Mountain Arts Center

Prestonsburg, KY

November 2, 2008

Review By: Cole


Out of all the venues I've seen Patty in, The Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg, KY remains my all time favorite. Every show I've seen there is simply spectacular, and her hometown crowd is crazy about her. If there was ever a crowd to really "get" Patty and what she's about, it's East Kentucky crowds. It seats just slightly over 1,000 people, and while I've definitely seen her in smaller venues that are amazing, I have the most amazing memories in this place. It was here in 2002 I saw her be given the key to Prestonsburg, in front of a crowd that just kept shouting "WELCOME HOME".

Chris and I headed to Kentucky on Saturday night so that I could have some time to explore in Elkhorn City & Pikeville. I try to do this every time I visit - they are really neat places to experience. As most know, Patty was born in Pikeville, and spent years of her early childhood in Elkhorn City. The US 23 Highway "Patty Loveless" sign just brings a huge smile to my face. In 2002, I spent two hours searching for the old Pollyanna Drive in Theater sign that Patty always discusses seeing her first live music at. I searched and searched, as she had said the sign still stood. I wanted to be and see where the my idol, the most influential person in my life, experienced HER first taste of music-- because my first taste of live music was when I was around the same age, just a small kid, and it was HER. I asked at a store and was told it had been over by Pollyanna Park. (Which I never found) I was terribly disappointed at the show when Patty announced that the sign had been stolen. SO, this trip, I knew not to look for it, but on the way into Elkhorn, I spotted something on my right and realized we found Pollyanna Park! Now, as Patty stated, the theater is gone, and the sign is gone. Chris stopped so I could snap a quick photo, and I'm sure he thought I was crazy, but it felt great to be there.

I should note that the hotel I always stay at in Prestonsburg shares a parking lot with the venue. Somehow I always seem to get a great room that faces the venue, so the morning of the show when I open the curtains, you can see the bus at the venue doing load in. What a rush to wake up to! We decided we'd rather be bored at the venue versus at the hotel so we headed over a little over an hour before the show and met up with Dennis. It always seems we have a nice meet up in Prestonsburg with PLN'ers & other PLFans that we see so regularly-- it was great to see Dennis (who ended up sitting with us), G & Vicki, Calvin, Jess, Teresa & her folks, Brian, Alvin-- and I'm sure I'm missing some! (And Elaine, you were very much missed

There was a local bluegrass band opening for Patty called "Fast Lane". I had to step out in the lobby for a phone call and missed part of their set, but what I did hear was pretty good. They played a little longer than we anticipated and ended up playing for about 45 minutes. By the time they were over, we were relatively antsy.

I won't post the usual set list, since we're familiar with it now. I will say that she has added "Boys are Back in Town" and "Daniel Prayed" to the encore.

When Patty came out, the audience roared. They were glad to have their hometown girl back. After the first few songs, someone shouted "WELCOME HOME!" and Patty flashed her bright smile and thanked him and said how wonderful it felt to be home. Patty once said she always gets nervous playing in Kentucky. I can always tell, just slightly. But the show is always incredible. She thanked the crowd for coming out- especially on a Sunday night, and said they would try to get them home at a decent time for work the next day, and then changed her mind and said they would just play and stay up with them until it was time for work!

She had a fantastic audience in Prestonsburg. I was slightly concerned going into the show how they would be, not having a Mountain Soul set, but they simply ate up the Sleepless Nights set. It has been clear the past couple weeks that "Crazy Arms" is one of the highlights of the show for many of the attendees! That was a popular one for the night, followed closely by "Here I Am", which, again- blew me away.

"You Dont Even Know Who I Am" is one of my all time favorite Patty songs, and I've said before how happy I am to have it back in the set list. She's nailed it every time I've seen it in the past two weeks. When she launched into it in Prestonsburg, the audience gave a polite clap--- but once she got into the chorus, they ROARED. They were blown away.

Patty told everyone that she was "full of it" tonight, and she wasn't lying! She was cracking jokes- or attempting to anyway.She laughed at one of her attempts and said "Im not good at making jokes!" , and the band laughed.

She spoke of her early days performing with her brother Roger and how they were known as the Singin, Swingin Rameys--- she was the singer, he was the swinger, and then started laughing. This became a running joke in the night, and when Patty was talking about sharing the bus, she said they "shared bunks", meaning bus. The band laughed, and Patty starting saying that she shared bunks with her brothers as a kid, and Marcia piped in about if that brother was the swinger- they were having a great time onstage together, and Patty told everyone that Marcia and Deanie were both "full of it" too.

Patty was still full of it when she got a gift from a little boy in the front row, and asked him what it was, peering into the bag, saying "Is it a bag of underwear?". Everyone laughed and she said they can always use clean underwear on the road, and then laughed and told everyone that it was a Teddy Bear, which she always needs on the road.

When Patty introduced the band, she didn't realize how long Tom and Jimmy had been with her. By the time she got to Pete, he piped up with "You don't even want to ask me about how long!". I know it's become a repetitive statement this tour, but this band is incredible together. I can't express how much I missed Marcia and Garry in the 2005 tour. It's wonderful to have the keys back, and I just can't imagine Elvis without them. Deanie just tears up everything she plays, and Pete can bring someone to tears just with his opening of "You Dont Even Know Who I Am". Tom Britt proves how great he is in "Halfway Down", but it's "My Old Friend the Blues" that I think of him with this tour. Having him come down front with Patty and just play is fantastic, and I hope she leaves it like that next year. And then my beloved Jimmy and Martin-- I simply love them. They bring a huge smile to my face, and I love their loyalty to our girl.

This band is the band I want to see continuously with Patty, because they are the most talented bunch I've seen with her.

Before launching into Elvis, Patty came over to our side of the stage and said something spotted her eye and she had to ask. She pointed to a little boy sitting behind us and said "Is he sleeping??" Sure enough, he was. He was completely worn out. She asked the parents his name, and they said Brandon. Patty couldn't hear them and asked us what they said. We all repeated, and she thought we said Brent, and started talking to him from the stage. Nothing, he was still out. Patty laughed and said she wouldn't take up too much more of his time.

Once she launched into Elvis, Brent was slowly stirring. When we all shouted her line to her, she came over and said "Breeeennnnt, wake up!" Brent finally DID wake up a few minutes after that!

As stated earlier, she had three songs listed for her encore. When she came back out, she said she was informed they didnt have time left. Everyone started shouting songs, with Harlan being shouted repeatedly. Patty stood at the mic just listening with a smile on her face. She waited for everyones pleas to die down a little, and as one person shouted HARLAN!, one loud voice came through and said "PLEASE!!!!??", and she laughed. She thanked everyone for coming to the show, and thanked them for requesting all these songs and knowing them. Then she said they really could only do one more song, because Brent had to be at school the next day, and she would really love to do something from her new cd. She then closed with the now famous encore, Cold Cold Heart-- which I think was a good choice for those that were yelling out requests.

We went out back to get our hugs from Patty and tell her our goodbyes. I thought Prestonsburg was going to be my last show of the year, but it turns out I will be in Atlanta this Friday night. Thank Goodness, because these shows are my saving grace this year.