Tonight's show at the 400 Bar, bringing peace to the West Bank.

Yesterday I got a call and was asked to be a last-minute addition to tonight's show at the 400 Bar in Minneapolis. I called the band, they could play, and I said "yes." Sent out a quick email announcement to the 250 folks on my local email list, and thought about the set list.

I just got back from the show and it was a ton of fun. I love playing the 400 Bar, the venue that has helped bring about such local music institutions such as Mason Jennings, Semisonic, and The Jayhawks. Unfortunately, I only brought in one paying audience member (my crowd doesn't come out to the West Bank for some reason), but I guess I can't blame anybody...they had less than 24 hours notice. So there were only a few folks to play for, but it was fun anyway.

For the sake of convenience, I decided against hauling out the Fender Bassman Amp and the old Telecaster, and opted instead to do the show with just acoustic guitar, bass, and drums. Staying in the acoustic realm affects the show, and we got to try some cool and unusual (cruel and unusual?) songs...here's tonight's setlist:

NARTHEX
LIBRARIAN
THE PROPHETSTOWN TORNADO
NOTHING OLD NOTHING NEW
ASK ME IN NEBRASKA
MEETING NIXON
HOMETOWN
NO MORE WALLS
TAPE

John Kerns played bass and sang harmony, Troy Alexander played drums. Tonight we debuted "Hometown," a song we'd never played (or rehearsed) before....it's a great tune written by Beki Hemingway, and it appears on the duets album Tennesota, as well as on my own solo CD Protestant Rock Ethic. Kerns sang the "Ahh..." from Beki's vocal part and it was great! And Troy channeled Jeff Lynn's drum groove from the ELO song "Don't Bring Me Down" when we played "Tape" and it was a power trio groove-perfection moment. Tonight was my last full-band gig for the foreseeable future, and it sure felt good to bash out a great set with these fine musicians.

Oh yes, and we opened for a nationally touring act called Between The Two, a young, suspiciously CCM, alterna-prog band....good show guys! Great singing, time-signature changes, cool computer effects, and rocking hair.