Steve Earle & the Dukes Tickets

As a group (8 of us), we were all impressed with the musicianship of these talented people. Steve Earle sounded great and the Dukes were wonderful. We all were impressed with the venue and had a great time. Thanks to Steve Earle and the Dukes for a fabulous evening of music.

I read a recent review in the Seattle TImes about Steve's latest album, I listen to a few track and liked what I herd and saw that he was coming to town! I was excited to listen to some good music and take in the Neptune, which oddly enough after 50 years in this town I had never been to. The music was pretty good, I could see listening to more of it. But as far as the show went I was less than happy with experience. The show was mostly GA and seating is very limited so we ended up having to stand and finally got tired of that and sat on the concrete floor. The entire theater is mostly concrete and hard surfaces so the acoustics sucked. Steve and the Band seemed less than excited and the energy was really not there. Lastly we got to listen to some political banter from Steve and really would rather not listen to that when I'm out to have fun. All in all, buy the new album but listen to it at home.

Earle can still get it done!! A talented song writer & performer.... if you haven't taken the time to catch his show ad it to your bucket list. Right up there with Yoakum, Alabama & many other country legends!

Steve Earle was fantastic. We had seats in the upper balcony and sound was pretty bad. The venue has a lot of room for improvement. No place to sit before or during the show if you want a break, drink or restroom. No real food option. Great sound on the bottom level. Remember if a band can get people on their feet, be ready to stand!

We have enjoyed a number of Steve's performances at the Birchmere, but this was the most sophisticated, gritty event yet. His songwritng is rich, his persona authentic. Loved it.

Great concert! The Mastersons, a married duo, performed for a half hour, with exceptional singing and great fiddle/guitar skills. They were total workhorses because, after a 30 minute intermission, they came back with Steve as full-fledged members of the Dukes. The whole ensemble performed for the next 2:15 in an excellent, well-paced show. Steve did "Guitar Town," "Copperhead Road," and a lot of other of his older material, and also a lot of his newer songs. In the past, I felt like Steve hadn't quite figured out how to fit the Mastersons into the show. Not a problem anymore, because now it's hard for me to imagine the group without them. A very, very satisfying show.

He played all his best ,, mixed with the new stuff , the Matersons are SO talented , they also play with him

Awesome show from the opening act to the meet & greet it was great

Steve played a good selection of his music. I am quite frankly surprised that a man of his talent is not much more celebrated for his work. Ultimately, I am impressed by his casual demeanor and humble approach that he gives toward what are actually accomplishments that are worthy of Dylan or Springsteen type praise.

