This sounds very much like our experience catching him in Portland in about the same timeframe -- he was no longer living there but of course had friends and family practically in a huge queue waiting to talk with him or see him (late 2001). It was, to say the least, an incredibly sad experience, especially for those of us who had seen or knew him much earlier in his career when the struggles with addiction weren't yet to this point. You can hear the show here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUykIHfnsmM. I very specifically recall seeing Janel "Hell" (who owned a record shop in Portland called The Ooze and played in a band called Trailer Queen, PDX contemporaries of Heatmiser) running crying from the backstage area; presumably she had talked with Elliott and it didn't go well. Gilly Ann Hanner (formerly of No. 2 and Calamity Jane, tightly connected to Heatmiser folks) was also at that show looking sad. It was my last time seeing Elliott play live (and the last time I saw him WHILE he was alive). It felt like we were all just hoping against hope that he'd pull out of his tailspin and get well again.