Bob Walkenhorst, Norborne Mo, Soybean Festival, August 12, 2005
Wow. That was so cool. As I was approaching towards Norborne, I was like, wow. Just to be there. It's not just that Bob's from there. It's that it's this place I've heard about from Bob talking about it and singing about it, and so it was just way cool to be there in real life.
There were several of us Bob show regulars in the front row, right side (Jeff side). Most wearing either Bob Walkenhorst shirts or Rainmakers shirts. Me, I wore an Elders shirt. :)
I lasted two and a half songs sitting. But that was it. Actually, okay, I danced with Liam a bit on the first song, "Small Circles" but then Liam wanted to go back to Mommy. I had fun dancing and didn't worry about what anyone thought. I did keep to the side so at least they wouldn't be thinking "Can't that darn woman get out of the way".
I'll start with the encore. Yes, there was one. Bob's hometown crowd didn't let him get away without playing an encore. First Bob came out and did "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". That sounded so darn good. Then the band joined him, and Dave Johnson joined them and sang "Johnny B. Goode". Also good. A few weeks back I requested Bob do a Chuck Berry song, and he didn't. I finally got my Chuck Berry song. :) Then Dave requested Bob do "Frustration Train", so Bob did. And Bob didn't want to end on a depressing song, so then they did "One More Summer". Ah, I'm so glad they did that one. My favorite 4-piece song. As in, I like that one in particular with Bob's 4-piece band. Not the Rainmakers, not the accoustic 3 piece. But with Pat on drums and Jeff on electric guitar. Anyway, that was good to hear.
Bob said before playing that everyone should leave as they are playing, and they'll keep playing till everyone is gone. Of course, some of us in the front row though "Okay, then, we just won't leave". And I sure wasn't going to leave while they were playing "One More Summer". They actually just played the song and quit. Actually, Bob also said, I think, folks should get up and talk to each other, or something like that, and that folks did. The post show socializing began.
Bob did the funeral hymn (I still don't remember the title) solo. Then Jeff joined him, and I think they did two songs, one of them being "Primativo Garcia". Or maybe it was just that one song. "Proof" was also done just Bob and Jeff, but that was later and Pat and Gary stayed on stage.
Bob mentioned Wednesday nights at Molloy's. He said if you see folks you don't know dancing, it might be folks who come to those Wednesday night shows.
There's plenty more if I could remember it. :)
It was a good show.
Oh, Jeff made a comment. He said in Kansas City Bob is a, well, some two word phrase containing "star" and so when Bob called him about doing music he was like "wow".
Bob had introduced his bandmates, and, and he told about calling up Jeff. He told this story about putting his guitar in the closet, after the end of the Rainmakers, and then his guitar saying "let me out" and then handing Bob a phone number, that was Jeff's. Yes, I'm sure it happened just like that. ;)
It's weird to me, that idea of Bob as a star, or prominent person, or such. Like, okay, I knew who Bob was in the 80s. But, such knowledge was vague and peripheral. And far from my mind when I bought that first Rainmakers CD back in May 2003. Maybe because I came at the Rainmakers from the perspective of being a fan of one of the other members, that affects my viewpoint. Anyway, no need to psychoanalyze myself. Point is, I see Bob as someone I know, not someone well-known.
Well, I posted that I'd be missing and Elders show to go to the Bob show, and that I hated having to choose. Well, choosing got a lot easier... outdoor show with a back up rain plan, or outdoor show with no back up plan. So the rain, and the back up plan, reinforced my decision to see Bob. And it turns out the Elders show got rained out, so I didn't miss anything, except maybe an opportunity to wave at Steve. But, hey, I got to wave at Pat, so I'm even on that. ;)
The show was in the High School gym. Not the same building where Bob went to school. They've built a new high school since then. This was the first time Bob had been in the current high school.
