Greg Brown -- December 14, 1996

• Commentary
• Song List

Commentary:

Hi folks--this'll be a quick post re two fine shows at The Pumphouse in LaCrosse, mainly the set lists...as there were a number of list-members present, I'll leave it to Alan, Regina, Cheryl, Brenda, or....to expand with more detail, later...

The Pumphouse is a cool venue, 140 seats, all good (especially the front row!)---as its name indicates, it's actually a renovated water-pumping facility, quite old, near the banks of the Mississippi....& the shows were benefits to add elevators etc to make the facility accessible (the concerts are on the 2nd floor)...

Song List:

1. China
2. Think About You
3. You Drive Me Crazy
4. Mose Allison Played Here
5. Ballingall Hotel
6. Jesus & Elvis
7. If You Don't Get It at Home
8. Slow Food
9. Good Morning Coffee
10. Small Dark Movie
11. Driftless
12. Boomtown
13. Some Day When We're Both Alone
14. Trouble Blues
15. Iowa Crawl
16. If I Had Known
17. Come Back, Baby
18. Rooty Toot Toot For the Moon (in 3/4 time) segueing into...
19. Irene, Goodnight, the latter two being the encores........in the past, I've enjoyed Greg solo more than with Bo, as he tends to stretch out more w the guitar, & I really like his playing, rather than leave that up to Bo......but I loved duo tonight.....before the show, several of us met at a nearby Pizza joint, & mentioned what we'd especially like to hear.....whoops, forgot to mention Greg Boris earlier, when listing the listers......anyway, I had China & Mose Allison on my short list, & as you can see, Greg got to them right away...

8 o'clock show

1. Cakewalk into Town (Taj Mahal original?)
2. Come On in My Kitchen (Robt Johnson)....leading into...
3. Dusty Woods (very eerie song about Robt Johnson---very unusual guitar playing by Greg)
4. Brand New '64 Dodge
5. One Wrong Turn----a little slower & blusier than on album
6. Who Woulda Thunk It?
7. Just by Myself
8. You Can Watch Me (?) (a cover?)
9. Spring Wind--coulda been on my request list--always great to hear--
10. A Little Place in the Country
11. Laughing River
12. Further In
13. Dream Cafe
14. You Can't Always Get What You Want (Stones)
    Encores:
15. Give Me That Old Time Religion (biggest smile of the night from Bo) &
16. Mississippi Moon----cool to hear it right on the banks of the river.....there was a strongly-bluesy quality to both shows, esp the 2nd.....Greg singing masterfully, as usual......a little harmony vocal touch here & there by Bo.......I'd like more of that.......great catching a double-feature! Even worth the nerve-wracking drive back to Madison late that night, in the midst of a snow/rain/ice/slush storm that jackknifed several semis into the median strip of the interstate.....white-knuckles-on-the-steering-wheel-time......yea h, I didn't notice anybody asking for a refund after the shows! Mantra for the drive: help me make it through this funky, funky night