On September 30, 2025, Agent Smith and I went to see James at the Fillmore in San Francisco. I’ve seen them many other times over the years, including a whirlwind pilgrimage to the UK for the last three shows of their 2001 tour and a quick trip to LA to see them at the Greek.

This time I had snagged VIP passes, so we got to attend the sound check and then snagged spots right up front. And rather than drive all the way home after the show, we stayed the night in Japantown.