Vienna,VA
Wolf Trap
May 27th, 2004
Review By: Richard
We had not planned to attend this show until we learned last weekend that Patty would not be an opening act for Diamond Rio, but that it would be a shared bill. Patty went on first at this beautiful outdoor venue near Washington D.C. The place holds about 11 or 12 thousand people with indoor pavilion seating and lawn seating. We were able to score second row center in the pit - awesome seats. The guy in the front row quickly pegged me as bakerbyrd from my Sweetheart of the Rodeo t-shirt. I forgot his name, but I believe he just posted a short note on the site. He was a Loveless Lunatic who was kicking himself after the show for not getting tickets to the nearby Ram's Head Tavern for September. There is a no photo policy at Wolf Trap, but since I am old and senile, I forgot and brought my camera anyway. I got about ten good shots (which I will send along to Cole to post) --(Cole's Note: To view Richard's photos, click
here )-- before the Camera Police grabbed my arm. I was told that Ms. Loveless would stop singing unless people refrained from taking pictures. Rather than get into a useless argument that I would lose and risk losing my camera or my seat or both, I simply told her to "let go of my arm." She did and I put the camera away.
The show was basically the same set list as Renfro Valley and Pigeon Forge, except it was the 75 minute version; not the longer one with Harlan and the encores - Timber and Don't Toss Us Away. The first thing I noticed was that Martin Parker was not behind the drums. He was replaced emergently by Billy Thomas. Patty announced to "those who have been to our shows the past few days" as she looked at Patti (my wife) and me, "that we have a different drummer tonight because Martin Parker's mother passed away on Monday." She said that Martin was hurting. It was a somber moment and although the show was excellent and performances were stellar, I sensed sadness from Martin's mates.
The audience was very Patty friendly. I had feared the generic country music crowd who would be rude, talk, and not know who they were listening to. But I was pleasantly surprised. In fact, while my wife was in the rest room, she overheard a conversation between two women who said that they had come to see Diamond Rio, but were converted to Patty fans after her most impressive set. The Voice had claimed new converts. That's what it is all about.
As usual, Deanie served as the soul of the band. She played great, especially her intros to Tear Stained Letter and On Your Way Home. Travis continues to impress with his improvement on steel and dobro. He wore a very cool shirt that said "I'm Big In Europe". He was almost driven off of the stage by a cicada at one point (didn't see any of those in Kentucky or Tennessee, but there are billions of them on the East Coast). Patty and the band smiled their way through Pretty Little Miss as they watched Travis' battle with the bugs. I thought that Marsha sounded great on the harmonies and that Garry was his usual steady versatile self with multi-instruments and vocals. He really does have a good voice. Billy Thomas was a decent replacement for Martin, but Mr. Parker was sorely missed. Let's send our prayers out to him and his family. Finally, although I sense the talent within Guthrie Trappe, he seemed a bit tentative. Maybe the big crowd has him cautious. I have a feeling, however, that he is going to come out of his shell and cook. (No pun on the cicadas here). It will take some time for this band to come together, but the same thing could be said about last year's group.
The set list is as follows:
Tear Stained Letter
You Can Feel Bad
You Don't Seem To Miss Me
You Don't Even Know Who I Am
Halfway Down
Draggin' My Heart Around
Nothin' Like The Lonely (extended hum version)
Grandpa - this won over everyone in the crowd. I love the way it ends with Deanie's Amazing Grace solo.
Boys
I'll Never Grow Tired Of You - for me, this was worth the bumper to bumper traffic, the hassle of getting out of work early, and scoring the tickets. Man, she nails this song! How about a Patty Loveless Stanley Brothers Tribute Album
Daniel Prayed - this could be on that album too.
Pretty Little Miss - watch out, Travis
On Your Way Home
Lovin' All Night
Blame It On Your Heart
No encore, although Don't Toss Us Away was on the set list with a ?.
We didn't bother to stay for Diamond Rio, but we made two lawn seaters real happy when I presented them with second row seats. In my book, no one follows Patty Loveless.
