John Hiatt concert

Ok, you would think after just seeing one awesome concert that the odds the next one would not be as good.  Well how about even better?  I went in expecting a lot from this one, it was John Hiatt, one of the greatest singer/songwriters out there and his last show I went to I would rate in the top ten of my concert going experience.

 

This show I went with Heather and Larry.  We left as soon as Larry got off work, Heather and I both were off.   We wanted to eat at the restaruant part of the House of Blues, not because there food is that wonderful (it's actually fairly good) but because if you eat and save your receipt you can bypass the line to get in the concert.   Sneaky devils we are.

 

We bypassed the normal line to get in the concert, but there was line for the people that ate at the HOB and was bypassing the line to get in the concert.  Ok, I know irony when I get hit in the face with it.  At one point the line to bypass the line was longer than the line to get in from off the street.  But it was ok, cause we were like the fifth people in line to get in.  One cool thing was while we were waiting in line a guy from the HOB walked up and down the line handing out show posters.  Anyone that knows me knows I am a big poster fan for shows I go to, it's something I've started in the last year.  If possible I like to get the poster for the show or tour I see.  Some posters list all the shows for the tour, while some like the Wilco one at the Palace in New Orleans listed just that show.  So I was very happy before we even got in.

 

Did we get good seats?  Well, no, there are no seats in the HOB.  But we got good standing.  We were right at center stage, directly beneath John Hiatt's microphone. 

 

The opening act was the North Mississippi Allstars, who also were John's backing band.  They played with him on his newest cd, Master of Diaster.  The Allstars are the brothers Dickerson, Luther and Cody, sons of the legendary record producer Jim Dickerson.   They did an aucostic opening act.  They were really good. 

 

Than they left for about twenty minutes and came back with John Hiatt.  The difference was this time Cody who played guitar with the band for their number played drums.  At the end he would play the washboard too, very talented.  His brother played guitar and sang lead for the group.

 

We were so close that we could read the set list they taped to the floor so we knew what songs were coming.  John Hiatt puts on a great show.  He looks like he is having the time of his life on stage.  The other guys would look at him and just laugh. He would jump and dance and prance around the stage as he was singing.  His tongue has a habit of hanging out of his mouth sometimes when he is playing the guitar.  I'm surprised he didn't bite it with all the leaping about he was doing.

 

After the show ended I manged to get John to autograph the concert poster.   Than Luther was walking across the stage, shaking everyone's hands and I was able to get him to sign it too.  How cool is that?

 

The only drawback to the show was the heat.  It was as hot as the Devil's Kitchen in there.  Heather was really nice at one point and went and got us all some water.  I think I would have passed out without that water.  Or jumped on stage and took the water from John Hiatt, I was starting to watch him drink his water and forget about the show for awhile there.

 

Still one of the best shows I have ever seen and for me that is high compliment.  I have seen a few shows, so I would have to rank this in the top ten.   As a side note, his new cd I liked, but didn't think any of the songs were that special.  After hearing them live I have gained a better appreciation of the songs.  He ended with a new one, Back on the Corner Again which is just classic. 

 

After the show I had to go back to work and finish out the night which sucked.