Dale Watson Concert Review

In the years since I first discovered Dale Watson, I've managed to catch only four of his five Arizona shows (I'm hoping I didn't miss any others; the fifth happened when I was out of town and couldn't make it). During the week, a work day tomorrow, never matters, because when Dale Watson comes to town, I do make the time to go because he never fails to give a one-hundred- and-fifty percent awesome show.

Opening was 13 to the Gallows, a group that played hard, but, for me, a little too loud. I know, I know, I'm getting over the hill. But honestly, if you can't hear any of the lyrics over the beat, isn't that defeating the purpose? Especially when some of the tunes sounded eerie and the titles that I could actually hear seemed interesting. I know that at times the "Room" can have chancy sound, but I couldn't totally blame that as, when Dale took the stage at about 9:45, he was as clear as a bell.

Not just clear, but also in fine form, full of jokes and laughter as he took requests and started in right off pushing his newest disc, Truckin' Sessions, Volume Two, by opening with "Let This Trucker Go." And one thing you just gotta know going into a Dale Watson show, you ain't never gonna see the same one twice. Dale takes requests right from the get-go, arriving on stage and announcing, "What'dya wanna hear?" before he so much as strums a single chord. He lines up the song titles called out to him and does 'em as they come up, sometimes in the order he hears 'em, or sometimes just as he feels like. Once in a while, he just does a song he wants to do, as he did about forty-five minutes or an hour into the show, the Johnny Cash tune "I Still Miss Someone," and, as he said, "Just felt like doing a Johnny Cash song." And of course during both "Country My Ass" and "A Real Country Song," I was much heartened to discover that Dale feels much the same way as I do about Rascal Flatts.

In this age of arena shows and stadium acts, where some giant name plays before a faceless crowd of thousands, there is nothing in the world like being at a show where the headliner not only acknowledges you are there, but might actually talk with you, have a chat, pose for pictures, sign autographs, or even call you up on stage to sing with him (as he did with a couple of guys at the top of the second half of the show, one, the lead singer of opening act 13 to the Gallows). Dale teases, plays, enjoys not just playing his music, but his crowd.

He and his band, the Lone Stars (consisting of "U" Gene Kurtz on bass, Don Don Pawlak on pedal steel, and David Bowen on drums), are obvious friends, able to laugh and joke with each other as they pass around the tequila and whiskey and beer ("oh my!"). There is nothing that makes a show like an artist who plays off his audience, because once that mutual affection starts going, there's nothing that can stop it. Between songs Dale might tell a tale or two (tall or otherwise), he might ask for a drink, or he might thank someone for giving him one (usually with the caveat "now, I don't drink normally" and for a fella his size, he does put away a frightening amount of booze, with, near as I can tell, no effects whatsoever).

Dale played from 9:45 all the way until just past 1:00, giving out a full forty songs, plus a quick happy birthday ditty to a member of the audience and, perhaps, the longest drum solo ever- EVER-by Lone Star drummer David Bowen during "Exit 109" (a loving tribute to a Texas brothel) . He took only one break, which was supposed to be fifteen minutes but stretched out a little longer than that since Dale wanted to meet and greet everyone who wanted to meet him, especially those who wouldn't be able to stay for the end of the show. It was the first Dale show I've ever seen or heard that he didn't do a "Mandatory Merle" song, and I kinda missed it, because Dale does some of the best Merle covers you'll ever hear, but I couldn't quite make my voice heard over the crowd.

Once the last song was sung, "Hey Driver," at something past 1:00, he stayed around the floor talking to folks until well past last call. We closed the "Room" and said our good nights, and I might have been tempted to hang around talking longer if I hadn't had to get up for work in less than three hours. Was it worth spending my Friday in a fog? Danged right, it was. Dale, you're one smooth-talkin' fella, and I can't wait until you get back to Phoenix!

Set List:

• "Let This Trucker Go"
• "Drag 'N' Fly"
• "A Real Country Song"
• "Rattlesnake Train"
• "South of Round Rock, Texas"
• "Texas Boogie"
• "Sit & Drink & Cry"
• "Country My Ass"
• "The Honky Tonk Wizard of Oz"
• "Bright Lights"
• "Make The World Go Away"
• "Exit 109"
• "Apartment #9"
• "Loose Nut Behind The Wheel"
• "I Still Miss Someone"
• "Made In Japan"
• "Truckstop in La Grange"
• "Every Song That I Write"
• "Truckin' Man"
• "Honky Tonkers Don't Cry"
• "Cradle to the Grave"
• "Where Do You Want It?"

BREAK

• "Folsom Prison Blues"
• "I Wish I Was Crazy Again"
• "Whiskey Or God"
• "San Antonio Rose"
• "East Bound and Down"
• "I See Your Face (In Every Face I See)"
• "Dreamland"
• "She Don't Care"
• "I Got To Drive"
• "Louie's Lee's Liquor Lounge"
• "Fox On The Run"
• "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues"
• "Cheatin' Heart Attack"
• "Mammas Don't Let Your Cowboys Grow Up to Be Babies"
• "Nashville Rash"
• "Sweet Jessie Brown"
• "Hey Driver"