Topic: Des Moines Civic Center March 9, 2017

Anyone wondering how sick Joe had to be to have rescheduled back-to-back shows (Peoria and Milwaukee) should have seen him last night in Des Moines. As Joe himself put it on his Twitter feed, "It wasn't my best, it wasn't my worst. I gave you 100 percent of whatever percentage I had." He looked pale, was hydrating way more than I've ever seen him do during a show, and was even using an inhaler. It was clear from the frowns and grimaces all evening that singing was an absolute misery for him last night. He also said on his Twitter that he was considering filing attempted murder charges on his sinuses in the morning, so clearly he was not at his best.

Nonetheless, he persevered and put on a very satisfying evening of music. I'm hoping he's feeling better by the time I see him again in Kansas City on Monday, but Thursday night I was in awe of Joe's ability to fight his way to the finish line (he DID look a lot like marathoners look after a race when everyone took their last bows).

The Guitars:

  • The '66 Strat that looks like it might have had a finish once, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth

  • A Pelham Blue Firebird

  • A Pelham Blue Les Paul

  • Magellan

  • The '51 Nocaster with PAF neck pickup

  • A white ES-355 with gold hardware, including Bigsby

  • A tobacco sunburst Strat (maybe the '63?)

  • An ebony ES-355 with gold hardware, including Bigsby

  • The Epiphone "Treasure" Firebird in Polymist Gold


The Songs:

  • This Train

  • Mainline Florida

  • Mountain Climbing

  • Blues of Desperation

  • No Good Place for the Lonely

  • How Deep This River Runs

  • Boogie With Stu

  • Never Make Your Move Too Soon

  • Angel of Mercy

  • Love Ain't a Love Song

  • Dust Bowl

  • Little Girl

  • Pretending

  • Black Winter/Django

  • How Many More Times

  • Hummingbird


The Band:

  • To my surprise and delight, Lee Thornburg and Paulie Cerra were much more prominent in the mix last night comapred to the show I saw nearly a year ago in Omaha. Lee's trumpet figures on "Dust Bowl" were strange, but beautiful. These guys really add a lot to the band's sound when they're audible in the mix.

  • Michael Rhodes on bass and Anton Fig on drums are phenomenal. Like most of you I loved their predecessors, but day-um!

  • Reese Wynans is deservedly in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and seems to be having a blast playing with Joe. I had a blast watching the speaker on his Leslie rotating. Brought back some fond memories of my college days.

  • I must admit that a stray carnal thought entered my mind here and there when Jade MacRae and Juanita Tippens were featured, but it's okay because I was going to confession on Saturday anyway! big_smile  These women were splendid all night, but their performance on "Hummingbird" is quite simply not to be missed. Gave me chills, and even brought me to tears by the song's end.

  • As for that whippersnapper Bonamassa, he can play some...  wink


The Evening:

  • It was great to see Joe's biggest fan, our own pattyluvsjoe, after missing connections for a couple of years. No way I'll ever be able to repay the debt I owe her for helping bring Joe and his music into my life.

  • As promised, got to meet and shake hands with rdawsoniii. He was a perfectly pleasant fellow and I'm sure he enjoyed the show, but I had a slightly better seat! big_smile

  • The Des Moines Civic Center is a really good venue for Joe. Although I know he loves the ornate older theatres, a more modern venue like this has its advantages also.

  • I brought my wingman with me to the show. If you want to know more, you'll have to visit my blog (link in my signature) when the latest entry gets posted sometime after noon today...


I'll be saying prayers for Joe's speedy recovery, and can hardly wait to see him again next Monday!

Terrance Shuman
Kansas City, MO

Re: Des Moines Civic Center March 9, 2017

That's a pretty detailed report, far more than I could have ever done for any of the Joe shows I've been.

Thanks

---------------

(If only I had 1% of Joe's guitar talent)

Re: Des Moines Civic Center March 9, 2017

Thank you, thank you, thank you Coach305!  You just answered every question I possibly had about the show. Such a good review!


And Joe... How amazing he is! He cares about his fans so much.That nebulizer picture stubbed me right in the heart.

Re: Des Moines Civic Center March 9, 2017

Ha!  Coach, I can't believe how lucky you were to get that seat!  I can't complain, I was 1 row closer and only 5 away.

It was great meeting you.  Thanks for the nice chat.

I agree...Joe was obviously very sick, although he appeared to get a little better as the night went on.  Anybody else would have barely been able to get out of bed, yet he rocked HARD for over 2 solid hours.  Amazing.  Thanks, Joe!

Re: Des Moines Civic Center March 9, 2017

Thanks for such a great report!

We men don't do colds/flu well so for JB to take the stage at all is just amazing and a testament to "The show must go on".

Re: Des Moines Civic Center March 9, 2017

rdawsoniii wrote:

Ha!  Coach, I can't believe how lucky you were to get that seat!  I can't complain, I was 1 row closer and only 5 away.

And, as I mentioned to you last night, there really aren't any "bad" seats at a Joe B show...I'll sit anywhere, anytime to hear him play...of course, it's always nice to be close enough to wind up in the end-of-the-show pic that get splashed all over the internet...  wink

I was really lucky to get the seat I had last night...as I told Patty when I saw her, I was shocked when I checked the venue for tickets back in early February and they had a solitary red dot so close...usually ticketing software doesn't permit purchases that create "singletons" like that. God obviously wanted me to get a good seat! big_smile

And to all who have or will thank me for the post, you're very welcome. I don't really contribute that much to the site, so I figure the least I can do is provide some information for folks who enjoy the details of these shows (I'm one such person myself)...

Terrance Shuman
Kansas City, MO

Re: Des Moines Civic Center March 9, 2017

Coach305 wrote:

... it's always nice to be close enough to wind up in the end-of-the-show pic that get splashed all over the internet...  wink

Thanks for the great in-depth Review Coach ... I too always enjoy reading them.

Congrats on making another End-Of-Show pic too! ... maybe it's me ... but not as easy to spot you this time as it was at your last show IIRC ... no hints ... I enjoy playing "Where's Coach?" as well.

"I was in Space for less than 2 weeks … and suddenly Jeaniene’s back … half the Band is off the gd wagon … we have comedians opening for us … and the nice kid that ran our website is now a kleptof’nmaniac.  Boy ... did you guys miss me!!"  Phil Valentine - Road Manager - Staton House Band

JBLP#251 (unaged) ... thank you Ron.