There was a pretty good crowd. I hope Jim got a crowd shot. (With my camera I wouldn't be able to get anything decent. But Jim has a better camera, so maybe he was able to, if he thought to.)
Songs they did that haven't been mentioned so far. "No Romance". "Lakeview Man". "View from The Tower". "Hoo Dee Hoo". "Let My People Go-Go". "Width of a Line". "Downsteam". And that's all that comes to mind right now.
Oh, and the show wasn't recorded.
After the show I hung out in the beer garden for a little while with Jay and his wife (they weren't there soon enough to record), and then got to talk to Dave Johnson a bit before leaving. It was raining, but not too heavy, and there was a tent. It was kinda nice.
I wonder if Bob's gonna do this again next year or some other future year.
While on stage after doing "Johnny B. Goode" with the band, Dave Johnson mentioned something Bob's dad, Ray, had told him. Ray had told him if your singing and they can't understand you, you aren't telling a story.
Bob started off his tale before playing "The Day That We Hung Up The Flag" with saying his a patriotic person, and then added "not of the Toby Keith type". Kinda unfortunate that patriotism gets associated with that kind of patriotism in particular, while, really, one can be patriotic and disagree strongly with things our government has done.
Bob said that his dad bought up the end of 3rd street and put up houses, and someone said they should put up a flag pole at the end of the street, so they did. And that was the flag raising that inspired the song.
Oh, and I have to pass on the car story. Bob said how people could leave their cars unlocked and keys in the car and not worry how that anyone would take it. He asked if it was still like that, and responses were mixed. Anyway, he said after his brother had just started driving, they took the car to go to some event, drove across town (ie, not very far) parked, left the keys in, car unlocked. After the event, they went back out to go home, and the car was gone. So, they were driving all over town with a friend in the friends car, looking for the car and the person who (they thought) stole it. Didn't find it. Got back to the starting place, and there was the car. Apparently, the guy who took it had a similiar car, and thought it was his own car, and they keys were in it, so he got in and drove it home, and Bob said he probably got home and found a very similiar car already parked there. The story was better told by Bob, I think. :) Anyway, after that he played "Shiny Shiny".
There were several of us Bob show regulars in the front row, right side (Jeff side). Most wearing either Bob Walkenhorst shirts or Rainmakers shirts. Me, I wore an Elders shirt. :)
I lasted two and a half songs sitting. But that was it. Actually, okay, I danced with Liam a bit on the first song, "Small Circles" but then Liam wanted to go back to Mommy. I had fun dancing and didn't worry about what anyone thought. I did keep to the side so at least they wouldn't be thinking "Can't that darn woman get out of the way".
I'll start with the encore. Yes, there was one. Bob's hometown crowd didn't let him get away without playing an encore. First Bob came out and did "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". That sounded so darn good. Then the band joined him, and Dave Johnson joined them and sang "Johnny B. Goode". Also good. A few weeks back I requested Bob do a Chuck Berry song, and he didn't. I finally got my Chuck Berry song. :) Then Dave requested Bob do "Frustration Train", so Bob did. And Bob didn't want to end on a depressing song, so then they did "One More Summer". Ah, I'm so glad they did that one. My favorite 4-piece song. As in, I like that one in particular with Bob's 4-piece band. Not the Rainmakers, not the accoustic 3 piece. But with Pat on drums and Jeff on electric guitar. Anyway, that was good to hear.
Bob said before playing that everyone should leave as they are playing, and they'll keep playing till everyone is gone. Of course, some of us in the front row though "Okay, then, we just won't leave". And I sure wasn't going to leave while they were playing "One More Summer". They actually just played the song and quit. Actually, Bob also said, I think, folks should get up and talk to each other, or something like that, and that folks did. The post show socializing began.
Bob did the funeral hymn (I still don't remember the title) solo. Then Jeff joined him, and I think they did two songs, one of them being "Primativo Garcia". Or maybe it was just that one song. "Proof" was also done just Bob and Jeff, but that was later and Pat and Gary stayed on stage.
