How is it the Blue Note seems to have better free shows than paying shows? It's been two years since I've been to show there, but last year they had Chuck Berry playing outside for free and Jimmie Vaughan last month. So, when they announced that Robert Earl Keen was going to be playing the final free outdoor concert of the year, me and Zane made plans to go.
Of course you can never plan anything with him. And he came down with a cold and didn't want to do anything. Typical. I was trying to decide whether I wanted to go or not then. I saw that it was moved indoors because of the cold and earlier rain of the day and said I might as well do something, I lobbied to get this as my day off instead of Friday...
And my fun getting there issue, was getting five miles down the road and realizing I left my cell phone charging at home. So, after returning home, I also remembered to pick up my dad's camera. And I think I only managed to save one photo I took and only got a minute or so worth of video because the cards full. Now if I can only figure out to get the video's off there...
The Doors opened at 6 and show started at 7. I got there about half an hour before and it wasn't very full and honestly didn't get much til closer to 8 when Robert Earl Keen too the stage. I didn't feel like standing alone for awhile, so I took a seat in the balcony(Which are some of the most cramped seats for anyone short or tall. Thankfully I was able to stretch out longways...) And I think they had free beer, according to the guys behind me, so my brother missed out...
Deke Dickerson was the opening act, who was a Columbia native before moving elsewhere. He recounted the last time he played at the Blue Note was opening for Steppenwolf and couldn't hardly move due to Steppenwolf's keyboard player having a mountain of keys.
It was just him, a standup bass player and drummer, and they all switched instruments multiple times. Their style of music, I would classify as 1950's in general, sounding rockabilly, vintage country and Texas Swing of the era. They did a Johnny Cash cover and There Stands the Glass made famous by Webb Pierce. And a hilarious original called Misshapen Hillbilly Gal.
They were loud and it was actually pretty good. They played for 45 minutes but packed a bunch of songs in, not drawing them out too much. They did some some theatrics with the switching around, but they kept it entertaining.
Within 15 minutes they pretty much had everything changed over and the main act came out. I'm not super familiar with Keen, I just like some of his main songs and got turned onto him a little by my brother. So, I was probably with most of the people waiting to hear the Road Goes on Forever. I'm not sure about titles, I'm pretty sure he opened with the Rose Hotel, but i remember the 4th, 8th and 9th songs he played were pretty good.
Keen's came out in a hat and sports jacket, looking like some combination of Bob Dylan and Tom Waits. And his movements while playing guitar suggested a little Neil Young as well...
His band was good, but seemed to draw too much away from Keen, who after the tenth song, preformed a couple of numbers by himself including a spoken word/singing about being from College Station. It was ripe for booing as he mentioned he want to Texas A&M, the school who has gained the most recent scorn from the Big 12 for whoring itself out to the SEC, then playing Merry Christmas From the Family. I wish the show would have featured more solo Keen or at least lighter sound from the band.
But anyways after this the show seemed to pick up, several tracks from his new album were good, I Gotta Go and the the title track Ready for Confetti. He also played Copenhagen with another song about New Braunfuels in the middle and Gringo Honeymoon. And there was a hilarious song, maybe titled He's an Asshole, that he said they've never recorded and never will.
He finished up and came back out for an 2 song encore, with The Road Goes on Forever as the last song, which he played sped up and had a lengthy jam at the end. They then left the stage, but with quickly returned and played a surprising cover of You Can't Always Get What You Want, in slower blues style. It wasn't too bad.
Overall it wasn't bad, hey it was a free concert. I wished he would have played the Man Behind the Drums, his tribute song to Levon Helm and featured more storytelling/solo songs. Other than the storytelling song, he didn't have too much of a rapport with the audience. Though he did say, "Thanks," after almost every song. And he did get the crowd to sing along to some of the parts. And I wish I would have listened to a few more of his songs to have gotten more familiar with them, than I did...
More to come if a set list turns up or I can recall more later.
