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Is http://www.downtownbrewery.com/ confirmed as a place to meet?
If so, what time? Is there a table booked for a specific number?
I have a travelling partner in crime – David – for both Tennessee shows, and I’ll also be looking out for my cousin before Knoxville, but there’s still a chance that I can make a meet-up beforehand.
If not, some and say hi at the show.
– Si.
Yes, come to the Downtown Grill & Brewery. I plan on being there by 5:00 at the latest. It’s a big place and they tell me we don’t need reservations on a Tuesday. I’ll have some tables near the bar. Come on down and bring as many as you like.
David Day
Lake Lanier, GABGRumble from Lexington sent me an e-mail and said he was going to make it. Hopefully, he is not a TN fan! You just can’t trust anyone that wears orange!
Amanda, you are going to love all these guys! I’ll leave my cell number at the desk of you. Allisa, you need to come down!
Chastain was great last night! On to Biltmore tomorrow morning!
Get fired up! Bruuuuuce!
David Day
Lake Lanier, GALet’s see, it’s only about 2300 miles, mostly interstate, so if I leave in the morning and drive straight through stopping only for gas and the bathroom (sleep? who needs sleep!?) I’d probably roll in by Sunday morning. I would then most likely crash for the next 24 hours, although, since I’m in the area I might as well catch the show in Charlotte, which would require another 4 or 5 hours of driving. That would give me all day Monday to recover and make it back to Knoxville for Tuesday night! Again, since I’m in the area, I should really jet on over to Bartlett for the gig Wednesday night and then begin the long journey back home. 5000 miles round trip? No problem! 😉
Only 1 more day!
Marc, don’t whimp out on me! Vic, get fired up! Amanda & BGRumble, hope you’re still coming! Allisa, you still have time to catch a flight! Si, hope to see ya!
The TN Theater has great accoustics! Get fired up!
David Day
Lake Lanier, GA[/b]Knoxville
Battled a rough summertime head cold over the weekend, but I should be in fine form by tomorrow. Loved the set list from Biltmo’, so with minor tweaks, Knoxville’s looking pretty sweet!
David, I think we should begin taking up a collection tomorrow to fly Allisa in for next year’s Biltmore show. Round-trip airfare shouldn’t be more than $400-$500, should it? Don’t get your hopes up, though, Allisa; I’m a poor, struggling writer.
Looking forward to meeting everybody at the pre-show watering hole tomorrow!
Vic
Today is the day!
Going to be sleeping with the enemy tonight in big orange country. You can’t trust anyone that wears orange! Go DAWGS!
Yes, we need to take up a collection for Allisa to fly down. She does need to come to Biltmore next year!
TN Theater is going to be a great venue!
Bruuuuuce!
David Day
Lake Lanier, GAKNOXVILLE
I guess the rest are on their way to Bartlett, so I’ll go ahead and say it was great to meet Si, Si’s friends, Dave from St. Louis, David Day, and everybody else in Knoxville! Thanks to Allisa for the wonderful gesture and David for the drinks and conversation.
I’ll go ahead and say the show was incredible. Apparently it had been 10 years since Bruce had been in Knoxville. The Tennessee Theatre is beautiful, but I think the Tivoli in Chattanooga has it beat as far as acoustics go. I wish I could give everyone a full set list, but I can’t remember it all. Tapers seemed to be in abundance, so I’m sure it’ll be available soon.
Bruce appeared to be “in the zone” even more than usual. He opened up playing for what seemed like an hour straight, hardly looking up or speaking … just moving briskly from one great number to the next. I was particularly pleased to hear Big Swing Face songs “Place Under the Sun” and “Sticks and Stones” (solo, a la the boxed set) and both “Darling Corey” and “Crown of Jewels.”
He played “Song F” into a beautiful version of “End of the Innocence.” “Fields of Grey” was touching. A “Big Rock>Candy Mountain Run” combo brought the house down after the intermission. It was almost all up tempo, finishing with a rowdy “Rainbow’s Cadillac.”
The best part of that finale was a guy jumping on stage to dance and being carried off when he seemed not to comprehend that the backstage staff didn’t want him there. However, women were allowed, and Bruce was quickly surrounded. There were so many dancers, you couldn’t see the band.
