A good show, if not as searing as I'd hoped and at least half expected. Live, they're an extremely tight outfit, very technically proficient and cohesive as a band, and with enough raggedness about the edges to give the performances more fire than the recorded versions (which is as it should be), but it didn't quite hit the next level despite the potential clearly being there, though there were some clear highlights when they did really nail it ("The Great Salt Lake", "Weed Party", "Wicked Gil" - all, oddly, off the first album, which is admittedly more rockin', but usually bands enjoy playing their newer stuff more, and that generally comes through in the performances). Perhaps, it was just a touch too tight; maybe it needed to be rawer, louder, a bit more unhinged (not that it seemed like a show that was all too 'professional' - just one in which the indefinable spark that pushes a rock show from good to near great was missing). All told, though, I enjoyed it, so no complaints - and it was interesting to hear some new stuff, which tended considerably more towards modern Gram Parsons cosmic americana than electrified southern rock...
(meant to go with Jon, but different arrival times and lack of reception in venue defeated atempts to meet)
