WARNING: THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS PARTS THAT COULD CONCEIVABLY BE CONSIDERED "SPOILERS." READ IT AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Having said that, enjoy!



------------------------------------------------

Warren Zevon
The Bluebird Theater, Denver, CO
October 13, 1996, 9:10 P.M.

1. Mr. Bad Example
2. Carmelita ("I pawned my Smith & Wesson")

WZ: I'm glad you all came down tonight, I'm happy to see you. If I seem a little punchy tonight, it's not the altitude, but I spent some quality time serving people I know up in Aspen last night. And I thought you'd understand, in fact, I thought it was just you'd want me to be doing. I want to say that I'm very proud to be sharing this tour with a very talented and original musician, my friend Chris Whitley. (cheering) I also want to introduce my longtime collaborator and guru, a man who has his own 800 number, the Sensible Hotline... the celebrated Dr. Babyhead. (more cheering) 

DB: And if you call right now, operators are standing by, there's no extra charge.

WZ: Let me just take a wild guess here. I don't want to get overconfident or anything, but have some of you maybe seen me before? (wild cheering) I thought that might be the case, but I wanted to say for the benefit of Chris' fans and any of you who might have come for the first time: You know, I used to have really, really long, long hippie hair. A few of you may remember. A couple of months ago I decided it might be time for a change... Well that's not entirely true. I got some opportunities in the food service industry, and they told me I was going to have to wear one of those fucking nets, and I said no. Some people have expressed shock and horror that I would cut off all my hair and thus possibly change a winning formula. So I wrote this song. I wrote it the day I got my hair cut... but it's profound, don't worry!

3. Figurine

Well the wrong kind of people don't want you to change
They just want you to stay the same
They want to keep you in between
So hold that pose like a figurine
Figurine
Don't it make you want to scream
Don't you get it? ...yeah
They think of you as a statuette

And the wrong kind of people don't want you to change
They just want you to stay the same
They're gonna ask you where you been
Make you wait, like a mannequin
They want to keep you high and dry
To furnish them with an alibi
They want to keep you in between
So hold that pose like a figurine
Figurine
Don't it make you want to scream
Don't you get it? ...yeah
They think of you as a statuette

Well the wrong kind of people don't want you to change
They just want you to stay the same
They don't want you to be free
They just want you to watch TV

WZ: I'm going to play a few jazz standards for you now.

4. Piano Fighter
5. Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner ("he found him here in Denver, in a barroom drinking gin")

WZ: I'd like to play kind of a sincere, nice song for you now, but before I do, I just want to thank everybody who spent their hard-earned money on that merchandise out front. I want you to know that for the first time in my career I actually designed... Dr. Babyhead and I designed and purchased and brought this merchandise, these T-shirts, and CD's, and startling keyrings, and exploding cigars... ourselves. Customarily we would let the mob do that. But we thought we'd start a new enterprise.

DB: Yes, and we have a special offer tonight. Well, I'm making a special offer. I'm going to make the boy sign all the CDs you purchase. (cheering) Any objections? I didn't think so!

WZ: All right... none of those fucking soggy one-dollar bills.

6. Let Us Be Together

Don't let us get sick
Don't let us get old
Don't let us get stupid... all right?
Just make us be brave
Make us play nice
Let us be together tonight

The sky was on fire
When I walked to the mill
To take up the slack in the line
I thought of my friends
And the troubles they've had
To keep me from thinking of mine

Don't let us get sick
Don't let us get old
Don't let us get stupid... all right?
Just make us be brave
Make us play nice
Let us be together tonight

The moon has a face
And it smiles on the lake
And causes the ripples and tides
I'm lucky to be here
With someone I like
Who maketh my spirit to shine

Don't let us get sick
Don't let us get old
Don't let us get stupid... all right?
Just make us be brave
Make us play nice
Let us be together tonight

Don't let us get sick
Don't let us get old
Don't let us get stupid... all right?
Just make us be brave
Make us play nice
Let us be together tonight

WZ: I'm going to have to ask Dr. Babyhead to join me on this next song... This is kind of a new song, it's about the war in Africa. You knew there was a war in Africa, didn't you? I read somewhere that supposedly the American press believes that there can be only be three new stories at once, that's all we can possibly absorb. It's true, think about it. This has been the fourth story for years and years now. And many people have been killed over there in the last few years.

7. Bujumbura [with Dr. Babyhead on flute]

8. Play It All Night Long [with Dr. Babyhead on flute]

9. Boom Boom Mancini (begins with 2-minute guitar instrumental)

WZ: Now, we'd like to play a jazz standard for you. And we are going to play a jazz standard for you. Actually, I sang this in a movie a few years ago. A very, very big movie. That's really all I can tell you at this time. Very big.

10. You Don't Know What Love Is (different melody from recorded version) [with Dr. Babyhead on sax]

11. Excitable Boy [with Dr. Babyhead on sax]

12. Werewolves of London 
(Warren messed up on the "hear them howling around your kitchen door" part and commented after the next verse "It was bound to happen sometime." Plus:  "You'd better stay away from him... he'll tear your lungs out, Jim... and he's looking for Jimmy Buffett." And: "I saw Jack Kemp drinking a pina colada in Trader Vic's, and his hair was -- " no crowd response. "-- never mind... I saw a *werewolf* drinking a pina colada in Trader Vic's, and his hair was -- " "PERFECT!")

13. My Way (?!!)

14. Lawyers, Guns, and Money

_ENCORES_

WZ: Let's hear that again for Chris Whitley. And the illustrious Dr. Babyhead. You're a doctor, do you have oxygen?

15. Ring Them Bells (not sure if that's the title, I haven't heard it before)

16. Mohammed's Radio ("Netanyahu's got his problems too... and he will surely take them out on you.") 

WZ: I'm going to play a song for you that I wrote when I was a kid. Relatively speaking. It was a long, long time ago. It's been recorded again by a very fine country and western singer named Terry Clark. Country fans! I'm happy to see them! This song came on the country charts last week... I believe it's going to be a hit record. Which I believe makes a very powerful argument for recycling, don't you?

17. Poor Poor Pitiful Me