The official annual event was taking place in Town Hall, one of the best auditoriums in NYC. It’s intimate and there’s not a bad seat in the house. This is Steve Earle’s benefit for the Keswell School (formerly known as the McCarton School), a school for children and young adults with autism, which Earle’s son, John Henry, attends. The show was slated to start at 8:05pm and at 8:05pm it started. I was sitting in the last row of the right balcony because that’s where the cheapest seats were. A lot of the balcony was empty – I’m not sure what the orchestra looked like. I don’t know if it was because a lot of people attended the show the night before at City Winery or if the ticket price was just too much but there were not as many people as there had been the year before. Michael Dorf (owner of City Winery) came out to introduce Earle. Earle told the same story he’d told about when he found out about John Henry’s diagnosis and contacting Stephen Stills. Most of the evening would be the same or very similar to the night before. The first artist was Matt Savage on keyboards. Earle said he is a pianist who leaves a lot of musicians in the dust. Savage was (I believe) a former student at Keswell and he is now a music teacher at the school. Just like last year, I find him technically brilliant but the music itself doesn’t move me. He started with Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage,” which was beautifully performed but even the original isn’t my type of music. The title of Savage’s album is Piano Voyage and another song is “Southie to SoHo” because Savage travels a lot between Boston and NYC. He ended with the Beatles’ “Got to Get You Into My Life,” which again showed off Savage’s technical brilliance and he can play lots of notes faster than nobody’s business but it all leaves me cold. Earle came back and said, “The technical term for that is badass.” Just like the night before, I thought the sound engineer had the volume up too high. In this setting it meant that the acoustic guitars had an overly amplified electrified sound that does not work for me. Throughout the show people were taking photos and videos, which usually isn’t allowed at Town Hall, so I didn’t take any because it felt wrong. Earle introduced Shawn Colvin by saying she had recorded his song “Someday” which brought light to his life in a very dark time in his life. She started off with Paul Westerberg’s “Even Here We Are” while playing acoustic guitar and then Earle came out and the set was the same. “Come What May,” “Burnin’ It Down,” “Sunny Came Home,” “Diamond in the Rough,” and “Tell Moses.” Colvin again said she mostly writes blues songs or songs about death and regret. Earle said that “Sunny Came Home” is “a fucking murder ballad.” Unlike at City Winery, people didn’t applaud at the musical intro to the songs – they didn’t recognize the songs until she started singing. Earle told the story about producing a record for David Broza (calling him “like Bruce Springsteen and a bag of chips”) and how easy it was to write songs with Colvin and that they wrote two songs every session. He said he’d never written with someone before. And he said that the experience in Israel had changed him – that you can’t go there and not be changed. That was the introduction to “Tell Moses” and again said how hard it was to come up with a third hero. (To see the full stories told about these songs or any others, you can go to the City Winery review (http://www.kronosphere.com/music/2016/12/14/john-henrys-friends-town-hall-5-december-2016/). Or you may have to read both reviews for the full stories since I remembered some bits for one review and other pieces for the other review.) For “Tell Moses,” Earle told us to we had to sing and if we sang loud enough then maybe Trump will hear it and he’ll think they wrote it for him. Earle had come up with the mandolin riff first and then the first verse and Colvin easily came up with the second verse. Earle said he liked his job and he liked this room and its history. He told the story about Jackson Browne and Graham Nash at the Byron Bay Bluesfest. And he told the story about the Air Force base that was near his childhood home. Like all kids of his generation he fell in love with the Beatles and then with a lot of British groups. One of the Air Force wives was from Manchester and when he found out he asked her, “So you must know the Hollies?” Earle also spent an entire summer drinking Bali-Hai, smoking, and playing Crosby, Stills & Nash songs with his friends. Nash came out with his acoustic guitar and Shane Fontayne on electric guitar and background vocals and they played “Military Madness” and “I Used to Be a King” from his debut solo album. Then he put on a harmonica (“Who invented this shit?” about the harmonica holder) and performed a new song “Myself at Last.” Next he went to the keyboards to play a song for Joni but it was a different song – “Simple Man” – also from his debut solo album. Nash told Fontayne that it’s a pleasure making music with him. And he told us that Joni Mitchell is doing remarkably well. She is awake and speaking and not walking yet but she is working on that. Nash said that songs can come from the most personal moments. After breakfast one morning, Nash and Joni went to an antique shop and she bought a vase. When they got home Nash said, “Hey, Joni. Why don’t I light the fire while you put the flowers in the vase that you bought today?” So, of course, he played “Our House.” He ended his set again with “Chicago.” During the line “don’t ask Jack” I could swear I heard him sing “don’t ask Barack” but I could have misheard. Ivy Feldman, executive director of the Keswell School, came out and briefly talked about the school. She said that they are working to find the students’ voice however that may be. It’s never too late to succeed and if it doesn’t work, they try something else. Colvin came out to introduce GT30 and told the story of the bad boyfriend again. And she found it very moving that Earle found her cover of “Someday” meaningful. Steve Earle and the Dukes [Kelley Looney (electric and upright bass, vocals), Chris Masterson (electric guitars, vocals), Eleanor Whitmore (violin, keys, acoustic guitar, vocals and “she dilutes the ugly on the stage”), Chris Clark (keys, pedal steel, accordion, tic-tac guitar), Brad Pemberton (drums)] came out and went right into “Guitar Town,” which has a guitar riff that I could listen to over and over and over. Then “Goodbye’s All We’ve Got Left.” Earle told the story about Noel Fox signing him to Silverline/Goldline Music and how he didn’t know what to do until seeing a Bruce Springsteen concert and three hours and 10 minutes later he knew precisely what to do. They played “Hillbilly Highway,” “Good Ol’ Boy (Gettin’ Tough),” and “My Old Friend the Blues” that opens with just the acoustic and pedal steel before the entire band kicks in. Then “Someday,” “Think It Over,” “Fearless Heart,” “Little Rock ‘n’ Roller,” and “Down the Road.” Earle said it was the last show of GT30 and they had played a lot of shows in Canada because for some reason he’s more popular in Canada than the US. He told the Richard Bennett story again with Mary Martin’s remark (“Isn’t flying a guitar player into Nashville like flying hookers into Vegas?”) and he banged his chest again for “Fearless Heart” and introduced “Little Rock ‘n’ Roller” the same way. For the encore the band came back out and played the new song “Never Go Home.” And then everyone came out for the encore, “Teach Your Children.”

