Que Paso in Paso Robles

The Paso Robles concert lured me in because it was in a part of California I had never been to. I was able to get a free flight to Los Angeles using frequent flyer miles. Since I was traveling so far I figured I should stay a few days and explore the coast as I drove to and from the California Mid-State Fair.

L.A. was surprisingly cool (sixties) and overcast. Driving out of the city was stressful - heavy traffic and much narrower highway lanes than in the Midwest. I stopped In Ventura for a nice harbor-side lunch at a casual seafood place (Andria’s) I had read about in a magazine. The driving north from Ventura was much more relaxed and much more scenic - blue Pacific waters, long sandy beaches, and flowers along the highway that you don’t see in Iowa. I stopped at Pismo Beach before heading to San Luis Obispo for the night. Although all the winerie and vineyard tours were tempting, I was traveling alone so had to keep my driving wits about me. Maybe next time.....

The weather continued to be cool and sunny which was perfectly fine with me (but all the Californians were bundled up!). In the morning I explored Morro Bay where the harbor seals were making quite a racket and went to the town of Cayucos for fish tacos that had been highly recommended. Then along winding mountain roads (seemed like there was a curve every 500-1000 feet!) past avocado groves to Atascadero and on the Paso Robles. Thank heavens for my portable GPS! I had a few hours before showtime but my body was complaining about the jump in time zones, so I took a little nap to be well rested for our man.

I walked over to the fair with time to sample a few local wines and French crepes, then heard them announce that the arena gates were now open. It was still an hour until Kris Allen would come on, so I hung around outside the grandstands people watching.

And I am SO glad I did. I was standing maybe 10 feet from the grandstand box office when I heard a familiar voice and that wonderful chuckle. I homed in on the sound and realized that it was coming from the white tent immediately behind the box office. I had stumbled upon the location of the Backstage BBQ! No way for me to enter : ( but there was only a bit of fabric between me and Keith singing the Raining on Sunday that I have been missing. I couldn’t make out the questions that followed the song, but I was happy to have caught a little of the event.

Once inside I met “lilmonkey” to whom I had sold my extra ticket and Renee was nice enough to pop by and say hi when she caught sight of me. I’m afraid that there were many empty seats for Kris Allen’s set. He’s trying hard to get the fans participating, he’s cute and sounded pretty good. Here is a bit of one of his songs. But none of his songs really grabbed me - I was just biding time until it was Keith’s turn. Kris chose to close his set with the Beatles’ Come Together

Even Paso Robles was cool and actually chilly once the sun set (I was counting on Keith to keep me warm - and he did!). When I made a port-a-potty run during the break I noticed pens full of cattle at the end of the side risers and wondered what they would think of Keith’s music! Although they were pumping out that patchouli scent from the stage like they often do at the indoor shows, but it couldn’t quite mask the barnyard smells.

Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me was the opener in Paso! I was surprised (I don’t recall that opening a show before) but later on realized why they probably moved it up to the top of the set list. Keith’s hair is looking long and he was flipping it from the very start (see first clip at the bottom). I swear he seemed to have a devilish glint in his eyes last night, flinging that guitar with abandon and doing a bit of a back bend in the very first song (second clip). In honor of his company on tour he changed the lyrics to “She’s singing a Kris Allen song to me.”

Then Days Go By with great singing from the audience. Stupid Boy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A23qwSQ2C1M was fantastic as usual. Keith paused to greet the audience and said that they hadn’t played Paso in 4-5 years and that they were going to make up for it tonight : ) At the end of Sweet Thing Keith moseyed over to my side and did a terrific rocking guitar extension of the song. My oh my he looks great and his fingers are just flying now that guitar neck.

Before Til Summer Comes Around Keith reminded the audience that it had gotten a little wet in Nashville earlier in the year and said that he had “lost just about everything I owned, musically.” He went on to say that the black and white guitar that he was about to play had “ended up in the river along with everything else, but its been resurrected and was here for your listening pleasure. It just took a little swim.... had a little baptism, and has come back firing, as a good Phoenix will do.” (see clip below)

When later he introduced Brian Nutter Keith played with the list of instruments that Brian was skilled at, adding “electric banjoey type thing, bongos, bagpipes, recorder.... He plays a mean recorder!” Brian was back to “Open Arms” as his solo selection. BTW Chris M. has gotten a short, boyish haircut - he looked cute!

