The Killdevils

August 7: From An Undisclosed Location in Bristol

Some Quick Impressions by Jacob Haller

We had performed at this place previously, and although the crowd had been small there had been some people who seemed pretty enthusiastic about us, so we had hoped that word of mouth would get around and the crowd would be a little bigger tonight. Unfortunately, this turned out not to be the case. The owner is still willing to have us come back, but it would most likely be for a percentage of the take or something along those lines rather than the flat fee structure we've had previously. Ah well ...

Despite the small size of the audience, there were some enthusiastic folks there, including a guy who asked for our card and then told us our name wasn't that good. He might want us to play at a party he throws.

After our last show here I had noticed that over the course of the night I managed to get a blood blister on the tip of my right index finger. Tonight, I was able to determine what was most directly responsible for this phenomena; it turns out that I'm plucking pretty hard on the slide solos I take on Folsom Prison Blues, and, well:

Other things we learned:

• Pool tables are really heavy and kind of tricky to set up.
• If you have an air conditioner situated over a smoke-eater, and moisture drips from the air conditioner onto the smoke-eater, then an electrical arc may form, resulting in a loud zapping noise which can provide hours of entertainment for all.

While we were playing one of the last songs of the night, a gentleman came over and tried to strike up a conversation in which he requested that we play Tangled Up In Blue, a song Chris had played about fifteen minutes earlier. He later offered us ten dollars to play it, and finally upped the offer to twenty, but Chris politely declined. As near as I could tell the audience member did not take this personally and instead appeared to take this as some sort of symbol of our incorruptibility. (But I think we were just feeling wiped out -- don't tell anyone.)

Set list

The setup was such that I could switch between piano and guitar, which was nice, and Chris also played a few songs solo in the second set. I'll notate this as so: ^* - Jake on guitar, ^† - Chris solo, otherwise Jake on piano. -> indicates that there was a seamless segue from one song to the next.

First Set

1. The Local Expatriate
2. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
3. Gypsy Woman
4. Mick McGuire^*
5. Bright Lights, Big City^*
6. I Shall Be Released
7. Helpless
8. Anabelle^*
9. Folsom Prison^*
10. Sin City^*
11. Sweet Home Chicago

Second Set

1. Dire Wolf^*
2. Rider On The Rain
3. Midnight Special
4. Early In The Morning
5. Thorn In Your Side^*
6. Before You Accuse Me
7. Keep On Rocking In The Free World^†
8. King Solomon^† ->
9. Tangled Up In Blue^† ->
10. King Solomon and Zen Master Nam Cheon^†
11. Dead Flowers

Third Set

1. That's All Right^*
2. Me & Curby
3. Sinner's Prayer