Justin Townes Earle Dipped In Shit

Went to see JT Earle at the City Winery on Sunday, September 29th.  This was a "late" show, though it started at the respectable hour of 8:30, with an opener.  And did he complain about that (with a sense of humor)!  He likened the hardship of having to play at 5:30 as being dipped in shit, and in several other contexts.  This was amusing, but you began to suspect that he was a little drunk or a little too hyped up.  Anyway, musicians sometimes play their best in those circumstances.

Jesse Malin opened with an accompanist on keyboards and guitar, and he was fantastic.  He has a long history and was really good, with some songs with great hooks and nice chops shown by both him and his accompanist.  He opened his short set with Black Haired Girl and then Chemical Heart and closed with Meet Me At the End Of the World Again.  This was one of the better opening acts I've seen recently.

Then JTE came on with a great band of Paul Niehaus on pedal steel and guitar, another guitarist, a bassist, and a drummer.  Justin was on the same tenor guitar we've seen him play several times before and didn't quite mail in the performance but didn't excel.  He played very much the same setlist he's been sticking to this tour, opening with Saint Of Lost Causes (very spooky/spacey pedal steel from Niehaus) and following with One More Night In Brooklyn, Flint City Shake It, Frightened By the Sound, Move Over Mama, Am I That Lonely Tonight, Can't Hardly Wait, Ahi Esta Mi Nina, Maybe a Moment, Ain't Waiting, Ain't Got No Money (which I was delighted to see live, it's so much a JTE song), Harlem River Blues, and maybe a few more in maybe not quite that order.  He encored as usual on the tour again, with Fleetwood Mac's Dreams and then Rocket 88.

We had great seats, dead center and a couple of tables back (close enough to engage in the repartee) and were vastly entertained.  But this was nowhere near as good as some other times we've seen him and really the most entertaining thing on stage was his great band, particularly Niehaus and his bassist.  Relatively short show for the last set on a Sunday night.

We got out of there quickly and were surprised and pleased to run into Justin and a roadie having a cigarette down the block.  We gabbed for a bit about his next show and then another fan came up and had some serious stuff to discuss with him so we took off.  We'd already heard him be a little short tempered that night and thought discretion was the thing.  Oh well, will be glad to go see him again, he's a fantastic musician and could be forgiven for not being at his best.