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December 2, 2006
Can't Stop Wayne the Train
I love Wayne Hancock. And I also love Safari Sam's, where he played last night. Not only does Safari Sam's have a huge-ass parking lot, but it also has Pabst Blue Ribbon on tap. What more could you ask for?
All the ingredients were in place for a kick-ass show, and Wayne (and Safari Sam's!) delivered. I was at work until 11:30p, but a call to the venue ahead of time assured me he wouldn't go on until 11p, and I was further informed "He's gonna play for a LONG time." Despite having to stop at the ATM, despite having to walk for what seemed like forever to get to my truck, despite being stuck in traffic on the 101, despite being stuck behind a slow-ass mother fucker on Sunset Boulevard who clearly did not understand that I WAS MISSING WAYNE HANCOCK FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, I managed to get there around midnight, just in time for "Thunderstorms and Neon Signs" (which made my life complete) and STILL got to see Wayne play for TWO HOURS. He did take some breaks, letting his girlfriend / merch girl take over for a couple of songs. She delivered a pleasant enough set, but for sure couldn't compare to Robert from Big Sandy, who relieved Wayne for a song. In addition to old favorites, Wayne did a bunch of songs from his latest CD Tulsa, and some requests, even some which he clearly would rather have not performed ("Don't ever write a song you don't want to sing," Wayne advised - I don't know what his problem was - 'cause I totally dug the song).
Kudos to sidemen Eddie Biebel and Jake Erwin, who strum and slap like there's no tomorrow. Even on ballads, the combined energy about these three guys makes them unstoppable, but at the same time - in more boisterous songs, there's something about the breaking of Wayne's voice that makes him seem as lonely as the train he's nominatively compared to. And we're totally okay with that.
Posted by darlin at December 2, 2006 2:27 PM
