I finally got home from this show. I have to tell you, it was a unique experience and that's one reason why I went. Not in a million years did I ever think Lindsey would play this kind of honkytonk bar. Honestly, when I first heard about it, I thought it was probably a new country dance club. Nope. This place is an old, watering hole in the middle of really nowhere.
Anyway, once I heard about the acoustics and set up of the place, I was sort of nervous about Lindsey's performance. We all know how particular he is about the sound and I thought there was no way this place could meet his expectations. The stage was hardly a stage, the ceiling was very low, there were bars in the back of the room, chairs set up on a dance floor and tables set up randomly on the side. It was a disorganized, hot mess for sure. When I got there, 30 minutes before show time, there was at least 100 people or more still lined up outside in the parking lot and to the main highway to get inside.
The owner and her staff were obviously not prepared for a show of this size. Once inside I noticed the capacity sign, it read: 650. I heard the locals outside after the show saying there must have been 1000 or more, but there's no way that place could have even held 1000 and 650 would have been pushing it, I think. But, I promise you every minute of this craziness was worth it! I was so close to Lindsey I could have literally reached out and touched him by taking two steps forward. The stage was about 2 ft. high. It was as if he was giving a performance in someone's living room.
You could tell that it was probably worse than he expected too from his initial interaction onstage, but I can't say that I totally blame him and he did handle it very well. His only complaint was the two professional photographers who were down in front of the stage for the first song, snapping pictures with a flash in his face. (I don't use a flash because I've heard it bothers them and also you get better photos a lot of times without it). Anyway, here is his face watching the photographer:
After the song, he said "These guys are going away right?" This was the first thing he said at all. He looked over back at the management and one of the guys went away, but the other one was still in front of me. Lindsey repeated, "You're going away, right?" And the photographer said, "Yes, sir!" and got out of there. He was a pretty burly guy and Lindsey said, "It's very distracting."
Notice the photographer in the bottom of this photo:
He paused and said, "What was THAT all about?" as he looked back at the management and the guy who was with him, his tour manager maybe? It wasn't Jimmy Johnson so I'm not sure who it was.
Anyway, he went on with the show and the sound got better - which had been pretty bad at first - it was REALLY distorted and loud for the room. Also, in the above pic you can see Lindsey's guitar tech, Stan who is having to work onstage tuning those guitars behind a sub-par partition.
A few other things I'll mention - Lindsey's speech about the South was of course very generous and it was the first time he showed signs of getting a better attitude by cracking a joke about "THAT album" (Buckingham Nicks), which you can see in the video I posted. Then, he was really happy at the end of "Stephanie" by the audience response. He smiled and laughed at the end while the crowd whooped and hollered. When it quieted down one lady, (not me!) said, "Thank you!" and Lindsey just mouthed to her, "You're welcome." It was cute.
On "Not Too Late", I really like the way he laughs during the line "You know you should never believe what you read." I'm not sure if he's always done that because it's not a song I usually pay much attention to.
At one point he told the audience "you're small but mighty!"
When he did "Come" a young girl was apparently singing all the words. He was making faces at her during the song and at the end he was like, "Aren't you too young to know the words to that song?"
And, she or someone with her said she had known it since 7th grade. He just sort of did that nod with his eyebrows lifted and said, "Ok. Well, thanks mom and dad." in a condescending kind of way. It got a big laugh.
But, he singled this girl out and interacted with her a bit throughout the night, with smiles and eye contact. Other than that, he really did not make eye contact with anyone else. I noticed, even in this small of a venue, he looked over our heads or closed his eyes throughout the show. I managed to say, "Thank you" and get a small handshake at the end of the show, but he didn't even smile. I don't know if he was just bothered in general, ready to get out of there, upset because he saw me film "Stephanie", or if it was just the close proximity of the crowd.... (Now that I think about it, it's that same pursed lip look he gave Stevie at The Wiltern when she went to bow as he was trying to kiss her head and missed and then when she finally stood back up and was nodding her head at him with her sincere thank you look, he just pursed his lips at her, so maybe I shouldn't feel too bad. LOL.)
It was bizarre not to have people going to the stage or standing up for GYOW, but I guess everyone was being respectful or something. It felt weird though. After that song, people started coming up to the stage and giving him the BN album to sign, or other items. He went off stage and then returned for the two encore songs. We tried to get him to do RAB but he sort of ignored the request and stuck with Trouble and Seeds. Then, we went outside and stood with several others to hopefully get a handshake or a picture with him. But, there was a lot of talk between his man and the club management about how to get him in his SUV and out of there. Basically, the bouncers had us all stand on the other side of the driveway and he just walked to his door and got in. He did roll his window down, but he was on the side where there weren't any fans so when they pulled out that was it.
Overall, despite the obstacles, Lindsey put on a great show for a lot of people who really loved him. I have to give it to this crowd. They were totally respectful and in awe of him and even if his music may not have been totally their thing, they listened intently and really made him feel appreciated and loved. They were so thrilled to have him there.
You can view more of my photos here:
http://s302.photobucket.com/albums/n...202012%20Tour/