My wife and I were split right down the middle on our loyalties for the evening. I was going to see Tesla and she was going to see Uncle Ted. We listened to Tesla all the way up there so she could hear a bit of what she could expect. We started off with Into the Now and got about halfway through Mechanical Resonance before I was parking the vehicle about a mile away from the entrance.
Make no mistake. This is a Redneck event complete with rodeo, carnival, cowboys, cowgirls, and big, gas guzzling trucks. Wyoming is The Cowboy State afterall. But the crowd was decidedly undecided on what it wanted to be. Young, old, cowboy, city slicker, hippie, goth, metalhead. They were all there. And it kicked ass.
It's kinda funny how they do the concerts. They set up a stage out in the rodeo arena facing the main grandstand. It's fine if your seats are centered but it sucks if they are not. We saw 3 Doors down there a coupla years ago and our seats were off to the side. Yeah, it sucked. The wind blows almost constantly in Wyoming (they say it's because Nebraska sucks) and that tends to wash the sound in and out. Needless to say, I was a bit worried about the location of our seats. We arrived at our seats to find they were high up in the bleachers but nearly centered.
We didn't have to wait long before a tan van with smoked windows came rolling up behind the stage and delivered Tesla. Frank and Tommy opened the show with the little guitar duel that precedes "Cumin' atcha Live" so of course that was the first tune of the night. After that:
Into the Now
Gettin' Better
Signs
Love Song
What you Give
Heaven's Trail
Miles Away
Little Suzi
And then, as kind of an encore they did Modern Day Cowboy. What else? In The Cowboy State? It was a short set but a pretty good mix. I wanted Paradise but whatchagonnado? Somewhere in the set they did a little snippet of Foghat's "I just wanna make love to you". Pretty funny.
They all have a pretty good stage presence. Jeff played the biggest role, obviously, but I was a little surprised at how much Frank talked to the crowd and moved around -- especially since he was corded (as were Tommy and Brian) instead of wireless. Tommy stayed fairly well put until it was time for a solo. Brian and Troy (duh) pretty much stayed put all night. Jeff wandered the stage, removing picks from mic stands and tossing them into the crowd. What's a lead vocalist to do? Everyone else has something to toss to the crowd.
The high point of the night for me was the solo during Love Song. To me that is one of the most emotional solos there is -- it pushes and builds until it overflows in release. They pulled it off flawlessly and I got chills just like the 1000 other times I've listened to that song.
As far as Uncle Ted, it's going to be short and prolly a little less than sweet. Personally I like to keep my politics seperate from my rock 'n' roll experiences. Ted started off with Ray Charles "America" blasting over the PA just before he took the stage. Cool enough. I love that version of that song. Once he took the stage he had a flag he was waving as he ranted on and progressed into the Pledge of Allegiance. Still fine. After that he played the Star Spangled Banner. Still just fine with me. After that he went into a series of songs that I don't think I've ever heard before and didn't sound a whole lot different from each other. Each song was split from the next with a rant that usually ended with the phrase, "You can't do that in France!" It all worked well for most of the rest of the crowd. It did not go over well with me or my wife. On the way out I told her that I thought Tesla kicked Ted's ass. She agreed and selected "The Great Radio Controversey" for the ride home.
Favorite T-shirt of the night: a simple black model on a young man that said in fairly small, yellow print: "Properly Equipped"
Make no mistake. This is a Redneck event complete with rodeo, carnival, cowboys, cowgirls, and big, gas guzzling trucks. Wyoming is The Cowboy State afterall. But the crowd was decidedly undecided on what it wanted to be. Young, old, cowboy, city slicker, hippie, goth, metalhead. They were all there. And it kicked ass.
It's kinda funny how they do the concerts. They set up a stage out in the rodeo arena facing the main grandstand. It's fine if your seats are centered but it sucks if they are not. We saw 3 Doors down there a coupla years ago and our seats were off to the side. Yeah, it sucked. The wind blows almost constantly in Wyoming (they say it's because Nebraska sucks) and that tends to wash the sound in and out. Needless to say, I was a bit worried about the location of our seats. We arrived at our seats to find they were high up in the bleachers but nearly centered.
We didn't have to wait long before a tan van with smoked windows came rolling up behind the stage and delivered Tesla. Frank and Tommy opened the show with the little guitar duel that precedes "Cumin' atcha Live" so of course that was the first tune of the night. After that:
Into the Now
Gettin' Better
Signs
Love Song
What you Give
Heaven's Trail
Miles Away
Little Suzi
And then, as kind of an encore they did Modern Day Cowboy. What else? In The Cowboy State? It was a short set but a pretty good mix. I wanted Paradise but whatchagonnado? Somewhere in the set they did a little snippet of Foghat's "I just wanna make love to you". Pretty funny.
They all have a pretty good stage presence. Jeff played the biggest role, obviously, but I was a little surprised at how much Frank talked to the crowd and moved around -- especially since he was corded (as were Tommy and Brian) instead of wireless. Tommy stayed fairly well put until it was time for a solo. Brian and Troy (duh) pretty much stayed put all night. Jeff wandered the stage, removing picks from mic stands and tossing them into the crowd. What's a lead vocalist to do? Everyone else has something to toss to the crowd.
The high point of the night for me was the solo during Love Song. To me that is one of the most emotional solos there is -- it pushes and builds until it overflows in release. They pulled it off flawlessly and I got chills just like the 1000 other times I've listened to that song.
As far as Uncle Ted, it's going to be short and prolly a little less than sweet. Personally I like to keep my politics seperate from my rock 'n' roll experiences. Ted started off with Ray Charles "America" blasting over the PA just before he took the stage. Cool enough. I love that version of that song. Once he took the stage he had a flag he was waving as he ranted on and progressed into the Pledge of Allegiance. Still fine. After that he played the Star Spangled Banner. Still just fine with me. After that he went into a series of songs that I don't think I've ever heard before and didn't sound a whole lot different from each other. Each song was split from the next with a rant that usually ended with the phrase, "You can't do that in France!" It all worked well for most of the rest of the crowd. It did not go over well with me or my wife. On the way out I told her that I thought Tesla kicked Ted's ass. She agreed and selected "The Great Radio Controversey" for the ride home.
Favorite T-shirt of the night: a simple black model on a young man that said in fairly small, yellow print: "Properly Equipped"
