BoDeans
2008.04.02 9:30 Club • Washington, DC

Sam Llanas, Kurt Neumann, Bukka Allen, Eric Holden, Noah Levy

Wednesday April 2, 2008
9:30 Club - Washington, DC

There's nothing like the excitement of boarding a plane with the prospect of 4 nights of great music, lots of friends, and a much needed vacation.

Even though I had to make my way to DC by myself, it was a great feeling when I stepped out of the cab at the 9:30 Club and immediately saw 4 smiling faces ready to greet me! We passed the time sharing stories and meeting fellow fans. Heather it was fantastic meeting you and hanging with you, hope you make it to Cleveland this weekend!

The opener, GB Leighton, was excellent as expected. I've become an instant fan since picking up their Shake Them Ghosts album a few months back.
(Side note: a famous bald drummer that we all know and love can be heard on that album too! :) I must say I love the lead singers voice and the band seems to really enoy playing together. They mentioned that the night before they had off and ended up singing a BoDeans song at karaoke. All I can so is 'good choice!' :)

Kathy, you'll really like this tidbit. Someone had thrown a written request up on stage before the show asking them to play Shag...and they did! Said it doesn't exactly work acoustic, but I thought it was sounded great and was a lot of fun nonetheless.

As for the BoDeans, they took the stage about 9:45 to a very excited (and good sized) crowd. I was a little worried what the turn out would be for a Wednesday night, but they didn't disappoint! As someone who has seen a lot of shows in a lot of states, I have to say the 9:30 Club is definitely one of my favorite places to see the guys play. There's an energy about the place that rivals some of the best hometown MKE show.

Here's the set:
1. Pretty Ghost - I had seen this listed on sets from previous nights when looking at the board, but I never imagined that it would blow me away like it did live. I must admit it took a long time for me to warm up to the studio version on the album, but as I told someone the next morning, "last night, I fell in love with Pretty Ghost!". Every single one of the guys adds such a strong element to the song. It quite literally took my breath away. The biggest surprise was to see Bukka playing a couple of bongos for the first half of the song.
2. Idaho - always one of my favorites and this time it was no exception!
3. Texas Ride Song - So here's a story. Almost 3 years ago I was a the 9:30 Club jumping to TRS and in the process left quite an impression on two lil' BoDivas. This time those same lil' BoDivas promised me that they would jump with me. And yet I found myself jumping alone when the time came. Next time, those lil' BoDivas had better watch out. :)
4. Wonder Wonder - Great to hear this live! Although I have to admit, this song always reminds me of all those Linnemans shows and hearing it when it was still just a Sam song.
5. Good Work w/Batman - So glad to have the old rocker back. Love the honky tonk version and all, but in my mind, this is the song at its best...all out, sped up, can't help but move & groove version. I even caught Sam singing the Batman part off mic! :)
6. Lucille - Love Kurt's intro about the "real good dancer" for this song. Not to mention that song was smoking too. It might have been a one time thing, but it almost felt a bit on the slow side compared to the studio version. Or maybe it just seemed that way because of the kick-ass sped-up version of Good Work that proceeded Lucille. No matter, that didn't diminish the sultriness of it all.
7. Still the Night w/Hey Pretty Girl, Sedated - Kurt had started out commenting on how they see more and more parents bringing their kids to the show and that the band is covering "multi-generations" I couldn't help but smile at the though that maybe this is just a little scheme to take over the world. :) The song on the other hand was the normal crowd-lovin-goodness w/ a healthy dose of Hey Pretty Girl & the Ramones at the end. Afterwards Sam commented that 'that goes back to the old 9:30 Club and the rats in the alley. Where you had to play two shows just to play to 100 people'
8. Naked - I know I've said it before, but I'm gonna say it again. I love how Sam always sings that one line "I'll stand naked, I'll stand naked" at the front of the stage & off mic. Never fails to give me goosebumps.
9. Everyday - absolutely love this off the album and they do a great job w/ it live as well
10. Trouble Again w/ Stolen Car - I have always loved this combination of songs. Sam's voice on Stolen Car has always taken my breath away and this time was as beautiful as ever. And honestly, hearing these together again reminds me of the last East Coast Reunion when we had the pleasure of hearing it live a couple days in a row. :)
11. Fadeaway - Almost 10 mins of pure musical magic! Can't help but get wrapped up in all the different solos. They just keep going and going and going...
12. Closer to Free - You know it's coming to an end, yet it's always such a fun part of the show. And what a surprise when Sam pulled out his harmonica! I had been standing in front of him all night and never once noticed it attached to his mic stand! So much for 'attention to detail!' LOL!
- encore -
13. Far Far Away From My Heart - won't say I was far away from my heart, but I sure was an awfully long way from home. :)
14. Round Here Somewhere - Such a catchy song, it's hard to resist the urge to tap your foot, shake those hips or even just bob your head. Just a really solid song no matter how you look (hear?) it.
15. Good Things - A great song to end a great show....or so we think.
- encore- When the song was finished, they put down their guitars, but were hesitant in walking off. Seems Kurt wanted to play more...and play they did. I'm going to call this a second encore, some might lobby that it was more like a group huddle at center stage. :)
16. Hearing - What can I say other than that the harmonies were simply beautify and such a treat to hear live like this. It really shows the talents of these guys to be able to perform such magic with their voices live like that.
17. Feed The Fire w/ Light My Fire - Complete surprise that they threw this in there. Wasn't expecting it at all (wasn't expecting a 2nd encore either...) but it made my night! Even though I was expecting more song snippets then just Light My Fire, Sam did sing an extended version of it by throwing in a few lines from at least two of the verses.

When it was all said and down, we had a great time, got to see some old friends, meet a few new ones and we even invented a few new BoDiva terms! "Drive-by..." From there we were off to the next city, next show, and the next round of surprises :)