Certainly a more relaxed and more traditional Irish presentation than the last time I saw The Chieftains. Last time, the program was largely a Nashville influenced affair, due to their then current release Down The Old Plank Road. This evenining's program found the band performing traditional Irish folk music, supplemented by a variety of other talents. Missing in action this evening was fiddler, Sean Keane, replaced admirably by Jon Pilatzke. Jon and his brother Nathan have performed with The Chieftains numerous tours before as Irish Step-Dancers. Cara Butler from Long Island, NY was also along for this tour, performing her Traditional Irish Dancing and Step-Dancing. Ryan MacNeil added keyboards and vocals. Harpist Triona Marshall and fiddler Maureen Fahy rounded out the band.

As if this wasn't treat enough, six girls from Limerick, Ireland who call themselves Liadan joined the band for a portion of the show with song and dance.

THE CHIEFTAINS
LIADAN

Another great show by one of the hardest working bands in America. There wasn't a huge difference between this show and their latest CD/DVD release, Back To Tulsa, however the band took a break midshow while Cody Canada previewed a few songs acoustically from the new studio album they're currently working on. Still one of my favorite touring bands.

CROSS CANADIAN RAGWEED

Wolfmother is a band that should make a mark in the world of rock 'n' roll. Their original music isn't all that original, but it's good. It's good because it so clearly harkens back to the early 70's haydays of rock music, before corporate America and MTV took over. This power trio from Australia studied the licks, lyrics and crunch of early Black Sabbath and Jimmy Page. They keep it simple, no need to over complicate the music when you're playing hard rock 'n' roll. Their debut CD peaked at #22 on Billboard's chart, not bad at all considering rock 'n' roll is supposedly dead and the music industry is crying over lost revenues. Touring North America in support of their first record on a major label, the band is storming across the country playing gigs of all sizes to enthusiastic fans. That my friends is a welcome sign for rock music. Wolfmother howls.

The Icarus Line was far less impressive. Active on the Los Angeles underground scene for many years, it's difficult to understand exactly what direction the band seems to be grasping toward. On the one hand, they seem to borrow from The Stooges, yet they also sounded very Robert Smith/Cure-esque at times. Still, their image fits neither of these influences. Their official website was last updated in 2004, which seems to give some indication as to the level of enthusiasm they put into the music.

This show will also be remembered for reasons less enthusiastic. During the Wolfmother set, I received a distressing call that my wife's brother had passed away.

WOLFMOTHER
ICARUS LINE

Personally, I'm not a fan of the modern music Ozzy Osbourne. He had his day for sure. For numerous years however, I feel he's been a mockery of his past achievements. The Osbournes tv show should have proven that. Nevertheless, I like a lot of his music. The perfect alternative is Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society. Zakk has been Ozzy's guitarist and songwriting mule for several years. Black Label's music doesn't stray far from the same type of music Zakk contributes to Ozzy. It's not rocket science. Give the devil his dues, Zakk Wylde is a master guitarist/musician/performer. He could easily be a king size fish in just about any pond he wants to play in. Make no mistake, just because he shreds metal for a living doesn't mean the guy can't play any type of music he wants. There are not many players out there who can match him style for style, riff for riff.

The show started out for us a cold adventure, waiting behind the venue for band autographs. Everybody was happy to oblige. Zakk was no where to be seen and word was he would arrive by car minutes before show time and bolt inside to do his show and would exit as quickly. This was no joke. Supposedly, the guy is as nice as he can be and formerly hung out with fans regularly before or after shows. We heard he hasn't been the same since Dime was shot dead by a fan in Ohio 2 years ago. Now picture this...Zakk Wylde...easily 6 and a half feet tall, SDMF (strength, determination, merciless forever)...testosterone made from gasoline...nordic viking stage image...t-shirts and other items that say things like: 100 Proof Chaos, Doom Crew Inc, Too Tough To Die, Mess With The Best/Die Like The Rest, Passing Through Hell Destroying Everything In Our Path, etc...and scared shitless of his own fans, who are numbering fewer than half a dozen and toting nothing more dangerous than permanent black sharpie markers. That's your real Zakk Wylde, an image as fake as a preacher on tv.

