I was at the show and I’ll try to review:
The place was wierd, but I didn’t have anything against security/staff. I’m not sure how the sound was on the floor, but it was not the best in the stands. I was almost directly parallel to the stage Page side and it was loud as hell (especially Mike), but the piano was not lound enough. But I was basically on the side.
First set was pretty good and fun. Paul and Silas was a request for a guy Trey met on the street last night. He said they loved Chicago and then were waiting for this show to debut this new tune that Page wrote (Windy City). Curtain “with” was beautiful as always. Fun songs. Trey tore up Heavy Things. I don’t know what’s wrong with being a “crowd pleaser”. I’ve seen them play it at least 15 times and I am still “pleased” by the Trey solo at the end of the song. I finally got to hear TTE live, thought it was pretty good as a first set closer. IMO it’s a great tune but the “jam” section either needs to be eliminated or redesigned. It just sounds forced right now.
Second set was freaking awesome! I think it’s one of those that on paper might not look very good, but the song selection alone had a great flow. It went from rock->funk back and forth the whole set. One of those sets that if you play the same songs in a different order it’s not a very good set. The jam out of Number Line was just awesome. Seriously that song has major potential, which I would have never expected. They really took the song to new places and it sounded great, I couldn’t believe it. Then Carini? Shit was fucking awesome! Place was bumpin! Super intense. Trey tore up Jibboo again, nothing too crazy in terms of experimental jamming though. Unless you count the “delay loop jam” at the end if that’s what it was referred to as. It was basically just a break in the action. I haven’t heard Theme yet this year so I was really glad to hear the song, one of my long time favs that I never think about until they start playing it. Nothing notable in this version though. For whatever reason the Wilson was awesome. I don’t usually call it awesome, but it was just well placed I guess. The crowd was really into it, which makes the band really into it…Trey did the wilson chant a couple extra of times. Place was loud. The 2001 was a serious dance party, they had some really awesome shit going down in the middle jam section. Mike dropping bombs and Page on the Clav, it was freaking sweet. I’m pretty sure this one takes the cake for 2009 versions. Then Chalk Dust was smokin. A short jam section in the end and they rounded the song out perfectly. I can’t remember the last time I saw a late second set Chalk Dust (Alpine 99?) and it was a welcome treat. I was actually just complaining that I thought every chalkdust this summer has been as the first or second song of the show. The Hood, strangely enough, was not very good IMO. I felt like Trey took a chance with key signatures and it just didn’t pan out. I couldn’t tell if the rest of the band wasn’t following or it just didn’t sound great. Still a good song, just the low point of the set. Coil is always a good way to end a show, I love Page. I had to drive back to Michigan for work today so I skipped out right when they started Loving Cup.
In terms of “they’ve played Number Line/Chalkdust this many times this tour”. I don’t get why people still freak out about this shit. They have done this for their ENTIRE career. Why? Because those are the songs they are playing well right now! They played Bowie at almost every other show in summer 95 because they were TEARING it up. That and they get excited about their new stuff and like to experiment with it. Sometimes they pan out, sometimes they don’t. Jibboo in summer 2000 was played all the time as a 2nd set opener, in the end, it seemed to be shelved as a jam vehicle for the most part. That’s a contrast to DWD, which turned out to be a monster. I don’t know, it just never ceases to amaze me that people bitch so much about their rotations. They change every tour/year anyway.
Overall, the second set was great. I’m glad I went, well worth the $20 I paid for the ticket 
Seriously though, the Number Line-> Carini and 2001->Chalk Dust were the highlights and deserve a listen.
