That first SD show was among the best I have ever seen them. Band energy was great and the sound, while not nearly as loud as Staples, was as good as you can make Viejas sound. For some reason the sound of the second show, even though I was more or less in the same position as night 1, sounded murkier/boomier to me. Plus no Descending meant the set list was not as good. But night 1? Hell ya. That VIP post lotus put up nailed it.

For VIP soundcheck night 2 we got Part Of Me (with Maynard), The Patient (with Maynard) and, once inside, The Pot and FI. It was nice hearing The Patient again after all this time.

So far, it seems like they are alternating Descending with a combo of The Pot/Part Of Me. Not a good trade-off, imo. As soon as you hear "Who are you to wave your finger"... it very likely means you won't get Descending.

I enjoyed the VIP experience overall. First dibs on unsigned merch was great, the food was fine and I really enjoyed multiple conversations with fellow fans. But I may skip it going forward because of the ticket distribution policy, even though I had a great seat. Plus the new VIP experience just cannot compare with what Adam used to do for it. When I show new VIPers the old VIP photos, it's just so far from what it was. I dunno... waffling a bit on it. We'll see.

Now bring on AZ! Got an excellent face value seat for that one. Can't wait!