About the time that Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me would usually be played Keith announced that they were going to do something special tonight. He brought out Kris Allen and he, Kris and Brian did an amazing rendition of Boys of Summer. I really love the guitar work during that song and had one outstanding view!! Keith inserted a special mention of “hanging out in Paso Robles” mid-song. As I watched him wag his delightful bum it was almost as if he were wagging his finger instead ("I know where your attention is focused - shame on you! LOL). Does he know how he tortures us? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFjb90MCnAg

Tonight it was Only You Can Love Me that was dedicated to Nic rather than Making Memories. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GeMlGqj7uQ Not surprisingly, I guess, considering the proximity to L.A., another fan club member reported that she saw Nicole with Keith outside the tour bus. I hope she is continuing on to Oregon and then Camrose with him.

I was close enough to really be amazed by Keith’s rapid-fire guitar fingering in the guitar play that preceded You Look Good in My Shirt http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thUFkXPHQgY

- just incredible! I couldn’t see where he ended up when he walked out into the audience, but he was like the Pied Piper leading throngs of fans. Unfortunately some followed him back towards stage as well and they invaded the rows in front of where I and lilmonkey were seated - totally drunken women with no concern for those around them whom security could not control. They stood on the chairs in front of our row, blocking our view, teetering wildly. One poured a full icy cold margarita down my chest but was too drunk to even realize it - she continued to wave her empty glass to the music. I totally missed You’ll Think of Me because of their offensive antics and was wishing I had something cold to throw on them. Then they passed a joint between them (as if they needed another intoxicant). Wonder if they allow tasers in concert venues?

Another bit of improvisation during one of Keith’s “echo rounds” with the audience during Better Half. After several several different musical variations on oo-nah-nah-nah-nahs he went on to “Ooo it feel so good out underneath the stars” and “Feeling lotsa love out underneath the stars” Keith added “Mixed in with some sweet cattle aroma.” (Gosh, even his gestures are beautiful). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ookyIHd6-ek

The encore included Tonight I Wanna Cry and Somebody Like You with one fun switch-up. Instead of “You’re teaching me to be a better man” it was “You’re teaching me to be a 4 piece band.”

There was quite a crowd of avid fans hanging around up front even after the boys had left the stage. They pleaded with the stagehands to hand over the setlists taped to the stage floor (and one or two actually got those) and then even resorted to requesting pieces of the duct tape that taped the edges of the rungs under the microphones down,

“because Keith had walked on them” LOL. I will dive for a guitar pick and perhaps shove for a wristband, but duct tape????

The fair was still going strong as we left the concert, so one had their pick of all the fair foods to celebrate a great show. I opted for some authentic carne asada tacos since it would be a while before the the Urban excitement wore off enough for me to consider sleep!

Jiving With Jack Johnson at Alpine Valley

Just returned from a terrific Jack Johnson concert at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin. It seems I have been waiting a very long time for Jack to leave his home in Hawaii and tour on the mainland. I guess I missed a tour 2 or 3 years so I vowed I wasn't going to miss this one. My daughter Annie and I picked up my sister Judi, who lives in northern Illinois not far from the Wisconsin border and we made the hour trip up to Alpine Valley. Thunderstorms had been predicted but happily the weatherman was wrong and we had a very pleasant day.

