Tuesday Recap: Son Volt at Hard Rock Café San Diego

It is surprising to me in many ways how many of my friends lately have told me they've never heard of the local radio station KPRi. It sits on the FM dial at 102.1 and, as far as I know, is the only truly independently owned station in San Diego. It has two co-owners, and one of them, Bob Hughes, is also the afternoon drive dj. The station's tower is in North County so reception can be spotty, at best, south of downtown, but if you're like me and still listen to terrestrial radio when you're getting from point A to point B, I highly recommend setting one of your station presets to KPRi. I like it for the blend of 90s alt-rock, classic stuff, and the new stuff that they spin before anyone else would consider giving it a chance. You can see the last six hours of variety here. Just glancing at it, Rolling Stones, Men At Work, Crowded House, Joss Stone, Marc Cohn, REM, Paolo Nutini. Yeah, there's some stuff you might not like every once in a while (like how I HATE Steely Dan), but it's a great station and does a lot in the local community.

One of those things are the Private Listener Concerts, which I've talked about several times here before, but want to stress because they have some great ones and sometimes, the lack of an audience is shocking. Last night Son Volt performed at the Hard Rock Café for the station. The show was free, they played a full set, and the lack of people there, while good for those of us up front who felt like we had Jay Farrar in our living room, it was sad that the band made the effort to come down and play for such a thin audience. Tickets for these events are distributed at various station sponsor locations and listeners are notified via e-mail on where to get tickets. But sometimes, like last night, they pretty much let anyone walking by come in, even without a ticket. I have been asked not to publish their events and because I respect the station, you'll see them in my listings as the show and "Private Show" without the location revealed, but if you sign up for the emails, you'd be in the know, too.

All that said, last night three-fifths of Son Volt played for a small audience of diehard fans at the Hard Rock Café. Jay Farrar was so close to me, I could've touched his nose (which makes taking pictures very awkward), and despite mobile speakers, the sound was good. There's something rustic about seeing Son Volt at venues like the Hard Rock or Belly Up, with their hardwood floors and moody lighting, that just enhances the alt country sounds of the band. They mostly played songs from the latest Son Volt release, The Search, and a couple from Okemah and the Melody of Riot, but also played a couple songs from Trace that just have to be played. (Does Sony discourage songs from the Warner Brothers releases?)

Here's the setlist and then I wrote it out for you for clarification.

Son Volt Setlist, 6/5/07, Hard Rock Café

Satellite (The Search)
Circadian Rhythm (The Search)
The Picture (The Search)
Underground (The Search)
Beacon Soul (The Search)
Highways and Cigarettes (The Search)
Methamphetamine (The Search)
Who (Okemah and The Melody Of Riot)
Exurbia
Tear Stained Eye (Trace)
Bandages & Scars (Okemah and The Melody Of Riot)
Afterglow (Okemah and The Melody Of Riot)
________

Windfall (Trace)

Also, Jay promised that a double LP will be released in July. Exurbia is a track from that collection.

I also recorded four songs. This is the first of those clips. It was the last song but since very few songs have ever made me feel as good as this song has made me feel over the years, I thought I'd start with it. Per usual, sorry for the loss of focus and the lack of light, there are a lot of things I just cannot control. Thanks to Greg for coming with me and to SouthCoast Johnny for letting me hide behind you when I was recording.