The show opened with an acoustic blues set by John Kay of Steppenwolf, then the Dirty Knobs came out and backed him up for Born to be Wild, Magic Carpet Ride and a few other classics. After a set break, the Dirty Knobs came back and played an extended set. The acoustic set had chairs, but they cleared the floor at setbreak and I was about 5 people deep.
So apparently Mike has had this side project going for over a decade, but I wonder now if this will become a bigger part of his life. TP fought the record companies in a brutal legal battle early in their career to get the ownership rights to all of their music, so I am sure that will forever pay off. Dude has to be a multi-millionaire by now, and probably doesn't NEED to play, but it sure looks like he has fun with it.
The DK material sounds like a greasier, harder edged version of the Heartbreakers. If you've never heard Mike sing, he sounds surprisingly similar to Tom. The band is really tight, and their originals are super fun. I think he enjoys being the band leader of this group, and each of the musicians was top notch on their instrument - I was particularly impressed with his other guitarist, Nate. I mean, when you're sharing the stage with one of the best guitarists in pop music and you're noticeably good, that's impressive! I always got the impression that TP was a little "strict" about how their concerts played out - don't bore us, get to the chorus; not a lot of jamming; sticking to the radio hits, etc. It appeared that Mike had a great time being able to cut loose a bit, and direct all the action. You can tell that singing is a new(er) thing for him, as he'd usually forget to approach the mic before he started in with the lyrics, or blatantly finish a signature riff before stepping back up and singing.
The stage was a guitarists dream, multiple vintage Fender amps and at one point there were over a dozen guitars on stage -
Mike: SG, SG junior, LP burst with Bigsby, LP with P90s, Duesenberg 12 string, Ric 12 string, Martin 12 string, and a Jaguar (maybe)
Nate: Strat, Tiger Cub (Jerry Garcia's one-of-a-kind Cripe guitar)
John: National Resonator, Martin acoustic, Rickenbacker
Bassist: Squier Jaguar bass
A few pics.
Stoked to have recorded these two...
Something Good Coming
[video]https://youtu.be/xN1aEx_vn3Y[/video]
You Wreck Me
[video]https://youtu.be/ghfWu78HLcA[/video]
