Providence: May 15, 2014

I will be there!!
that would be cool if Sandi is there Jay and I are seeing Sandi in Maine Monday.
Maybe Gary Hoey guest at Providence, Hartford or Hampton? That would be cool
cheers Ron

Yes bringing SB1

4.5 hours til show time!!!

Joe was absolutely on fire in Providence last night - it was a treat to see the acoustic set first, and a nice surprise when he brought Quinn Sullivan on to join him. A few photos from the show can be found here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/119968008 … 643348306/, and I'll probably add more as I edit them. I followed the rules, left my bag full of Nikon bodies and glass at home, and used my Sony RX100M2 from my seat for the photos.
Joe seemed to be in great spirits, as evidenced in the very funny comments he made during the band introductions, especially when introducing Derek during the acoustic set. His comments about one of Derek's previous bands, and how he became "Unfollowed" were priceless!

The only downside to the show at all was the front of house crew, who ran the sound so loud that any subtlety and dynamics (not to mention more than half of Joe's vocals) were lost in the din. The same thing happened in 2012, when Joe played PPAC - he debuted Driving Towards The Daylight near the end of the night, and his vocals were hopelessly drowned out then too.

The next time Joe does a circuit in this area, we're going to try a different venue, in hopes of attending a show that we can actually hear...I have to assume that the crew at PPAC is their own, and not Joe's crew, as I'm certain he'd have schooled them in the art of dynamics and how to properly mix for the room. This crew was mixing for Madison Square Garden last night.

Thanks for the reviews!!  I always enjoy reading everyone's thoughts on the shows.

Last night was amazing.  First off I got a chance to meet with Carmine and get my magazine ad/photo of him signed.  Carmine is just the greatest, and gives awesome hugs.  Great meet-up with Cindyron and Guytron - thanks for dinner!

The show was great.  I had seen the acoustic/electric format last year at the Royal Albert Hall, and like it very much.  Joe had a string break on one of the acoustics and was a bit rough handling the guitar at the end of the song.  Mike gave him a "tsk tsk" when he took it off stage - too funny.

Quinn Sullivan brought the house down.  He played Further on Up the Road, and watching this I got goosebumps just like I did when I saw Joe play this at the RAH.  This is the only video I have found so far:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBQxJ1WexT8

and one of my pictures:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/24057301@N05/14199282325/

Lucked out and finally got a drumstick, which I gave to my friend who also loved the show.  I noticed that Joe isn't quite changing up the guitars quite as much at the moment.  That black burst is a thing of beauty, as is the reverse headstock one.  More pictures at a future date - I have another show to go to tonite in NH, and a visit with my friends across the pond starting next week.

Sandy

P.S.  Also wanted to add that the crowd was acceptably rowdy during Joe's quiet bits in John Henry.  He only had to shush us once.

Joe's shoes were great...they reminded me of the Keds I wore as a kid, and to pair them with a pinstripe suit...Priceless!

My wife and I were in the center of row J, in the left center of the Orchestra - the seats were perfect, and allowed me to get decent photos with a small camera (albeit one with a great quality Zeiss lens).

Completely agree with your take on Derek's piano work...he is a fantastic keyboard player! A shame we didn't get to hear more of his B-3 work during the electric set because of the poor mix. He was also hard to hear on the Rhodes during Sloe Gin.

Glad you embellished on Derek's intro and Joe's "unfollowed" comment for the benefit of those that weren't there...I left it vague, as Joe himself has stated in this forum that the topic is closed and done, but his own comment last night perfectly fit the phrase "dripping with sarcasm". Highly justified, in my opinion, and I'll leave it there.

He sure did enjoy saying "P-PAC" last night, including a mention that this was the first time ever a nyckelharper has ever been played there, and even referenced Pawtucket - I thought that was a nod to Sandi, who just played the Met in Pawtucket two nights before. I actually wondered if she might be there and come out to join him for a song.

When he brought Quinn Sullivan out to join him on "Further On", it was perfect...his breakthrough performance is generally regarded as his first show at the Royal Albert Hall, and he was thrilled beyond measure that Eric Clapton came out and joined him for the very same song. To do that for Quinn was absolutely a perfect way for him to participate in the tradition of keeping the blues alive.

As a note to the guitarists here, the broken string in question was a low E string...which takes a bit of doing to break, as we all know. Joe managed to wrestle it out from under the capo on the guitar, so that it was out of his way while he finished the song. Just as his tradition of starting precisely on time, a consummate professional by any measure.

As to the other venues I was considering, I believe he plays a similar venue in the Worcester area now and then...that was what I had in mind for a future tour, as our two shows at PPAC (last night, and in May of 2012) were both plagued by poor mixing and too much volume. They should have a recording engineer at the front of house board, as they'd be much more particular about the quality of the overall mix.