After two previous treks to see Whiskeytown, the road to Saratoga Springs was
just a stone's throw from my front door. The catch is it took longer to drive to
the Saratoga Performing Arts Center then Whiskeytown spent on stage last night
thus raising the question was it worth the ticket price and cost of a sitter?
The answer is a resounding "YES and NO."

Whiskeytown. I love this band, i.e., Ryan Adams and Caitlan Carey. As many of
you know, Ryan and Caitlan brought another incarnation of WT to this tour. This
lineup features members of the Backsliders and Mike Hayes, the only survivor of
the previous two WT lineups. The set was just 30 minutes long. All new songs
were played except "Today" which the band has been featuring for sometime now.
The crowd was there to rock so WT rocked with fiddle. I never saw Ryan have as
much fun as he did last night with the new members. But the performance didn't
translate well to the big stage and a muddy mix didn't help. I kept telling
people I was going ONLY to see WT. The bad news was that our cost to see WT was
about $3.35 a minute. The good news is there was at the merchandise booth a
Strangers Almanac postcard announcing the fall re-release of FAITHLESS STREETS
with BONUS TRACKS. Of course any of you who have a copy or finds a copy of the
original release of FS can direct it my way for a cash reward.

John Fogerty. With a catalog of memorable songs, an unmistakable voice, and
great guitar playing, there is no denying this guy's talent. Lots of twang which
is not often heard at SPAC. Fogerty covered Blue Ridge Rangers tunes, played
dobro and slide guitar, and of course tons of CCR. The band was solid but
lifeless. Johnny Lee Snell (sp?) who plays on Lucinda's new record is in the
band.

The crowd loved Fogerty last night and he loved them back by putting on a fine
performance. A performance much like the one seen on VH1 and heard on his recent
live album. Did I really need to see it in person? Yes and no.

Jeff Sohn in Albany NY who felt young last night next to some of the old timers
who came out to see that ol' Fogerty
Cross-posted to P2 and WT list