I drove down to Raleigh on Wednesday night to see Levi play at a kind of hallway-turned-bar/venue called Slim's. Apparently Ryan Adams has played there (with Whiskeytown back in the day, and even more recently). I had to look that up after the fact.
I didn't go down alone. My co-worker Kelli (also a friend, thankfully, since we spend more time with each other than anybody else on the planet) wanted to go with me, and our boss agreed to let us shut the office down a few hours early so we could head out. Also, in an interesting twist of fate, Levi's music actually reconnected me with a girl I graduated high school with (10 years ago) because when I was setting up the event for Levi's Lynchburg show earlier this year, I noticed that she was a mutual friend of mine and Levi's on Facebook. We followed each other on Twitter, so I direct messaged her to see how she had heard of Levi. She replied that she had seen me tweet about him (holy crap, so that worked!) and that she'd become a fan. She was thrilled to hear about his Lynchburg show, and that was the first time I'd seen her since our graduation day. Anyway, she actually approached me about the Raleigh show, and of course I said "the more the merrier!" ...Which goes to show you that if a mother of two small children would hop aboard a road trip to go see Levi perform, then no one else has an excuse for missing him.
We fought the traffic (and rain) on I-40 and made it to the venue around 6:30, while Levi and Kate were getting set up. As always, it was great to see Levi again. Unfortunately, he was already getting "cancellations" from folks who said they were coming, but bailed. Given the fact that I'd just driven 3 hours to Raleigh, knowing I had to be at work the next morning, with a mother of two who had to put her kids on the bus the next morning, and a single mother who had to make special arrangements for her 3-year-old in order to be there with me -- I was slightly less than sympathetic to these excuses. But perhaps I'll jump off of that tangent there. The point is that I understand why "the road" can be so draining for Levi (and other musicians in the same boat). They're working off of physical exhaustion, and counting on fans to turn out and bring some enthusiasm, and it's disappointing when they don't. That is all.
Anyway, the show was going to start later than planned, giving us all a chance to grab something to eat beforehand. (At the Raleigh Times, which I must say, was quite impressive. Even though Levi did not care for the "cucumbers.") When we got back to Slim's, Levi and Kate did the soundcheck and then Levi started to play, opening the show with "We're Tornadoes When We Dance."
Unfortunately, the sound system conspired against him to produce an infernal squeaking/quacking noise when he tried to use his pedals, so the song couldn't get "bigger" musically when it was supposed to. The garrish quacking noise aside, the song still sounded good, and people who hadn't heard the recorded version wouldn't have known what they were missing by hearing a simplified version.
Adjustments to the system proved fruitless, as the problems continued through "Of Bridges Burned," forcing Levi to unplug entirely and go acoustic. The sound failures in that song seemed to be chiefly in Levi's monitors, so it did not affect what the crowd heard quite as much as it had in the previous song.
At any rate, Levi had had quite enough of that, so at that point, the show took a turn for the acoustic. Levi climbed atop a speaker (a classic Levi move, it seems) and released some frustration by belting out "Family Feud." I'm pretty sure that's the only time I've seen him do that one live, and it was actually quite perfect. It fit the venue, it fit the mood, and it got everyone's attention.
He proceeded to sing three more "new" songs: "I Am Certain I Am a Train," "Apostate," and "Thank You/No Thank You," all of which sounded great and were met with enthusiastic applause from the small but enraptured crowd.
From the oldies but goodies category, he played "Sick or Determined?" (one of my favorites), "Kansas, I Decline" (another song I love but get to pass off as Kelli's request because it *is* her all-time favorite), and "You Are Home" (adding the harmonica, of course -- gotta love instruments that don't require sound systems!).
Kate joined him, adding tamborine to some songs, and the melodica to "Which Drink?" Levi also enlisted the help of the crowd to be his "ghost choir." Gotta love audience participation.
Those that made it out to the show definitely enjoyed it. I know Levi was frustrated with the malfunctioning equipment (which was the bar's fault, not Levi's), but he rolled with it anyway and I think he underestimates the quality of "Levi Weaver: Unplugged). Kelli and Amanda (which is also the name of the girl I went to high school with, lest you think I've cracked up) said they loved the show. Kelli said it was her favorite Levi show to date, and this was her third.
I enjoyed Kate's set as well, and knew some of the songs well enough to sing along since I'd make it a point to go online and listen to what I could before going to the show. I went ahead and got both of her albums (the new EP and her previous full-length) and she signed them for me afterwards, along with the tour poster which Levi signed as well. I already have all of Levi's merch, so hopefully the fact that I bought Kate's meant that she treated him to some breakfast the next day or something.
More bar patrons came in later in the evening and wanted to hear Levi play. Kate had packed up already, but Levi was ready to play another round. Unfortunately, the sense-impaired bar staff felt that the ambience was better served by '90s heavy metal that made you want to rip your ears off. So, we helped Levi tote his stuff to the car so he could pack up.
I thought it was ridiculous that the bar turned down the opportunity to have Levi play again (especially given the sucktastic alternative blaring over the bar speakers), but what can you do? We took our chatter into the fresh, brisk air of downtown Raleigh, and then said our goodbyes on the street.
The girls and I made it home just after 4am, and I managed to drive us the entire way down and back. (I have control issues, and much prefer to be behind the wheel anyway.) Periodically, this conversation would take place:
Kelli: You OK?
Me: *nods*
Kelli: OK, because you are driving in the middle of the road.
Me: That's just how I roll.
Work was interesting the next day, but I'd do it all again in a heartbeat.
The Raleigh show was probably a "fail" in Levi's book, but it was still great in mine. And I'm gonna go ahead and presume that "the customer is always right" applies in this case, which means my opinion prevails. And if not, majority rules, and I've got everyone else on my side, too.
