Mountain Arts Center
Prestonsburg, KY
July 22, 2005
Review By: Cole
The Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg, KY is by far one of my favorite venues ever. It's a small little theater, and I always thought the seats, sounds, everything was just fantastic! We were lucky enough to get front row center this year for the show, and were looking forward to it. Prior to our trip, our third person backed out on us, so we had to find someone to take the extra ticket, and to our delight, our friend Chris decided to take us up on it and join us for the crazy road trip.
It's been our "Prestonsburg Tradition" every year to go in the night before the show and spend that night and the night of the show there. Tammie had to work on Thursday, so we left in the late afternoon and headed for Kentucky. It was only supposed to be about a 5 1/2 hour drive...and it ended up taking us FAR longer than we expected- not putting us in Prestonsburg until about 2 in the morning! Luckily for us, we're all hyperactive folk...so we were able to have a fun trip there. Chris shared his many impersonations (it felt like Cher was right there in the car with us ;) ), and entertained us for most of the way!
We awoke on Friday and I met up with Richard and Patti for a short while, and went back to the room. Chris decided to sleep in (guess he was tired from staying up till 4 am, chit chatting with Tammie!), so once he woke up, it was time for lunch and we got together with some friends, Elaine & Mom (whom we affectionately call "Red"), and went to lunch over at Reno's. (And a side note that it was the worst experience EVER at a restuarant- DON'T GO!!) Afterwards, we went back to the hotel- and *tried* to kill the next five hours or so until the doors opened at the venue! We had the best room in the hotel- our window slid open, and it opened to the parking lot. Once it got closer to showtime, we opened the window and I sat there, and chit chatted with some folks and then we left when Richard, Patti, Elaine & Red headed over to our window.
At the venue, we were able to meet up with the rest of our crew, and stood around to talk for awhile, before all going in at the same time to sit down. It always seems we're near some of them, and lucky for us, Brad, Janet and Teresa were in the three seats next to us!
Patty came onstage and I'm sure every man's jaw in the audience dropped. (I know Brad and Chris's did!) She was wearing a sparkly green v-neck top---which was pretty low cut. The guys were in heaven! The set list for the show was the same as it has been for the beginning of the tour, but as most know- the band has a new member, Kylie Harris, who is doing background vocals & guitar. We also noted at this show that Jimmy Johnson wasn't there. Deanie had told us earlier in the night that his mother in law had passed away, so they had Alison Prestwood filling in for him. The band was still pretty tight this night, and there wasn't much "off". Kylie was great on guitar, and while she did have her mandolin out in the acoustic set, she just strummed it, and they didn't plug it in. I'm hoping later in the year we do get to hear her play mandolin.
I've always found that some Kentucky audiences are just killer- they really appreciate Patty. Prestonsburg has always been one of those crowds- they go nuts when she comes onstage. I should mention that Patty's show as a
SOLD OUT show- and you could tell it- the place was absolutely packed! We were delighted to see "PATTY LOVELESS- SOLD OUT" on the sign, flashing as we had pulled into the venue earlier. The crowd was extremely receptive, and as we noted with earlier shows--the new stuff went over WONDERFUL! While I'm not sure how well the new stuff will do on radio, but it sure is a hit live! Before she started into "Dreamin My Dreams", she told everyone the album came out on September 13th, and said "My Lucky Day!"
The acoustic set was the second best of the show! (We'll get to the best later on...) I've decided that "My Old Friend the Blues" is by far one of my favorite songs that she has ever recorded, and I absolutely LOVE how she opens the acoustic set with that. It was completely silent in the entire building- it was a hit! When Patty introduced Troy, people started screaming for him (Tammie & I included!) loudly, and his eyebrows raised, like he was surprised he was getting so many cheers from the girls. I've said it before- he's an amazing addition to the band. He's got wonderful harmonies with her, and can play absolutely everything! I'm not much of a Dwight Yoakam fan at all, so I'm not sure what the recorded version of 'Never Ending Love" will sound, but I absolutely love the live version- she and Troy sound wonderful together! When they finished "Never Ending Love", Patty leaned over and gave Troy a loud kiss, making Troy's face all red!
