1964 the Tribute, Voodoo Lounge, January 26, 2006

Last night I went to see 1964 the Tribute, a Beatles tribute band, at the Voodoo Lounge at Harrah's Casino. They were good. Played the Beatles songs well. All earier stuff. Too short, though. Only an hour long. That's rather short for only one band on the bill. Ah well, at least it was only $10.

I noticed no amps or monitors on stage. That made the stage look very bare.

From a distance, when you can't see the facial features, it was easy to imagine the actual Beatles up there.

Bob Walkenhorst, the Record Bar, January 25, 2006

It must have been a good show, because I found myself several times just standing on the dance floor watching.

Of course, I can't guarantee that it was actually an even better show than usual, and it wasn't just me. But I can guarantee you all that it was a damn fine show. Although calling it a "show" is using a term loosely. :)

To skip ahead... Okay, Bob did 3 songs solo. Jeff and Norm come back to the stage. I see them walking to the stage. Then I go looking at something else. Maybe I was talking to someone. But, anyway, when I look back at the stage, the first thing I notice is Jeff and Norm are in each others spots. And then, just a moment after, I notice... Norm's got a banjo. Norm was playing banjo, and Jeff playing bass.

It was way way cool to get to see and hear Norm play banjo live in person (I've heard his banjo playing on the Elders CDs). And, bass guitar fan that I am, I also couldn't help watching Jeff playing bass. That was interesting.

They did 3 songs that way. First "Any Old Wind That Blows", then one I didn't recognize, then "Johnny Reb". And then it was back to Norm on bass. I'm not sure if it was right then that they did a few songs with Jeff on drums or if there was a song or two in between.

Late in the show, after the songs with Jeff on drums, which was after seeing him play bass while Norm played banjo, I was really noticing and enjoying Jeff's guitar playing. It started with "The Other Side of the World". What a nice guitar part Jeff has in that song. I enjoyed watching Jeff play it. It's a very familiar guitar part, as they've played that song frequently, but that's the first time I've really thought about it and watched Jeff play it, I think. And I was noticing and enjoying his guitar playing on some of the songs after that too.

Okay, that solo set I mentioned. It started with "To the Hum". And the other two songs either were ones I didn't know, or else I've completely forgot them. Or maybe one of each. :)

I'm glad I brought my camera this week. :)

I forget what the opening song was, but I recall getting out there on the dance floor. As well as someone else beating me to the dance floor. Multiple people dancing to the opening song -- that's unusual.

Towards the end of the show there were a few songs with several folks out on the dance floor.

Oh, and I thought "The Times They Are A Changin'" sounded particularly good last night. Though I think I was also quite in the mood for it. Anyway, it was nice to hear it, and it was very well done. One of the several highlights of the night. :) I noticed, how they do it in general, and last night in particular, the song has a lot of energy.

As for the show before Bob's solo set, I remember little. I remember dancing quite a bit, and just, well, listening and enjoying the music being a very intense thing.

Bob Walkenhorst, The Record Bar, January 18, 2006

Nice show this past Wednesday. That felt good. Very satisfying. Very fulfilling.

Now, we rarely, rarely get encores (we got one once, maybe twice, but that's it). But, sometimes, if it's a good show, a good vibe, Bob just keeps playing. No asking us fans our opinion. :) Though I don't think any of us mind. :)

Now, lately at the Record Bar there's often been another band (or 2), or sometimes a DJ, after Bob. Anyway, so, right about at 10:00, Bob asks Buzzz if there was another band. He got the reply back that there was a DJ after Bob. So, Bob keeps playing. Plays a few more songs. And Buzzz has to come give Bob the cut off sign so he'll quit playing and the DJ can set up and do his thing. So Bob finished off that song and quit. He played till 10:15, so about 15 minutes extra music.