For the encore, Bruce squeezed in a lengthy medley of ballads from “Dreamland” to “Halcyon Days.” I’ve seen only three shows this year, but I’d vote it Concert of the Year.
We had a blast! It was great to see everyone before the show! Allisa thanks for what you did! I felt like a celebrity when the Downtown Grill & Brewery handed me an evelope with my name on it. Thank you!
Amanda finally made it and we got connected at the intermission. All the way from MO! Thanks for the good conversation after the show! 😉
The TN Theater was wonderful! I agree with Vic that the Tivoli in Chattanooga had better acustics, but what a beautiful venue!
Si, it was great to meet up with you and your friends! Anyone that’s named David is a friend of mine!
Bruce was great as usual!
Vic,I’m a telling ya! I’m glad you made it!
David Day
Lake Lanier, GAKnoxville show: 4th Bruce concert I have heard in the past 3 years. I thought the sound quality was poor. For such as accomplished musician/band, they need to turn down the volume on the bass and drums. Both musicians are gifted, but the volume does not add to the overall flavor of Bruce’s music. I, and others sitting around me, could also not hear JT. 😥 These gripes are the same I have for some of the other shows too. I thought the song selection and sound was so much better in Chattanooga. For comparison, I heard Steely Dan in Charlotte Saturday. It was indeed a different band playing a different style of music, but one could differentiate the notes by both the drummer, who was excellent, and the bass player. Such was not the case with Bruce. I will likely not attend another. Bruce could take a hint from many of the jazz musicians who by-and-large do not play as loudly as rock-and-roll types. Pat Metheny, who I heard last year in Durham, comes to mind.
Hmm, the “too loud” complaint seems atypical for a Bruce show, most I have seen have been at a pretty moderate volume, all things considered. Might be a venue-specific thing.
Also, where were you sitting? Were you by any chance up really close to the stage, on the right side?
Keep in mind that the instruments vary in their “stage volume”. Drums and bass (since the bass amp is on stage next to JV) will of course be the loudest. JT you can pretty much only hear through the PA, since an electronic keyboard really doesn’t make any sound of its own. So if you sit very close to the stage, you have to be aware that you are sacrificing the proper mix between PA and stage volume, and the mix you hear will suffer as a result. It’s the price you pay for a great view. I suspect you may have been happier with the sound further from the stage.
Of course, if you were seated reasonably far back, I don’t know what the explanation might be other than a bad mix in that venue that night…it happens.
I heard Bruce in 2004 in Cary, NC with Branford M. I could not hear Branford then. I thought the sound was much better in Chattanooga, still the bass and drums were to loud. Same for Knoxville, except the organ could not be heard. I state again, the sound needs to be improved for me to attend again. I have heard him outside twice and inside twice, and sound was subpar 3 of the 4 times. I compare that to concerts of Pat Metheny, Sting, Steely Dan, among others where it was excellent.
Knoxville sound
I can see where you’re coming from, Don, but you must have a pretty advanced home system and/or very discerning ears to let that ruin the experience for you. I concede the sound quality could have been better, but I thought it was just a venue-specific thing, as Will suggests.
However, the volume itself, and the song selection, fit me to a “T.” I sat about midway back on right/center. I would’ve liked to have been closer, but I find I don’t like to sit TOO close.
David, you’re a scholar and a gentleman! A great time was had by all! Let’s do it again sometime.
Vic
Don J wrote:I heard Bruce in 2004 in Cary, NC with Branford M. I could not hear Branford then. I thought the sound was much better in Chattanooga, still the bass and drums were to loud. Same for Knoxville, except the organ could not be heard. I state again, the sound needs to be improved for me to attend again. I have heard him outside twice and inside twice, and sound was subpar 3 of the 4 times. I compare that to concerts of Pat Metheny, Sting, Steely Dan, among others where it was excellent.It’s not my intention to argue about what you did or didn’t hear, or whether you should be happy with it, but rather to suggest that you may be able to attain a more pleasing balance in the sound through careful selection of your seats. If you do not like a mix that is heavy on the bass and drums, I would recommend against sitting very close to the stage and suggest that you will find the mix more pleasing sitting further back.
