Sorry for the later review, I was off the grid for a couple days. That’s what happens when you visit family in the Sonoma area 
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My day started at 5am, crispy cold Seattle. A friend picked me up at the Oakland airport at noon. Since we had time to kill, we drove over the bridge to San Francisco. Tooled around, looked at some stuff, Fisherman’s wharf, there’s a mechanical museum down there we had to go to, as my friend is a pinball enthusiast. Drove up the hill, had a looksee at Grace Cathedral (go if you ever get the chance, it takes up an entire block) and then back to Oakland. Got a nice pic of the marquee and then we were one of the first few in when the doors opened. Theater is so beautiful inside. We got a couple drinks and made our way to the seats. Row O close to the center aisle. Hey, it’s not orchestra pit but we had a great view.
It was fun to see the disbelief on my friends face as she was watching the show. She had heard of Joe but was not familiar with any of the music. She plays guitar too. During Woke Up Dreaming she said, “Holy Sh*t! On an acoustic!?!”
Loved loved loved the acoustic set. Having the guys up there added great texture to the songs, like a Celidh jam, but took nothing away from Joe. Every single song was special.
Cut to electric set - Midnight Blues (oh the tone!), Dislocated Boy, just when you think it couldn’t possibly get any better, it does! And Joe’s voice was perfect and dead on. Slow Train -It looked like something was wrong with the Bona-byrd. It was switched out seamlessly, mid-song. Within nano-seconds Mike brought out the Firebird. Joe plugged it in, played a chord or two, adjusted the volume and then went into a face-blistering solo. John Henry! Mountain Time!
Another great thing about this show was the crowd. I don’t know how it compares to other shows from Joe and the guys’ perspective, but what a bunch of happy, excited, big Standing O for each song type of crowd. I loved it. Yes, each song deserved a standing ovation. Seattle could learn something from this crowd. Either that or I just got stuck in a group of fuddy-dudds last time. Anyway -young, old, and all of us in between were so happy to be there and you could just feel it.
Also, I’d just like to add that Derek is a terrific addition. I loved his playing, thought it sounded great. Not to take anything away from the previous guys. They were great too, but I really thought Derek sounded wonderful.
The show was killer. Fan-friggin’-tastic. When can I go to another?
