Will Hoge - Number 14

I spent the G-20 Eve out in the big city with some friends. Greg and I left the kids behind (with close supervision) and went to Club Cafe for my 14th Will Hoge concert. I think it was number 14. I haven't seen a Will show for about a year and a half. He was in a horrible accident about a year ago and is still recovering. He just started touring again about two months ago and I was really looking forward to getting to experience his music live again.

Greg and I grabbed some Primanti's and met up with Val and my concertBFF Brian. Will Hoge and his gang were playing the "early show" which sucked. It was nice to get home at a reasonable hour but not so nice that their time on stage was so limited so they could get out of there in time for the "late show" to start.

The opener was a solo artist named Luke Brindley. He played an acoustic guitar and accompanied it with his great voice. I really enjoyed his set although I didn't find anything with his music overly original. He did play one song, Dervish, that was really cool. It was an instrumental song influenced by Turkish music. Luke Brindley said he wanted to try something different and wanted everyone there to go home with a CD. He asked just that you give what you had, and if you didn't have any extra money, that was okay too. I haven't had a chance to give the album I picked up a listen but I am looking forward to it.


Next up was Will Hoge and his band. His band has changed a lot since last time I saw him. He still has the same drummer and bass player. His bass player just started playing with them right before I saw them last though, so he is pretty new. The keyboard player is gone and there is a new lead guitar. I had been hearing about some new instrumentation within the band and got to witness that firsthand. The lead guitar player played some keys as well as a ukulele. There was a great mix of some of songs from the new album, The Wreckage, as well as some gems from the band's history. Will probably spent as much of the show seated as he did standing. Pretty much for every slow song, he pulled up a chair due to his busted up leg. There was no encore. He doesn't usually play one at Club Cafe when he does the early show just because his time is limited and he doesn't want to waste the time to walk off the stage and back when they could be rocking instead.

After the show, the line to stop and talk to Will was really long. In the meantime, concertBFF mentioned a poster for the show that was hanging up in the venue to advertise. I told him to grab it but apparently he isn't as cool as I thought he was. So, I was left to rip the thing down myself.


I got to talk to Will Hoge for a few minutes after waiting over 30 minutes. I gave him this photo that I had Greg take months ago. Greg spotted this sign in our little town here one day so I convinced him to jump out of the car at a red light and photograph it.


I also picked up the new album. I haven't listened to it yet either. I am not in a very big hurry since I think I have heard every track off of it already. That is one of the great advantages to be a stalker.


Set List for the show:
Highway Wings
Secondhand Heart
Your Fool
Draw the Curtains
Lover Tonight
Better Off Now that You're Gone
Long Gone
Doesn't Have to be that Way
The Wreckage
Someone Else's Baby
Even if it Breaks Your Heart
Not That Cool
Dirty Little War
Sex, Lies, and Money
Too Late Too Soon