Excellent show.

Very nice recording and a smoking set. This is definitely worth having.

It was a great show indeed, saw it from the balcony, great view. The theater was an excellent venue, only holding 700, nice stained glass and ceiling. Not a bad seat in the house, great sound.

SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THE SHOW AT:
http://www.pbase.com/ratsnest74/2005_12_28_derek_trucks_band_clt_nc

An amazing set. The final four numbers spotlight the artist's uniquely blazing guitar style, but the real jewels are the covers of "Key To The Highway" and "(Turn On Your) Lovelight," where the artist finds something new to say with otherwise worn out, 40-year-old material.

There were at least 6 sets of mics for this show with a pair of omnis close to the stage.
This room was not as easy to tape as I had expected. The ceiling is open high about 10 feet from the lip of the stage and then the stage stacks were split far apart on a 3 feet high stage.

The room was once a church and still has very ornate decor including stained glass windows. Very comfortable seating with an upper section that runs around the back half of the room. Smoke free and the staff was very laid back and easy going on the fans.

At points, the mics come close to getting hot on Derek's guitar but most of the time everything is just right. The vocals were off a little in the room mix during the 1st set but got better as Marty dialed in and tweaked the sound. He was making adjustments throughout the night.

Now, the fun part... What a show! One of my favorite nights from the get-go. "Key to the Highway">"Up Above My Head" to get the church rocking was fantastic. If that "To Know Is To Love You" doesn't move you, then you need some help. Starts out very slow and slinky (or as one young lady put it last night, "that was so damn sexy") and then hits the standard groove. It was very cool and I had chills on my arms at the show. Someone in the front told me they saw tears in Derek's eyes during that tune. Nice extended "Greensleeves" to close the set.

2nd set was going to start with "Leavin' Trunk" according to Yonrico's stage list but they went right into "Everything is Everything" including a big old Todd Smallie bass run.

Joining Yonrico and the Count on percussion for the 2nd set (excluding "Maybe Your Baby" only) was Derek's younger brother Duane, who was also celebrating his 17th birthday sporting a Miles Davis shirt (which my 7 year old son, Miles, was glad to see after the show). This was a first as far as I know having 2 drum sets with the Count. It was more conservative than I expected but they were having a good time and Yonrico let him shine.

A lefthanded curveball of "Let's Go Get Stoned" followed which has become a crowd sing along everytime I hear it. My son had no clue and his Mom wants to keep it that way :-)

"All I Do" is definitely one of my new favorites, especially since they are throwing in parts of "Lonely Avenger" or "7/4 Jam" whatever you want to call it. Nice funky and so tight! (Mic levels are probably the hottest during this tune and get close to some distortion during the vocals.)

Followed with Birthday Boy intros and then a brand new cover from the Master, Stevie Wonder. "Maybe Your Baby" is from Stevie's "Talking Book" album and I liked it a whole lot. Funky with a dark edge and some great interplay between Mike and Derek.

Now, the dTb should just be ashamed of themselves for playing "Lovelight". It was the biggest crowd pleaser and just too fun! Everyone in the crowd was groovin, even my son had the jig going. Smiles everywhere. They tore it down. I thought it was "Yield Not to Temptation" but was pleasantly surprised...you will be too.

"For My Brother" is always the reason I make shows happen in my life. If you want to sample one tune from the dTb, then this is the one. Derek takes us on a different ride everytime but I always get there with my jaw dropped and out of breath :-)

Since we were in church, the band closed the set with a great "John Belushi in James Brown's church" version of "Spirit in the Dark". I like it much better in that spot than "Joyful Noise" which shows how the band is changing and evolving as the new album release gets closer.

The encore was the biggest surprise to me. Not the tune selection but the antics from Count M'butu. I have never seen such joy and such "Gettin' Jiggy wit it" moves. He stole the show with his display. Not crazy about the tune, not really a song cause there aren't any lyrics per se but it was fun for this night. The crowd wanted more after that but we had to settle for a meet and greet in the lobby.

Miles and I went through the line, got the band to sign the stagelist, told the band how much we enjoyed the fun night, laughed with the Count and wished Duane a Happy Birthday.

It was Miles' 4th show and he told me it was by far his favorite. I think you will like it too. Enjoy and Happy New Year!