BoDeans
2007.08.10 Wisconsin State Fair • Milwaukee, WI

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

Friday August 10, 2007
Miller Lite Main Stage, Wisconsin State Fair, - Milwaukee, WI
Opener: The Gufs (photos here)

As we made our way towards Milwaukee, we couldn't help but get be excited for the evenings events. Between having Kenny back and having The Gufs open, we had been looking forward to the State Fair for quite some time.

We were lucky to find parking close to the grandstand and couldn't have asked for better timing, for the second I opened the car door, my ears immediately were filled with Kurt's voice singing "there's two boys holding....stars for wishing". Soundcheck was underway and there was no doubt it was Kenny drumming. That man has such a presence on YDGM that he had us smiling even before we entered the fair grounds!

We stayed close to hear the rest of soundcheck even though we couldn't see a thing, but did get to hear them go through We Can Live, Good Things, Say About Love and a minute or two of Good Work. All enjoyable and I was definitely excited to hear them rehearsing We Can Live, a personal favorite of mine that hasn't been playing in a few years.

After perusing the fair grounds, meeting up with the rest of the group and establishing (very) blue tongues for everyone, we made our way to our track seats and proceeded to enjoy a great (but short) set by the Gufs.

By 9:20 the guys were taking the stage, and there was no doubt that we were in a for some good music as Kenny laid down the opening beats to Say About Love. The rest of the evening went a little something like this:

1. Say About Love - no doubt Kenny had everyone's attention within the first few seconds, he's always going full force from the very beginning.
2. Good Work w/Batman - we were moving and grooving, and as always enjoying Bukka's big solo, the man sure can work those keys!
3. Runaway
4. Idaho
5. First Time - Sam began by telling that the first time he went to the State Fair was to see Foreigner.
6. Texas Ride Song - we jumped, of course.
7. We Can Live - what a treat to hear this again, seemed a bit slower paced than I remember, but then again, everything seems when following TRS.
8. Still The Night w/ Roadrunner (Modern Lovers?) - the guys began by playing an extended intro, and during that time I could have sworn I was hearing a bit of When the Love it Good mixed in before they went into the familiar Still the Night melody. Could be wrong though as I was the only one in the group who caught it. Anyway, the song went on with us singing our part while they sang their part, and as always they sped it WAY up at the end, but when Sam made his way back to the mic, he threw in a snippet Roadrunner, took a bit to identify the snippet (along with the magic of google), but definitely enjoyable the change-up nonetheless!
9. Feed The Fire - There was lots of dancing going on in our row, but the big surprise was when Sam skipped over the usual snippets completely.
10. Stay Oh - how many "oh yeah!" were there in our row?
11. Go Slow Down - quite the surprise to hear this again.....it's been WAY too long, and needless to say it's way too easy to get lost in that song! whew!
12. YDGM - all I can say is "welcome back Kenny!" - there is no doubt that he owes this one, even though there is so much power in his drumming, at the same time there is so much control and finesse to his drumming that it's no wonder he had us all mesmerized.
13. Closer To Free - we could only shake our heads at all the 'threes' that appeared in the rows ahead of us.
--encore--
14. Beaujolais - so special, so beautiful, even if it did feel like Kenny was trying to put a rock beat to it! :)
15. Fadeaway - During the entire show there were two camera guys who were shooting video for the jumbotrons, at one point Kurt was standing at the edge of the stage but the camera guy right in front of him was filming the crowd, so what does Kurt do? Well tap the guy on the shoulder of course! I couldn't see the camera guy's expression but I'm guessing he was pretty surprised! :)
16. Good Things - and here's to yet another show filled with 'good things'!

Even though you could tell the guys hadn't played together in quite some time, we still had a great time and enjoyed the show all that we could. It was great to see lots of familiar faces again, both Gufs fans and BoDeans fans. It's times like that when it feels more like a family reunion that a concert.

Although it was a long drive home after the show, it always makes things easier when you've got another show to look forward to the following night!