, he hoped that it would be Avril Lavigne.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, in the end it was a wonderful
show. The crowd loosened up eventually, although no one danced,
which amazed me. I was bopping... it was a very dancable show, even
the "heavier" songs. I was moved to tears several times. Bruce was
so beautiful, so humble, so giving. He and Julie really clicked and
there was lots of interaction between them. And at
one point it was as if Bruce realized that he'd ignored Ben
throughout most of the show, so he went back and stood very much to
one side of the drum kit, to give Ben some time. And Steve, well
Steve was wonderful. I felt very blessed. ~Fiona
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Nancy Bouwma sent a great review on the 3 July show at The Grand Theatre in Kingston, ON.
And Stephane Quiniou had a few thoughts on the Festival d'Ete International, Quebec City show:
Not enough guitar, too much keyboard. Julie Wolf was great and everything but did most of the solos.
Bruce Guitar was not in front of the mix. Ben and Steve were playing the songs nicely but not much interaction
like other tours (maybe because it's the beginning of the tour and they need to solidify.
It was not a "performance" show but the songs were nicely rendered.
The great moments were Trickle Down, Bruce was smokin' and that really
neat solo on Morning Star (kind of electronic and weird).
Also Burn was pretty cool with....that drum machine and Ben adding
percussion.
Bruce is really evolving into something different musically speaking.
The keybord was taking lots of space and Bruce seemed to enjoy it.
I enjoyed it too but not enough guitar ... Julie was also doing some neat vocals.
Bruce had a big bunch of guitars: the Guild 12 strings, 2 Acoustic Manzers,
the gold one on the inside cover of the greatest hits, the shiny Dobro,
a sunburst electric (first time I'd see it) and a black electric one (Charvel?). ~Steph
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The Project received several reports on the Newburyport show at Waterfront Park,
Sandy, who also sent us several photos from this show, had a few comments:
For the soundcheck they played: Rocket Launcher, Don't Forget About Delight, Put it in Your Heart.
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The Birchmere show has had many comments and reports added to the setlist page. For a different, yet insightful view of this show, check out Ruth Alice's blog post.
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Grand Rapids, Michigan has a new venue, The Pinnacle Center, and Bruce and band were fortunate enough to be able to a play there on 17 July. Jane, who also made the poster pictured here, had these comments about the show:
That's all for now. More to come soon.
[First set included] Let The Bad Air Out,
All Our Dark Tomorrows (complete with frogs etc), Tried And Tested, Mighty Trucks of Midnight - was nice to hear this live.
Burn - told the story of the 13 year old boy with a debilitating disease
that wanted to hear this song - and made reference to Bush - which didn't
seem to go over too well with the crowd so I think he decided to dial it
back on his usual political comments.
Wait No More, and Open.
Up 'til now it was like he was just going thru the motions. All Our Dark Tomorrows seemed very slow & sluggish & Wait No More was the same - nowhere near as well performed as it is on the CD nor as we saw him do it solo at the Borders show.
Night Train - my notes are that here he finally seemed to get into the
performance. Rocket Launcher, To Raise the Morning Star - this was extraordinary, lots of keyboards and a great guitar solo. Excellent all around.
Last Night of the World, World of Wonders.
Encore - trying to get everything in before it got dark as the show was scheduled to end at 8 & it was now 8:15 & there were no stage lights. Trickle Down - with quite a piano solo by Julie.
Pacing The Cage, Don't Forget About Delight.
Certainly not one of the best shows I've been to - partly coz of the
distraction of the constantly milling crowd but also that Bruce just didn't
seem to be giving it his all until about 1/2way thru. Nickle Creek was the
2nd act & they seemed to go on forever & even made a comment that they'd
played longer than they were supposed to, which delayed Bruce's set. Not
sure if maybe this contributed to Bruce's lack of enthusiasm where he was
supposed to be the headliner & they played probably just as long as his set
ended up being. Sound was good where we were. We thought the mix was pretty
much the same as always with his guitar right out there. Julie's vocals
worked nicely. Ben & Steve seemed to be doing their thing OK but without
being able to see them at all it was hard to get a complete picture. ~Sandy
I enjoyed the soundcheck immensly.
Lots of jazz improv at first, some discussion and a few adjustments.
Bone In My Ear on the dobro,
Southland Of The Heart, Lovers, and
Rocket Launcher.
Total time, around an hour and 15 minutes.
Sound check quiet and intense at first - all business,
then laughter and joking around as things got
worked out so easily. Ben Riley said playing there was like having a
day off, things went so smoothly.
I was asked to do the intro as soon as Bill (Pinnacle Center owner) got
confirmation back in the spring. I resisted at first,
but really wanted to overcome my fear and
honor our hero. So, here it is:
It is an honor for me to introduce tonight's guest.
His musical genius and guitar playing are legendary,
but it is his lyrics that truly set the standard for
socially conscious songwriters and poets everywhere.
He writes with conviction what he sees, feels, and believes,
and he does it with honesty and integrity, humility and grace,
respect and concen, hope and joy, passion and love.
We are all richer for the privilege of glimpsing the world
through his discerning eyes.
Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome, Bruce Cockburn.
[Here are some comments on the songs:]
Burn - Introduced as an old song, so old that it was even old when he wrote it.
Pacing The Cage - Said that "if you get that song, if you've experienced that, then I feel sorry for you." It's my fave Bruce song, as it's the first one I ever heard - yes, I found Bruce's music *very* late compared to so many here.
You've Never Seen Everything - Interesting story about how his girlfriend
at the time hated the song before he put music to it, then, when he played it for her, [she] still hated the song, but sometimes it's good to be strong - minded - indicating himself, as he did the song anyway - and, well, she's
not his girlfriend anymore which received audience laughter but more with how Bruce cracked himself up in the telling of it, and then even had to back away from the mike because he was still grinning. ~Jane
Related Links & Credits
~ Bobbi Wisby