Wow......I struggle for adjectives today that can add some real weight to the show I went to last night in Minneapolis....
I was the first time I was able to see Steve since first "discovering" him twenty-something years ago....there was always something that was in the way here when he was in town, new baby, sick baby, tired Mama....something.....but, last night had to be one of the ten most memorable nights of my life.....
Steve and Allison appeared at the Pantages Theater in downtown Minneapolis, a restored theater from the vaudeville era, incredibly beautiful and a very intimate setting, nothing like the giant centers that other folks seem to love. Allison's voice was lovely, she was a perfect, calming effect before the big show began...
Then, it did...all of these weeks of waiting!! I couldn't believe it..Steve sang for 2 1/2 hours, such energy and passion and obvious delight at just singing. As someone who cannot carry a tune in a 50 pound drum, I've always marveled at people who can, and who are able to share that gift with the rest of us.
His set list: Steve's Last Ramble, Devil's Right Hand, My Old Friend the Blues, Now She's Gone, Tom Ames Prayer, South Nashville Blues, Billy Austin, Tennessee Blues, Jericho Road, Oxycontin Blues, CCKMP, Transcendental Blues, Sparkle and Shine (with Allison and such a dear duo! You can feel the love glimmering over the whole audience!), Days Are Never Long Enough,
Down Here Below, City of Immigrants, Way Down in the Hole, Galway Girl (great!!!), Steve's Hammer, Satellite Radio, Little Rock and Roller and a mighty finish, Copperhead Road....
He didn't do some of my favorites, but there are so many songs...I would be hard pressed to come up with a better set...
My dear husband went with me, he's not a huge fan, but he was well behaved and I didn't have to send him out to the car...
After the show, I went around the corner of the building to the loading area. Their big, black bus was purring at the curb, the security guy said Allison was already on the bus...there were just four of us waiting. I managed to convince my husband to stay until, hopefully, Steve came out.
Then, there he was, a more exhausted fellow I've never seen who was still upright. Of course, like a goofball, I screamed....he signed a picture for me and I hugged him and blathered on about the show. I am not sure how much of it he even heard.....and, of course, my camera was in my purse and it stayed there until we had driven off toward home....but, I didn't feel like I could ask for much more, he just seemed to want to get to the bus and sleep. They were on their way to the next stop on the tour, Winnipeg, about 9 hours from Minneapolis...for a show today!
If you ever get a chance to see him, you have to go. It was such a great experience for me. I am a recovering addict, as is Steve, and I told him that his music, blasting in my ears via my MP3 player, was what had gotten me through my first three weeks of detox...now, I have 156 days and still his music affects me in ways that are hard to describe...it has sustained me through many good, and bad, times in my life.
God bless Steve Earle and thank you for sharing the music with us!
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