house concert with Bob Walkenhorst
Apr. 13th, 2014 01:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevins_concertsA friend was (is) a huge fan of The Rainmakers. He found out that their leader, Bob Walkenhorst, does house concerts for whomever will hire him, so he invited him out. Leon has a friend who got a new house which had a really nice space for a couple dozen people to watch the show, so that's where were went.
I think there were about twenty of us there, including Leon's friends, and a few Rainmakers fans from the area, who Bob requested Leon to invite. I spoke with one guy who knew Bob from way, way back, but hadn't actually seen him in decades.
Bob played a couple of sets. I wish I'd written this down at the time, because I'm having trouble remembering it a couple of months later. And now I can't even find the CD we bought, to remind me of the songs. Seems like his first set was more fun, and the second set a little darker and more cerebral. There was a string of songs in the middle of the second set that wowed me. "We Walk the Levee" was one.
He did a lot of his favorites from over the years, like "Let My People Go-Go" and "Big Fat Blonde," and later solo songs. As one would expect, he talked a lot, and told stories, which was enjoyable. He talked about the songs and where they came from. As someone who wasn't familiar with his music, it helped me connect.
I spoke with Bob a little bit. I told him that the memories that the songs brought back were of a local musician who used to do a couple of his songs, including "Big Fat Blonde" and "Thanks for the Information." I didn't have the nerve to tell him that I did once see The Rainmakers. They got booed a bit that night. I would have followed that with the fact that I was happy to hear they got rave reviews several years later at a show at Alpine Valley.
I think there were about twenty of us there, including Leon's friends, and a few Rainmakers fans from the area, who Bob requested Leon to invite. I spoke with one guy who knew Bob from way, way back, but hadn't actually seen him in decades.
Bob played a couple of sets. I wish I'd written this down at the time, because I'm having trouble remembering it a couple of months later. And now I can't even find the CD we bought, to remind me of the songs. Seems like his first set was more fun, and the second set a little darker and more cerebral. There was a string of songs in the middle of the second set that wowed me. "We Walk the Levee" was one.
He did a lot of his favorites from over the years, like "Let My People Go-Go" and "Big Fat Blonde," and later solo songs. As one would expect, he talked a lot, and told stories, which was enjoyable. He talked about the songs and where they came from. As someone who wasn't familiar with his music, it helped me connect.
I spoke with Bob a little bit. I told him that the memories that the songs brought back were of a local musician who used to do a couple of his songs, including "Big Fat Blonde" and "Thanks for the Information." I didn't have the nerve to tell him that I did once see The Rainmakers. They got booed a bit that night. I would have followed that with the fact that I was happy to hear they got rave reviews several years later at a show at Alpine Valley.