Having followed Shooter's career since the first CD and getting to know the .357s/Heirophant personally, I was curious to see how things would be with the new band.
Now, the El Rey is a beautiful venue with great sound. Having never seen a show there, I was amazed at what a great room it is. Unfortunately, it was a bit barren on this particular night. Not empty by any stretch of the imagination, but certainly not the crowd I was expecting. The crowd that WAS there, however, was certainly into it. Drea was there with Alabama and a large group from the show "Sons of Anarchy" (Ron Perlman was not there, unfortunately).
Shooter and the band roamed the room when they weren't onstage, taking pictures and talking to anyone who wanted to say hi. Johnny Corndawg took the stage and surprised us with his act. We had looked him up on YouTube and only had a mild interest in watching him, but he proved to be an excellent performer and a very nice guy.
Shooter took the stage and the first thing I noticed was how blah the new band was. They were definitely prolific musicians, they just didn't rock and regardless of whether you like his country material or "Black Ribbons," Shooter has always put on a rocking show. He played most of the new CD, "Family Man," and a few from his older CDs, including an acoustic sing-along of "4th of July," but nothing from "Black Ribbons" and nothing from the other CDs that rocked to any extent. This was definitely a tamed Shooter.
We still love him and his music and will go see him when he's in town, but I sure would like to see him with a more energetic band again. It's one thing to bring in new musicians; it's another to replace everyone you've worked with for years with a bunch of guys who look like they'd rather be home than onstage putting on a show.