I look forward to reading reviews and thoughts people post after shows. After the Santa Monica Mountains event I pestered Soda with so many questions – everything from what Timothy was wearing to how high the stage was. I’ve tried to get down a lot of details and I hope Karen and anyone else who was there will correct anything I’ve misremembered or just missed in general. It’s long, but I enjoyed reliving it all. Thanks for indulging me! My pictures aren't great, but I love looking at other peoples' so I wanted to include some. I resized them and really hope they don't cause issues at this size. If they do, please let me know and I'll resize further.
City Winery Atlanta is a packed place but if you get the chance to see someone you really enjoy there, take a deep breath and do it because you’ll rarely have a chance to be closer to a performance!
I got there at 6:00 when the doors were scheduled to open, but sound check ran long. There were a handful of people there who tried to catch him around 4:00 on his way in. One guy saw him arrive with Hank, but was told by someone with them that it wasn’t a good time to ask him to sign things. He asked if signing after the show was a possibility and Timothy heard him and turned around so we were hoping the idea was in his head. (I was really hoping to see Jean but she apparently wasn’t with him when he arrived and I didn’t see her during the evening.) It was fun to sit and chat with other fans including someone at my table who had been at the show in Nashville the night before. I also met a woman with her 9-year old daughter who had done every kind of chore to earn a trip from south Florida to see her favorite singer. Timothy said something from the stage once about her dancing, so he definitely saw her. I saw Hank was talking to them after the show and I hope she got to meet him. My tablemate said in Nashville Timothy didn’t come out after the show but Bobby Carlos had taken cds and things backstage for him to sign–none of that in Atlanta. General word in the crowd was he was headed home after the show. Herman and Chris Farmer hung around on stage and a few people had them sign cds.
It was great to have the set list that rcknalwys posted from Nashville. I kept up with it and then ended up getting Chris Farmer’s printed set list. Bobby Carlos was also nice enough to get me one of the white guitar picks Timothy tossed on the floor during the show. Yep, he just dropped them on the floor at his feet…over and over… It was a little painful to watch, not being sure I’d be able to get to one. The people around me were better behaved so I was the instigator and Bobby Carlos was resigned to having to deal with me about a set list and pick, so I got these souvenirs.
Speaking of souvenirs, they had the cd on sale for $20, but that was it. No shirts. Nothing Expando related.
On to the show … Timothy was relaxed and very charismatic on stage. After watching his recent appearances in Nashville, I knew he’d be in fine, strong voice, but I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be so fine and so strong! There was no air in it; he was crystal clear and amazing! His guitar playing was impressive too. The stars align when he puts that bass on, but it was really something to watch him strumming acoustic most of the night. He played for 2 hours and was on stage the whole time. He opened by thanking us for choosing him over the presidential debate. One More Mile and My Hat were flawless. I can’t even describe how happy I was to see him do The Shadow. It is one of my absolute faves from his catalogue! I’m sure I had such a goofy grin on my face during that one. Before starting Red Dirt Road he talked about it being inspired by Kauai rather than the south. He seemed really happy with it—quite peppy especially during the fiddle parts. The fiddle player was the same guy who was on Music City Roots with him and Timothy said that he normally plays in Travis Tritt’s band. He played harmonica on Ella Jean and told the story of Jean being in Hawaii on a trip that was extended a few times and that being his inspiration for writing it.
When there was a short delay in the guitar switch to his bass for White Boy from Sacramento (“My life in 5 minutes. You’ll know everything there is to know about me.”), he treated us to a little tap dance! About the switching of instruments, I’m shocked the man has any hair left at all with all the switching between acoustics, the bass, and an electric plus on off with the harmonica a few times. It seemed like his hair was getting pulled a lot. Next was Downtime, which I love (can’t you just picture him driving down to the ocean to clear his mind!?) and the band intros. During band intros he said Hank was the one with the great hair which was a funny moment. Then they rocked Parachute.
