This Keller show was announced months ago, yet with all of the fun of the Northwest String Summit, this show crept up on us really fast. Thank goodness it was a hometown show, because we just didn't have the energy to go out of town quite yet. It was originally supposed to be at Simon Estes, but because of the chance of thunderstorms, the show was moved to the Val Air Ballroom. That was a bit disappointing, but oh well, we still got to see Keller.
I wasn't up for waiting in line to be up front, so I figured I wouldn't worry about it. But, when we got inside, I saw that there was NO ONE on the rail. The opening band was playing, and nobody seemed really interested. When Kinetix was finally finished a handful of us just walked up to the rail and found our spots. It was really weird. Another thing that was really weird was not having our crew with us at a show.
Finally, the house music stopped, and we could all hear Keller's guitar as he slowly made his way to the front of the stage. He opened with "Rockumal", then stepped up to the mic for "Apparition". Unfortunately, I didn't keep track of the set list, so I don't quite remember everything he played. But I do remember "Alligator Alley", "Fuel for the Road" (with my favorite little bass loop), "Bob Rules", "Moving Sidewalk", "Stinky Green", "Novelty Song", and of course "Freeker by the Speaker". This show really took me back to those heady Keller days of '03. But seriously, it was such a nostalgic feeling seeing a solo Keller show without all of the extra guitars and props. He only played one set, which was different, but it was a really great time, and I can't wait to see him again.
