Bonnie Raitt.

My ticket from last night. As I said there are no pictures only stories. And the stories are so long I cannot tell them all here. http://www.bonnieraitt.com/

Bonnie came out last night and she still looks the same as the last time I saw her. Hell, she still looks the same as the first time I saw her thirty-two years ago. The best part about last night was I was eight feet from her, the first time I was in the balcony watching her and Lyle Lovett play on a stage at UNC Chapel Hill so long ago. . Last night she was all smiles and she looked like she was twenty-five years old. Ok so there is a winkle in her face. On November 8th she will be sixty years old. All I can say is it looked like she jumped into those jeans and any guy in his right mind would be doing flips to hang out with her for an evening. The best part? She plays that Strat like a master. And her voice is off the meter. She rocks! I wish I had a picture of those roses a guy threw her last night. She smiled and held them tight. I am glad he gave them to her. Very nice.

I never tire of listening to Bonnie. I have been listening for most of her career. This is because she was always hanging with my favorite bands like Little Feat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO3ZMdcL8Pc people like jackson Browne, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6AgpzsnHo8 Stevie Ray, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mylo0piAgc on and on. Not to mention the fact that her voice is a one of a kind - this generation. Oh yeah and as you know she plays guitar like a blues master.

Bonnie played a song she recently recorded which was written by Randall Bramlett last night. She asked how many people had been to New Orleans since Katrina. I raised my hand given my love for the town. She said something about Jazzfest smoking...and yes I agree...Then she broke into the song...

God was in the water that day
Pickin' through the roots and stones
Trippin' over sunken logs
Tryin' not to make his presence known

God was in the water that day
Wadin' in careful steps
Bubbles risin' from his feet
Comin' up from the muddy depths

Castin' out a line
Castin' out a line to the shadows
Castin' out a line but no one's biting

I should add that I saw something last night that made me think about how this lady performs. As I stood there so close I really watched her every move. At times as she explained the song she was about to do she would get almost in a mood to do it. Almost like an actor. She really feels the emotion of the song when she sings it. That is a sign of a performer that has figured out how to pull off a great song. Even John Prine has said many times "Angel from Montgomery is "Bonnie's song." Last night I heard her sing the opening acappella and I thought...yes it really is her song. Yes it is.

Bonnie was on last night and I was really glad I was there. The stage at this venue resonates the audience feedback. She noticed that last night and mentioned it twice. Everyone who plays that stage says that. You can see the performers light up and crank up the show. It is such a cool experience to feel that.

If you go surf pages of up-coming female artists they aways say something like oh "She sounds like Bonnie Raitt" as if this is the pinnacle of what a female artist should be. Well maybe it is. If you can play like that and have the voice she does, maybe you can make it in a tough music world today.

What can I say about last night? Well I saw many great pictures I didn't take, many smiles, a great performance, some awesome slide guitar, a few masters at work, a great crowd, a cool place, and a great show. I certainly plan to see Bonnie again. She was fantastic.

A quick story. As we in the crowd were exchanging stories before the show which I must add is one of my favorite parts of a show....anyway...we were talking about Robert Palmer for a moment. The last song last night was an unrehearsed version of "Bad Case of Loving You" which was pre-ceeded by Randall Bramlett playing sax on Jr. Walker and the All-stars' "Road-Runner." Did I mention I had a great time last night?

Doctor, doctor give me the news
I've got a bad case of lovin' you
No pill's gonna cure my ill
I've got a bad case of lovin' you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNLfQkHQlE8

http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Junior%20Walker.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ek1UslvFps

'Nuff said. until next time, I will see you down the road.

No pictures but I have a story or two...

This is one of the three pictures I took last night. As you can see there was a request not to take any pictures. I am not going to get into a discussion about this other than to say it was a fantastic show. I will try to give you a quick mental image. After Randall and his band took the stage the group around me was nodding their heads to "this guy is great!" He went from keyboards to horns to guitar, vocals, and even harmonica while playing the keyboards. You want to talk about "the man" he had his game on last night. Randall's band was smoking too. The Fender guitars were out in full force. I had my Fender shirt on to help celebrate one awesome night of Leo Fender's finest .http://www.randallbramblett.com/photos.php

At one point in Randall's show several of us looked at each other. Eye-to eye and with raised hands we went...damn. That was great. The beauty of the House of Blues. You get to know the crowd around you and rub elbows enjoying a show. This was a night. Yes, indeed.

