B B Kings was unusually friendly, with a fully seated crowd, great sound system and almost friendly staff this past Tuesday for the Tubes show. After seeing Prairie Prince backing Todd Rundgren on tour a few months ago I was concerned that he wouldn't be at this Tubes stop, but what ecstatic that he not only appeared - but I had the chance to meet him briefly outside the club prior to the start of the show.
The group played a combination of classic Tubes tunes, along with some new songs. The punk version of the Beatle's "i Saw Her Standing There" was a treat, along with the extensive James Brown medly.
There was enough stage show by Fee to make it a Tubes show, but not so much as to distract from the music. The band was great and on the mark, with Roger Steen playing some great lead guitar, and Prince driving the band hard as always. The bass player also rocked.
They played about an hour and forty five minutes in total. The show ended with "white Punks on Dope", and encored with "She's a Beauty" and "Talk To Ya' Later". The only disappointment was that they never played "sushi Girl", though BB King's pressing them to be off the stage early so a Rap Show could begin at 11PM may have had something to do with that omission.
If you have a chance to see them on this tour, I'd highly recommend it. I don't think you'll be disappointed!
