Venue: Louisville, KY .. August 13 2001

Click and to check the photos!

Thanks to Wes Yankowy for this write-up from Louisville:

Set 1: The World Isn't Fair>Harbor Lights>Barcelona Mona, King of the Hill>Defenders of the Flag>King of the Hill, Shadowhand, When in Rome>Funhouse,Intro>Sugaree
Set 2: *Jerry Lee Lewis riff>*Country Doctor>*Great Balls of Fire,*Girl From the North Country>*I'll Be Home Soon, Resting Place, White Wheeled Limousine, Man Smart Woman Smarter>Pete & Manny>Rainbow's Cadillac>Sunflower Cat>See the Same Way, Spider Fingers>Tempus Fugit>Spider Fingers
Encore: I Will Walk With You>Fields of Gray>The Longest Night>Fields of Gray

So for the details: Bruce came on around 8:15-8:20 or so, and started right into this beautiful song which he later announced as a Randy Newman, done solo with the band just spectating. Then into a really deep expansion on the opening of Harbor Lights, still with the band waiting their turn. Then with a nod, Harbor Lights explodes, and the grooving begins! Without any hesitation and with a solo by Bobby Reed to boot, Bruce takes us into Barcelona Mona, leaving the stage at one point and allowing Mr. Reed to again lead the band. This whole trilogy if you will, clocked in at just under 30 mins. with Bruce getting ample two-hand independance exercise.

Bruce then greets the crowd and announce the songs just finished and goes directly into a thrilling intro to King of the Hill! Several times during which, Bruce makes reference to new U. of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino. Now i could be mistaken, but after KOTH and Shadowhand, i labeled the song as "When in Rome" at least thats how it started but i could be wrong (anyone know differently?) right into a great version of Funhouse.

Then Bruce introduces a song "We just learned today", I had not heard it before, but the first line is : "by the banks of the Ohio river..". It was very beautiful, and drew lots of cheers from the crowd, so someone out there must know a title. Then he finishes the first set going into Sugaree, while in the middle part, bantering and playing with the crowd, at one point answering a "BRUUUCE!", with "that's me!"

About a 15 min. intermission and Bruce comes back out alone with some requests in hand. Reading the first one out loud "I have been requesting this for 2 yrs., could you please play Great Balls of Fire" so Bruce goes into a boogie riff remeniscent of Jerry Lee Lewis' style, and then stops, laughs, and says, "Nah, i'm not gonna do that one". Then a beautiful solo version of Country Doctor leading into a section of Great Balls of Fire.

Bruce carries the show solo up until Resting Place, and begins it with a comment on the Troubadour series he performs at in Ashland, KY and how "People in this state love to listen to me play solo piano". This and WWL, which was incredible gets the dancers ready for a phenomenal run on the accordian through Men Smart/Pete&Manny/Rainbow's Cadillac. The dancers left the stage but Bruce continued the party with Sunflower Cat>See the Same Way. At this point, or perhaps during the encore, Bruce notes that it had been a few years since playing Louisville, and that this was not a hotbed of popularity for him, but after tonights crowd, he would definitely be back again soon, which of course ignited the crowd again. Spider Fingers>Tempus Fugit closed set 2.

Bruce comes back out with the band and announces there are quite a few requests for these songs, and that he was going to end the night on a mellow note. Most of the evening seemed to have a mellow and country theme, fitting to this city's persona. I Will Walk W/You>Fields of Gray into a slower Longest Night back into Fields of Gray was a gorgeous combination and an amazing way to end the evening.

Wes Yankowy