The show itself was OK. I didn't love it as much as I thought I would, but I didn't hate it either. The sound wasn't nearly as loud as I expected and the vocals were mostly buried in the mix. The guitar solos were impressive, particularly the acoustic guitar solos. He seemed to have the most fun then. The audience was predictably and annoyingly smashed. The venue was predictably oversold. One could not help but think of The Station fire and Great White from time to time throughout the show. We heard the entire opening act set through the backstage door, while waiting for the Poofter to show up. For the most part, Sanctity was as good a support act on a small venue tour can be expected to be. The guitar player clearly laid out some old school shred.

You might look for Zakk to change his band name soon to the Pink Label Society or Maybe the Red Hat Society. I don't think the Hell Bent For Leather routine is going to last long when people find out what a panzy he really is. If I could paraphrase my buddy Shane, he said something like: if Dime knew what a pussy Zakk had become, he'd punch Zakk in the face. Indeed.

MEET & GREET: Black Label Society (Nick Catanese, John DeServio, Craig Nunenmacher)

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY
SANCTITY

Adrian Belew and his pop band, The Bears, packed the second floor stage at Lafayette Brewing Company for a crowd pleasing show. The concert got off to a rocky start, with the inclusion of support act, Michael Kelsey. Kelsey is something of a one-man-band and local-yokel who plays guitar, sings, mutters, and uses numerous electronic effects to supplement his act. Clearly, the guy has some chops, but hasn't settled down enough to take his music seriously. He just sort of gets-off on stage, while goofing around, re-tuning and playing with his various electronics. It's like watching a real life Jack Black in School of Rock.

The Bears were up next and to much fanfare they arrived. The first song, Complicated Potatoes, was energetic enough to start the show off right, but the sound mix was bad, almost tinny at times. The venue incidentally is a large hall on the second floor of a warehouse type building in downtown Lafayette. Plenty of wood floors, plaster walls and exposed wood rafters in the ceiling to make for a nice warm sound if desired. The second song, something off the new record, fizzled fast due to a failing microphone. It took the sound crew several minutes to repair the problem, but a veteran band knows how to roll with such situations and so they did. Belew and Fetters improvised and kept everyone entertained until a solution was found. The set list was filled with classics from the original two releases from the 80's, The Bears and Rise And Shine. It was good to hear these again. There were many songs drawn from the latest two releases as well, Car Caught Fire and Eureka, which kept the show balanced and fresh. As the evening's show developed, the band caught fire and the sound was corrected. The Bears were once again phenomenal. Last time I saw The Bears (Phoenix Hill Tavern, Louisville, KY) they added King Crimson's Red to the set list. Despite my hopes and desires, no Crimson was performed in Lafayette this night. Encores included The Bears rendition of She'll Be Coming 'Round The Mountain (yes, that's right) and Bears classics, Superboy and Fear Is Never Boring.

Adrian and the band were gracious enough to hang out after the show to talk to fans.

MEET & GREET: The Bears (Adrian Belew, Rob Fetters, Chris Arduser, Bob Nyswonger)

ADRIAN BELEW and THE BEARS

This was the bright spot in a weekend at Lake Tahoe, NV that was to include three sold out performances by Sammy Hagar. Unfortunately, the day before the first show, Sammy was reportedly ill with a severe upper respiratory infection and had lost most of his voice. So here we are, in Lake Tahoe, holding tickets to three cancelled shows. All was not lost however, as former Van Halen bassist and current bassist of The Other Half, Michael Anthony put on a free show inside the Cabo Wabo Tahoe Cantina. This show was not to be missed. The place was utterly packed, hot, smokey and otherwise a difficult place to move about. The ceilings were about 8 or 9 feet high, so even seeing the band was near impossible. But seeing wasn't important. These guys were there to be heard, as Michael and Waborita Band guitarist, Vic Johnson smoked through a brilliant set of old Van Halen numbers (Michael sang vocals), a few cover songs, and Aaron Hagar, Sammy's son and erstwhile manager of the Tahoe Cantina, joined the band for two old Montrose favorites. Best of all, Vic and Michael were accessible to fans in the VIP room before the show and were gracious with chat, autographs and photos.