Bob mentioned Wednesday nights at Molloy's. He said if you see folks you don't know dancing, it might be folks who come to those Wednesday night shows.
There's plenty more if I could remember it. :)
It was a good show.
Oh, Jeff made a comment. He said in Kansas City Bob is a, well, some two word phrase containing "star" and so when Bob called him about doing music he was like "wow".
Bob had introduced his bandmates, and, and he told about calling up Jeff. He told this story about putting his guitar in the closet, after the end of the Rainmakers, and then his guitar saying "let me out" and then handing Bob a phone number, that was Jeff's. Yes, I'm sure it happened just like that. ;)
It's weird to me, that idea of Bob as a star, or prominent person, or such. Like, okay, I knew who Bob was in the 80s. But, such knowledge was vague and peripheral. And far from my mind when I bought that first Rainmakers CD back in May 2003. Maybe because I came at the Rainmakers from the perspective of being a fan of one of the other members, that affects my viewpoint. Anyway, no need to psychoanalyze myself. Point is, I see Bob as someone I know, not someone well-known.
Well, I posted that I'd be missing and Elders show to go to the Bob show, and that I hated having to choose. Well, choosing got a lot easier... outdoor show with a back up rain plan, or outdoor show with no back up plan. So the rain, and the back up plan, reinforced my decision to see Bob. And it turns out the Elders show got rained out, so I didn't miss anything, except maybe an opportunity to wave at Steve. But, hey, I got to wave at Pat, so I'm even on that. ;)
The show was in the High School gym. Not the same building where Bob went to school. They've built a new high school since then. This was the first time Bob had been in the current high school.
There was a pretty good crowd. I hope Jim got a crowd shot. (With my camera I wouldn't be able to get anything decent. But Jim has a better camera, so maybe he was able to, if he thought to.)
Songs they did that haven't been mentioned so far. "No Romance". "Lakeview Man". "View from The Tower". "Hoo Dee Hoo". "Let My People Go-Go". "Width of a Line". "Downsteam". And that's all that comes to mind right now.
Oh, and the show wasn't recorded.
After the show I hung out in the beer garden for a little while with Jay and his wife (they weren't there soon enough to record), and then got to talk to Dave Johnson a bit before leaving. It was raining, but not too heavy, and there was a tent. It was kinda nice.
I wonder if Bob's gonna do this again next year or some other future year.
While on stage after doing "Johnny B. Goode" with the band, Dave Johnson mentioned something Bob's dad, Ray, had told him. Ray had told him if your singing and they can't understand you, you aren't telling a story.
Bob started off his tale before playing "The Day That We Hung Up The Flag" with saying his a patriotic person, and then added "not of the Toby Keith type". Kinda unfortunate that patriotism gets associated with that kind of patriotism in particular, while, really, one can be patriotic and disagree strongly with things our government has done.
Bob said that his dad bought up the end of 3rd street and put up houses, and someone said they should put up a flag pole at the end of the street, so they did. And that was the flag raising that inspired the song.
Oh, and I have to pass on the car story. Bob said how people could leave their cars unlocked and keys in the car and not worry how that anyone would take it. He asked if it was still like that, and responses were mixed. Anyway, he said after his brother had just started driving, they took the car to go to some event, drove across town (ie, not very far) parked, left the keys in, car unlocked. After the event, they went back out to go home, and the car was gone. So, they were driving all over town with a friend in the friends car, looking for the car and the person who (they thought) stole it. Didn't find it. Got back to the starting place, and there was the car. Apparently, the guy who took it had a similiar car, and thought it was his own car, and they keys were in it, so he got in and drove it home, and Bob said he probably got home and found a very similiar car already parked there. The story was better told by Bob, I think. :) Anyway, after that he played "Shiny Shiny".
posted by Ellen Kozisek at 8:30 AM
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