The Rex Theatre is located in the hip South Side district of Pittsburgh. When we walked in I was surprised to see how small it was, and no theatre seats just folding chairs. Kind of a dumpy place but there was a full bar in the front room and an express bar at the back of the theatre with only Yuengling and Yuengling Black and Tan. Sweet - it's America's oldest brewery you know.
No stage set here, just guitars, bass, and drums on a small stage. The set was the same as earlier shows. "Buffalo Grass" opens - that screamin' Todd guitar solo gives me the chills! Todd made the comment "I made a vow at the beginning of this tour that this guitar would never leave my neck." He also noted that "Black Maria" was 35 years old. It still sounds great and is always a concert highlight! I'm wondering why the classic rock stations around here don't play this one.
Other highlights for me were a couple of tunes I haven't heard Todd play live before - "Drive," and the cover "Walls Came Down." Cool to hear "SLUT" too! And the encore "Hawking" was a real treat - I haven't heard Todd do this one since the Nearly Human days. I just love this tune and Todd really belts it out - awesome!
The band was smokin - this was only the fourth show of the tour, and there were a few flubs but it will only get better as the tour goes on! If you listened to drummer Mike Urbano on Rundgrenradio, he said there were no rehearsals prior to to the tour. He just learned the songs and showed up in Dallas to play. Mike was on the Nearly Human recording and tour. I'm a drummer and I love Mike's playing - he is one kickass drummer! He's a bit funkier than Prairie.
If you're going to a future show on this tour, you're going to love it!
