Portland..The Birthday show !

Well, I considered myself lucky to see Joe on his 38th Birthday...It was a special show...Of course, one added feature to last night's show was members of the crowd wishing him Happy Birthday...over and over again...I think everyone of the 2500 got in their "Happy Birthday"...Oh well, what can ya do?
     The show itself...stellar as always. Even though most of the set was made up tunes from "Different Shades" and "Muddywolf" cd's, both very Blues in nature, the show had a really upbeat Rockin' tone.
     Highlights included great percussion provided by Tal and an additional percussionist they brough on tour. They made some songs really come alive like "Trouble Town" ...incredible
     The sound itself was perfect, nice and loud nut not over modulated...The horns are perfectly mixed and they add a great rich full sound to the band.
    Other highlights included Lee Thornburg and the horn section....Lee's solos outstanding...My only question is... Now, how am I gonna live without that horn section live?!!...It just simply rules, and took nothing away from Joe's jamming.
    Speaking of which...Well, Joe is a Blues artist, but his solos are not always Blues solos...many times last night he veered off the path into fantastic prog rock directions...often so far off path, I forgot what song he was playing...and that's outstanding...never boring the audience...Always keeping them guessing...I mean where did that "John Henry" solo come from...never heard anything like that before...utterly amazing.
      Funniest moment...Joe stepping on a Birthday balloon that had been thrown on stage about 4 songs in...It burst and he looked genuinely suprised, but didn't miss a beat, as the rubber balloon parts flew up into his face...And of course the moment of enough silence where a woman asked Joe..."Will you marry me ?" which got a pretty good laugh...Joe just shrugged his shoulders and played on.
       Joe is on fire and has reached a new level of performance....Oh..and did I mention Reece ? Too good...just beyond words guys and gals....Eugene and m&g tomorrow, so I am super pumped...I was lucky enough to catch Joe just as he went into the venue for sound check, to give him his Birthday card in Portland...All around complete proudness.