written by Anj Way
This was our
second Thursday night show in the past week. We had seen Yonder the previous
Wednesday in Indianapolis and the night after in Urbana (which is always a great show, being kind of like a hometown show for Dave, and now Allie). We
ended up missing out on the amazing Madison show the previous Saturday, and
were so bummed so we made the five hour drive to Kentucky; because who can ever
get enough Yonder?!
Not sure what to expect about the venue, we made our way to
the Kentucky Theatre. This was not the normal venue for Yonder in Lexington.
Dorothy said that their usual venue called Buster’s had just recently closed
and The Kentucky Theatre was chosen as a backup. Buster’s was more of a dive
bar, from what we heard, as this was our first Lexington show.
Walking in
to the theatre the vibe was different right away. The Kentucky Theatre is a
historical theatre and is usually used for showing movies through the week. We
grabbed a drink and were going to make our way down to our usual rail spot. We
walked in to the main room, which was very pretty, but we saw a room full of
chairs and most people were sitting.
This was definitely a little different than the usual crowd and it was a huge
change from any show we had ever been to. We talked to Dorothy and luckily she
said we could still stand down in front of the stage, as there was a small pit
area. We also learned that there was an
11:30 pm curfew, another thing we were not used to. But Horse Feathers, who had
been opening for them this tour, was not playing so it meant we still got a
full show.
When Yonder
came out on the stage, there was maybe a handful of us standing in front of the
stage, while most everyone else was in their seats. Ben started by saying
welcome “And it’s nice to see some familiar faces, we appreciate everyone
coming out.” It was nice that there were a few other Kinfolk there, especially
since it was a sparse crowd. We learned that Adam had the flu. He just
looked like he didn’t feel good and was sitting down to start the night; he was
such a trooper! But that also meant no Adam songs for the night.
They started off by playing a classic Colorado
number “Criminal”, and then went into “Naughty Sweetie.” To me it felt like
there were a couple parts where they normally would have jammed a little harder,
but the unusual crowd seemed to be holding them back a bit. There was
definitely still some good jamming in there, but maybe we were just used to a
bit more. Next it was Jake’s turn to
sing “Nothin' But A Breeze". I really like Jake singing this cover. The energy in the room was getting better and
they seemed to be feeling it. Jake got
in to a nice mandolin solo, and really captured the crowd. By this time it
seemed like more people started to make their way down to the floor, and
turning around looking at the crowd most all of them were at least on their
feet. Maybe part of the reason for the late crowd could have been that there
was no opening band, and that some may not have known that Yonder started at 8
pm instead of the usual 9 pm start.
Then it was
Dave’s turn to bust out “High on a Hilltop” which I personally love.
Next, Ben sang us the always great “Funtime.” Everyone around us was dancing by
this point and really getting in to the music, which reflected on the band as
they were busting out the jams on this tune. It started turning into the more
usual rowdy Yonder crowd that we are used to. Then it was “Must of Had Your
Reasons”, which is always a great one to hear, followed by Dave singing “Don’t
You Lean on Me.” Next we got to hear Allie’s amazing voice in one of my new
favorite covers, “Jolene.” She had the audience completely captivated, all eyes
were on her, and for good reason. I had never seen Allie live until our first
new Yonder show over their two night run in Chicago last November, and I fell
in love with her right away. Not only does she have such a strong and amazing
voice, but she completely shreds the fiddle, which she did with “Jolene.” Then
Ben took us into “Mothers Only Son,” which is a great jamming tune. We got to
hear some great solos from everyone and the crowd absolutely loved it! Then
they finished off the first set with Jake singing “Lonesome Road Blues,” and
just like that it was set break.
Waiting for Yonder to come back for set 2, the atmosphere was completely different than
when we were waiting for the show to start. The whole place was full of so much
energy. We of course new what we were in for, that’s why we drove five hours
for the show. But I think a lot of the people that had been sitting waiting for
the band to start had a completely different view of Yonder after the first
set, which is pretty exciting. We will never forget our first Yonder show over
10 years ago - one time is all it takes and you're hooked!
They came
back out for the second set with Allie shredding on the fiddle for “White
Freightliner Blues.” I love this song anyway, but to get to hear Allie throw
down is always an amazing thing. Then they jammed into “Kentucky Mandolin”, which of course you have to play in Kentucky, after all it is the Bluegrass
State. This was one of the highlights of my night, as I always love to hear
some serious shredding. The best part was when everyone else stopped playing
and let Jake just throw down a killer solo. I really like Jake, and as Ben has
said he is “An absolute force on the mandolin”. I think he is getting so much
more comfortable, and you can really tell by his jamming. Then Ben lead us in to
a classic cover “Suspicious Minds”, which everyone loves to hear. Then they
finished out this great jam by going back in to “White Freightliner.” You would have never known it was the same
crowd as the beginning of the show, as everyone was dancing their hearts out by this point.
Dave then slowed
us all down a bit by singing “Fingerprint,” and we got a nice David J banjo
shred. Next Ben sang us "Complicated", one of my favorites. It’s always great
when Ben gets the electric bass out and shreds for us. I always hope that it’s
coming at some point in the show, and of course Ben didn’t disappoint. Then we
got to hear Jake's great voice covering “Walls.” The next song was supposed to
be “Damned if the Right One Didn’t Go Wrong", but we had heard several people
yelling requests for a lot of the show. Usually I don’t quite get how people can
just yell requests at the band; don’t they see the setlist is already
made?! But they have been very generous lately in playing requests, in fact they
played some of our requests we had made online for this show (thank you
guys!!). Ben then said “Sometimes we get requests online or sometimes they come
from this girl" (pointing to a girl down in front of him). And she got her
request of “River.” This is a song I have only personally heard them play live
three times (this being the third), so it was pretty cool. It’s great
to have such a personable band, it really means a lot to the fans. Then they
finished off the night with a very nice “Traffic Jam” into “Rag Mama”, a song I personally hadn’t heard live for a while. I really like “Rag Mama” it
reminds me of a little swing type number and just makes me dance. And Adam even
got up out of his chair for a while, which was great to see! Then they finished
the second set by going back into “Traffic Jam.” It seemed like this set just
flew by, but it’s never long enough for me. They came back out for an encore of
“40 Miles From Denver”, which just really seemed fitting for tonight. We are used
to hearing them play two encores and it seemed like when “40 Miles” was over,
the crowd was dying for more. But I think a lot of this had to do with the
11:30 curfew. And just like that the show was over. I want to say, we gave huge
props to Adam for hanging in there the whole show. You could tell he wasn’t at
his best by his looks, but not at all by his playing. He still killed it as
always!
We stuck
around for a bit to get a setlist, like we always try and do, and Dorothy was nice enough to take our picture for set two. Then to our surprise, Jake was just
hanging out in the lobby of the theatre after the show. I was able to get him
to sign the setlist and get a picture with the new amazing mandolin player, who is
such a nice guy! We even headed to after hours with him and some others to
check out a local band called The Restless Leg String Band. If you haven’t
heard of them, check them out, they were very good! And all of the local people were so nice; it’s
great to make new friends. It was a great ending to our night.
 |
| photo courtesy of Anj Way |
This was our fifth time seeing the new lineup,
and they are just on fire! You can tell the chemistry is getting so good and
they all just seem so happy, which really plays into the show. It was a great
ending to another amazing show! Until next time, which never seems to be soon
enough!
Written by Anj Way, photos by Dorothy St.Claire
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