Lyric Theater Baltimore Md 11/26

Bob and I are going to meet outside the Lyric at 4pm to go eat. I think meeting inside at 7pm sounds good. If anybody wants to join us please do. I'll be wearing a signed "Bona-who?" badge. Baltimore is very happy to have Joe back in town. We've loved him long time

I echo Jane’s sentiments. Joe and the band were tight and on fire! It was a fantastic show. Non-stop music for 2 hours. One heckler in the crowd, but Joe put him in his place in short order.
Kymmie and I were there for our 40th anniversary and we wouldn’t have wanted to be any place else. This was our first time seeing JB, but it won’t be our last!
Got to share a cab back to the hotel with Ron and he very graciously picked up the fare. Thanks Ron!

Last night Joe played to a sold out audience, as usual, in the beautiful Lyric theater. Baltimore made sure he felt the love from the first note. He came onto the stage with a 66 Strat, and that fat Strat sound, for This Train. And we were off!

Next up was a blue Firebird and Mountain Climbing. It was cool to see Michael use a Firebird bass as well. Then a Goldtop JBLP gave us Blues Of Desperation. Then out came Skinner and I was so happy Jane was front row so she could see her little guy on the strap. Since he joined the band in Baltimore it seemed fitting she have a visit. And No Good Place For The Lonely slayed! The solo is something I always look forward to and last night's was exceptional. Joe got the first of many standing ovations and the grin on his face told me he enjoyed it too.

Skinner stayed for How Deep This River Run. My new favorite Joe signature guitar burst onto the stage. A BEAST of a white 355 with a tail piece. Yummy! Hidden Charms lead to the big surprise of the night. Joe, using very kind words, introduced Davy Knowles, and they played a tasty Never Make Your Move Too Soon. The audience went wild Joe then played Angel of Mercy, followed by the band intro and thank you to the crowd. He seemed genuinely grateful for what he called all the efforts it takes for fans to come to shows. How funny considering all the effort it takes so many to bring the shows to us.

Love Ain't a Love Song featured a 55 Strat and made me chuckle remembering all the "No Fender" years. And then it happened. lol Out came another sig 355, this time black, with white trim and another Bigsby. Be still my heart! lol These beauties must stay tuned well because it played I Get Evil, Nobody Loves Me But MY Mother, Gave Up Everything For You, and Going Down, by which time Joe had gotten the audience to their feet and spurred us on to amp up our sounds of approval. No problem. The final song of the main show was How Many More Times on "Nocaster" ( that one I'm not sure about lol). Soon they returned for the finale of Hummingbird with the 66 Strat, so it was the alpha and the omega of the show.

The band deserves some comments as well. The singers were powerful and their sound was full. One of the ladies had only done three prior shows, so Brava to her. The horns add so much "color" and I get a kick out of watching Paulie "dance". Anton finds pockets you don't know exist with such ease. Adding to that bottom is Michael Rhodes with his unimposing presence so meshed into Joe's playing. The man stays in the shadows but his role should never be minimalized. And Reese! He was on fire. He's a Boogie Woogie master and the crowd loved him. Who doesn't?

  Fear not, Natasha filmed the show and you will be able to see how grand this was. A few other thoughts. Joe has become the consummate Band Leader ala the Big Band Era. He directs the flow with ease and has come so far from the shy youngster of the early years. His voice continues to expand and he seems to trust his abilities now more than ever. Joe shows shared with Joe friends are the best. I have so many friends because of him as many of you can also claim. If I didn't get to see anybody I'm sorry. As usual time flies by and bam, show's over. It was a joy to see Joe before the show and heartwarming to know how he cares about long time fans, as well as newbies. The only downer was seeing guys hawking bootleg tees right out front after the show! Some nerve! I went back in and got Bob. I hope he nailed them!

  So a HUGE thanks to Joe and everybody that brought us this gem, including MPT. So many know how many shows they have seen. I have no idea. All I know is when I have my next one and so I'm ready to get on that ship!!

BTW I had to write this twice because I not only lost it when I went to post, I was no longer logged in, so what's up with that?????

Such a special night for so many reasons with it all starting back a few weeks ago with a wonderful long conversation Joe and I had about Davy when I was out at Paulie Cerra's show. One thing led to another over the past few weeks culminating in Joe asking Davy Knowles to sit in with him at the Baltimore show. Davy was in town having just done a show in Bethesda the night before. Davy was staying with us while in the area so we brought him down for the show. Joe graciously let Phil and I come in for soundcheck and a chance to hang out with Davy preshow. Very nice of Joe to do all of this and I can't thank him enough for everything. Davy was very excited about having the opportunity to play with Joe and it was so wonderful the way Joe introduced him. I got a little emotional over the whole thing when he came out to play. Just can't believe how wonderfully everything worked out. So happy for Davy and so thankful to Joe for giving him the opportunity. Davy did a fantastic job on his solo during the song and it just warmed my heart to see Reese all excited smiling and clapping for Davy. The whole show was phenomenal. Joe and the band were spot on. It is truly a big blues band and you can tell how much Joe loves playing with all these people. So happy that so many of our friend were at this show and that a number of them got to see Joe beforehand at the M&G. Such a wonderful day in every way.
Here is Davy playing with Joe on "Never Make Your Move Too Soon" https://youtu.be/wsEV99B1I1Y

