July 16, 1998 Arco Arena – Sacramento, CA

Ed comes out to introduce X (standing at the side of the stage for nearly 15 minutes before the crowd notices), saying, “… one of the greatest bands to ever write, sing and play.” Lots of different lighting effects tonight, including red, white and blue lights on the backdrop during ‘Brain of J.’ Mike is playing really well and his solos are totally different tonight. The flavor is more bluesy rather than wailing and he uses a slide on ‘Corduroy.’ There is a hint at Ed’s annoyance with the crowd’s poor reception to X when he alters the ‘MFC’ lyrics during the “fuck it” part to “fuck you.” This seems to be Ed screws up the lyrics night, with botched lyrics for ‘Better Man,’ ‘Even Flow,’ ‘Wishlist’ and ‘RVM.’ The ‘Noise of Carpet’ tag is long, extended more than the 96 shows. ‘In My Tree’ is dedicated to Jack Irons. The energy is really strong at the start of the show and dissipates, almost as if PJ is afraid to play too hard. Something seems to really be bothering Ed and he says, “You guys really pissed me off before …” during ‘Porch.’ This may have been a reference to the crowd, which was very rough. He also says, ‘It would be really nice if you could cheer that loud for the first band, the band I think was better.”.

Notes provided by: Twofeetthick