Oct. 22nd 1999, The Metropol, Pittsburgh PA

Travel note: Got here via a lovely drive through Pennsylvania's autumn scenery; the last sunny day we'd see for awhile, displaying all the rich reds, oranges, golds and greens of the mountain foliage at their prettiest. Like driving through a tapestry. =)

--ANYway, WOW! One of the best Mission gigs ever! Everyone minded their manners and got offstage in time so that t'Mish got their full hour-and-ten, plus encores - an absolutely storming set. And that despite the fact that tonight's curfew was even earlier, the show having to end by 10 PM so that the club could host a fetish ball ("we'll have to stay for some of that," grinned Wayne). --But let's do this in order:

**MP: Carried on like a trouper despite breaking three guitar strings =). Basic set - Breathe, Rise, Festival of Light, High on a Hill, Feel Free, plus Breaking Point, 68 Guns, Unsafe Building, and "You Are To Me" as a special request for Gareth, a fan from Wales who was there to see Mike's set. (funny comment from MP to the effect that Gareth had passed up the LA and NYC shows to attend this one: "--oh, it's famous in Wales, is Pittsburgh," he assured us, straight-faced.) - No "Kaleidoscope".

**GLJ: "Why Can't I" and "Always A Flame" replacing "Upstairs" and "Josephina" - otherwise same set as last night (these two did not return on any of the next three nights =( Set seemed somewhat slowed down, perhaps to spare Jay's voice some strain. Jay again apologized for his sore throat and blamed it on sudden change of climate (it was indeed getting steadily colder as we travelled on), saying as he introed "Who Wants to Go To Heaven" that while the song does appear on his solo album "Jezebel" (" 'Jezebel - Child of Hell', as my brother says"), "--this is the Gene Loves Jezebel version, and I will croak it for you." Full marks to him for singing the full set tho' in somewhat restrained style (under a very watchful eye from James S. = - James BTW sounds splendid this trip!) In good spirits however; you should have heard him describe why Chris Bell's not with the tour (a "testicular problem" and awful to see, according to Jay =). He must likewise have been impressed by the local scenery, closing with a wistful, "It's the golden time of year, and this is a beautiful place to be - it looks like Wales, Pennsylvania..."

Also wanted to mention how nice Taylor [Robison - head of Jay's record label and manager of this tour] was to us - while selling t-shirts out of his van to avoid the 25% cut levied by the club (yup, 25% of merchandise profit earned inside the club had to be forked over - think of that next time you think shirts cost too much...), he suddenly asked me, "didn't one of you want a photo pass?" and wrote one out (not even dated - good for any night on the tour!) without my even having to ask. I was only too delighted to present this to our photog EVB, whose lovely pix will be adorning websites for months to come. THANKS Taylor!!

**Mission: back to their old form and then some! I am 100% serious - they are as good as I ever heard them live in 1990, maybe even better. A tremendous set. Let's see: Into The Blue, Hands Across The Ocean, Raising Cain, Severina, Swoon, Wasteland, Butterfly, Blood Brother (brilliant!), Tower of Strength and Deliverance, plus two encores - Wayne on acoustic with "Can't Help Falling In Love" and a lovely "Like A Child Again", then the band with 1969. And they finished smack on the dot of 10 PM - less fifteen seconds - exactly! Bravo! =)

--This may sound like blasphemy but I really do think the "new guys" may be better - technically at least - than Simon and Mick; the band is just so tight and cohesive now. Scott in particular is a powerhouse on drums and gives the band a huge punch.

.... and no, they didn't attend the fetish ball...
...go back to Ysgarlad.
...go on to the next night's show.