"Mr. Bojangles". Me like that one. Jeff sang it. They only did about half. It seemed to be a song that they mostly knew pretty well, except with bits they'd forgotten. I guess too many of those not so well remembered bits for Jeff to want to do the whole song. But, anyway, I thought it sounded great, and I quite enjoyed it.

They did "Battle of New Orleans". I don't think they'd done that one for a while. Or at least it hasn't been as frequent as it was for a while.

Now, both those songs I know from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band doing them. Which some how put into mind "The Race Is On", which Bob does, which I know from another country band I like, Sawyer Brown. (I even listened to that on the way to the show.) That one was originally a George Jones song, and I thought, "I'd rather hear the other George Jones song Bob does". And, guess what? Later in the show, Bob played it, "She Thinks I Still Care". (Song written by Steve Duffy and Dickey Lee Lipscomb.) Way cool to get a request played that I didn't actually request. I like when that happens.

"Rockin' at the T-dance". First time in a long time he's played that one, I think.

There was a Springsteen song in there. One I wasn't real familiar with, but it certain sounded like a Springsteen song, and one of my tablemates confirmed that.

"No Romance", "Width of a Line", "Another Guitar". And a lot of other great songs.

Jeff got to do two songs of his own. "15 Miles of Fame" and "Thinking of You". That latter one we hadn't heard in a while.

It's so impossible to convey the feel of the show. Naming the songs seems so dry. It wasn't the song choice that made the show special. It was something else.

I did lots of dancing. Mostly me and two young children on the dance floor (actually watching standing at the edge of the stage more than dancing). Which I don't mind. Though I do like when other people join me out there. Bob deserves lots of dancers, not just me. There were a few songs that got other adults out there, though it wasn't overall a heavy dancing night. Though it was for me. Though, I got breaks.

The opening song of the night, I forget what it was, but it was one of Bob's songs, and it had a somewhat different feel than normal. And I think either slower or faster a bit compared to normal.

The Elders live at the Record Bar, January 7, 2006

View all my photos here, and a few of my favorites are below. In the photo album I put the songs where I could figure out what song they were playing in the picture.

It was crowded. I got there about 8:10. I got right in with no wait. But by 8:30 when the opening band started, there were folks waiting outside.

The opening band was In Transit. They were good. Me like. :) I'd describe the music for you all if I could. But you can listen at their MySpace page. It was good and danceable. And I was able to find enough space up front to dance. 3 of them used to be in Tabla Rasa, and In Transit's music is somewhat similar.

They played about 45 minutes. Then after time for a changeover, it was time for the Elders.

The Elders opened with "Fire in the Hole". That surprised me. I'm so used to them starting off with "Michael's Ride", and "Fire in the Hole" being 2nd to last (not counting encore) right before "Devil's Tongue". They did have "Devil's Tongue" in that usual spot. But I'm getting ahead of myself there.

Next up, "It'll Be Alright". Okay, I remember that was 2nd from looking at my pictures. I got a "hoisting a pint" picture.

Sometime in there was "Packy Go Home". (I can tell from my pictures, specifically one particular one of Norm's bass playing.)

And somewhere in the middle of the set, "Buzzz's Jigg" followed by "Galway Girl".

And somewhere in that first set, "Need a Miracle", or whatever the proper song title is. That might have been the 3rd song of the night, but I'm not sure on that. My memory is fuzzy, and I didn't grab a set list after the show.

The first set ended with "Love of the Century" followed by "Turnpike". Brent was playing that rather quite fast by the time it got to the end.

The 2nd set started with "Lukey". That surprised me. Good song. Plus Steve sings it. Ah, I do like Ian's singing. But I like Steve's too, and sometimes at their shorter shows Steve doesn't do too much lead vocals. And only two songs on [i]American Wake[/i] with lead vocals.

Speaking of which, on the song "American Wake", I've noticed something. Now, on the CD (studio, not live), Ian does all the lead vocals on the song. Live however, while Ian does all the solo lead vocals, I've noticed where there's harmony, Steve actually takes over lead vocals with Ian singing harmony. Compare the studio version with the [i]Live at the Gem[/i] version.

