1) All Over You
2) Selling The Drama
3) The River
4) Mystery
5) They Stood Up For Love
6) Lightning Crashes
7) Sofia
8) Lakini's Juice
9) The Dolphin's Cry
10) I Alone
11) Heaven
12) Show

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Heck, I've been a fan since Throwing Copper and had NEVER seen them live before. I had to drive four and a half hours from Penticton to Vancouver (and back!) to see them, since I didn't find out they were going to be in Kelowna (much closer to home) until the show was already sold out. I wanted to live out a dream, seeing Live live, and dammit.. nothing was going to stop me. And see them I did.

After Danko Jones finished playing (and they were of course high-energy, as you would expect, playing a few new hits and the expected singles, "Bounce," "Lovercall," etc.), a gentleman from a Vancouver radio station--the FOX, I believe--brought out Vancouver Canucks' centre Brendan Morrison to help him introduce Live to the crowd. I can't be sure, but I think Brendan might have gotten just as much applause as Live did. So they came out, grabbed their equipment and went straight into All Over You. I was kind of surprised to hear this song played live, I thought perhaps they would have gone with something a little more instantly-recognizable, however, that was still to come. And it's not like the crowd was any less into it. For a group of primarily-Nickelback fans, I was quite shocked to see so many people into Live. Perhaps I wasn't the only person in the arena there solely to see Live play. That made this fan quite at home.

After All Over You, they went straight into Selling the Drama, which was just as well-received. I wondered whether these fans were really as big of Live fans as I was, given that both of these songs were from Throwing Copper, and there was every bit of a chance that the people singing along (and really, they were all around me, and I could see the mosh pit up front very into it too) were fans of Lightning Crashes and only knew the other songs because they had Throwing Copper and that's it. However, Selling the Drama sold the crowd, and I was proud.

Then Ed introduced himself and the rest of the band to raucous applause of the nearly-packed GM Place (it would later fill up right before Nickelback's set, but that's expected), and of course plugged the new album, along with title, release dates, and the name of their first single, which many of us clearly already knew, as there was no lack of voices singing back at Ed when they launched into The River. It sounded excellent live, and has a vibe that is reminiscent of the way Heaven was reacted to when it first came out. It will be another typical success for Live. Nothing of the reaction of Lightning Crashes, but quite good. Quite good indeed.

After that, Live asked whether the Vancouver crowd minded being guinea pigs for their new stuff which few people had heard, and introduced their next song, Mystery. If Mystery was anything to go by, Songs From Black Mountain was already shaping up to be one heck of a great album. Regardless of the material I have left to hear off of it, I will definitely be in stores release day to pick it up. The crowd was actually singing the chorus back to him by the end of the song, so it's at least catchy enough.

Next, they started into They Stood Up For Love, which I was personally really happy they played. Now, having not gone to a lot of concerts myself, I can't say whether this is an anomaly or a normal thing, but this song sounded somewhat off-key. Like there was just something not quite right about it. However, I'm only used to the album version, and if experimentation in their live shows is something that they do, then good on them. It's not like they played it badly, far from it. The song was very well done, but it made it more difficult for me to sing along with it, since it did sound so different to what I was used to. Probably the low point of the night, but I was still completely into it, so that's not really say much.

Oh, but next up, they completely redeemed themselves. With me and with the ever-accepting crowd. Because after that, the lights dimmed, and they went into Lightning Crashes, which of course the crowd absolutely exploded for. That was expected, and went very, very well. I never, ever knew the power of looking down at a crowd and seeing thousands of lighters flickering and swaying throughout the arena... They did a fantastic job of the song, and one part that was particularly amazing (and I'll never forget) was when Ed stopped singing, and the entire audience sang the song for him. I mean... that was a high for me, I can't even imagine how Ed felt there.

Afterward, it was time for more new material, as they launched into my new favourite from SFBM, Sofia. Sofia was, without a doubt, the one new song which the audience ate up more than the rest. Sure, they sang along to The River, but it's also available in full from their website, so it makes sense. But Sofia had such a huge, raucous reaction to it that made the arena deafening by the time they were finished playing. Not the likes of Lightning Crashes, but of the new stuff.

And then, probably my favourite part of the night. Ed rips his shirt off. No wait. That's not what I mean. Hah! I mean that Ed got himself prepped up and prepared to receive every ounce of energy in the arena. And we didn't disappoint, either. As soon as they launched into Lakini's Juice, the crowd absolutely melted down. I can't explain how different it was than Lightning Crashes, but I'll try. With LC, there's a slower vibe to it, the crowd can soak it up. Lakini's was much more different. The hard guitars and the pounding drums and Ed screaming his lungs out was enough for the crowd to throw all the energy they could out. We loved every second of it, and I could tell they loved playing every second of it. Know how I can tell? Chad Taylor went bananas (B-A-N-A-N-A-S), and we were lucky enough to be recipients. I hope he always plays this song this way. He and Ed went to the front of the runway and Chad began stomping his foot maniacally, and Ed was right alongside him, mirror-image of Chad, minus the guitar. They're jumping up, they're kicking, they're singing, they're playing, I mean... they could put out a workout video. Chad kept doing this amazing move where he'd let go of his guitar completely, his shirt would flap in the wind and he'd grab his guitar and play again without missing a beat. Major respect for him. Well, the whole band, of course. But he stole the show during Lakini's Juice, that's for sure.

And then, kind of a strange transition, we went from the extremely high-energy Lakini's to the not-quite-so energetic Dolphin's Cry. Which was probably good for the band, they deserved a break after that one, and they didn't take it. Dolphin's was a great time, and one particularly cool part was when Ed went up front on the runway again and--just like in the video--held his arms out and prepared to be bowled over by a flood... not of water, but of energy. The crowd was giving back to Live just as much as Live was giving to us, and as far as I could tell...Ed felt it.

After Dolphin's came I Alone, which again the crowd was very into, which helped cement my earlier assessment that they really knew stuff off of Throwing Copper. I highly doubt many of those in attendance could have sang the lyrics to Ghost or Meltdown or She or Forever May Not Be Long Enough or Operation Spirit. However, thanks to Lightning Crashes, there was definitely an abundance of Throwing Copper fans, and they sang loud, they sang proud, and I was not at all disappointed to be there with them. I had definitely expected mainly teenage girls there to check out Nickelback's lead singer, but Live definitely had their following with them in Vancouver.

Next came Heaven, which was a bit of a revelation to me, because even though I do consider myself a little more than just a casual fan, I had no idea that Ed had more than one child. So to hear him singing "I look in my daughters," was a bit of a shock, and I felt really good for Ed. I'm glad he's had such good fortune in his life to be able to sing about.

Lastly, they played Show, from their new album, and that didn't disappoint at all either. I really think that their new stuff is shaping up to be one hell of a great new venture for the band. Totally impressed by the whole thing. It was over 10 years in the waiting, lots of gas, lots of driving, lots of money, but it was more than worth it for a little over an hour of my favourite band ever. I was completely fulfilled. My only wish is that they would've played "Ghost," but admittedly, it's probably not much of a concert song. Oh well. If I ever get the chance to see them again, nothing will keep me away. A+ performance, regardless of any criticisms I may have had.