A day of disobedience and musing. Begin 2 cup of coffee morning staring out on the urban ranch. Plug in soma. Recharge laptop. Thumb through recent past. Seems like a million years.

Ukulele Loki was right on time. Exactly on time. He began with oldies and mixed in some heavy hitters. Each break provided fresh insight. Bill and Nada's Cafe jukebox in Salt Lake City is where Ukulele Loki first heard "Singing The Blues." Now that cafe is a memory just like Ryan Adams' thursday and friday performances.

Ryan's thursday performance at the Fox proved he has one of the best voices in the music business. He's a killer song writer backed by a band able to produce a diversity of styles. The Fox show was pretty sedate. Ryan and The Cardinals came out and sat in a big long line along the front of the stage, which is a different kind of setup. Just the sort of thing the commerical radio triple A convention people like.

Friday's Red Rocks show was all electric and from the first song it was clear that Ryan Adams was in the groove. Heard a few comments of, "... sort of Grateful Deadie..." which did not bother me. Cold Roses started off verbatim CD release, then a nice jam developed off a riff and after they had enough fun returned to end the tune with a three part acapella harmony. It was hotter than the original. Jon Graboff added pedal steel to every song and Neal Casal played tight on his Gibson SG throughout the show. The band ran like a cross-country locomotive. Every so often Adams would converse with the crowd, but he made more sense playing than talking. A four song encore closed out the 75 minute show about 12:30a.m.

I was disappointed not hearing Jesse Sykes And The Sweet Hereafter play. This band is top notch and deserved to play later in the lineup when a larger crowd could of enjoyed their talent. Earlier in the day I was at a stop sign in Red Rocks and saw a white van in the distance. It looked familiar, so I waited. Then I saw the Washington plates and a second later it pulled over and stopped in front of my truck. The window went down and Bill Herzog asked me, "How do we get to the main stage?" I said it was straight ahead and poked my head into the van and said, "Hello Phil," and he smiled. Jesse Sykes was in the back wearing giant dark sunglasses and asked me my name. I told her and also said I was a friend of Jeff Holland. Immediately she responded, "Oh, the poster guy?" After some small talk about my job, et cetera and petting Jesse's black Labrador Retriever I wished them luck and they took off. If anyone has a recording of their show please let me know.

Ukulele Loki thought DeVotchKa stole the show and I cannot disagree. Their Mariachi style had the crowd dancing in the aisles. The use of a standup bass and a tuba added a powerful punch to their show.

Also performing at Red Rocks was Lucinda Williams. Before I go on let me say that Route 78 West loves Lucinda. In her career she has written many memorable songs and lyrics, but this past friday she had an off night, at one point coughing during a song, stopping to apologize and then redoing the number. Her voice stayed within a narrow, raspy range and took the audience hostage by playing way too long. She didn't play lead guitar on a single song. Each time I saw a close up of her on the video screen I was seeing what appeared to be a person in some sort of physical or mental pain and it left me feeling sad. I hope she can make it through whatever is her trouble.

The show went by fast and all of the sudden Johnny Trash was in the studio. He was moving slow and his head was hurting so I turned on my Budda Box and played a comforting loop. He seemed to gain a little energy. Sweet!

Post show breakfast burritos and large margs on the rooftop at the Rio Grande were perfect. See you next week.

Red Cloud West August 10th at the Hi-Dive. August 28th Magnolia Electric Co plays the Bluebird. Plan to see The Apples In Stereo at the Bluebird on August 31st. DeVotchKa will perform with the Yard Dogs Road Show October 27th at the Fillmore. Check out the KVCU concert schedule for a complete list of future shows.