That song was in there somewhere, though I don't recall where. But I recall hearing it.

"Brettski's Medley" was somewhere in the middle of the 2nd set. And sometime after that, "Men of Erin" followed by "Turning Point".

And the 2nd set ended with "1849" followed by "Devil's Tongue".

I thought the applause, yelling, etc for an encore after the band left the stage was rather dismal. I think we've gotten spoiled. We expect an encore, we know it's coming, and so we get complacent and don't clap, yell, etc all that enthusiastically. Or maybe it's that a bar just doesn't lend itself to an "applaud the band when they finish" vibe. Though I've seen better applause at bar gigs that last night, I think.

Two song encore. First, "Message in a Bottle", by request. They do that one so well. They've turned it into an Elders song, I do believe. And then "10 lb Earhole". The girls won. :)

Somewhere in there they did "Haverty Brothers" (or "Haverty Boys" if you prefer).

They also did "Cousin Charlie". That one late in the second set. Ah, a new song, first time I've heard it. I don't remember it much. So, therefore, it must be a good song, because if it wasn't that would have stood out. :)

And they did "Story of a Fish".

It's good to hear new songs. It's definitely time for some new songs in the set list. Or new old songs. Shake things up, and not just so the same songs land in a different order. :) And, they are doing new songs, so that works out nicely.

And there were more songs, but that's the ones I remember.

Okay, time for a few photos. Click the picture for a larger version.


A nice one of Brent

Norm wandered over to Brent and Steve's side of the stage a few times. (On Wednesday evenings, playing with Bob Walkenhorst, that's Norm's side of the stage.)

I like this one, because not only is it a nice picture of Steve, but it's a good shot of Tommy in the background.

This was the beginning of the 2nd set, during "Lukey". There's a fiddle section in the song, and Brent moved over to the middle and Steve went over to the side of the stage, which gave me a clear shot at Steve for photo taking.

I showed this one to my husband and he said "He looks goofy". I think my husband's figured Brent out. ;)

Brent and Steve watching with the rest of us during the instrumental section of "Men of Erin". There were bagpipers. 3 of them. Steve's drinking wine, which puts into mind a couple songs lines, one Elders song line, one pre-Elders Steve Phillips song line. 20 some years later, Steve still knows how to drink his wine, it appears. ;)

This was during "Message in a Bottle". Steve playing with his thumb rather than a pick.



No, the photo album is not balanced between band members, nor are these 8 here. It's a matter of where I was standing. Which wasn't just personal preference, but also it was where I could get to up front. I did take Norm pictures when he wandered over to the Brent/Steve side of the stage. Brett didn't wander my way. And me wandering over his way for photo taking was very much not an option.

During the 2nd set, I had people in front of me, except I had an unblocked view of Brent when he wasn't at the microphone. I experimented with holding the camera above me or to my left, and using the screen instead of the eyepiece. I also took advantage of the couple of times when the space in front of me cleared out a bit, from people bending down or temporarily leaving or such. An interesting photography challenge. For the encore I made it up front and had an unblocked view again.

Tequila Sunrise, Voodoo Lounge, January 5, 2006

Last Thursday I saw the Eagles tribute band Tequila Sunrise at the Voodoo lounge at Harrah's casino.

I'm very glad I went. I love the Eagles. But the Eagles aren't touring, plus if they were they'd be very expensive and I'm not sure I'd go anyway.

Tequila Sunrise were great!

I guess I'm not really sure what to say about them. They did songs of the Eagles, and did them well.

I particularly appreciated the guy who sang the Glenn Frey songs. Sean Patrick McGraw is his name. I enjoyed his singing. He actually, voice wise, reminded me of Jeff Hanna from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Which isn't a bad thing. And better than sounding too much like Glenn Frey, because he isn't.

If you like the Eagles, I recommend Tequila Sunrise.