The last Image from an Awesome Show!

This was the last picture I took of Leo last night. I wanted to stay to meet him but my co-pilot had an early appointment so I missed my chance this time. No big deal there will be another chance. I will travel to see Leo...for sure.
A couple of final thoughts. Last night there were several songs I wanted to hear. And...he played them all! Amazing! Corrina, Corrina. Push the play button on this link. http://www.last.fm/music/Leo+Kottke/_/Corrina,+Corrina This song brought tears to my eyes. I have been wanting to hear him play this song live for so long and it was perfect. The tone, the way he makes the strings resonate and the sustain. All perfect as only a master can do.
He also played "Little Martha" by Duane Allman. Leo said after he played the song "That was written by Duane Allman and the song came to him in a dream." I thought - yeah I knew what that song was on the second note and your guitar harmonics just knocked my wig off.
Finally I remember thinking about halfway through the show about what I would say if he asked me for a request. There was a song that kept echoing in my head. "Rings"
Want to see an old 1988 video of the song? Here it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9YEmbEVZJQ
And that was the last song Leo played. A perfect night for me. A show like this really cannot be put into words. Go see the man. Thanks Leo for a very special night.

The Six String Picture.

One thing I really enjoy when I go to a show is an artist that will talk in between songs and explain where the songs come from. Leo talked quite a bit last night and I learned some things that added to a few things I already knew from all his cds and interviews over the years. One of the coolest things he explained was the origin of one of his songs "From Pizza Towers to Defeat" explained here at this link http://www.puremusic.com/leo2.html
Leo mentioned this character Frizz Fuller aka Frisbee Boom Boom Fuller and his masterpiece "Tiki Torches at Twilight." He started talking about David Lindley http://www.davidlindley.com/ and my mind went wandering with all kinds of times where I have seen him on stage. But I'll leave that story for another time.

Another Shot of Leo.

Another shot of Leo playing his 12 string Taylor. OK I have to admit I am a bit disappointed in my Sony 8 millon pixel camera. I shot these images with the anti-blur on and no flash. The only explanation I have for the blur in the images is Leo was moving so fast on that fret board the algorithms in the computers chip just could not deal with it. Pictures or no pictures this is a show not to miss. This one was sold-out and one of the best shows I have seen in a long, long time.

Leo Kottke!!!

After being a fan since 1974 I finally got to see Leo Kottke http://www.leokottke.com/cgi-bin/ontour/leotour.cgi last night. Finally. I remember talking about Leo with all my pals in the early 1970's as he was a great even then. Last night Leo "the master" stepped on stage with two Taylor guitars in hand. There was one mike stand and no chair. I was on the edge of the stage and the edge of my seat. Without saying a word, he launched into a song like only he can. There is no one who can play like he can. He really has a wonderful style and complete mastery of the guitar.
This show was almost surreal to me. Leo smoked the stings for two songs and then said "Uh" He followed that with a smile and said "That is a hell of a thing to say to start a set." He started playing again as he laughed to himself. I knew this was the beginning of a special night.
The crowd was absolutely wonderful. There was not a single request and you could have heard a pin drop while he was playing. This is typical of this crowd who show up for shows at the Arts Center http://www.artscenterlive.org/ in Carrboro. Fabulous I say. Fabulous.

Robert Randolph and the Family Band

Robert Randolph and the Family Band http://www.robertrandolph.net/ last month at the Carolina Theatre in Durham. As you can tell from this shot Robert invited the girls up to dance on stage during one of his numbers. It was a cool show, very loud and very late starting. I think he came on stage at 10:30 which is a bit late for a theatre show. His security did not want anyone taking pictures although many were...including a couple of my own.. So as you can tell I had to back of from my seat which was quite close to get this shot. The other two frames I managed to get had hands from dancing people in them so there you go...this is my only salvaged shot. OK soapbox time...what is up with all the artists out there not wanting fans to take pictures? Many are now allowing non-professional equipment at shows and most of the top-tier jam bands allow audio recording. I think this is great. Concerts cost a fortune these days, especially the shed shows. The least the artist should do is allow a few images to go home with the folks attending. After having spent hundreds of dollars on downloads, cds, shirts, concert tickets, gas, parking...parking!...$20 to leave my car at a venue? OK I am going to move on now. I have other topics to talk!
I will leave this post behind by giving Robert a bit of feedback. After driving over two hours to see you and leaving my fabulous $100 dinner at a local restaurant early with a group of friends to be on time to your show, we arrived to see that no one was on stage yet. Then a fill-in opening act that should not even be playing on a street corner played until you came on at 10:30? Oh well.