Now, I don’t know where you sat at these shows nor do I know what you heard. However, I do know that I have a tape of the Cary show with Branford Marsalis and on the tape his sax comes through at an entirely appropriate volume relative to the other instruments. So in at least part of the venue, he should have been plenty audible. I’m sorry to hear that wasn’t the case where you were sitting.
Knoxville Show – Last Post – Let’s Move On
I sat close and then moved to the balcony in Knoxville: same results. I too hear Branford on the tape clearly, but the same cannot be said sitting in person. I remember someone at the Cary concert during intermission saying it was very dfficult to hear the piano. Let me explain my thoughts on Knoxville: when the band was really cranking; it was damn hard to hear the piano on several occasions. My wife, 3 teenage children who regularly attend all sorts of concerts, and others (who I did not know sitting around me) said the same. When JV goes hard at it, it is difficult to decipher the notes; instead it is a bone jarring thump rather than a gifted bass player performing. Bass is a driving instrument, but Jaco or Stanley Clarke type talent needs to be heard and appreciated, not just felt in the seat of your pants. (I was lucky enough to see both play, and you could both feel the note and appreciate its complexity). I was especially disappointed to not hear JT but on 2 brief occasions, and that was about it. I would love to hear Bruce with a jazz group with minimal amplification, and will likely wait for that. I hope others enjoy the remaining shows and support this fine group of musicians.
Knoxville Show
Well, I made it back to Missouri. I had such a great time at the Knoxville and Bartlett (or, as Bruce preferred, “Bahtlet”) shows. I want to leave a few comments and shout outs, so bare with me…
So, I was really bummed to miss the pre-show get together in Knoxville. For the folks who haven’t heard, I got stuck for hours on I-40 west of Nashville — a truck overturned and caught on fire, closing one lane of traffic. However, it really got sticky after a second truck got in a wreck due to the back-up from the first wreck (lost my atlas and hadn’t replaced it so no alternate route). Obviously, I finally made it through that but had to go the speed limit the rest of the way because there were cops EVERYWHERE. I thought I was still okay though, because it was shaping up that I would arrive in Knoxville at 7:00, hopefully early enough to catch the tail end of the pre-show action, and definitely on time for the show…and then I passed the foreboding sign informing me I’d crossed into the eastern time zone (hey, I’m a central time zone gal, okay?). Not only was I going to miss meeting some really cool folks, I was going to be late for the show I’d been looking forward to for months. I was getting schooled in Murphy’s Law.
Well, I finally made it to the venue, opened the door, and heard the band rocking Place Under the Sun (one of my current favorites). The usher showed me to my seat, and my troubles of the day completely melted away as I saw that although my ticket was for 3rd row, I was technically first row far right. Yes! I could stand and not piss anybody off!! I had a great view of the band, and got a kick out of getting such a close-up view of their interactions all night.
Well, I could go on and on about the show but I better wrap it up since this isn’t the review section. It was an amazing show all around. Having gotten home and checked the set list, discovering I missed a solo Darlin’ Corey at that show hurts. Candy Mountain Run flat rocked, and that version has become my favorite so far. As Victor mentioned, a hightlight was the guy that tried to get on stage during Rainbow’s Cadillac. I was cracking up at that guy when the next thing I know Bruce looks my way and asks if I want to get on stage, which elicited an immediate “Hell Ya” from me and it was on (I was in the orange shirt and green skirt, first one up baby
)…that was something I’ll never forget — getting to be part of one of Bruce’s cheesy show biz moments, priceless.David, thanks for getting Tango King on the set list, and you’re welcome for the good conversation 😉
Allissa, I was especially bummed to find out I missed your pre-show gift, and will definitely buy you a beer if we find ourselves at the same show in the future.
Victor, sorry I missed you, David speaks very highly of you.
Si and Dave from St. Louis, it was great to meet you and I wished we would have had time to hang. It was crazy that we arrived at the Bartlett show at the same time, just a few parking spaces away. Si, thank you so much for the video dose from Bartlett!
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