Keller Willaims - 10/19/09 - People's Court - Des Moines, IA

This Monday was the 1st time Keller has played in Des Moines, and was my 38th time seeing him perform.  Needless to say, we were super stoked to finally have him come to our town.  We were there as the doors opened, and I grabbed my spot at the front of the stage, as per usual.  It took a while for the venue to fill up, which made us a little worried that the crowd wouldn't be as big as we had hoped.  Right up until show time, I was up front with just a couple of other people, but these folks had a jump start on their night and had already had a few drinks.

Keller came on right at 8, and the crowd pushed in.  He opened with Rockumal, and it was obvious he was a little disappointed with the lackluster crowd participation for this song.  Right away, I realized one of the guys in the front with me was going to be a problem.  He was determined to get Keller to play his favorite song, bringing a hand-written sign for Kidney in a Cooler.  When Keller threw the song into a Juggler sandwich right away, he still didn't let up.  Now, I'm a front row girl, but this guy was way too much to handle - falling on people, spilling drinks, breaking glass, and hanging all over me - after just 3 songs, I moved to the back.

We had reserved "the best seat in the house", which is the booth right next to the soundboard in the VIP section.  This worked out great for being able to spend the show with our friends, including Junkyard, who normally hangs by the soundboard with his taping gear.  I normally don't like to be in the back, but we had an unobstructed view, plenty of dancing space, and great sound.

Some of the musical highlights for me were Lightning, Love Bizarre, You Are What You Eat, and St. Stephen.  But the real highlight was having so many fun people with us.  Keller played a lot of songs we've seen many times, but it was still a great show, and the turnout was quite good.  This show was a terrific start to our "fall tour".