SETLIST:
Atomic Punk - Van Halen
Running With The Devil - Van Halen
Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin cover
Been Waitin' For The Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago - ZZ Top cover
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love - Van Halen
All Right Now - Free cover
Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers - ZZ Top cover
Rock Candy (with Aaron Hagar) - Montrose cover
Bad Motor Scooter (with Aaron Hagar) - Montrose cover
Little Dreamer - Van Halen
Going Down - Don Nix cover
D.O.A. - Van Halen
Show Your Love - Van Halen

MEET & GREET: Michael Anthony

MAD ANTHONY XPRESS
LEFTY LUCY

For those who may not be old enough to have lived it and for those old enough who may have forgotten (shame on you), Steely Dan owned FM airwaves throughout a period we call the 70's. Other than Hall & Oates or The Eagles, few artists were responsible for as many hits during that decade. No small wonder then that they were asked to pen the title track to the movie, "FM." The Dan, as fans refer to them, consisted of the core scheme directors, messers Becker and Fagan, who used a broad cast of top notch studio players to hatch intricate, yet smooth, irresistable compositions rooted in R&B and seasoned liberally with doses of jazz and blues. Donald Fagan was centrally responsible for much of the band's vocal and lyrical content, often sordid tales of the shadow side of life: criminal and/or perverted characters with plenty of novelistic details.

Fagan's voice is still good, but not as full as it once was. Interestingly, a back up singer stepped in to fulfill the entire vocal duties on Dirty Work and Walter Becker sang lead vocal for Haitian Divorce. Both songs lost something without Fagan's signature vocal. The lead off track was Hey Nineteen, which became the sacrificial lamb track while Becker found his groove and the sound man found the right balance. After those issues were corrected, the 12 piece band featuring Jon Herington (guitar and tour musical director) blazed.

With a history so rich in hits, it would be impossible to satisfy every fan's desire. By the end of the show, Steely Dan served a 90 minute set, 2 hours with breaks and encores.

The support act, Sam Yahel Trio added nothing to the entertainment value of the ticket price.

SETLIST:
Jeri
Time Out of Mind
Godwhacker
Bad Sneakers
Two Against Nature
Pretzel Logic
Haitian Divorce
Hey Nineteen
Peg
Babylon Sisters
I Got the News
Dirty Work
Josie
Aja
FM (No Static at All)
Kid Charlemagne

ENCORE:
Black Cow
Bodhisattva
Carolyn

STEELY DAN
SAM YAHEL

Small indoor venue. Large crowd. Ted Nugent. I got a great night's sleep and my ears aren't ringing at all. What is wrong with this picture?

After a couple hundred shows, you might think I've seen it all and heard it all. This one even surprised me. I intended to get to the show early in hopes of getting some old Dokken CD covers signed by Mick Brown. Ted borrowed Mick for the summer, as he often does, to pound the skins. Mick arrived separate from the rest of the touring trio (Nugent and bassist, Barry Sparks). He was laid back and smiling, as you might expect, and he signed some autographs, posed for a few pictures with fans and even tried flirting with a couple of young locals who barely had enough clothing to cover them. At this point, I was a happy camper. I hoped to get Mick to sign some pieces previously signed by Dokken guitarist, George Lynch, and he did so very politely.

Most of my friends are not going to find this all that surprising. Most people I know already think Ted is a jackass anyway, either because they don’t like his music, hunting or his outspoken view on the 2nd amendment. I still remember the Ted of old, the crazy MF who wore white tights and suspenders on stage with a coon tail tied to his waist.

