I thought someone else would have been at Madison Square Garden, so I didn't bother writing down a setlist.
A few notes:
NOTHING from Murmur, but three from Reckoning. That was kind of weird. Rockville, Pretty Persuasion, and then...HARBORCOAT. I can't tell you how awesome it was to hear that, and if I heard him correctly, it hasn't been played yet this tour. It almost made up for having to sit through Ignoreland and Until the Day is Done.
Begin the Begin, These Days, and Fall On Me. Lifes Rich Pageant gettin' some love.
Unfortunately Document didn't get as much, and Finest Worksong was missed. THey did play Heron House, though, which was cool.
They played NOTHING from Reveal (YAY!) and only one from Around the Sun (YAY!)-- the tour's first play of Leaving New York (NAY!). Cori, this was never my proud.
Couple other staples, and I was a little bummed that no non-singles from Automatic or Out of Time were played, or anything from Hi-Fi save Electrolite. But with a catalogue that long, it's tough to do justice to everything. I did hear Driver 8. And they did a very unexpected (for me) acoustic rendition of Let Me In, with the whole band crowded around in a circle. Stipe's vocals on this were AMAZING, the most powerful I've ever heard him sing something live.
The band just sounded great on everything, tackling old and new with precision. One last critique though, "COOOOOOL" jokes aside, I'm not sure Man on the Moon is a great closer. The verses are just too downbeat. Yeah, the chorus is sing-a-long and catchy, but to me it's not heavy or raucous enough. Now I'm not saying they should drag out It's the End of the World every night, but something more epic like Country Feedback or Find the River, or just a big rocker would be a lot cooler.