The Gourds in Fort Worth

concert review - December 12 at Lola's

"Literate roots party music" - the Gourds in Fort Worth

On a Saturday morning, I received a Tweet from Kevin "Shinyribs" Russell... the Gourds were in town, scheduled to perform that very evening at Lola's, a relocated / reincarnated version of the old Wreck Room west of downtown Fort (Party) Worth. Lola's website mentioned the show, but the Gourds' own site did not. Good thing I subscribe to Shinyribs' Twitter feed.

I headed to Lola's after work and arrived early in the set. I arrived during "Spanky" so I only missed about 5 songs.

Jimmy on bass

As usual, one of the highlights was the animated antics of Kevin "Shinyribs" Russell...

Jimmy in the spotlight. Claude was on stage left and I didn't get any good shots of him this time.

It's always cool to catch the Gourds around Christmastime, because they'll usually work a few holiday-themed songs into their set. December 12 at Lola's was no exception, as they offered up "Xmas in the city" (a Kevin original), "Have the Stones ever done a Christmas song" (a Jimmy original), and even worked "Away in a Manger" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" into the bridge / medley near the end of "Gin & Juice". And it's always a treat to hear them do "Last month of the year".

Lola's set list

See below for the complete set list, including encore (thanks to The Gourds News blog at:
http://thegourdsnews.blogspot.com/2009/12/12-12-09-fort-worth-tx.html )

01. Magnolia
02. El Paso
03. Ants on the Melon
04. Burn the Honeysuckle
05. Valentine
06. Spanky
07. Blanket Show
08. Bean Bowl
09. Country Love
10. Lower 48
11. Xmas in the City
12. A Few Extra Kilos
13. All the Labor
14. Thurman
15. Shake the Chandelier
16. Promenade
17. Best of Me
18. The Gyroscopic
19. Luddite
20. Have the Stones Ever Done a Christmas Song?
21. The Last Month of the Year

(Encore)

22. Tex-Mex Mile
23. Holiday Road (Lindsey Buckingham)
24. Gin and Juice > Cupid > Away in a Manger > Pride (In the Name of Love) > I Feel Love > Heart of Glass > Hate & War > Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer > Gin and Juice

It was a fun show, and I'm hoping to see 'em again soon.

WSC

np: "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"