LAST NIGHT'S CONCERT!

The Troubadour Spirit is Alive and Well!

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Last night's "Songwriter's Tour" pulled into town and I managed to snag a last-minute ticket after e-mailing my Webmaster Jason Buckley. What a rewarding night! Guy Clark has long been a favorite of mine and first came to my attention with his work in Kris Kristofferson's backup band and then on The Highwaymen's (Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings) first album that featured Guy's "Desperado's Waiting for a Train". It has been my sorry lot to have missed seeing Jerry Garcia with the Grateful Dead, and Elvis. I was NOT going to miss this tour! Here are four Legends who work with NO SET LIST. I'm serious! And that helped make the evening so fun. A very obviously drunk lady in the upper deck heckled the usually taciturn Lyle Lovett, who had to stop and re-start a song four times because he kept bursting into laughter. Finally, he gave up, changed his capo to the first fret and played another song. His musicianship was beautiful. Guy Clark, who has beaten back cancer, is a true luthier; he crafts guitars as he hones his songwriting. When I subtitled above that "the troubadour spirit is alive and well", you better believe it, because we live in a sonic spectrum! These guys packed the house using nothing but their voices and guitars, with a Boss Electonic tuner sure, but no Pro Tools. Lovett killed me because he tuned his guitar plugged in. I haven't seen that in ages!

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Lyle Lovett offered up "Private Conversation", "My Baby Don't Tolerate" and "The Road to Ensenada". John Hiatt, an Indiana native and a Cincinnati favorite brought out "Master of Disaster", and delivered big time whenever Joe Ely or Lyle Lovett suddenly asked for "help" with incredibly intense and raw lead guitar solos. Each man took turns while the others closed their eyes with chins resting on guitars contemplating their colleagues lyrics and the love and respect was so evident. Guy Clark's "Black Diamond Strings" was fun as was his laughing fit when someone in the very back row accidentally tipped over a glass beer bottle onto the concrete floor and the audience burst into laughter! When he recovered, Guy said "Whenever you hear the sound of a beer bottle on concrete you know where you're at"! Joe Ely unleashed ferocious energy on tracks like "Fingernails" and "All That You Need". The laid back conversation and ribbing led each man to recall their first band and Lovett pointed out that Elvis Presley would have been 72 years old this past week, had he lived. A joke about Elvis being buried at Graceland "in the backyard" went sour and became even funnier when he tried to rescue it. These guys were clearly having fun and loving every minute of it--which is what a concert should be. For two and a half hours with no intermission it was a blast. The guy seated next to me and I both laughed because we were wearing Harley Davidson boots and leather jackets and had similar professional paths in broadcasting. When he told me that he was still in radio, I shook my head in sympathy and we laughed some more. He had several beers. With no intermission I passed on that idea. But I will say that the seats in the Aronoff Theatre were so tight, I felt like I was on a Delta Air Lines flight in the Coach section. Other than that, I'm hoping to catch Blog Bud David M. Bailey (see "THE INTERVIEW" Archive where David was my Guest) on January 18th here in town!

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