Corb Lund and Chris Knight At Gruene Hall - 8/29/2008

[Brody]

Corb Lund opened before the sun had set to a fairly low-key crowd lining the edge of the dance hall. He received a few requests written on notes, but it was clear the majority of the people attended for the headliner. He performed "I Wanna Be In The Cavalry," "Horse Soldier, Horse Soldier," "Lament for Lester Cousins," and "The Horse I Rode In On," from his excellent album Horse Solider! Horse Soldier! along with "Big Butch Bass Bull Fiddle," "Time To Switch to Whiskey," and "Roughest Neck Around" from past albums.

Corb Lund: MySpace | Website | Last.fm | Rhapsody


When Chris Knight took the stage he was sportin' a full-grown beard and appeared much scrawnier than he generally looks in photographs, but he put on a killer show. He kicked off with the title track from his upcoming album, Heart of Stone, which he erroneously reported would be out on Sept. 5th--it should be Sept. 2nd, but copies were already available at his merchandise table. He comes across as pretty stoic, so there wasn't much banter between songs, just announcements of song titles followed by raucous cheers. Mike McAdams--most notable for session on several country albums (Mary Chapin Carpenter, Radney Foster, Steve Earle) and a multi-year stint in Earle's band--had duties on lead guitar and only added to the stoic atmosphere, except when he played his soaring solos.

Knight worked his way through several songs, including "Hell Ain't Half Full," "Danville," "House and 90 Acres," and the Cross Canadian Ragweed covered "Cry Lonely," before reaching a climax on "Down The River" followed by "It Ain't Easy Being Me." Everyone seemingly knew the words, lighters and cameras were raised and when I thought things couldn't get any better--the band walked off stage. By then, Knight was already drenched in sweat, but proceeded to perform several acoustic numbers; "Crooked Road," from his new album, was one, and if I remember correctly, "Enough Rope" was another, before the band rejoined him and played for another 30-45 minutes.

When Knight did talk, it was to direct any "touristers" who had walked in off the street to check out his t-shirts, albums and "beer huggers" in the back. Despite not having the esteemed status of tourister, I checked out the merchandise anyways and ended up getting the 2001 album A Pretty Good Guy, which serves as an apt understatement for Chris Knight's music.

Chris Knight: MySpace | Website | Last.fm | Rhapsody

[Dave R]

Being from Canada I'm a huge Corb Lund fan, and he can fill a couple thousand people in most cities, including Victoria, BC (which I can tell you is the farthest from a country town). I know he tours down in the States a lot and i'm surprised he hasn't got a big following. The guy has talent and I hope the people in the States get to see it.

[Brody]

This was the second time I had caught him in the past couple of months, and I really enjoyed his last album. I think the smaller crowds are just a matter of him being relatively unknown, but he should catch on if he keeps at it.

[Sam G]

I'm so jealous of you. The only time I ever was Chris Knight was when he was opening for someone else while promoting his first record on MCA. I've only recently discovered Corb Lund, but "Hair In My Eyes Like A Highland Steer" is a fun album. That is a show I would dearly loved to have seen.

[Brody]

I'll have to check out the Highland Steer album. I have the new one and an older one, but from what I've read, that one might be better than the old one that I have.

[Kelly]

I saw Chris Knight on Sunday in Ft. Worth and he seemed a tad more jovial than times in the past when i saw him, perhaps it was the fact that about 5,000 or so ppl were there watching and seemed very "pro-knight" (it was the all day cross canadian festival). To add to his "touristers" comments from your concert, he kept referring to the members of ragweed as "them fellers". Great show, he had a short set since he wasnt the headliner, and it leaned too heavily on new stuff, but i understand thats the way it goes....