On the way to the show, I kept thinking that I needed to keep my wits about me. This was the first show that I’d acquired the tickets through Creative Loafing and it would be nice to impress them with lucid recollections on our first shot at this show review thing. Kind of like dating, you know, give them the angelic version of Autopsy for the first few weeks, let them get attached a little and then show them the rambling, incoherent “what? I saw a show tonight? Did I like it?” version. Everything was going according to plan. I was stone sober (mostly) and we were on schedule to get to the venue and walk in just in time for Old Crow to start. Then, everything went to hell. When we got to Tampa Theatre, we found out that Old Crow was a little over an hour from playing. A professional would have went in and watched the opening act but Creative Loafing fired most of their professionals and now they’re stuck with a lush like me. So, while one of those many professionals CL used to employ would have gone on in … I headed to The Hub. And the rest, as they say, is history … My head was wet with whiskey and about 10 people were in front of me in the beer line when I heard the show start; one-and-a-half songs later, I took my seat and this is my story.
The last time Old Crow Medicine Show came through Tampa, they played to a sold-out crowd at the legendary Skipperdome. This time through, the band switched it up and took the stage at the historic Tampa Theater. Going to the show, I knew two things for certain. One, this would be a much mellower crowd and two, it would be almost perfect sound wise.
The show was broken up into two sets with a 20-minute break in between. The first set was enjoyable enough but it was lacking the energy I’d feared it might. The crowd was flat and the band, both in song selection as well as stage performance, was mellow. I was dead-on about the sound, though. Tampa Theatre never disappoints on that front unless you’re there to see a movie. I’m not saying the first set was bad … it was just a little lackluster. Had the entire show gone on at that pace, I would have probably gotten bored before the end.
This was a stark contrast from their previous show at Skipper’s and as the band walked off the stage after the first set, I was worried that the more formal venue was dictating a more stuffy performance.
Maybe I needed more whiskey to help me find their groove. Fortunately, due to state smoking laws, Tampa Theatre now allows re-entry and The Hub is a mere 20 (yes, I counted) steps away. Read the rest of this entry »
Arcade Fire, Miroir Noir DVD (Merge)
