Last Thursday & Friday, Jim Messina played at the Wildey Theater in Edwardsville, IL. Our first show in 2023, but a good one!
Jim Messina is one of the big names of 1970's music. As explained by wikipedia: he "is an American musician, songwriter, singer, guitarist, recording engineer, and record producer. He was a member of the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield, a founding member of the pioneering country rock band Poco, and half of the soft rock duo Loggins and Messina." When I saw (in January) that he was coming to the Wildey, we jumped and got tickets: 5th row, on the aisle. Of course, there are no bad seats at the Wildey, but 5th rows is especially good.
We started the evening with a great dinner at the Foundry just a short walk down Main Street. And we even had a break in the rain (down to a misty drizzle) for the walk to the tjeater. This my only my 2nd time to the Foundry, but we'll be doing it again!
There was no support act, just Jim Messina and his band. And the band was outstanding: Steve Nieves on Saxophone, Woodwinds and Percussion, Jim Frazier on Keyboards, Ben King on Bass and Jack Bruno on Drums. A really tight band, and they provided a full sound without overwhelming the music. Top marks!
They played 2 full sets, with a short break between, and then 2 encores. Messina played mostly acoustic guitar in the first set, and mostly electric in the second. Butthe full band played the whole All of it was wonderful, but my favorites were "You Better Think Twice" and "Angry Eyes". After the show I managed to snag a photo of the setlist, you can see it at Setlist.fm.
While there was a mech table (I picked up a signed copy of 2017's In The Groove), he didn't do a meet and greet. Rather he came out after the set and did a Q&A with whoever chose to stay around. Since the Wilsey is only 330 or so seats, it was a manageable group that stuck around, and the session was a real highpoint. Jim Messina answered questions for about 40 minutes.
Here's some phone photos I took during the show:
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