I’ve only seen one which was better way back in ’99. Buck’s stage presence surpassed even the strong one he has had at each of the 3 previous concerts I have seen him at. He engaged the packed crowd and made eyecontact frequently.
The first set was just him, some pre-recorded music and his turn tables… it was pure Buck 65… Exciting, dynamic and amazing with every song and story. That one, lengthy set alone was worth ten times the mere $7 Nathan and I paid to get in… The story of the Parisian bakers’ battle was especially amusing.
Nathan had to leave before the second set so I remained at the very front with Buck directly ahead of me. In the second set Buck was supported by his band: a guitarist, a drummer, a slide guitarist, a sample guy and one other who I’m sure of his role. He opened the set with “Dry Shine” a song about perfecting one’s craft and being in it for the art and not for the money. Shining shoes as an analogy for making music. From there he played some other great unreleased songs that will hopefully be on the next album. He even did “Pants on Fire”, a song from Man Overboard which he hasn’t done live.. It was slower than the album version… He played “Stella”, of course, and it was really great. However, at that point the heat, smoke and lack of air was getting too much… at the end of the song my vision was blackening and I was feeling like I was about to pass out. Thus, I stepped over to the side of the stage and recovered for one instrumental song before going back to the music and taking some photos.
For the encore Buck told a story and played two last songs. One of those two was “The Centaur”, always a crowd pleaser.
Once Buck was done I started the long walk home. I stopped at the McDonalds for a double big mac meal and then continued back here.
Now I’ll sleep.