BoDeans
2006.02.25 Parkwest • Chicago, IL

Sam Llanas, Kurt Neumann, Bukka Allen, Eric Holden, Kenny Aronoff

Saturday February 25, 2006
Parkwest - Chicago, IL
Opener: Aswah Greggori, Otis Clay

Here's the entire night summed up in 4 words....
"Kenny And The Cowbell"

Now for a *few* other details....

The music started around 8:00 with Aswah Greggori (reggae) and then later Otis Clay (soul/R&B). To be honest, I thought it was a very strange combination to be putting those two performers and the BoDeans on the same stage in one night. But I was pleasently surprised. We were out there dancing from the very beginning and had a great time listening to all the music.

Before we knew it it, the guys were taking the stage around 10:15 and the crowd gave them a great welcome! Everyone in the place seemed ready to rock and rock we did!

Setlist:
1. Ultimately Fine - it only took about 3 seconds for me to turn to those next to me and comment on how incredibly fast Kenny was going. It felt like he set the pace twice as fast as normal! In the middle of the song Kurt seemed to kneel down towards Kenny as if to relinquish all control to Kenny!
2. Heart of America - Bukka, Bukka Bukka was on fire! And not just on this song but the entire night!
3. Texas Ride Song - Sam could be seen jumping right away in the very beginning of the song. So of course we followed suit! :)
4. Still The Night - Sam called out in the middle "Help me sing!" And then when the song was all over he said "That was very beautiful. Thank you very much."
5. Idaho - again, Bukka was just incredible both on his accordian and his organ during this one!
6. Makes U - and the cowbell begins. In the very beginning when it's just Kenny playing his bass drum and a cymbal, he threw in a couple quick taps on his cowbell. It caught us by surprise but sounded awesome so we just immediately cheered. He just smiled back with a silly grin on his face like he so often does. but from that point on he threw in a bit of cowbell whenever he could and would keep making silly faces. It was just too much fun! Somewhere in the middle of the song Sam threw in his "Bellisima!"
After the song, there were few people yelling out requests and Sam commented that "We're going to play lots of those songs." And then he continued saying something to the effect that 'sometimes wey don't get to play you favorites' and "then you're going to go to the message board and say what you will"
7. Good Work w/Batman - in the very beginning Kurt starts out with his driving guitar and then Sam comes in with his acoustic and they did this extended intro before anyone else came in. The whole time they're playing, Kenny is sitting behind the drum kit flipping his drumstick up in the air and then catching it. He did this about 4 times each one getting higher and a bit more out of control until he missed catching it and it went bouncing off his hand to the side of the stage. Again, he just had that great big smile on his face like he always does!
Once they got into the unbelieveable rocking version of Good Work that I've been in love with for the last year....they threw in a bit of Batman once again but this time Sam sang it along with us.
8. Brand New
9. Stay On - more sporadic cowbell and we determine that "Kenny's cowbell happy". :)
10. Runaway w/Del Shannon intro - Sam started out by saying that it was "a cool place to play." and that "I saw Bob Dylan here. So this is for Bob". Somewhere in the middle of the song, Sam walked over to the far left side of the stage, then Kurt walked over to the far right side of the stage. In the process I believe they got their guitar cords crossed and then Sam came hurrying back to his mic to sing again but Kurt wasn't fast enough to get his cord untangled before Sam started singing. So Kurt just stayed by Sam and shared the mic with him.
11. Fadeaway w/Bed's Too Big - we noticed one of the roadies bring out Sam's hemp stickered guitar at the very beginning so we figured Kenny was going to play on it for us again! Which he did. But earlier in the song there was a great bass solo, a Kurt solo that went on forever and was unbelievable, it was just so intense. The only word that rightfully describes it is "WOW". And in addition to all that, Kurt sang Bed's Too Big once again! Once Sam did head back to Kenny for him to play on his guitar, it was a bit of a tight squeeze for him to get back there. Everything was closer together on stage since it was smaller. And finally, the last note I made for Fadeaway reads like this...."that damn cowbell!"
12. You Don' Get Much - unbelievable like always!
13. Naked w/Rickshaw Riding - When Sam sang the line "My hands are shaking...." Kurt could be seen making his hand shake. And then of course he just held up his arms while we sang the "Hold You" and "Control" parts.
14. Closer to Free - Just like the night before, Sam and Eric were shoulder to should trying to push each other over again. And of course there were smiles all around amongst the silly antics on stage.
--- encore ---
15. Misery - with a great big loud scream from Sam in the very beginning and that incredible bass through the whole song! And right before Kurt does his solo, Sam (and the crowd) were singing "Misery" and Sam added "and it sounds like that" just as Kurt was going to go into this solo. Then right before Bukka did his solo, Sam yells out "Go Bukka!"
16. Good Things - And the band getting us all in a frenzy one last time before the night is over. Once again, Kurt, Eric and Sam were jumping right long with us!

The guys finished just after midnight and played everything on the official setlist with the exception of Nobody Loves me that was listed as second in the encore but in the end was skipped. The setlists from both Indy and Chicago were exactly the same on paper, but in the end each encore was just a little bit different. No matter what it all sounded great and we were definitely beaming after back-to-back shows that weekend.