I had wanted to talk about this show, see if anyone else was there, but had to leave the following day for a trip to Chicago.

I last saw Gregg 13 months ago. This was my third show at the Carnegie Music Hall inside a large library building outside of Pittsburgh and I was pretty excited to see him in this very small and cool theater. It has about 1500 seats, all of which were sold out quite a while ago, we got our 4 seats together thanks to a venue presale! We were up in the balcony, our tickets with fees were a little over $70 each.

After a solo opening set from Gabriel Kelly (who I see is also part of some of the Laid Back Festival dates), Gregg came on about 9:05. I was more prepared for a short show than I was with his 90 minute performance in 2015, but this one was a bit longer. Think it ran about 1hr 40min.

Was great to see and hear Gregg as it always is, for me it is genuinely like seeing an old friend when he is behind the B3 or standing in front of the mic. I'm considering catching him 2 more times this year because I just don't know how much longer he will tour.

He sounded pretty typical for what he is recently, not real strong, yet not weak by any means. He's just slowing down a bit in different ways. Most of the time his B3 is drown out by the other instruments, you often have to listen hard for it. Peter Levin's keyboard work overpowers alot of what Gregg plays in the background. I don't think Gregg stepped out at all on the keys. He played electric guitar on 3 songs I think which you don't really hear either.

The band around Gregg was super good as I've become used to. There was plenty of jamming between Scott and Levin and the horn players throughout. They impressively stretched their legs on the Cradle of Civilization jam like always.

I was pleasantly surprised at the set list. I don't follow all of Gregg's shows to know what he is doing night-to-night, but from what I saw in 2015 and from the couple recent recordings I have thanks to friends here, it is very clear that Gregg is changing alot of the songs up.

Don't Keep Me Wondering
Sweet Feeling
Come and Go Blues
Queen of Hearts
Done Somebody Wrong
Love Like Kerosene
Ain't Wastin’ Time No More
These Days
Soulshine
Cradle of Civilization (no Gregg)
You Don't Love Me
I'm No Angel
Melissa
Midnight Rider
Whipping Post
E-Southbound

The video screen showed old clips of Gregg and Duane during Sweet Feeling. These Days was a highlight, one of my favorites. You Don't Love Me an unexpected surprise. Gregg predictably came in too soon on the second verse while Scott was soloing - honestly I like it when Gregg does stuff like that for some strange reason. Just Gregg being Gregg. I looked up the following nights set list and there were 9 different songs played! So he's giving us alot of variety nightly which helps my desire to see him more times this year.

Shocked to have not heard Statesboro or One Way Out; during the encore break I bet my friend he'd do Statesboro and he picked OWO...even though we both knew he typically does Southbound. I just couldn't imagine him not playing Statesboro, but it is fine that he doesn't feel the need to play all the staples every night. He introduced Southbound as "a song by Dickey Betts". He introduced Soulshine earlier as "a gospel song written by no other than Warren Haynes". Gregg's between song comments to the crowd have become increasingly difficult to understand however. Just kind of miss hearing the normal Gregg banter and the sorts.

Not sure exactly what it was, maybe the venue, the sound, the fact I didn't party preshow, but I enjoyed this show quite a bit more than my last GAB show in 2015 and I look forward to the next time I get to see my old friend Gregg.