Bruce, Ricky, and KT at the Ferguson Center Newport News, VA

Finally here it is! Well I will try the best that I can to give you a review of yet another amazing performance of Bruce, Ricky and Kentucky Thunder! Please keep in mind that I was busy working (videotaping some of the performance for a monthly show that I do for the City of Newport News Government Channel and also I wasn’t familiar with some of the traditional kick ass bluegrass songs but here goes nothing! October 19, 2007 The Ferguson Center for the Arts on the campus of Christopher Newport University, a beautiful performing arts cener that opened up in 2005 and it very intimate and performers and artists have claimed that it has some of the best acoustics in the country comparing it to Carnegie Hall in NY! Well Bruce and Ricky have performed here before individually, but this is the first time they have been back together, and what a show they put on for this sold out show! I of course was there to shoot the first 3 songs w/ Bruce and Ricky’s permission of course and what a show they put on, they started promptly at 8PM and played well after 10PM giving the crowd a show that they will never forget, I could not believe how fast these guys could play and of course how impressive they were once again! NOW the show of course was not like the JAMESTOWN 2007 show that I wrote about earlier this year because of the party atmosphere, the location and of course the reason being there to celebrate and commemorate the first permanent English Settlement at Jamestown, but I will tell you that these guys are having the time of their lives and giving the crowd wanting more! Andy Leftwitch was indeed the talk of the crowd, as well as other members . . .The Setlist (give or take a few that I didn’t know (with Question Marks) were Bluegrass tunes, and I may have missed one or two as I was locking up my camera gear, but hear goes-

1) ?? Instrumental Bluegrass
2) ??
3) Midnight Train
4) The Way It Is
5) Mandolin Rain
6) Across the Rocky Mountains
7) Dreaded Spoon
Sheep Shell Corn
9) Come On Out
10) White Wheeled Limousine/Long Black Veil
11) Fiddlemaker????
12) Sally Jo
13) ??Ralph Stanley tune
14) Darlin Corey
15) Uncle Pen
16) Valley Road
17) Super Freak
18) Crown of Jewel (quick few lines with Ricky, because Ricky forgot some of the words)
19) Pig in a Pen (MY REQUEST- I glued a plastic Pig in a Pen, and really got Ricky and Bruce’s attention- Bruce gave me a shout out! Pretty cool!)
20) Blacked Eye Suzie

What a show! Unbelievable! After the show I got to see Bruce and he told me that my request was hilarious and even personally introduced me to Ricky! What a guy!

And if your asking about the video that was featured in my montly show, unfortunately the City of Newport News doesn’t stream video so you can’t see it! (You can buy copies from the City of Newport News Video Production Deparment though- Newport News City Channel 48) The story is about 3 minutes and the focus of the piece is really on the Ferguson Center with Bruce and Ricky added in! The show and the 15 or so stories are up to me, but I have to focus on the City Govt side of things and the city is a contributor to the Center! Another note- I did a story when this Center first opened, pretty much just empty seats and just to show the place off, well it has taken me almost 2 years to get in to videotape an actual performance! The Ferguson Center always said yes, but the performers always said NO! So when I heard Bruce was coming I put my request in early and of course he said SURE, so that it is pretty much the story! So take this for what its worth, and if Bruce, Ricky and KT come to your town, or close by- definitely don’t miss out on this incredible experience to see the two masters and mesmerizing bluegrass band like Kentucky Thunder at work- you will not believe your eyes or your ears!