In stark contrast to what Cole described the night before, the packed house at Billy Bob's was loud, enthuisiastic, and appreciative as Patty and band took the stage at 10:30 pm. If you don't know about the venue, it is fittingly described as the World's Largest Honky Tonk. It is huge with many bars, indoor bull riding (real bulls, no bull), gift shop, restaurant, casino, and other attactions. The sound was great. I think the set list was identical to the night before. Patty did mention September 16 or 17 as the cd release date. There was also a Sony promotion going on for On Your Way Home. Fill out a postcard and win a DVD system.
Any rust that might have been evident at Renfro Valley in May, which Patty described as a live rehearsal, was clearly gone. Her vocals were dead on. She hit all the notes. Here are my impressions, song by song.
Nothin' Like The Lonely - a new classic. The band comes out, starts to play, then Patty comes out and hums the opening. Chills. Why wasn't this the single???
Last Thing On My Mind - clearly, her voice is all there. Nailed it.
Don't Toss Us Away - upper register stuff. The crowd goes crazy on this one.
You Don't Seem To Miss Me - Garry does well with George Jones' part.
You Don't Even Know Who I Am - awesome.
Feel Bad - the band has definitely gotten tighter since Renfro.
Half Way Down - lots of dancers now on the huge dance floor behind the seated tables
On Your Way Home - I think she did this better at Renfro (2nd show). Interestingly, the quieter songs didn't do as well here since the crowd was so charged up. Same goes for Harlan. People couldn't get quiet. But this song is a masterpiece.
Lovin' All Night - they nailed it, but I simply don't like the song. Too commercial.
The Mountain Soul mini-set. Boys, Daniel, Harlan, Pretty Little Miss. This set is getting shorter. I thought that maybe she cut out Cheap Whiskey because it is soft for this rowdy place, but as Cole said, she did not do it the night before. I would love her to do 7 or 8 songs from the cd in addition to I'll Never Grow Tired of You, but apparently she is moving away from the bluegrass material. Too bad. Maybe in smaller settings she will do more.
Here I Am - what can I possibly say??
Blame It On Your Heart - rowdy
Elvis
Encore: Nothin' But The Wheel, That Kind of Girl.
90 minutes. No signing afterwards even though not that many people were waiting. I did get to talk to Jedd for awhile. What a great guy. Humble, knowledgeable about his musical roots (I entertained him with Byrds stories from my roadie days), and quite deserving of a record deal. His guitar playing just gets better and better as he plays Patty's material more. I wish I could say the same about Travis Toy.
