It seems to me that this reviewer seems to know quite a bit about Westerberg’s inner-thoughts. Seemingly.
Except, of course, for the parts when Westerberg simply abandoned the song lyrics all together, as he did during much of “Androgynous.” When his lyrics first dropped out he seemed upset that the crowd wasn’t doing a better job of picking up the ball and running with it, and then he just seemed to want to punish us. Not unlike Andre 3000 on the main stage later that night, his body language often seemed a mixture of “too cool for school” and “fuck y’all.” After asking the crowd if they wanted to hear “Achin’ to Be,” he clearly found the response too tepid, and visibly recoiled.
I think omniscience is a prerequisite for being a critic.
As far as the crowd goes, that’s life on the festival circuit–not everybody is there to see you.