August 23, 1993 Great Woods Performing Arts Centre Mansfield, Massachusetts
Line Up: Blind Melon
Soundgarden
Neil Young with Booker T & The MG's
Set List:
I wonder
Deserted
Change
No Rain
Paper Scratcher
Review: By Derek
A group of 6 of us arrived at Great Woods (now known as the Tweeter
Center) at around 4:30 pm, figuring we'd have a decent amount of time to
prepare ourselves mentally for the show. After about an hour of serious
alcohol and marijuana consumption, I left the group to relieve myself.
It was now 5:30 and it was a mere 30 minutes before my life would
be complete as the show was set to begin at 6pm. As I marked my territory
trying to grasp the fact that I was about to see Blind Melon, I could hear
their amazing songs coming from what I thought was a car stereo in the
lot. It only took about 10 seconds to realize that the music was not from
a car, but inside the venue! THEY WERE ALREADY ON!!! I raced
back to the car at a breakneck pace and in a blur of motion grabbed my
ticket from my friends and sped to the gates. Within minutes I was
at my seat catching my breath and watching a black-haired Shannon Hoon
prance around the giant stage with reckless abandon. They launched into
"No Rain," which delighted the folks lucky enough to be there early as
I sat down in the nearly empty pavilion section of the amphitheater. "Soak
the Sin," was next, followed by an incredible improvisational instrumental
piece and then, it was over. Two of my friends arrived as the band left
the stage and my ass and spirits slumped into the seat. Another person
in our group arrived a while later and informed me that it had been
announced on the radio that day that the show was going to start earlier
than scheduled to give old man Young a longer set. He didn't bother to
mention this, because he assumed we were all there to see Neil Young and
not the warm up acts. I spent the remainder of the time walking around
smoking herb, happy for the small bit o' Melon I had tasted that night,
but starved for a larger bite. Soundgarden, of course sounded like shit
(great band, but they never sounded good live in the 4 times I saw
them), and Neil Young with Booker T and the MG's played a boring
text book set that catered to the mostly older crowd who didn't even know
who BM or Soundgarden were. I
was down but not out.
