Gov’t Mule - Spokane, WA - 6/22/08
Where do I start with this one…
I arrived at The Big Easy (The Knitting Factory?) around 3:30PM. Doors were to open at 7, and I was first in line, kind of. It turns out the guy sitting on the little set of stairs that I thought were part of the bands rig was not in fact one of the crew, he was just as obsessive compulsive as me when it comes to arriving early. The entire band said hi to him on the way in to soundcheck, so that just further led to me thinking that he was part of the crew. I kind of waved at them as they entered, but didn’t want to bug them so I didn’t get up from my spot in “line”. As they started to tune-up, I did move closer to the “crew guy” so I could hear better, and started to chat w/ him. This is when I discovered he just a fan too. But he knew everyone. All the members of the crew stopped to talk to him, he helped unload part of the bus blah blah blah.
So. They started off the soundcheck w/ Presence of the Lord, then jammed a bit of Is It My Body, by Alice Cooper. Warren did the vocals for Presence, but not for Is It My Body, so at no point did I really think they’d play it that night (but I did get hopeful re: Presence). From there on out it was nothing but Zep. The Ocean, No Quarter, Living Loving Maid, you name it. Then out of the blue we heard someone doing vocals who was clearly not Warren. Much higher pitched.
Right as soundcheck was ending, I heard that will-call was open (Music Today didn’t ship my ticket in time, so they said I’d have one waiting at will-call). So I wandered over to the first person (yeah, two totally separate will-calls) and gave her my ID. She said she didn’t have anything for me, and directed me to the 2nd. The other will-call didn’t have my name or credit card anywhere on file. So thanks to MT, I “got” to buy a 2nd ticket. The email I’ll be sending them shortly will be polite but not exactly friendly. If the show was sold out I would have been somewhere near furious (Spokane, WA isn’t exactly close by). Anyway, after buying the ticket I went to the “official” line, which had 3 people in it. My new Mule buddy Alex saved a spot for me so I could get in another cig or two before committing to lining up inside.
Here’s where it gets even more interesting. Promptly at 7PM, the ticket holding patrons in the “bar and restaurant” that’s somehow attached to the venue are let in - ahead of those of us in line. Hidden on the other side of the building there’s a public bar/restaurant, and if you somehow know about this place, you can go there and eat and drink before the show, then you’re let in before everyone else. So I arrived at 3:30PM to watch about 60-80 people walk in ahead of me. The ticket fiasco was annoying, this, was infuriating. I spoke w/ several of the security and staff guys in the hours before the show - I specifically asked several of them if the place I was standing was considered the line - and not one of them said anything like “hey there’s a restaurant and bar around the corner, go hang out there and not only can you grab a bite to eat, but you’ll be let in first”. After I write Music Today, I’ll be writing The Big Easy.
I escape the ticket “issue”, and I escaped the insane “let in the restaurant people first” policy. Nearly every single one of them rushed into the venue, so they could get a good seat. The floor was almost empty. Alex and I got great spots in the front row, after all. Right up until the show started, I don’t think there were more than 40 people on the floor. Warren even had to start things out by suggesting to the rest of the folks that there was plenty of space up front.
Similar to the previous night (and nights before that) they started out w/ an untitled jam. The first set was fun and going great, right up until Is It My Body. At that point it became fantastic. They absolutely killed it. Danny played guitar and shredded.
After a great Thelonius Beck, Miles Kennedy - who has previously played w/ the Mule, came out and helped w/ the two Zep covers, and absolutely held his own on stage w/ the best band playing today. I was skeptical at first, but not for long at all. Wait till you hear the recording (note: I did see one taper, and though I know nothing of these things, I’m not sure it was the best rig in the world - but I reiterate, I know nothing about that stuff).
The second set was great fun, and there wasn’t a thing wrong with it - it just didn’t compare to an Alice Cooper tune and 2 really well done Zep covers. The encore is another story. I really like Goin’ Out West by Mr. Waits, but I love it by Gov’t Mule. And tho it’s not listed on mule.net, there was a Bang A Gone interlude, which I’ve heard before, but never in person. So much fun.
After the show I went to look for my new friend Jeff, the fellow who is not in fact a crew member, and found him at the same place. He told me to stick around as only Danny had come out and hopped on the bus. Now, I’m not one for autographs. Generally, I think that actors, musicians and other “famous” people really aren’t that different than the rest of us. I’ve met a number of musicians and only once asked for an autograph (I was young and adored Metallica. I said I was young). But Gov’t Mule is a totally, totally different story. When Danny hoped off the bus, Jeff dragged me over and I got Danny to sign the first sets setlist. I didn’t say much, just “It was a great show, thanks a lot”. He was as friendly and gracious as I’d previously heard. Then Andy walked out, and I figured what the hell, so I got him to sign the setlist too. Matt appeared out of nowhere and I got the 3rd autograph. There was a relatively small crowd waiting around (20, 25 people?) so Andy just hung around chatting with everyone. Matt did for quite a while too. I figured ok 3 out of 4, might as well wait. And after about 30 minutes, Warren came out. He signed my setlist and handed me one of his guitar pics (someone in front of me asked him for one, and he gave me one too). I will admit to being just a tiny bit star-stuck. I’ve seen this band in Vancouver, BC, Seattle, WA, Spokane, WA, Philly, PA, Sayreville, NJ, Baltimore, MD, New York, NY, Austin, TX, and Denver, CO. I have flown, driven and taken trains to see them play. So yeah, a signed setlist will be something I frame.
