| Tim McGraw with Jeffrey Steele Concert Review | |
When Tim McGraw announced his tour schedule for this year, I was excited to see that he was including a stop at the Konocti Harbor Resort. I knew that it would be tough getting tickets, but on the morning tickets went on sale, I was right online looking for seats, and dialing the phone at the same time. I never did get through on the phone, and I ended up with seats in the rear part of the reserved section, 22 rows back. Later, when I called the resort back to get a room I found out they were sold out, so I now had a ticket but no place to stay. Being as Kelseyville is in the middle of nowhere, the closest place to stay was about 50 miles away, and 1 1/2 hours of mountain driving to get there. I was not looking forward to that, but Tim is worth it, so I booked the room in the next city, Williams, CA.
As time got closer to the concert date, I decided to check back with the resort, as they suggested, to see if there had been any cancellations. I called 2 days before, and I totally lucked out and got a room. I cancelled my other room, and now prepared to have a place to stay without a 50 mile drive in the middle of the night on a windy mountain road. I was relieved.
But, the fun was just beginning... as I left for the show on the 27th, my car decided to make trouble for me and my water hose broke. Luckily, it did so within 1000 feet of a gas station with an on-duty mechanic. I anxiously sat in my car for 2 1/2 hours while they tried to figure what part fit my car, knowing that as each moment went by, I got closer to possibly missing the show, losing the money I paid for the room and the ticket. This was not a tiny sum, but over $250.00.
Around 7:00 pm, the announcer came on and mentioned the sponsors, and upcoming events, and that Jeffrey Steele would be out shortly to open the show. Until this moment, I hadn't known there was going to be an opening act. I had never seen any advertisement of someone, but was interested in seeing Jeffrey, as I remembered hearing his single, "Something in the Water," and thought it was pretty neat.
Jeffrey then told the story that the last time he was in Clear Lake he wrote the next song. That song was the single he'd had, "Something In The Water." I was really disappointed in the lack of attention that people were paying him. It was clear that the majority of the people were there for Tim, and Tim alone. Jeffrey did get applause after his songs, but I thought people could be a little more attentive. Towards the end of his set, Tim's bus drove by the outside of the amphitheater and around the back, and people started screaming. I felt really bad that the bus got more attention than Jeffrey did for his performing.
All in all, I enjoyed Jeffrey's show. I thought he did a good job, especially with the attention he got from most people. I thought they could have placed an opening act that had more name recognition. I think it would have gone over better. I'm looking forward to Jeffrey's album, which comes out this Fall on Sony Nashville.
Here is Jeffrey's full set list:
Jeffrey played about 40 minutes, and while not a dynamic performer like Tim, he did a good job, considering that people weren't paying all that much attention to him.
But, luck was with me, and I was able to get my car fixed, and I drove to the venue and got to the resort at 6:10 pm, with a show starting (according to the ticket) at 6:45 pm. Parking was horrendous, with people not staying at the hotel taking every spot around, including the regular amphitheater parking. I finally was able to check in and made my way up the hill to the venue at 6:40 pm, and heard the ticket taker say I had plenty of time. I got to my seat to find that I had tall people in front of me, and I knew I was going to have a hard time seeing the middle of the stage. But, there was nothing to do but make the best of it. (Note: Picture at left shows view of lake from amphitheater.)
At 7:15 pm, Jeffrey was announced and came out on the stage dressed in a white tank top and jeans, and grabbed his guitar. As he doesn't have an album out yet, I was unfamiliar with his work, other than the one single I had heard. He sang something I believe that was called "I Can't Hold You." Then, he thanked people for coming and said that most people probably didn't know who he was, but may recognize some of the songs he had written for other artists. He then sang "Unbelievable," which is a Diamond Rio hit. He followed that up with Trace Adkins' recent hit, "I'm Tryin'." I enjoyed his interpretations of both songs.