Because of a very confusing website for this venue as well as out-of-date seating charts, my daughter had accidentally bought us fron floor tickets (100 level seats). Well, it turned out that the entire front floor area seats had been removed for this show, making a large standing room only "Pit" area. (A guy at the show told me this had been at Jack's request to allow people in front room to dance!). I knew my achey old knees couldn't stand for 3 hours so I immediately called the box office to see if we could exchange our tickets for real seats further away from the stage. No such luck. It was also going to be difficult if not impossible to re-sell our tickets because Jack's "Green" concert was using "paperless tickets" where you have to scan the credit card that you bought the tickets with to be admitted to the venue. I guess I sounded distressed enough that Alpine Valley finally took pity on me and said they would seat us in the handicapped region. I'm so thankful that they did this since, as we people-watched, we saw much younger folks than I having trouble standing through the show, seeking out anything that they could lean against or perch upon.

Our seats were a little off to the side but otherwise just fine. Two opening acts (ALO and G Love were fun but I was impatient to see Jack Johnson! His performance was everything I had hoped for - a great mix of his old and his new music, music you can't sit still to (the pit people DID take advantage of the room to dance but no matter where you sat, you had to jive to the beat. Jack is so mellow, so creative in his lyrics, so unique in his rhythms - I don't know how you could help but love his performance. And although this may have looked like a diverse, summer festival audience, you could tell from the loud singing of even his newest songs that these were Jack Johnson devotees. The sound of that unity, that Jack-love gave me chills several times during the night.

Jack occasionally chatted with the audience and interacted with the fans at stage-edge. At one point he gave (or actually loaned out) ear-protective head sets for 2 of the little tikes in the audience, but asked that they be returned because they were actually his kids' headsets!

Most of the video or graphic backgrounds on the big screen were attractive and artsy or what might have been window views as one drove the coastal highway around Oahu or one of the other Hawaiian islands. Only once or twice during the show did the big screen show Jack performing or close-ups of his guitar playing - I kind of missed those closeup views.

One one song Jack brought out the native Hawaiian woman songwriter to accompany him, on on the last few songs the guys from ALO and G Love joined Jack.

A Couple Favorite Older Songs:

Better Together

Sittin', Waitin', Wishin'  (love the little smiles as he enjoys his audience)

Flake

Do You Remember

A Couple New Ones:

To the Sea

You and Your Heart

Jack surprised with The Joker - I wasn't expecting any cover songs!

Brad Paisley and Gang Spend an American Saturday Night in Moline

Since the rest of the family wouldn’t be back from South Haven, MI until Sunday night, I was looking for something to keep me occupied on Saturday evening. Brad Paisley was playing in Moline, Il - a couple hours away. It had been a half dozen years since I went to a Paisley concert. Although I’m not a big fan of his lighter weight songs (like Ticks) I decided to give his “Water Tour” a try. It was a last minute decision but I lucked out and found a reasonable 8th row seat on Ticketmaster’s “Ticket Exchange” (sellers must have started cutting their prices when the concert date neared).

Brad does give fans their money’s worth this tour. Besides watery amusements (like a dunk tank), there is a free pre-show outside the venue in the afternoon. Unfortunately I wonder if many (like me!) did not even realize it was going on. When I arrived. Steel Magnolia was on stage and two acts had already played (Easton Corbin and Josh Thompson. Guess I should have read up on the tour beforehand! You’d think the ticket venders would do a better job of promoting what is available. We later saw these performers in the audience watching the show inside the arena! : )

Once in the I-wireless Center I discovered another unadvertised bonus - Justin Moore was opening the show before Darius Rucker and Brad! Brad’s stage set-up includes THREE catwalks (Right, Center and Left), with the side walkways ending in ramps going down to the audience (sound familiar Keith Urban fans?). There was also a small satellite stage in the rear.

I had just seen Justin Moore perform at Country Concert and again enjoyed his energetic performance and his country twang. But he doesn’t connect as much with the audience as most newer performers do and doesn’t reveal much of his personality. Talk to us a little Justin and make some eye contact!. Here is a bit of his Small Town USA to give you a sense of his style.

Darius Rucker, on the other hand, has a warm sincerity on stage that is very engaging. In addition his songs are feel good and emotion packed. The audience just loved every one of them and, even though Brad was coming up next, we hated for Mr. Rucker’s set to end. I am definitely looking forward to the new album Darius will have out in the fall. Here is “It Won’t Be Like This For Long” and a bit of “Let Her Cry”.

