Yuku free message boards

as wheel is my absolute favorite JM song, i tend to pay attention to when it shows up in setlists/tapes. an older tape from a show in support of HT popped up on my ipod a few days ago and i was listening to the version of wheel he played. i want to say it was from 2003 but it coudl've been 2004? hearing how much it has blossomed from when he first started playing it (where it was still a beautiful song melodically and lyrically) to how he played it by the end of this tour, it's as if he's made it an entirely new song. it's way beyond the teases he's thrown in over the years. it's as if he's finally caught up to why he wrote the song, or maybe it's that he's back in the same place he was in when he wrote it. Raleigh and Tampa stand out for me, with Chula Vista (and the trading of licks with bob) a close second in absolutely brilliant performances of this song. i can't even begin to say how happy it made me to hear he was playing this song on a remotely regular basis this tour. i've said it before, but i'll say it again. he could play this song for the entire 90 minutes, and do absolutely amazing things with it each time, and i would probably never get bored.

so yeah, Wheel gets my Tour MVP, Best Closer, Best Encore Closer, Best Upgrade, Best Old Song, Coolest Addition, Performance (Raleigh 8-27-08), and Surprise Song. Just don't stop playing it, John.