After Parachute, everyone else left the stage and he did It’s Alright.
Then he said “It has only been 9 months …” and there was an audible sigh in the room. “Here’s a song Glenn sang.” He was probably 6 feet away from me and to me he was visibly shaken. He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply and did Peaceful Easy Feeling for Glenn. This was no throwaway performance. The pain is clearly there. It’s a softer pain than at the Grammys where it was so raw. You could hear people singing along softly. This voice keeps whispering in my other ear / Telling me I may never see you again. Tears. It was poignant … sad and beautiful. Afterward there was a standing ovation and as it quieted he gestured to the audience and said “That’s for Glenn. That’s for Glenn, too.” Here's just a few seconds of video if you want to get an idea how it sounded. (If the video link doesn't work right, I'll try again.) http://vid350.photobucket.com/albums...pszj645gxk.mp4
Next up the band gathered around him for Keep on Tryin’. Earlier someone had yelled out “Poco” and he had responded “It’s coming.” So before starting it he said “Someone out there wanted Poco?” I don’t know a lot about technical music things but I think I could tell when he did this last week at Music City Roots that the key has been changed. I thought it was great. No one is 30 years old forever. He wasn’t reaching for notes at all. I love the nostalgia of it. To me, he doesn’t always look like he loves singing it, but last night he looked like he did. I wondered if doing it right after the tribute for Glenn provides a different perspective on singing it.
I think it was after this song that someone yelled out “More Poco” but he didn’t hear what was said so he said “What?” which prompted several people to yell out things and he said “I should know by now not to engage.” But he was laughing when he said it. Also around this point in the set he remarked “How do you think that debate is going? Thanks again for coming out on a Monday night.”
Next were Friday Night and I Refuse. I love that of all the choices he has, it's Bobby Carlos out there playing bass.
I also took a few seconds of video of Friday Night and I Refuse, but they ended up running together on my phone. http://vid350.photobucket.com/albums...ps4av0kpii.mp4 He played electric guitar on I Refuse and this, along with Parachute earlier in the set really rocked. The friend who went with me was a little surprised by these! This was not the folk singer who also sings I Can’t Tell You Why, which is sort of how he had him categorized. Secular Praise is my favorite from Expando and it was next. Then I Can’t Tell You Why and A Good Day. When the tables around me had been talking earlier in the night I had said that I was OK if he dropped I Can’t Tell You Why and LWKUA because I could move on and hear more of the new stuff, but in hindsight there really is just something about those first bass notes of I Can’t Tell You Why. Turns out he’s right. It’s something people want (even if they don’t think it is!). And, like with Keep on Tryin’ if he was doing it solely out of obligation, it didn’t show. And he told the familiar story about taking parts of songs to Glenn and Don and them choosing ICTYW to work on. He said that’s all the story he remembers because they were making music AND having fun. I hope this video works so you can hear how great he sounded after nearly 2 hours. http://vid350.photobucket.com/albums...pshgfljwkz.mp4
Encore was I Don’t Want To Hear Anymore and Love Will Keep Us Alive.
He was very generous about pictures. Never said a word. I couldn’t see much of what was going on beyond the few tables near me. A lot of people didn’t take any. There were 12 people at my little table row and probably half of us took between 6 and 10 pictures. I grabbed the few seconds of video so y'all could hear how he sounded. One person had her camera up for 75% of the show. I don’t know if she was videoing or waiting for the perfect still shots. Timothy gave her the stink eye a few times and I totally expected him to say something but he never did. I think I got stink eye once but he looked in our direction a lot and my camera was down most of the time! I definitely wasn’t trying to take advantage of his generosity in that area. The last line in my notes was about his shoes. I'm not sure I've seen many people comment here about his shoes, but I can't be the only one that notices how nice his shoes are. These were brown boots and they were fabulous!! I hope some new dates come out soon ... I'd go again tomorrow!