I had no real intentions of sticking around in hopes of a Ted autograph, but there were fewer than 10 people there, so I figured why not? Ted arrived about an hour before his scheduled show time and was quickly escorted to a makeshift hospitality area. About 15 minutes before show time, tour management came over to where were standing and said, "Ted ain't signing anything." Ok, well we've heard that one before and since the show hadn't started, why not hang out and see what happens. A short while later, a different tour manager came over, apparently he was THE tour manager. He asked the 8 or so fans to huddle around him. We did. He said, "Ted is not going to sign anything. He won't sign your guitar. He won't sign your record album, your photos or your CD covers. Ted will not talk to you. Ted will not even look at you. He will not discuss hunting. He will not reminisce about the old days. This is a public area and I cannot require you to leave, but I am asking you to leave, because Ted will not sign anything anyway. Questions?" One guy said, "This isn't Ted. Ted has always been very generous with fans and autographs." The manager said, "Correction...Ted used to meet fans, not anymore. He's 59 and frankly he's tired of this. He doesn't need this shit. If I let you stay here, Ted's going to come out and you're going to wave your arms and yell Ted's name and that's going to piss him off. All Ted wants now is to come in, do his show and go home. No fans.

This wasn't about an autograph. Some artists will do it some won’t, no big deal. I think I can safely say on behalf of most of the 8 people there, if they had simply said Ted didn't feel like signing anything tonight, please go inside and enjoy the show...most of us would have been cool with that. The problem was the clear anti-fan message broadcast by Ted's manager (Ted hired him so he's Ted's representative), a complete disrespect for the people who have been buying albums and concert tickets for literally decades. From that point forward, I knew I would not enjoy the concert and left. Very sad day for rock n roll.

The Psychedelic Furs performed Indianapolis for the first time in their career, June 28, 2007. This was the first stop of three warm-up dates in the U.S. Before joining forces with fellow 80's bands, The Fixx and The Alarm, for their Rockin' The Colonies Tour. Given this was a warm-up show and the first show of the pre-tour, the performance had a few flaws, but very enjoyable overall. The band consisted of core members Richard Butler, Tim Butler, John Ashton and Mars Williams. They were further augmented by a brand new drummer, who incidentally had only played with the group 3 days, and a keyboard player. Clearly the drummer was out of time with the band on a few occasions, notably on my own personal favorites, "The Ghost In You" and "Heartbreak Beat."

One of the things that separated a band like the Furs from most of the 80's New Wave was they never tried to demote the guitar. They also boasted a saxophone on many tracks. These were critical points of differentiation from the synthesizer and drum machine pop sounds of the time. This fact was never more apparent during their performance, as the guitar and sax were forefront throughout the show.

No one is as young as they used to be and today's Psychedelic Furs are as good a reminder of that as anyone. Gone is the Richard Butler we knew from MTV videos, spaced, gaunt and introspective, replaced by an older man who had gained some much needed weight and gregarious throughout the show. From my seat, this fellow looked more like British actor, Alan Rickman, than an 80's pop icon. As for this journalist, I'm probably 100 extra pounds since purchasing what was a once a brand new LP record called, "Mirror Moves."

MEET & GREET: Psychedelic Furs (John Ashton)

PSYCHEDELIC FURS
STEREO DELUXE

This was easily the largest crowd I have seen at The Music Mill, which was somewhat surprising given the $35 ticket price (a little higher than most for this venue). Toto took the stage promptly at 8:30 showtime, no opening act) and performed a near two hour set. While the band suffered from various members' ailments, they were far from short-handed. Session bassist, Leland Sklar, filled in this tour on bass guitar while professional sideman to the stars, Greg Phillinganes, handled the keyboards. The show was not without problems, notably in the guitar department. No doubt a combination of a road weiry Steve Lukather having an off night and a handful of guitar technical problems, the band persevered through the night. In fairness, the technical problems couldn't be helped and Lukather having an off night is better than a lot of guys having a great night anyway. Lots of hits were included in the 2 hour set, including I'll Supply The Love, Rosanna, Africa and Hold The Line. Items at the merchandise table were fairly priced for a little consumer relief. In all, a very good show and congratulations Indianapolis for such a great turn out.

