Ignatius Feb 23, 2019

This was a band that you could tell they were all professional musicians having done this for years. Great jams from Xan McCurdy on guitar and Vince DiFiore on trumpet and keyboards, (who really shined while playing Never There) and of course John McCrea practically conducting the whole stage in his truly one-of-a-kind fashion. They hold the present moment in high regard, discouraging the audience from using their phones if it meant they would later look at their own pictures and videos, wishing they had been there. Major respect, especially considering McCrea had been sick for weeks.

The show had only one band, so if anyone decided to show up late to skip the opener, they cheated themselves, lol. I loved it from the first song, but once they played Long Time I really got into it. John forgot the second verse of Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle and asked for the first few words to get him started, then going into the next chorus he used "That's right! We need each other!" for his 'detached' line. It's really catchy to see him in action with those lines, calling for guitar, drums, trumpet. Really would have liked to see Jolene, but I appreciate them playing the songs they felt like playing.

They did two notable audience participation segments. For Sick Of You on the right side were the minority escapists, singing "I--- wanna fly away" and on the left side were the bearers of hostility, singing "I'm so sick of you, so sick of me, I don't want to be with you". Then for the nana-nana-nana's of Short Skirt/Long Jacket, he encouraged each side to flip middle fingers while singing... So maybe I take back what I said about them being professional, lol. But certainly experienced and confident in what they were there for.