My wife and I enjoyed the show, but neither of us were impressed by the sound. For the first 45 minutes or so, I found the sound to be very muddy with very little distinction between instruments and Joe lost in the mix. After that, the sound seemed to clean up and vocals were much easier to hear along with Joe's guitar. The encore seemed to revert back to muddiness with Joe's voice very strident. I measured the loudness levels at various times during the show and they were consistent at about an average of 110 dB SPL with peaks hitting 112 - 115 dB SPL. I noted during the part of the show where the sound seemed clearer that the midrange frequencies were somewhat higher then the bass and treble were at the beginning and end. All measured with a sound pressure level app on my phone. Wife found the sound very uncomfortable. We were in row "O", seats 136 and 137. Maybe it was the venue in general or our seats in particular but I felt he has sounded better in the past.

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Great review Cathy and all the rest of you. Many thanks.
Rick

Finally getting a chance to upload the Baltimore videos. Been a very busy week between Joe's shows and Davy shows, but it sure has been worth it. We saw 3 of Joe's shows, Richmond, Baltimore and Columbus, and as you can imagine Baltimore was my all time favorite for countless reasons. Baltimore loves Joe and the crowd was energetic and rowdy. Only one heckler that Joe put in his place pretty quickly, lol. We were sitting on the left side balcony and were right in front of the hanging stacks so the sound was great. We had another pair of tickets from PBS that were 5 rows back on the floor all the way on the right side, but being short, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to see over people's heads plus you have to deal with standing up to let people in when they show up late, and Joe generally faces the left when he plays, so we gave those tickets to Phil's young coworker. She and her boyfriend had a blast and was very nice of Ron to also treat them to a M&G. Would have been fun being down with Cathy, Bob and everyone, but it was a blast watching Jane and Roadcaseboy rockin out in the front row. Way to go Jane for spying those front seats! Official seat fillers are always appreciated by Joe Can't have that front row empty Missed not getting together with everyone before the show. When we went out with Davy after soundcheck to get something to drink I thought maybe we'd see everyone at one of the places nearby, but unfortunately we didn't. Hopefully we'll see everyone at Davy's show at Rams Head in January.
Here are the videos I've gotten done so far. One major advantage of the vantage point we had was being able to see Reese's hands on the keys. He is so much fun to watch. For me, the setlist just gets better and better as the night progresses. I love the songs that have all the dynamics where Joe gets down to as quiet as can be and then bam! He goes up to 11. And of course I love "How Many More Times" What's not to love about an awesome Zeppelin tune. SO glad Joe has everybody stand for the last 3 songs. Really increases the energy level. The Baltimore crowd kept standing, but in Columbus, the balcony sat down. Too many old farts I guess Was glad our home town Baltimore show had so much energy

This Train https://youtu.be/HOyo-k2cYzM

Mountain Climbing https://youtu.be/DkuuVDtqCck

Blues Of Desperation https://youtu.be/6R2o0hYDq-g

No Good Place For The Lonely https://youtu.be/0QeBl0bCsBY

How Deep This River Runs https://youtu.be/si9fMa3SjDU

Never Make Your Move Too Soon https://youtu.be/wsEV99B1I1Y

Angel of Mercy https://youtu.be/DCs1vd6R_iA

Here are the rest of the Baltimore videos. I filmed the whole thing except for "Hidden Charms". My original seat had a bar that was in my field of view on the left side, so I moved over to the next section closer to the stage during that song. Didn't want any obstructions when Davy came out to play with Joe since it was important that I capture that particular song.

Love Ain't A Love Song https://youtu.be/SY_3mPUgfBw

I Get Evil https://youtu.be/CEmcjwJzTMg

Nobody Loves Me But My Mother https://youtu.be/cUxoPWn351A

I Gave Up Everything For You https://youtu.be/S-Yn3fCwDss

Going Down https://youtu.be/H1CJOzHsZi0

How Many More Times https://youtu.be/DduQelJIPZA I panned put during this song around the 8 minute mark and it is so much fun seeing all our friends down on the floor dancing and cheering. I could spot Bob, Cathy, Jane, Roadcaseboy and Ron. So glad Joe had everyone stand at the end. Makes it so much more exciting.

Hummingbird https://youtu.be/guS9bF52ld0

I've just started working on the Columbus, Ohio videos and after hearing some of that show and the whole Richmond one, Baltimore really seemed to have the best sound of the three. Joe's voice was nice and clear and the mix was really good.