Not bad for a Tuesday night...

We decided sort of last-minute to go check out Butch Walker & the Black Widows at Exit/In last night in Nashville, and it was well worth the effort. We first saw Butch & Co. open for Train at The Ryman a month or so ago (see earlier blog). They really blew us away and almost stole the show. It was definitely one of the best opening acts we've ever seen. Butch has a great voice and a tremendous amount of energy on stage. His original songs are solid in melody and sharp in lyrics. We figured if they were that good as an opener, then they should be tremendous as the headliner. And, we were rignt on the money. They played non-stop rock-n-roll for two solid hours and we didn't get home until close to 1 AM this morning. Definitely a good time for a "school night." We haven't been to the Exit/In for several years now (in fact it was to see Train the last time we were there) and we forgot what a great venue it is. Lots of general admission standing room, good sight lines and excellent acoustics. They have been doing it right here since 1971 and the list of performers who have graced their stage is truly amazing (see photo above to see just a few of them). It was definitely a nice reprieve from our previously rotten live music experience at 3rd & Lindsley (make that The-Now-Boycotted 3rd & Lindsley - see previous blog entry). The place was packed for a Tuesday night and there seems to be a pretty big underground following for Butch who has been creating and producing great music for many years now. Plus his live shows are epic and always full of surprises including his late-into-the-set wade into the middle of the crowd (photo below). A lot of the folks sang along to the music despite the fact that Butch's music seldom gets radio airplay. It was also a respectful crowd with limited talkng during the quieter numbers when it was just Butch and his piano. Thanks, Exit/In-ers, for the respect because that's not always the case during live performances even in "Music City."

Thanks also to our friend, Nate, for being a good sport and tagging along with us despite not knowing anything about BW & the BW. He too was impressed by the show and is now a fan.