Leon Russell put on quite a good show on Good Friday, from what you could make out of it. I was glad to see him in action.
Inevitably though, this will be more of a review of the venue and concert experience than of Leon. Overall, this was one of the very worst experiences I've had seeing a show. Indeed, the 8 Seconds Saloon near Washington and Lynhurst on the west side of Indianapolis may be the very worst venue in which I've ever seen a show.
First off however, the scheduling of this was inexcusably screwed. We were sold tickets to see Leon Russell at 7 pm. In fact, Leon didn't play until 9:30. That's 2 1/2 hours of my (and everyone else's) time absolutely wasted in a crappy bar. Now, if there were technical problems or a rain delay for an outside show, that'd just be life in the big city. But they never intended a 7 o'clock show. They put on an unbilled opening act at 8 pm, intending Leon for 9 pm.
That last half hour might be blamed on Leon, but the rest of it goes somewhere else. I don't know whether that should be on Ticketmaster or on the venue itself. I still intend on billing them for my wasted 2 1/2 hours as soon as I figure out to whom I should make the invoice.
One outfit NOT responsible for the bad schedule was the opening act. The Whiskey Brothers were standing on stage with their instruments waiting to play for several minutes before 8 pm. They're a pretty well known band locally. I've heard the name for years.
Frankly though, they suck. In fairness, they can play their instruments (for however good you could make out through the venue acoustics). They played some reasonably athletic licks. They were tight.
But their songs were just crap, compositionally. They lack personality. Basically, they're playing generic electric blues, somewhere in the range of Stevie Ray Vaughn or Lynyrd Skynyrd. But there's nothing whatsoever distinctive about their style or ANY of their songs. There was nothing there that could have even been mistaken for a hook, and I couldn't quite remember how any of those songs went even while I was listening to them. But at least they were on time.
Article comments
1 - Douglas Mays
Al, gotcha. With all the things I have experienced in the music business world, the Leon Russell show you saw is part of the deal. What it comes down to is the 8 Seconds Saloon bought the show from Leon's agent. Leon shows up to the venue and just thinks: "what the hell, they are paying me..." the artist will do shows like this in order to keep the tour working within the budget.
What a drag the Saloon sucked so much. Venues like that can also make it a presentation that turns out to be awesome. Obviously they did not know how to run a show. The timing thing without announcing an opening act, etc. Lousy sound. I have had nights in small concert clubs when the sound was so awesome. And being right up close to the artist with the stage looking good.
8 Seconds Saloon blew it. In general, a club will draw people to the venue for weeks off of one good show of a noted artist (Leon Russell for example). 8 Seconds spent alot of money that will keep people away, most likely, should the word get around about their presentation.
peaceloveguidance
2 - Al Barger
Thanks Douglas. I'm usually fairly easy to please with sound in small venues like this. It's a little tricky make a stadium sound good, but it's not that hard to get half-decent sound for a few hundred folks.
On the plus side, there were crazy storms in town that night doing serious hail damage to homes and cars within a mile of us as we're driving home- and we missed all that severity. So, the sound system sucked, but we didn't get killed by the weather. So it was good on balance.
Plus, I did get to see Leon in action. That was worthwhile.
3 - getoverit
You obviously don't go to many concerts. There is almost always an opening band and this venue is no exception or you just like to complain about anything which would be my guess. There was advertising regarding this concert many weeks in advance and apparently you heard what you wanted.
4 - Al Barger
Getoverit, I sure wouldn't be going to many concerts if they were all presented like this- dirty, horribly bad and ridiculously loud sound, and HOURS off schedule.
5 - Mary Nell
Leon's show at 8 Seconds Saloon was fabulous (as always)! Thanks for the nice comments about Leon & the band, even if the venue sucks!
Leon will be playing at "Uncle Fester's House of Blooze" in Bloomington on August 12. Come on down and see him again! If you'll find me (ask management), I will introduce you to Leon. Thanks again for the great review.
Mary Nell
6 - xatso
This concert experience was repeated at Elkhart Lake, WI on 10/21/06. It is NOT the venue, it is Leon. I don't think he cares.