Last Night at the House of Blues...

http://www.houseofblues.com/venues/clubvenues/myrtlebeach/

I took this picture as I enjoyed a greasy burger on the deck out back last night with some folks I had just met from West Virginia. We were all road-tripping for another great show...

It's official. I love this venue. Another road trip to Myrtle Beach just to see Randall Bramlett and Bonnie Raitt perform. It was my third trip this year to a show there and I really love the whole place. It was pretty cool weather-wise last night for this time of year but we made the best of it. The crowd was large and we had those tickets that get you in front of a general admission crowd...but even so this full house was packed to the rafters.

Randall Bramlett http://www.randallbramblett.com/ out with his band a smoked though an opening I had been waiting months to hear. Well I was a Sea Level fan from so long ago I forget the year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Level_(band) Ok it was my favorite decade, the 1970's.

Anyway. I want to say as you will see in the coming story that I don't have any pictures to show from last night. I had my Cannon camera, spare batteries, and my iphone in my pocket. But at the request of the artist I did not take them from my pocket. I was eight feet from center stage. Locking eyes with everyone on the stage at times and I guess I just really got into the performance and decided to respect their wishes. It was a AWESOME evening. This was a grade A performance from beginning to end. More on that in a moment.

Too Rolling Stoned...

Robin Trower. One of 1752 photos I shot Wednesday night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEQ-0-tN0T0

What a show! Another night in the room with a guitar great. http://www.fender.com/robintrower/signup.php
I got to meet him briefly after the show. I told him I had been a fan since the 1970's and of course thanks for the music.
He was very nice and took time to sign anything the fans wanted.
Yes I brought the new cd home. Well done Robin. You still rock.

http://vimeo.com/5386756

http://vimeo.com/5155054

Bridge of Sighs.

The blue light was a very nice transitional moment as Bridge of Sighs was being played. There are so many great songs on that album. And he played most of them. This music can really take you back to a feeling you had a long time ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0d1HilfLxA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtr9QbaZmTk

The next series of songs brought my favorite of the night. "Little Bit of Sympathy." Awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWRI1vApXQ8&feature=related

Someone in the crowd to the side of me mentioned Hendrix at one point. And I thought...hmm. He is here tonight. Yes, yes he is.

Rocking.

If you want to listen to an interview and see a copy of the just-released Robin Trower cd go to this link:

http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/interviewrobintrower.htm

I also snagged this link off of Robin's web page. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj3nwpCfZOA
For all you guitar and amp geeks out there it is a very interesting video where he explains his gear. Very cool.

Robin Trower...No Zoom required...

Robin Trower. http://www.trowerpower.com/

I have been a fan since the 1970's. I think I own three or four copies of 'Bridge of Sighs" in vinyl and even the deluxe version of the cd. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_of_Sighs
This was the first chance I had ever had to see Robin Trower. I had been waiting for this night for a very,very long time.

The Lincoln Theatre.

http://www.lincolntheatre.com/

The view on arrival at the Lincoln Theatre last Wednesday night. Another beginning to a great show. I like this place. Plenty of parking, a great beer selection, a nice stage, and everyone can see from the wrap-around balcony or the tiered floor. Very cool.

I should mention that a line was beginning to form for what would be a sold-out performance with Robin Trower. More on that in a moment. I should mention that the first person I saw was my friend Craig. Yes the one from the last several shows I have been to. Man it is a small world! Of course I ended up standing beside him all night in front of the stage. So we had to share out Chickenfoot war stories from Myrtle Beach. On and on, it was a great night.

Farm Aid 2009!

http://www.farmaid.org/

I was listening to Farm Aid this afternoon on Sirius 64 and I heard Chuck Leavell http://www.chuckleavell.com/ talking about the Mother Nature Network.
http://www.mnn.com/ which is a very cool web site. All this as I listened from the speakers of my land Cruiser on the family farm winterizing my bee hives. So Farm Aid is a great thing. Well into the third decade of performances I rarely miss one. I still remember that screaming performance from Neil Young last year. It was off the meter!
As I write this Wilco is on stage on Direct TV 101 live. One of the coolest things I have heard is from Wilco. "How many of you here are NOT rednecks?" A roar went up. I like it.

Every morning I have some cereal with Horizon organic milk. Today Horizon gave $150,000 to Farm Aid. Buy their milk, it is an awesome product. http://www.horizondairy.com/

Jason Mraz is up next. http://www.jasonmraz.com/. Then on to Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, and Willie Nelson. Very nice. Another year, another Farm Aid. I will always be a fan of farmers, good local food, and good music.