RC misses show threads so here's another one. Will be here with the wife and daughter after a day of hiking and swimming in some of NC's best swimming holes.
01. Let Us Pray 02. Dear Mama, I'm So Sorry 03. Tennessee 04. Down On Your Luck 05. Lies I've Told 06. That's Just Fine 07. Strikes And Gutters 08. Nothin' But Time To Give 09. 5 Guitars
Second set:
10. Empty Pockets 11. Can't Slow Down 12. Annie 13. Almost Home 14. New York City Found 15. I Know You Rider 16. Don't Break My Heart Again 17. Encore Break
Encore:
18. Pale Blue Eyes 19. Bad Bad Man
Yarn is:
Blake Christiana - acoustic guitar, vocals Andrew Hendryx - mandolin, electric mandolin, harmonica Rod Hohl - electric guitar, backing vocals Rick Bugel - upright bass Bobby Bonhomme - drums
Go see Yarn and buy their merch. Support taper-friendly bands.
We decided to make the drive to Morganton after the USNWC show. We slept in until almost 9. Got up and made our way up the mountains north of Morganton to one of my favorite places on earth, a little creek called Gragg Prong. The trailhead is about 10 miles from any pavement, so it is relatively uncrowded. My wife was not happy about the hike in complete with three stream crossings, but the deep, cold waters of my favorite swimming hole made it all worth it. A three foot waterfall feeds a bowl about twenty feet in diameter that flows out into another big slide. The water is crystal clear and about 10-12 feet . We had it to ourselves for about an hour and a half before heading downstream to the big slide. It drops about 65 feet in under 100 yards. And can be done on your butt. We made it back up to the swimming hole to find the biggest crowd I'd ever seen out there, so we packed up and headed back to the truck. Maggie and I were driving aimlessly around this area last year and happened upon a great BBQ restaurant in a gas station. So we wandered until we found it again.
Driving back down 181 (beautiful drive if you get the chance) into Morganton, I offered up the idea that maybe the girls should go tot a movie for the first set since it was so hot. Turns out there is a 7-screen theater across the street from the courthouse lawn where the show was taking place. Their movie was still an hour out so the troops accompanied me to Catawba Valley Brewing Company, a block away. The A/C was cranking. Beer was delicious. Sloan (big Yarn fan via suemck2) and her husband joined us. As I was preparing to leave, I saw some NYC riff-raff come in the door. They had already sound checked so I boogied to set up. The beer tent this year was all macro crap because the distributor paid for rights and the local brewer couldn't pony up. Boo! The boys started off with Let Us Pray. The Lies I've Told is a scorcher and among my favorite versions ever. The extended intro to Down On Your Luck was nice. That's Just Fine just fits into the setlist like it's been there 20 years. Strikes and Gutters (dedicated to me in my mind) was fantastic and the guys closed with 5 Guitars. The Morganton crowds always bring it for Yarn. There were several people dancing right up front. They were into the music. Bless their genetically inferior, inbred hearts. The courthouse cast a long shadow that made the evening quite pleasant despite the heat of the earlier part of the day.
At set break I boogied down to CVBC for a good beer. I let the tape roll just in case. Ricky B and Andrew came in for a beer. I got to talking to some locals and missed the 2nd set opener, Empty Pockets, and some of Can't Slow Down. Tape was rolling, though (well 1s and 0s were flowing). I believe some kind soul brought some growlers up from CVBC for the boys. I abstained from further libations, as I had agreed to drive some precious cargo back to Greensboro that night. I Know You Rider was a surprise. I believe it was a request from our favorite breakdancin' Yarn fanatic, The Loudmouth Josey Wails. The DBMHA was epic. Codex always has the sound tight, and tonight was no exception. The chatterboxes were few and far between. I got the chance to dance with Maggie on a few tunes. The kids were crawling all over the subs.Safe to say the badlab, chewy and hoppedup families had a blast. Pale Blue Eyes first encore? Yes, please. I'm glad the boys played a few 'deep cuts' this show. I drove the 1h45m home wondering how we could top this trip where everyone in the family had an amazing time. I don't know if I came up with an answer, but I have a few ideas.
Sweet Review hopped, you definitely captured the spirit of the thing in there. I agree about the boo to the macro beer distributor. Also agree about the Lies I Told, awesome version. I listened to this show on my recent trip and it is of Super Quality.