I’m going to piggy-back onto guitarldh19’s review here. Not really a sell-out, but definitely a very good crowd, had to be 17-18 k +. The crowd was a little late arriving for Ratdog, but by about 730 or so, it was pretty well packed in. Both setlists are in a forum item so I won’t reproduce them here. The Dog were about halfway thru an excellent show (opened with The Music Never Stops), and Steve Kimock was torching Estimated Prophet, when everybody’s favorite sit-in guest came on stage. Warren joined in for a fantastic version of Uncle John’s Band, and stayed onstage for some great spacey guitar jamming with Kimock. This noticeably raised the energy level and enthusiasm of the crowd and performers, which continued to soar.
The Bros set started with 3 killer tunes, then absolutely blasted thru the rest of the 2 hour show. Warren and Derek shredded Rockin Horse and Desdemona to bits, and YDLM swung like crazy. Susan T-T joined Oteil on vocals for Anyday, as was said above, an incredible highlight. Then she strapped on one of Warren’s Les Paul’s to play and sing Lost Love Blues, a 3 guitar lineup. After last night, any ABB show without Susan will never be quite the same. Mountain Jam was classic, with Oteil joining the drum section after his fine solo. Just a spectacular show.
Maybe it was Ratdog’s great set, or maybe Susan’s performance, or Oteil’s infectious energy and enthusiasm (especially while Susan was soloing), but this show just soared. It was far and away the best of about 16 – 18 shows I’ve seen since Dickey was axed. This version of the band is almost always tight and furious in their playing, but tonight the inspiration raised the music even higher. A great evening of music, probably the best double-header I’ve ever heard in 33 years of concert-going. If someone can get me discs of the show I’ll be happy to do a b&p offer.