A benefit concert but great value especially if you are a Steve Earle fan. Intimate venue that's now an annual event.

First I want to mention that this was a benefit show and I would buy the tickets again just for that alone. Matt Savage was great, Shawn Colvin was good and Graham Nash rocked the house. Steve's set was a lackluster. Yes there were highlights but Steve's set (the whole Guitartown album) sounded like it was the last of 30 nights playing the same show. And guess what... it was the last night of playing the same show over and over. It was just not a standout set. The frustrating part was all the comments about how great the prior evening's performance was. The evening before there was a similar show at City Winery for half the price. So what do I do next year? Support the cause or go to the set that sounded like more fun at City Winery?

Great music, theplace is old and wonderful- wonderful venue. Keswll shcool needs everyone's help= good cause

Steve Earle blew into town with his 30th Anniversary of Guitar Town Tour. His opening set was the album in its entirety and the second half was a survey of his greatest songs. Steve is heading into the studio to record an album with these musicians and I can't wait to hear the results.

Steve and band were in good form. Songs were well played though not particularly inspired. The sound was excessively loud and distorted - the mix was not particularly good. I didn't have that "I can't wait for his next tour" feeling after this show. In fact, I'll likely pass on the next one.

fun energy, good stories, great musicians but the sound was muddled; too much bass and could not hear the fiddle or the backing voices

Awesome on all accounts!! Great concert, great talent, great venue!

