Randy Rogers (Not Really) Reviewed

The Randy Rogers Band

We had a great time last night at the Firehouse.

The Randy Rogers Band has really grown on us, and they played a nice set.

I think I appreciate it more tonight as I'm listening to a pretty good bootleg. The new mic has MUCH better frequency response than the old one, and I'm really pleased with the improvement. The recording itself could be a little better, as we picked up more crowd noise *ahem* than I would prefer, but that probably has something to do with the fact that we began the evening at Barry's Pizza (you know, the local pizza joint that does NOT close down live music institutions), which tends to loosen up our vocal chords by the time we actually make it to music. And it also has to do with the fact that the new mics actually pick up bass, and pick it up very very well. Combine that pickup with some high Sound Pressure Levels and the standard Sharp MD pre-amp, though, and the sound is a little muddy in spots. A battery pack on the mic should remedy that problem, but I thought I would experiment and see what it sounded like without it.

I'm too lazy to post a full review of the show, but Randy was in good form and they really did a nice job with their original stuff. But the highlights for me were the covers of Jimmie Dale Gilmore's Dallas, and Bruce Robison's Wrapped (described by Randy as the greatest country-western song ever written, and who can really argue, David Allan Coe notwithstanding). I can't wait to catch 'em again, on a weekend (the Thursday crowd was a little smallish, and a little lethargic).

We were a little surprised after the show when we went up to get Randy's signature, because he actually remembered us from his Texans' set. Maybe because we were the only ones paying much attention to the music that day, and actually took the time to go say thanks to him -- but still, that's pretty cool.

(Update) Forgot to mention -- we actually had Randy sign our minidisc recording, which seemed to amuse him. But what was also cool is that he took the time to note on the MD label "Firehouse 1/09/03" before he signed it. Dude gets the whole bootleg thing.

[Posted at 23:24 CST on 01/10/03] [Link]