We were treated to "Someone I Used to Know" at this one- I'm loving how they've changed a few songs at some shows for the acoustic set. Nice to "not know" what they'll do every now and then! Troy does a wonderful job on this one as well! They followed that up with "Boys", "Grandpa" and "Daniel"- and then Patty told her story of her father being a coal miner. East Kentucky Crowds appreciate this more than any other crowd...so when she started into Harlan, the audience sat there in awe. After the show Richard commented that he thought it was the best renedition he'd ever heard of "Harlan", and I'd have to agree- she absolutely nailed it. The crowd went crazy after she finished, and gave her a long standing ovation. She followed that up with "Big Chance" (which was also quite the hit!), and that rounded our her acoustic set.
I don't really know why we're always so amazed at the introduction to 'Nothin' Like the Lonely', since we know that Deanie is awesome and does a killer job on it, but we are amazed
every time she does it! That intro topped with Patty's humming....I don't really think that song could be ANY better. I'm so glad it's remained in the set list. I think if she took any humming out of her show, there would be tons of disappointed folks! After she did that and "On Your Way Home", she introduced the band. She commented on how Deanie had been with her 11 years now--it's amazing how long it's been! She said she thought Troy could play anything you handed him- and I think everyone can agree with that statement! She thanked Alison again for being able to come out on the road with them, and then introduced Martin, Guthrie & Pete. When she got to Kylie, she mentioned about her being from New Zealand and said that she was their Dairy Queen- she had once worked on a farm. She gave Kylie a hug, and they continued in with the show.
The crowd had a great reception to "Blame" and did their participation well, everyone knew the words, and sang them as loudly as they could. Patty and Co. left the stage immediately following that, and after everyone stayed put, screaming, she returned back to do "Elvis" as her encore...which was the highlight of the show for us! The crowd goes nuts every single show she does it at- I don't know why it was ever taken out of the set, but I hope it never leaves again! I miss the keys big time in the song, but Guthrie plays a mean guitar in it's place!
This was our 7th time seeing Patty this year- and our 5th full concert of the year. The set list has to be one of the best set lists I've seen her have- only one song on there that I could live without (Sorry George Fans...I can only listen to "You Dont' Seem to Miss Me" for so many years!), and the rest feel like their just so great, I don't want them to be taken out! She also seems to have a really great band this year- while I have to take some time to get used to Kylie (yeah, yeah, this happens to me every year...I need time to adjust to the new!), I think by the end of the tour again- the band will be tighter than ever. They are off to an amazing start--I've never seen her tour start off so smoothly. I'm missing the keyboards a lot this year, and I'd love to see them return next year. I am super impressed at how well they've done to cover for the keyboards this year- she always hires the best!
After the show, we did the usual trek to the bus and to our delight, Patty came out to sign autographs. She was in a fantastic mood- chatty, and took her time with every single person standing in the line. It was, as always, the perfect ending to the show & trip!
And, as usual..meeting with everyone at the shows is one of the best parts. I said before that we've all been seeing eachother for so long that we're like our own family. Every time we get together, it makes the show more fun & special. Richard & Patti, it was great to see you again...we'll see you in October, and Patti...you're crazy, girl! Ram's Head is in for some trouble with us sitting at the same table! Jess, Brad, Janet, Lazarus, Vicki...was wonderful to see all of you again! And to those that we were able to meet with for the first time...Anita, Dennis & John--we had a great time hanging out with you all by the bus. We'll definitely have to meet with you all again! Lainy & Red- I've missed you guys. Prestonsburg's our tradition- I'm so glad we got the chance to do it again! And Tammie and Chris-- I don't even think I could begin to express how crazy you two are! This was one of the best trips of the year, I'm sure!
It's already almost August...I've only got 13 more Patty shows this tour! Someone explain to me why the winter drags by so slowly, but once Patty goes on tour, the time flies by!
