2 July 2003 - Weesner Amphitheater @ The Minnesota Zoo - Apple Valley,
Minnesota
Round 2 of Rockin' the MN Zoo was every bit as fun and spirited as the first
night. Both nights were an all around success on just about every level. The
band really seemed to dig the whole thing and they came out in a great mood
and just started flyin' right off the bat.
They started a bit earlier - and even pushed the curfew a few minutes on the
other end, much to the displeasure of a Zoo official who was making frantic
"cut" motions to the monitor guy at exactly 10:31. 110 minutes total, almost
15 minutes more than Tuesday. Weather was even hotter and stickier - and
more unstable. A few raindrops showed up after an hour, the wind kicked up
and the temp started dropping - all classic signs of approaching Midwestern
Thunderboomers. Fortunately, the weather gods held off on the pyrotechnics
until a few hours after the show ended.
After the boys took the stage, they started doodling around and it soon
became clear that they were gonna kick night 2 off with that long, way cool
intro to "One Time, One Night." Always one of my all time fave LL songs (and
some of Louie's very best lyrics) and this version was sublime. It's always
a good sign for things to come when a concert starts off at such a high
point.
In fact, the whole vibe of night 2 was better - the rhythm section seemed to
be grooving better, the jams and workouts flowed more freely (vividly on
display during an outrageously good 15 minute "Down By the River" - more on
that in a bit), and the all-important, intangible crowd-band juju was very
solid. The band just seemed more comfortable and relaxed. And being the
first date announced (Tuesday's show was the add-on) there were more people
here for round 2; this sucker was way sold out.
Like the night before, there was a whole mess of great guitar work early
on - David was even better on Wednesday, and he eventually got some able
assistance from Cesar and Louie. Louie scorched through at least 3 awesome
solos (which is at least 3 more than Tuesday, and that's certainly not meant
as a criticism, just an observation) and was noticeably more engaged, pacing
the stage, interacting with the crowd, pumping his fist in the air at times.
The 3 guitar attack was used to great effect several times during the show.
Very little duplication over the two nights. Just "Maria Christina" and
"SMA" by my reckoning. "Someday" was a huge surprise (although I found out
later that they had played it a few months ago in New Orleans) and was
absolutely gorgeous. The "I Can't Understand" jam was also especially fine.
And I still can't believe how kick-ass "Politician" was. My friend Roy (a
huge 60s music fan) next to me recognized it right away and started freaking
out. This version was considerably "heavier" than the one on the JABFELA
mini-box. I mentioned after the song how bizarre it was to hear how David's
voice was a dead ringer for Jack Bruce and how much his guitar sounded like
Clapton. Like 2 guys inhabiting one body. A one man Cream reunion. Or
something like that. It made sense when I thought about it at the show. :)
After the show my wife and I both marveled at how lucky we were to catch the
boys 2 nights in a row in such a cool setting, and how versatile they all
were, being able to play such different sets and still maintain such a high
level of excellence. Sometimes it's almost like getting a different band on
different nights.
There was also a cool "space" jam at the end of DIB, where DH fiddled
extensively with some FX (digital delay pedal, I think). Just like seeing
the Dead in the old days: sometimes ya get a little "SPACE; " sometimes ya
get some "DRUMS." Speaking of the Dead, the always popular in Minnesota
"Bertha" got a rousing reception in the encore as the clock was ticking
down.
And then there was the trip down by the river down by the lake down at the
zoo. After seeing 3 Neil Young "Greendale" shows a few weeks ago, I was
keyed into this one from the first chords, coming out of the ICY jam. I've
seen them do this many times in concert before but this version was special.
They really got into the slow groove and just took their sweet time jamming
from one high to another. All 3 electric guitars took nice long solos, and
at one point Cesar and David started a guitar "duel," an homage to the
legendary Stills-Young faceoffs during the Buffalo Springfield and early
CSNY days. DBTR just cruised along - the 15 minutes simultaneously went by
in a flash and seemed to linger forever, if you get my drift. The whole
crowd went nuts - awed jamband heads and new fans alike.
I think the boys were even a bit surprised at how long DBTR went. Time was
whizzing by and they still hadn't played any "trad" songs yet. Minnesota is
serious polka country (lots of Germans, doncha know) so it was kinda weird
to see an almost pure LL "rock" show. Then David suddenly called out to some
guy named "Eric" and the next thing you know the guy's on stage and calling
out to some chick. Before long, the poor sap is down on one knee and is
proposing to his clearly stunned GF. She accepted, everyone oohed and awed
and the band launched into a classic wedding song, "When We Get Married,"
which a brief round of "googling" showed to be an old doo wop song done by
The Dreamlovers in 1961 (a #10 hit). Yet another side of this multifaceted
band: the wedding singers from East LA.
After this little interlude, it was polka time with SMA (done both nights
cuz "Minnesota" is in the lyrics perhaps?) and then a nice little Rolling
Stones capper to the main set. Another funny thing: no covers until the
encore on Tuesday, then a ton of 'em on Wednesday. Like I said, you never
know what band is going to show up...
Before you knew it, almost 2 hours had gone by and the 2 night stand had
come to an end. We left totally satisfied but a bit bummed too since there
wasn't gonna be a night 3. Hell, my car practically drove itself way out to
the 'burbs the second night. I was just getting used to the routine. I do
see, though, that there's a show later this month in Chicago. And, it's at a
zoo, too. Do I smell another road trip?
ROUGH SETLIST
1 Time 1 Night
Someday ( labeled "old style" on the setlist)
My Baby's Gone
Don't Worry Baby
Politician (!?!#*!)
Up the Line
Malaque >
Maria Christina
Dream in Blue >
space
Come On Let's Go
Papa Was a Rolling Stone >
I Can't Understand >
Exodus (fragment) >
Down By the River (15 min!)
[on-stage marriage proposal by some guy named "Eric"]
When We Get Married
SMA
The Last Time (tease) >
It's All Over Now
ENCORE
Mona >
NFA >
Bertha
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