Ashley and I arrived at the Ameristar Casino and found the Bottleneck Blues Bar right away. An extremely nice manager escorted us to a first row table off to the side of the stage. The Bottleneck Blues Bar is a small venue located inside the Ameristar Casino located in St. Charles, MO.
The small bar was filled with applause and cheerful greetings to Michelle Branch and Jessica Harp as The Wreckers entered the stage and started off their show with "The Good Kind," "Love Me Like That," "Way Back Home" and "Damn that Radio."
Jessica Harp asked if there were any crazy people in the audience tonight. Several members in the audience started waving their hands and shouting. Smiling, she said something like "I say that with love, and this song is for you, it's called, "Crazy People."
Then Harp told us that she always wanted to be a third Judd but the next best thing was being a duo with Michelle Branch and singing the Judd's song "Love is Alive."
Next, Michelle Branch introduced Jessica Harp, Missouri native to sing a solo song called "Top of the World." Branch said she couldn't say enough good things about Harp, and then left the stage for Jessica's acoustic solo. The crowd shouted to Jessica wanting to know where she was from in Missouri and she responded Kansas City, which gained her additional cheers.
After Jessica's solo, Michelle Branch came back on stage for her own solo number. Michelle introduced "Patriot" saying she was at a Submarine Tour in CT and it was her first time on a military base. A submarine was going out for a 6 month tour and all their families were waving goodbye, so she decided to play this song for them and has been playing it ever since. Michelle received numerous shouts and cheers throughout the song.
Harp joined Branch on stage introducing the next song "Cigarettes" as a song for ladies that are sick of guys crap. The ladies in the audience started cheering. Then Branch added that the song can go the other way too, for guys that are sick of our crap. The guys in the audience started cheering.
The Wreckers played "My Oh My" as the audience launched into a sing along showing their excitement and support. They continued their set with "Different Truck" and their current single, "Tennessee," before closing with "Feel like Making Love" and "Leave the Pieces."
The audience stood as the Wreckers left the stage applauding and cheering. After a few minutes, the Wreckers returned to the stage for an encore playing "Stand Still, Look Pretty," and "Rain."
Branch introduced the following members of her band: Tony Oborohta, guitar; Teddy Landau, base; Fred Eltringham, drums; Mike Webb, keyboard; and Jason Moweru, fiddle and additional string instruments. Then Branch hugged Harp and the two of them gathered with the band members at center stage to take a bow for the applauding audience.
We liked that The Wreckers played many songs from their Stand Still, Look Pretty album. Their personal stories and wardrobe's gave us, the audience a brief glance at each member of the duet as individual artist. In addition, the acoustic solos also provided a nice opportunity to see Branch and Harp's individual talent that each brings to the duet.
Set List:
- "The Good Kind"
- "Love Me Like That"
- "Way Back Home"
- "Damn that Radio"
- "Crazy People"
- "Lay Me Down"
- "Top of the World" – Jessica Harp solo
- "Patriot" – Michelle Branch solo
- "Love is Alive"
- "Cigarettes"
- "My Oh My"
- "Different Truck"
- "Tennessee"
- "Feel Like Making Love"
- "Leave the Pieces"
- Encore:
- "Stand Still, Look Pretty"
- "Rain"