Rough and ready Rock & Roll
by DJoc on 7/6/24Hoyt Sherman Place - Des MoinesRating: 5 out of 5Tuesday night’s Mike Campbell & the Dirty Knobs show at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines, Iowa was spectacular. One of the best live shows that I’ve seen. Raw, loose, fun and full of outstanding musicianship all around and just about every guitar you can imagine, from Strats, Tele’s, 335’s and Les Paul’s to a Gibson Firebird and a Fender Jaguar. The opening act, Shannon McNally, who looks like a young Loretta Lynn, was great and joined the band for several songs. She sang excellent original country songs and two killer covers: Waylon’s “Lonesome, On’ry and Mean,” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Gold Dust Woman” with Campbell filling in for Lindsay Buckingham. The Knobs rocked the place with their own tunes, mostly from their new record and also included several Heartbreakers covers along with a killer cover of Chuck Berry’s “Little Queenie.” “New Guy” Heartbreakers drummer Steve Ferrone, came out front and talked lovingly for 5 minutes about how Campbell brought him into the Heartbreakers and told the crowd about Mike coming on stage the previous night at Hoyt to play with Little Feat. Wish I had been there for that. As always, Hoyt Sherman (my favorite music venue) was a star and Campbell mentioned how much he loved the place several times. Great shows stay with you for days. This one is still in my head. If you ever get the chance, see these guys.