It was nice that both Justin and Darius made use of the catwalks (unlike Kenny Chesney, Brad must be okay with giving his opening acts full use of the walkways).

During the break before Brad’s set an informational video on the importance of clean water and the desperate need for clean water in so many parts of the world was shown on the side screens and the audience was given the opportunity to donate $10 to the clean water cause by texting in a message. When the curtains finally opened for Brad they started with a really cute video clip while playing a guitar version of the threatening sounds from “Jaws”  but instead of the shark fin what we saw was a similar silhouette produced by a guitar moving through the water! : ) Eventually it was Brad swimming through the water dragging this guitar. He finally climbed out of the water with his guitar onto a pier just as real Brad (in a similar fashion) climbed up on the elevated portion of his stage. Of course his first song was “Water” and touched back on that theme with water related songs several times during the night. American Saturday night was accompanied by a fun video background and since it WAS Saturday night in Moline  they managed to insert a Moline view of the I-wireless Center into the cartoon which elicited quite a response from the crowd. Brad has lots of fans who sing every word of every song, but I  am one who most enjoyed his more serious or more romantic songs (as you’ll no doubt see from my video selections).

One bit I wasn’t able to catch on camera was Brad singing a little of Beyonce’s Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) before singing his You Do the Math. Sometimes I’m just not quick enough with the camera! I personally would have sung his own ring song (Wrapped Around) at this point but he didn’t do that one until fairly late in the show

I was very close to the left-hand catwalk/ramp and luckily Brad seemed to favor that side and came over and played on that ramp several times. Security allowed folks to line the edge of the catwalk, but I left that edge to the more ardent fans. Mid-show he finally continued all the way down the ramp and around the periphery of the arena to the small stage a la Keith Urban. He played Letter to Me back there. I didn’t have the sense that he was quite as comfortable with that offstage journey as Keith is. Next came a bit of and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Fishing in the Dark and then Mud on the Tires, both of which the audience really loved. 

Another fun cartoon, featuring a Brad-like main character, illustrated the song Celebrity. Seeing the music video for Waiting on a Woman on the big screen was nice during that song and they included a bit of out-takes at the end; I’ve always been an Andy Griffith fan. Later in the show there was yet a third cartoon  but I didn’t care for this one at all - way too loud and too long. Too much animation Brad!

I got a kick out of Brad's many paisley-patterned guitars! There were several other styles as well, but "paisley" definitely dominated. My favorite songs of the evening:  She’s Everything with some lovely guitar work. (I also have a preference for his slower, more melodic guitar playing over his fast-fingered country sound), I Thought I Loved You Then (below), and Whiskey Lullaby,  (listen to the audience!) complete with a very realistic Alison Krause image on stage accomplished with video just the right size and position to may everyone wonder if she was actually there.

Alcohol was the encore song and Darius and Justin as well as those who had performed on the outside stage all joined in on this final number of what was a fun American Saturday night.

On to Country Concert to See Keith Urban in Ohio

My “tour” of country music festivals continued into Ohio this weekend. Even though some of the same artists play at each of them, every festival has its own personality and its own pros and cons. And there is a learning curve for getting the most out of a fest, although getting some tips from the “ol’ timers” who are there every year helps.

I flew into Indianapolis to get to Ohio because I got a really cheap flight. Then I drove east on Interstate 70 - the same interstate I had traveled in Colorado - to get over towards Fort Loramie (a tiny blink-and-you’ll-miss-it town). Unfortunately this trip was neither pretty nor pleasant, with heavy traffic the entire way, so I was wishing I was back in Colorado! But the 13 mile ride from my hotel to the festival grounds, on winding roads through green farmlands was nicer, which was good, since I would be going back and forth for 3 days.

