One of my oldest friends – since we were 14 – lives in Atlanta. Back in November, we had planned to take a long weekend trip together, just the two of us, but due to unfortunate circumstances, that trip did not happen. It’s been well over a year since I’ve seen her, so as I was looking over the tour schedule of The Lone Bellow, I realized I could combine seeing my dear friend with seeing the Lone Bellow, and perhaps recruit another fan for the band. My amazing partner – seriously, he is the best – was able to arrange his work schedule to hang out with our kid so I could leave town.
And so I was fortunate enough to be in the audience for the show at Terminal West Wednesday night.
The band took the stage at about 10 minutes after 10pm, and played for just over 2 hours.
The first several songs were in the same order as Then Came The Morning, and for “Fake Roses,” Zach mentioned that he doesn’t usually talk before singing that song, but that the woman who inspired the song was in the audience, and he dedicated it to her.
Then they played “You Never Need Nobody” and “The One You Should’ve Let Go” from their first album, and there was a lot of encouragement to sing along, which the crowd was more than happy to do. And the rare person who wasn’t totally into the show at that point didn’t have a choice but to become completely enraptured when they played “Heaven Don’t Call Me Home.”
Then they did a total 180 and slowed things way down with Kanene’s “Slip Sliding Away,” which is always so powerful.
Before singing “Watch Over Us,” Zach mentioned the many family members in the audience, including the parents, aunts and uncles that took him outdoors and taught him to wonder and marvel at the world, the ones who placed his hand on the neck of a horse and told him to feel the power in the animal. And Brian’s mom was also in the audience. He said the song was dedicated to all of them. Brian, as always, “killed it,” as they like to say during that song in Boston! His emotions were strongly evident as he concluded the song.
When Zach mentioned that Uncle Dale was in the audience, it was something of a relief to see that we are not the only people obsessed with Uncle Dale, as the audience broke into applause and cheers for him. It is clear that people love Uncle Dale and the stories he inspires. Zach ended up telling three Uncle Dale stories, two of which were already familiar to us. He told about the school bus sized catfish in Lake Allatoona. “Seriously,” he said, “go swimming out there – tonight - and see if you aren’t afraid.”
And so I was fortunate enough to be in the audience for the show at Terminal West Wednesday night.
The band took the stage at about 10 minutes after 10pm, and played for just over 2 hours.
The first several songs were in the same order as Then Came The Morning, and for “Fake Roses,” Zach mentioned that he doesn’t usually talk before singing that song, but that the woman who inspired the song was in the audience, and he dedicated it to her.
Then they played “You Never Need Nobody” and “The One You Should’ve Let Go” from their first album, and there was a lot of encouragement to sing along, which the crowd was more than happy to do. And the rare person who wasn’t totally into the show at that point didn’t have a choice but to become completely enraptured when they played “Heaven Don’t Call Me Home.”
Then they did a total 180 and slowed things way down with Kanene’s “Slip Sliding Away,” which is always so powerful.
Before singing “Watch Over Us,” Zach mentioned the many family members in the audience, including the parents, aunts and uncles that took him outdoors and taught him to wonder and marvel at the world, the ones who placed his hand on the neck of a horse and told him to feel the power in the animal. And Brian’s mom was also in the audience. He said the song was dedicated to all of them. Brian, as always, “killed it,” as they like to say during that song in Boston! His emotions were strongly evident as he concluded the song.
When Zach mentioned that Uncle Dale was in the audience, it was something of a relief to see that we are not the only people obsessed with Uncle Dale, as the audience broke into applause and cheers for him. It is clear that people love Uncle Dale and the stories he inspires. Zach ended up telling three Uncle Dale stories, two of which were already familiar to us. He told about the school bus sized catfish in Lake Allatoona. “Seriously,” he said, “go swimming out there – tonight - and see if you aren’t afraid.”
Zach with Uncle Dale - photo by Tony Williams
He told the story someone recently left in the comments of our post about Uncle Dale. Uncle Dale’s wife does motocross, and a while back she was doing something called a “superman,” which involves going “into the ether, where no one should be without a plane.” Well, she crashed and broke her back. In the hospital, she was put into a medically induced coma, and while this was happening, Uncle Dale went to Eddie’s Trick Shop and bought a white beard and hair, and “old man skin.” When his wife came out of the coma, he told her he had been waiting 40 years for her to wake up. According to the comment on our site, she threw up at his feet, but Zach left that part out last night.
He also told a story that he said he had forgotten about, but that Uncle Dale had just reminded him of back stage. Uncle Dale, it seems, bought Zach’s grandma a peacock named Prince for Mother’s Day. Prince didn’t like living on his grandma’s farm, and flew over to the farm next door. The story sort of takes a couple of turns from there, but fortunately Zach’s dad recorded this part of the show and shared it with us –
He also told a story that he said he had forgotten about, but that Uncle Dale had just reminded him of back stage. Uncle Dale, it seems, bought Zach’s grandma a peacock named Prince for Mother’s Day. Prince didn’t like living on his grandma’s farm, and flew over to the farm next door. The story sort of takes a couple of turns from there, but fortunately Zach’s dad recorded this part of the show and shared it with us –
The rest of the set contained many of the songs on their two albums, and included a performance of “To the Woods” with opening singer Odessa on violin, then they were joined by the rest of Odessa’s band to perform her song “Hummed Out.”
For the first song of the encore, Zach dedicated “Fire Red Horse” to Uncle Dale, as he is the inspiration for that song. It seems rare that the band performs that song, so it felt very special to hear them play it while Uncle Dale was in the audience.
Then they played “Strawberry Wine,” which the audience very much enjoyed. After they finished, Brian recognized someone that seems to have been an old high school friend in the audience, and then he ended up dedicating Edwin McCain’s “I’ll Be” to him. It was quite hilarious, and the audience enjoyed singing along. Then someone from the audience said something about “Bombs over Baghdad,” and Jason busted out with a few bars on the keyboard, but Zach quickly shut it down!
They finished the evening with “Teach Me To Know,” again inviting the audience to participate.
It was another typically passionate, engaging The Lone Bellow show that creates an intimate bond with the audience. It is not surprising, I am sure, that my friend thought The Lone Bellow was amazing, and plans to see them again the next time they are in town. Understandably, she was a bit skeptical at first about my obsession with the band, but she was absolutely won over. Though I honestly can not imagine anyone going to one of their shows, and, even if they don’t particularly like the music, not having a good time at the very least.
Were you there? What did I leave out?
Then they played “Strawberry Wine,” which the audience very much enjoyed. After they finished, Brian recognized someone that seems to have been an old high school friend in the audience, and then he ended up dedicating Edwin McCain’s “I’ll Be” to him. It was quite hilarious, and the audience enjoyed singing along. Then someone from the audience said something about “Bombs over Baghdad,” and Jason busted out with a few bars on the keyboard, but Zach quickly shut it down!
They finished the evening with “Teach Me To Know,” again inviting the audience to participate.
It was another typically passionate, engaging The Lone Bellow show that creates an intimate bond with the audience. It is not surprising, I am sure, that my friend thought The Lone Bellow was amazing, and plans to see them again the next time they are in town. Understandably, she was a bit skeptical at first about my obsession with the band, but she was absolutely won over. Though I honestly can not imagine anyone going to one of their shows, and, even if they don’t particularly like the music, not having a good time at the very least.
Were you there? What did I leave out?
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