SETLIST:
Falling in Between
King of the World
Pamela
Caught in the Balance
Bottom of Your Soul
Don't Chain My Heart
Stop Loving You
Gypsy Train
Hold the Line
I'll Be Over You
Keyboard Solo
Rosanna
I'll Supply the Love
Isolation
Gift of Faith
Kingdom of Desire
Guitar solo
Hydra
Taint Your World
Africa

ENCORE: Drag Him to the Roof

MEET & GREET: Toto (Simon Phillips, Steve Lukather, Leland Sklar, Bobby Kimball)

TOTO

Dinosaurs from my generation typically tour infrequently and have nothing new to explore, creatively speaking. In complete contrast of this dogma is the Canadian trio: Rush. Messieurs Lee, Lifeson and Peart have been crafting their brand of music and lyric for well over 30 years, generally drawing on societal issues and/or Peart’s often tragic personal life. Rush is currently touring in support of their latest studio release, Snakes & Arrows, which I personally believe to be their strongest effort since the mid-1980’s. Not unlike other Rush adventures, the Snakes & Arrows tour came rolling into Indianapolis (technically Noblesville) for a near full house of fans. The pavilion seemed to be full to the last rows of seating, while the lawn was vastly covered, leaving only spotty places to park a blanket and a beer.

It would be remiss of me not to mention this year’s quirky tour gag. So let’s get that out of the way here and now. Geddy’s rotisserie chicken ovens, 3 of them in fact, cooked chickens throughout the concert. They provided a nice warm orange glow behind Geddy where bass amps would be for any other touring band. A chef appeared periodically to check the roasting. All the while the band played on. This is a new twist on the Maytag washer and dryer combo used last time on stage. Next time perhaps a cobbler fixing shoes, who knows?

The set list concentrated heavily on the new record, perhaps a bit more than I expected and perhaps a bit more than necessary. Clearly this was not a “greatest hits” tour. Nine new songs were performed, mostly in the second set. Other albums favored by the set list were Moving Pictures and Permanent Waves, both obvious masterpieces. A number of albums were overlooked completely, some rightfully so and others unfortunately. I suspect a number of people left around 10pm and missed a series of Rush classics toward the end of the show.

Ticket prices were steep, considering the endless array of service fees tacked on by the promoter, the venue and Ticketmaster. Ironically, the fees almost rival the cost of a lawn ticket! But without a doubt, the length and quality of the concert far outweighed the full ticket price. Looking back at the history of Rush’s set lists, it’s easy to see that as the years pass, the set lists get longer and longer and longer. Today there is no time or place for a support artist to join the bill. The show clocks in at around 3 full hours, 3.5 if you count the intermission! This is far longer than most 50+ year old rockers perform these days.

First Set:
Limelight
Digital Man
Entre Nous
Mission
Freewill
The Main Monkey Business
The Larger Bowl
Secret Touch
Circumstances
Between the Wheels
Dreamline

Second Set:
Far Cry
Workin' Them Angels
Armor and Sword
Spindrift
The Way the Wind Blows
Subdivisions
Natural Science
Witch Hunt
Malignant Narcissism
Drum Solo
De Slagwerker
Hope
Distant Early Warning
The Spirit of Radio
Tom Sawyer

ENCORE:
One Little Victory
A Passage to Bangkok
YYZ

RUSH

One of the up and coming hard rock acts of today, Black Stone Cherry made a stop in Indianapolis for one of only a handful of warm-up shows before heading over to Europe. Since releasing their debut album in 2006, BSC has toured relentlessly as a supporting act for the likes of Black Label Society and Hinder. The venue itself created enough confusion for me. I drove past it, thinking it was a rollerskating rink. Turns out, it's a cowboy bar that occasionally hosts rock bands. There's a giant wooden dance floor in the middle of the building that separates two sections of seating, creating a large chasm in the middle of the audience. Of course, you could stand out there, but there really weren't enough people to fill the place anyway. With such a large building and so much open space, the sound was terrible. The band's CD sounds far better. Aside from that, BSC was energetic and performed a few unexpected covers: the Rick Derringer classic "Rock & Roll Hoochie Coo" and a heavy version of Johnny Cash's "Folsom County Prison." Late in the show, a guitar solo evolved into a full blown version of the Jimi Hendrix classic, "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)." A handful of cowpokes arrived about midshow and were visibly irratated that there would be no bootscootin' tonight. The show was followed by a casual meet & greet .