Thursday  was rainy for those who arrived early, but because of my travels I didn’t arrive until 7:00 pm (missing the Band Perry and Joe Nichols). I only had to wear my rain poncho for about an hour before the weather cleared (but I still looked a bit like a drowned cat). Happily I was in time to see Gary Allan - excellent as usual but he sure doesn’t interact much with the audience. For some reason his show was also the shortest of the entire festival - he played only 51 minutes!! Everyone was sure he left time for an encore, but no - he never came back. To me that seems to say he was just not “into it”. One of the fun highlights was the appearance of his dog wandering around the stage during the last several songs of his set - a distinctive tall white-with-brown-spots type-unknown (to me) pooch, although it did seem to have sort of a “poodle hair cut” around the head. I tried to take a picture but between it’s moves and the heads in the way, I never succeeded. Later I only stayed for 3 of Hank Williams Jr.’s hard rock songs and from what I heard from other concert goers the next day, he stayed away from more country songs and his more familiar songs all night. So I didn’t regret opting for the easy escape from the parking lots before thousands tried to exit.

Friday was partly sunny and a perfect festival day. Now that the sun was out the concert goers were partying like crazy (Country Concert is the first festival I have been to that allowed people to BYOB and small coolers). The day started out with Steel Magnolia who were very personable and fun. They included Homespun Love in their set. Thanks to advice from the regulars I learned about one of the particular benefits of Country Concert that I had not seen at Country Thunder or Country Jam: those who have “Stagefront Tickets” (the fenced in reserved seat section) have access to “Photo Lines”. Many of the artists (except the big headliners) agree to meet  fans and have individual photos taken for 20-30 minutes about an hour before their show! So although headliners Trace Adkins and Keith did not participate, I did get to meet and have my picture taken with Billy Currington, Justin Moore, Randy Houser, and Jo Dee Messina before seeing their performances!

I enjoyed every one of the sets of these gentlemen and lady but I’ll just mention a few highlights. Trace wore his hair loose and flowing and really rumbled those base speakers with his deep voice. He had brought his daughter with him and I thought I could see her and others sitting offstage in some of my videoclips. Justin Moore does Keith one better in one way - he both unbuttons several buttons at the top AND several at the bottom of his shirt, showing skin in both areas! Since he performed fairly early in the day I was able to sit in some empty front row seats so had quite the view! Jerry Flowers was on the side of the stage rocking out throughout Randy Houser’s and later Jo Dee Messina’s sets and was joined occasionally by Brian Nutter. Both of them were in their off-stage casuals of baggy shorts and tees. Jo Dee told us a funny story about how she had been in Dayton the night before, so in the morning she stopped at the BMW dealer there and traded in her car for a new one, then drove it to the Country Concert. When she arrived she had a hard time convincing the people at the gate that she was one of the performers - they wanted $5 for parking and asked to see her concert ticket!! Even when she showed them her driver’s license they were doubting and debated back and forth whether to let her in!  She later performed a song that she and Jerry wrote together and described him as one of the best bassists in the business : ) Brian Nutter has a new little mustache which, right now, looks a little silly to me, but its probably just growing in.

The first 2 days we could see into the fenced in region where the buses were parked and where a backstage dining tent was set up. On Saturday however, when Keith arrived, all the fences were newly covered with tenting fabric, hiding this area from view. Security said that they had been asked to do that to protect the Urban family’s privacy, so I’m guessing that Nicole and perhaps Sunday was there with Keith, although he didn’t mention it during his show.

Another Country Concert oddity - before Keith’s show (as the big star closing the festival) they wanted to make sure that none of the “General Admission” partiers had somehow made it into the reserved seat section. So security emptied the reserved seats section and then had only those with the appropriate tickets re-enter and beefed up the security on the surrounding fences. I actually saw at least a half dozen people being lead away in handcuffs although I don’t know for sure their particular offenses (but I stayed in MY seat after that! : ). 

