I wanna be a peacemaker

And not just in the Jesus-way. What a nice night it was last night as we took in a Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers show at C2G in Fort Wayne. Besides the fact that this is one of my favorite venues, and I was with the girl of my dreams, and one of our best friends... I was blown away by RCPM for nearly two full hours, as well as opening band Dead Rock West. It was simply a really, really good night.

I hadn't been to C2G in quite some time. I know not since the new baseball stadium was started. But it's hard to beat it for someone like me. Smoke-free, alcohol-free, lots of open space, dark, and they have excellent lighting and sound. I was reminded last night just how nice their sound is. It is quite loud enough to feel it in your chest, but the perfect mix so even I don't require ear protection of any kind.

Dead Rock West opened with the lovely Cindy Wasserman singing a solo acappella in a dress and cowboy boots. Wow. And then the band came out and rocked very goodly. One guitarist was on a flying vee, but the lead singer slung a telecaster. Jane read my mind, because as soon as they were done I said, "I think I'd like to buy that telecaster now." They were very fun, and good. On a side note: an awkward moment for me was later in the evening I went to get us drinks and had to stand at the counter beside Ms. Wasserman for what seemed like forever. She was super nice, but I felt like a Jr. Higher stuck in a moment with the prettiest girl in school. The only words I could seem to muster were, "You guys were great!"

Anyway, then Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers took over around 9:10, and they played non-stop for the next 2 hours. The worst thing about the rest of the night was going back and forth in my mind between wanting a Tele or a Les Paul. All I can say is, "Wow" again. I have heard them described as a "vacation band" and that fits well. You feel like you're at a party. Of course they are perhaps best known to the masses for doing the theme song to the tv show "King of the Hill," but they play such a variety of music (actually, it was Roger's previous band, The Replacements, that did the King of the Hill theme song). And all of it guitar-driven goodness. I have to say, it's hard not to like a band that so obviously loves their audience. And you can tell they do by the following they brought with them. Certainly Roger could have spent more time talking with the faithful during the show, but it's a good bet he knows why everyone is there: to hear them play. So play they did. No breaks, very little chit-chat, and a great time was had by all. Though this was perhaps the first alcohol-free show they've ever done, it was easily worth the price of admission. I think they would have played all night long if they'd been allowed. I love seeing a band that loves playing. And I really liked how they said, "Let's just forget the whole encore thing. If you wanna stick around, we're going to play some more." Priceless.

Thanks NIPR. An excellente night!