MEET & GREET: Black Stone Cherry (Chris Robertson, Ben Wells, Jon Lawhon, John Fred Young)

BLACK STONE CHERRY
ROK HOLLYWOOD

Often with rock music, a band can pass a certain point of “legendary” status. Once legendary, they can continue, but at their own peril of becoming nothing more than a cartoon of themselves. The Rolling Stones are certainly a good example of this very point. The marketing hook (and it works every time) is based on the idea that concert goers will pay hundreds of dollars to see an artist who ranks fondly in their memories, even though the event will never live up to that memory. Enter Van Halen tour 2007 - featuring the brothers Van Halen, Eddie and Alex, plus Eddie’s son Wolfgang and former vocalist David Lee Roth – this is another such act.

Ticket prices were painfully out of synch with reality, selling at $149 from the floor all the way up to the second tier of suites. Tickets close to the stage were marketed and sold at $575 each, which included a free t-shirt and a pre-show party. Was this a matter of keeping up with the joneses (The Rolling Stones, U2, The Police, Genesis) or was this a calculated effort to ensure the VH07 tour would gross substantially more money than the VH04 tour with singer, Sammy Hagar?

A solid distraction, although no fault of the venue or the band, was the guy directly behind me, who for some reason thought Van Halen was auditioning new vocalists in Indianapolis. Needless to say, he didn’t get the job and Roth will be performing Tuesday at All State Arena in Rosemont, IL.

Eddie looks healthy and happy. Roth sports a haircut that makes him look like the Duth Boy Paint mascot and Alex of course still looks like an Eskimo. Wolfgang Van Halen played bass in place of Michael Anthony, who was banished from the band some time ago. He did OK, but it was pretty clear that he’s just a kid and didn’t really fit in with the others.

Overall, this show was a bigger stage presentation of the same show Roth performed here as a solo artist September 2006. It was still a state fair quality performance, but placed in the context of a large, high tech, yet simple stage. Whereas the DLR of old was famous for his on-stage athleticism, he now pirouettes in lieu of the big flying roundhouse kicks for which he was so famous. Since Roth doesn’t play an instrument and he doesn’t drink Jack Daniels on stage anymore, he’s got a lot of spare time on his hands.

The stage itself was puzzling to me. Very clearly, there was a large “S” that began as a ramp behind the drum kit and swept around to the front of the stage, then out into the audience. I can only assume this was a nod to former singer Sammy Hagar, as Eddie, Alex, Wolfgang and David don’t start with the first initial “S”. While on this subject, I would have like to have seen Sammy and his band sitting in the premium $575 seats for the concert. At least that might have added a bit more tension to the show. As it was, we were waiting in hopes for one of Diamond Dave’s spontaneous bursts of stupidity to involve Eddie’s son Wolfgang. There’s probably a contract clause in place to prevent that, because it didn’t happen.

Bottom line, if the tickets had not been so outrageously overpriced, the show would have been a solid B in my book, but the fact that prices were so high raises fan expectations. But this is Van Halen. Is a B really what we expect from them, ever? Truth is we missed Michael Anthony. If that wasn’t possible for whatever reason, why not Billy Sheehan or any number of accomplished adult players?

SETLIST:
You Really Got Me
I'm the One
Runnin' With the Devil
Romeo Delight
Somebody Get Me a Doctor
Beautiful Girls
Dance the Night Away
Atomic Punk
Everybody Wants Some
So This Is Love?
Mean Street
Pretty Woman
Drum Solo
Unchained
I'll Wait
And the Cradle Will Rock
Hot for Teacher
Little Dreamer
Little Guitars
Jamie's Cryin'
Ice Cream Man
Panama
Guitar Solo

ENCORE:
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
1984
Jump

VAN HALEN
KY MANI MARLEY

Unbelievable. Jordan plays a tapping technique that goes to a whole new level of musicianship. I have longed to see Jordan play since seeing him on the David Letterman Show some 20+ years ago. Stanley Jordan plays not one, but two guitars simultaneously. One guitar is fixed on a stand, while the other hangs about his neck. This was in no way intended to be a novelty aspect of his show. He played with this arrangement throughout most of the night. In addition, he sat at the piano and played guitar and piano at the same time. While we often see keyboardists and harpists make use of both hands in similar fashion, this was like neither of those. The crowd size was ridiculously small, even given consideration to the fact that the venue itself is quite small and this was the second of two shows. Many of the attendees were hangers on from the first show. Once again, it is proven that the most talented entertainers are the least known.

