House Of Blues ~ Las Vegas, Nevada ~ 2001

(Was Hot)

Dan was a funny man at the show.  He didn't play Nexus but gave us the absolute longest Blues session on the end of "Road Beneath My Wheels" that I can remember.  It was a tribute to the last of the true great blues artists of our times.  The place wasn't filled by any stretch of the imagination, and my guess as to why is simply this.. Dan was playing in a Casino where "The B 52's, and Some country show at the Casino's Beach stage [the biggest concert setting at Mandalay Bay] had a show entitled something like 'Girls Night Out' starring 4 or 5 different country artists and being headlined by Reba (whoever the heck that is).  Each of these shows including Dan, all started at the same time at the same Casino. Don't get me wrong, the people that attended Dan's show were very happy to see him, but there may have been just over 1000 people in a place that holds about 1300 or 1400.  The empty seats were very easy to see up in the balcony and that depressed me, but all depression subsided as soon as I met two wild and crazy people from Utah who actually drove down to see him from Utah.  

The Show...

Was a slow starter, and maybe it was sound techs that screwed it up, but the harmonics on the first song just weren't coming out at all via the sound system, so it sounded about the worst I've ever heard him play.  By three songs into the show, Dan had quietly and like the pro he is, worked with sound via hand motions to get the levels to where it needed to be.

Personally I think it was ESP on my behalf that made Dan do Part of The Plan first instead of opening with Nexus.  I loved the way it sounded and how great he did the song the last time he was at the HOB.  He actually played the song with a broken string on his guitar and with it hanging over two other strings, he tilted the guitar slightly and played on to the end and what I promise any of you would have said was the absolute best he'd ever played it.  Well, this time, the effort was there, but the sound set up wasn't.

I was totally impressed with this show.  He was not quiet.  As usual, a few on the floor were too drunk to be there.  The drunks kept screaming (guys) "WE LOVE YOU DAN!" at the end of songs.  There was someone from back in Illinois that thought she and Dan should be having a question and answer session about why he doesn't move back to Illinois, during the concert.  You know some people just don't get it and they never will, but like a pro, he ignored the woman and for the life of me I can't remember what classical artist Dan himself kept calling out when audience members would demand a song from him, but it was funny, and I loved the fact that he didn't go into the "see this, it's a set list" talk.  

I've seen Dan quite a few times as a fan, and this wasn't his best concert by a long shot.   It was worth the time and effort, and the pennies spent on it.  Knowing what I know now, what he'd play and what he wouldn't, I would have gone again in a heartbeat.  Can anyone think of when Longer was something he played in concert and that wonderful?  That's been a long time ago for this fan, and Along The Road was simply stunning guitar work.  I believe those two songs alone were worth the price of admission.  

Dan talked about all the routine things, but I was most pleased with the Irish Coffee story because a guy named Jerry that owned the store didn't share that with me and I hadn't heard it through the grapevine.  

His tribute to John Hooker's passing was just great.  He had every HOB employee watching him at that point in time.  He played a nearly 7 minute ending on Road Beneath My Wheels and it  was something I'd never heard him play before and simply put, damn good blues guitar playing.  

He gave us a good show, I met some fun people there at the show from Utah that had me in stitches and I hope to see them the next time he comes to Vegas, because one thing is for certain, this fan will be there.  

May everyone enjoying the upcoming shows be happy and safe through the concert and their travels to and from.  And if Dan should read this, someday by some freakish accident, I wish him well along the roads he travels.

Rick Nolan