John Henry’s Friends was the first annual charity concert for the Keswell School (formerly the McCarton School) in NYC. The school was founded on the belief that children diagnosed with ASD can live full and productive lives as integrated members of their communities. John Henry is Steve Earles’s son. John Henry is five years old and autistic. There isn’t a bad seat in the 1495-seat theater. I was sitting in the very last row in the balcony. While waiting for the show to start I was noticing that there were a lot of old people there and then realized that I’m one of the old people. Michael Dorf of City Winery spoke first. City Winery is one of the producers of the show and there had been a rehearsal concert at City Winery the night before. Justin Townes Earle had tweeted a very short video that started from the feet up that showed very long legs on one guitarist and the bottom of the beard on the other – a teaser that there would be a duet with JTE and his father. First out were The Mastersons, an alt-country duo originally from Texas. They are a married couple – Eleanor Whitmore and Chris Masterson – and they are part of Steve Earle’s backing band, The Dukes. The voices and song melodies are sweet, which is an interesting counterpoint to the humor in some of the songs – “We can’t talk about it because I smashed my phone.” Also Whitmore can hold a note for a very very long time. The second song they did is the title track from their lastest album, “Good Luck Charm.” Next, Steve went into this long introduction for his son, Justin Townes Earle, saying that Justin never answers his calls or texts (his wife answers the texts) but when Steve asked Justin to be part of the concert, Justin said yes right away without asking his manager or anyone if he was available. Later in the concert, Steve mentioned that Justin is a very good older brother. But during the intro someone told Steve that he had the order wrong and Justin was walking across the stage to go get his guitar and Steve had to tell Justin that Steve had screwed up and told Justin that he wasn’t going on yet. So then Steve introduced Matt Savage, a piano prodigy before he was 10yo, who is also a teacher at John Henry’s school. Savage played one of his jazz fusion pieces and was very well-received by the audience. It’s not really my favorite type of music but I could appreciate the brilliance of the performance. There were hints of Savage’s autisim in the introduction but it wasn’t until I read about him that that was confirmed. As Steve said later, when you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism. Steve Earle and the Dukes then joined Savage. Steve said that when John Henry was talking, he also liked to play the drums. When his speech went away, so did the music. But before that, Levon Helm bought John Henry his first set of drums. John Henry is now saying a few words and he’s starting to drum again. Because Steve has to spend so much time on the road, he uses FaceTime to keep in touch with John Henry. John Henry is present for those chats, until he isn’t. In order to get John Henry’s attention, Steve will sing and then the Dukes and Savage performed one of John Henry’s favorite songs. And now it was time for Justin Townes Earle. Justin came out and played solo – although with his brilliant guitar technique he plays melody and bass at the same time. “They Killed John Henry” was followed by “Memphis in the Rain.” As he had with the others, Steve was just a bit offstage watching the performers, but it was especially poignant when he was watching his son. After Justin’s performance, Steve said it was still like soccer when he watched him play. Justin said when he thinks of his brother he thinks John Prine’s “Hello in There.” Then he played a song that had nothing to do with that – “White Gardenias” followed by “Burning Pictures” and “Today and a Lonely Night.” Steve came out with his guitar and Justin said, “That’s Dad!” Steve said to Justin, “I’ll be Doc [Watson] and you be [Steve] Earle” and they played a blues song that I believe was “Ain’t No Tellin’” and then Steve’s song, “Hometown Blues.” Steve and Justin hugged for a long time and then Justin left the stage pumping his arms in the air with his guitar still in one hand. Steve talked some more about autism and the possible causes. He discounted vaccines since he know kids who were not vaccinated and were autistic. He thinks it’s environmental and that Monsanto is guilty until proven otherwise. Jackson Browne sounds as good today as he did when he was in his 20s and 30s. We heard “I’ll Do Anything” and “Just Say Yeah.” He spent a lot of time tuning between songs (he switched off between electric and acoustic guitars) and there was one annoying woman who got impatient and told him to carry on. Jackson interpretated that to mean to carry on with the tuning and to continue his story. The tune he was playing while he was tuning was “These Days” and we were all sure we were going to hear that song (one of my favorite songs period and I can’t believe he wrote it when he was only 16yo) but when he finally finished tuning we heard “The Long Way Around.” He then did Steve’s “Jerusalem,” which he considers a Christmas song. Steve joined Jackson and they performed “Cocaine.” While Steve stuck with the unrepentant Dave Von Ronk version, Jackson sang the rehab version, which included lyrics about cocaine destroying creativity and deciding not to use it one more day when he found out he was turning a profit for the CIA. Then it was time for Steve Earle and the Dukes. In addition to The Mastersons (Masterson on guitar and Whitmore on violin and piano), the Dukes are Will Rigby on drums (his last appearance with them) and Kelly Looney on upright and electric bass. The band played several blues songs from their last album and then other songs from Steve’s catalog. Steve switched from harmonica to guitar to mandolin and back to guitar. “Baby Baby Baby (Baby)” and “Ain’t Nobody’s Daddy Now” were the first two songs. Then Steve promoted Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and told us all to go before the money ran out and it was all over. Whitmore and Steve sang a duet – he includes a duet on every album and realized he needed to write one for the brilliant singer he had in his own band – “Baby’s Just as Mean.” “Love’s Gonna Blow My Way,” “My Old Friend the Blues” (a song that brings me to the verge of tears every time I hear it), “Guitar Town,” “Copperhead Road,” “The Galway Girl,” “Acquainted with the Wind,” “Better Off Alone,” “The Tennessee Kid,” “King of the Blues” (for BB King), and then a blistering version of “Hey Joe.” I noticed a very tall man in a baseball cap walk through the aisle separating the lower and upper balconies. I swore it was Justin but how could it be? Then the man got up just before the encore and left. Then I saw him on stage. It was Justin. He was sitting in balcony enjoying the show. Just before the encore, Steve said he’s an optimist. He’s 60 and John Henry is 5, so that makes him an optimist. Then he and the band performed “Remember Me.” Everyone came out to perform Steve’s “I Ain’t Ever Satisfied” and then Jackson, Steve, and Justin each took a turn on the verses of Jackson’s “Take It Easy.” This was a concert of a lifetime and tt’s always great to support a good cause.

Entrance to the venue reminded me of tsa. The setup was ridiculous for a crowd this size, not nearly enough tables & chairs. While the Mastersons are ok as an opening act, I was surprised that they also constituted half of Steve's band. I was really looking forward to a set list of old, if barely played songs. The new & improved bluesy crap had me waiting for something I could get into, which turned out to be my car halfway thru the set. While I appreciate the talent & skill of his writing, apparently a new era has dawned, and the curtain is falling fast.

Great show at a great venue. Very enjoyable and entertaining. Will definitely see them again.