Meet & Greet: Stanley Jordan

STANLEY JORDAN

A sensational, spot-on tribute to Pink Floyd. This Australian group has garnered many great reviews from around the world, including the blessings of David Gilmour and Roger Waters. The theater size venue was a perfect setting. The light show and movie reels were true to the Pink Floyd stage show and the colors were stunning. In terms of the instruments played, spot-on perfection for note, tone and clarity. As for the vocals, well two members sang; one sounded much like Gilmour and the other could sound like both Gilmour and Waters. Lady background singers were tremendously talented as well. The show began with a full on presentation of Dark Side Of The Moon, in it's entirety. The band took a short intermission then continued the second half with a variety of PF classics, culled from the entire Floyd catalog. This was one of the most enjoyable and affordable shows I've attended in a long time.

SETLIST:
Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)
Welcome to the Machine
Have a Cigar
Wish You Were Here
Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-IX)
Astronomy Domine
Learning to Fly
Time
The Great Gig in the Sky
Money
Take It Back
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
Nobody Home
Pigs (Three Different Ones)
The Gunner's Dream
One of These Days
The Happiest Days of Our Lives
Another Brick in the Wall Part 2
Comfortably Numb

ENCORE:
Hey You
Run Like Hell

AUSTRALIAN PINK FLOYD SHOW

According to the press, this 07 tour of small venues has been well attended and Indianapolis was no exception. Both Shaw and Blades were in good spirits having recently played Las Vegas and three days off before Indy. The format for the show was a loose, acoustic set of primarily covers in support of their 2007 release, Influence, itself a work of cover songs. Personally, it takes a lot to impress me with an all covers album. I can't imagine why this trend has been so heavily traveled by multi-platinum artists, but they're all doing it. Despite the loose format, the guys sing and play at the top of their game. A song was tossed in from Jack Blades solo album, cleverly titled Jack Blades, as was one tune from the previous Shaw-Blades album, My Hallucination. There was a fair amount of banter between the two artists serving as seguay to the next song. Although humorous at times and well executed, it was clearly a rehearsed schtick that no doubt appears at every show along the tour. Once that became obvious, the banter became schtick and the schtick became a little hokey. The concert was enjoyable however. On paper, the strategy for the show probably looks ho-hum. In fact, I was expecting ho-hum just because I'm not a fan of the all covers format, but somehow it works in this case for these artists. There is a great chemistry shared between Shaw and Blades that makde even the most disasterous plan succeed.

TOMMY SHAW and JACK BLADES

Sporting a brand new studio record, Mission California, Cross Canadian Ragweed was in top form when the played Indianapolis. Several songs from the new album injected new life into the old set list, yet there was plenty of room in the 2 hr set for older favorites as well. The show kicked off with the opening track from Mission California, Record Exec, and included no fewer than 6 tracks total from the new record. Surprisingly, two tracks from MC were omitted, Jenny and Dead Man, both solid examples of Cody Canada's song writing and lyricism. Two Todd Snider penned classics were covered as well, I Believe and Late Last Night, both of which have been long time Ragweed crowd pleasers. One of the many highlights of the evening featured the song, Leaving Tennessee, which was just recently released as an iTunes single for download. Love it or hate it, the band graced those fans who requiested it with, Boys From Oklahoma, a track they claim they've been trying to ditch from the set list for years now. Of the 4 times I've seen Ragweed live, this was by far the band at their very best and one of the best live music bargains you'll ever hope to find.

Back Porch Mary opened the show in support of Ragweed. They were an interesting mix of garage, punk and country, perfect for any roudy beer drinkin' bar. It's worth mentioning that they did an incredible, punk-country version of the Arlo Guthrie classic, City Of New Orleans.

CROSS CANADIAN RAGWEED
BACK PORCH MARY