Review of 2.11.99 show!


My friend Tim and I arrived at the doors about 6:30. There was only
about two dozen people
in line then. It was nice to be standing outside in Feburary in
Wisconsin in only a jean jacket
and not freezing my ass off! So, the half hour wait to open the doors
was just a wait, not an
uncomfortable one. When they opened the doors, we went to the table to
get your ID checked
and the attractive braclett put around your wrist so you could drink
expensive Miller products
all night.( do they sell Bud products in Wisconsin?? Maybe on the black
market!!!) Anyway, I
met Bob from the message board at the bracelett table. We then were
herde into the bar
before the let us up to the Ballroom. Why they did this is hard to
fathom. If they were not ready
for people to enter the venue yet, don't let us in until you are
ready!?!? Bob and I bitched about
this for awhile, as did evry other person who was around us. We talked
about this, and
exchanged Crowes thougts and observations for about 20 minutes until
they let us upstaits to
the ballroom. Bob and I talked as we made it up the flights of stairs to
the ballroom. When we
hit the floor Tim and I decided to go to the balcony and get a front row
seat. Bob, I thought
you were following us, so I am sorry I did not say goodbye. Please
E-mail me. Anyway, we
got a good seat straight back from center stage and took in some beer
and enjoyed kicking
back for awhile. The opening band was Moke, who were surprisingly good.
They rocked the
house pretty well. One observation......the lead singer looke like a
cross between Lenny
Kravitz and Rosie Perez. If I would have had an extra ten bucks, I would
have bought their CD
at the T-shirt stand, but I had to have my Crowes shirt. As you
probbably have already read,
the Crowes opened with a rocking Remedy. I won't go into the stage,
lighting, and what the
were wearing, as that has already been posted, and is something that
doesn't matter much to
me. Throughout the course of the night, they mixed old favorites with
new songs. In fact, they
played a total of seven songs from the new album! Looking back on all
the concerts I've been
to, the last time a band played that many songs from their new album was
when I saw Rush on
their Signals tour, back in 82 0r 83. I was happy to hear Thorn in my
Pride, by far my favorite
Crowes song. I hope they play that song every time I see them. The band
put on a high-energy
show, and may have been the best time I have seen them live(although it
is only the 5th time I
have seen them). On the down side, I was hoping for a surprise or two,
but they pretty much
stuck with the Sho' Nuff FORMAT. It would have been nice to hear
something like
Descending, One Mirror, Diamond, Better When Your Not Alone, or one of
the other songs
from their 4 previous albums. Someone has inclined to say that those of
us not happy with
setlist were hping for obscure b-sides and cover tunes. Well, I must
admit that a Boomer's
Story, SYMM, Torn & Frayed or a Thuderstorm, Feathers, or Darling Of The
Undergound
Press would have been nice, I think the notion that the Crowes are going
to be playing a few
"hits" each night(which I could live with), and rotating a number of
other songs from one night to
another or two, meanwhile, ignoring a lot of good songs from some of
their previous albums is
not a good thing. They have so many excellent songs! I could live with
the fact that they need to
play Remedy, Angels, Jealous, Wiser, and the rest of the well known
songs.....but mix up the
rest of them! Anyway, it was my friend Tims first time to see the
Crowes! Afterward, he said it
was something he'd really like to see again! So, the Crowes are still
Rockin'! They put on an
excellent, yet somewhat perdictable show! They are still the best R&R
band playing the clubs
today, and I am proud to say I think so!

Peace, 
Tom Dithmart