Continuing from yesterday's Part 1, today I'll look at the first band of the trio, Pure Prairie League.
The Band:
This concert was promoted as a night of "Southern Rock", but I never really considered Pure Prairie League to be part of that genre. They have a lot more in common with bands like Eagles, Firefall and Poco thanLynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers and Charlie Daniels Band. That's not a bad thing, just clarifying the misnomer. I mean, the band started in Ohio, around Columbus & Cincinnati! Anyway, they were mainly active from 1972 through 1981. They're best know for the song Falling In And Out Of Love / Amie, which made the top 40 in 1975 and was a staple of AOR Radio back in the day. They had 3 other Top 40 songs in 1980/81, only one of which I know.
Hits aside, I have their first 3 albums, and one more of their 70's releases. And I've seen them a couple times (before this show), but always as an undercard. I've always thought they were a bit under-rated, partially because of the name, and partially because of instability in the line-up. During their 10 year original run, they had 15 different members. By the time of this show, they've had 27 different members.... There was only 1 original member *John David Call), and he was only on 3 of their first 9 albums. The longest tenured of the other 4 members is the drummer, who's been with them since 2013.
I wasn't real sure how they would sound, as they're sort of an "official" tribute band, with only 1 album of new material in 40+ years (2005).
The Show:
First and foremost: the band sounded really good. Yes it wasn't the original band (mostly), but they were solid. The playing, the singing, the stage presence... all good. And the sound was good, which is especially nice in a challenging venue. They played for about 45 minutes, which is about right for an opening act in a 3 band slate. I was pleased with the setlist, which included a few deeper cuts, and one song I wasn't familiar with (from their 1980 album Firin' Up). I wouldn't have minded something from 1978's Just Fly, but I wouldn't have dropped anything they did play. They didn't play an encore, again, not shocking starting off a 3 band show.
For this concert, I did something new for me: I logged the playlist (using the Note ap on my phone. so, here's the playlist:
- Angel #9
- Early Morning Riser
- I'll Change Your Flat Tire, Merle
- Harvest
- Let Me Love You Tonight
- Woman
- Goodbye So Long
- Call Me, Tell Me
- Two Lane Highway
- Falling In and Out of Love / Amie
All in all, a most satisfying way to open the evening. I'd certainly recommend them.
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