Keith was in a black short sleeved shirt tonight and he started the evening with loose, silky hair and, I swear, he and Brian have choreographed a dual “flippage” routine (check out the video). But it was still pretty warm and humid even after nightfall, so before too long his hair was wet with sweat. The temperatures did not slow him down though - he was full of energy and used the full extent of the stage and stage side walkways like no other festival performer did. Trace did move to either side of the stage but only Keith went another 20 or 30 feet beyond either side of the stage as far as one could go multiple times during the evening as well as braving a jaunt out into what appeared to be a very drunken general admission area. He also knelt at several different points along the front of the stage to do some of his up-close guitar bits in front of different amazed fans. Gotta love him! I think Keith might have noticed some of the interactions (or arrests) between security and misbehaving revelers because he commented mid-show about “I see some questionable energy in certain parts of the crowd - everybody is here to chill out under the stars, right?” The he continued “Jerry - are you in a good mood tonight? It is a beautiful night in Ohio tonight!”

The “summer setlist” began the same: Kiss a Girl, Days Go By, Stupid Boy, and Sweet Thing. At the end of Sweet Thing Keith did a really sweet improvisation as he wandered down the walkway at stage right (my side!). Very nice! After Stupid Boy he cracked us up by reading one sign in the audience saying “There is a DUDE over there with a sign that says “Remember me in ‘03?? I still think you’re sexy!” “ A Dude!” says Keith, “or dude-ish!?” “ And now he’s holding a sign asking “Will you marry me?”!! “Too late brother!! Sorry. ” said Keith. LMAO

Before Sweet Thing Keith said it was good to be here at Country Concert - that they hadn’t been there in a long, long time. He then dedicated Sweet Thing “to Alex, somewhere out there in the crowd.” (perhaps someone from the meet and greet?)

This was a very sing-along audience so that you could really hear them chime in on many of the songs. I was surrounded by lots of guys and I was surprised to hear them singing all of the lyrics of I’m In and Til Summer Comes Around, as well as many of the tender older songs like Making Memories and Tonight I Wanna Cry. My daughter in Ann Arbor says it is because Keith really gets a LOT of radio airplay in this part of the country, but it was nice to know that guys don’t just attend to the beer-drinking and kick-your-assing type songs. : )

We got some more nice guitar improvisation after Better Half - starting out like the post-Better Half melodies that Keith played in the last tour as he made his way back to the satellite stage in arenas. But then he added a little vocal improv as well, beginning with some “Ooo na na na na’s” and then leading us in one of his echo rounds, singing 

“Oh I like hanging out under the stars

It feels so good hangin’ out underneath the stars,

Yes it does....” and then began plucking out “Twinkle twinkle little star” on the guitar

(something he does for Sunday perhaps?) until he had us all singing Twinkle, twinkle.

The guitar improv then became faster paced and they ended with another hair-flipping contest between he and Brian.

Making Memories of Us was dedicated to “Those who are feeling in love tonight.”

Then Keith added “including you Jerry.” (wonder if there is some significance to these couple unusual references to Jerry...)

Several times during the show audience members screamed out a request for Raining on Sunday, but the requests went unanswered.

During band introductions, after Brian was introduced as playing all his usual instruments as well as “the bagpipes and spoons” lol,  Brian did a little “Livin’ on a Prayer” tonight with great audience participation. Jerry, likewise, had good audience participation during his Ain’t No Sunshine.

During his usual thank yous towards the end of the show, Keith said that they “want to send love and prayers and deepest soulful thanks to all the men and women who put their lives on the line every day and night for us.”

The encore tonight (after a somewhat longer than usual pause for the loud applause and screams and whistles) included Tonight I Wanna Cry (on acoustic guitar with Brian), Take It To the Limit (with Keith, Brian and Jerry all sharing a microphone), and Somebody Like You, which began with a silly extra fast countdown by Keith (“One two three four five six” , included some impressive forwards AND backwards “happy” circles, (and also a “Yabba dabba do” thrown in at the very end). “You have been unbelievable tonight!” shouted Keith - “God bless every one of you!” And the same back to you and the guys Keith!

PS Keith was still a little hoarse and avoided the high notes again tonight so I am glad he has a little time off now to rest that sweet voice.)

PPS Several videoclips (like Brian's solo and Jo Dee singing her and Jerry Flowers' song are on a camera that I cannot download until I get home from South Haven, MI where 25 of our family and friends are staying)