Hardly Strictly Bluegrass presents Wynonna and the Big Noise
2016-10-02
Banjo Stage, Hellman Hollow
Golden Gate Park, 50 Overlook Dr, San Francisco, CA 94122 USA
4:15 PM, Sunday, October 2, 2016

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[4:15 PM introduction from emcee Paul Mann, band out]

1. [4:15 PM] Rock Bottom @
2. [4:20 PM] Ain't No Thing
3. [4:25 PM] She Is His Only Need ©$
4. [4:31 PM] Love Is Alive @©$
5. [4:36 PM] Cool Ya' $
6. [4:41 PM] Staying in Love
7. [4:45 PM] Things That I Lean On ‡©&$
8. [4:51 PM] Why Not Me @&
9. [4:56 PM] You Are So Beautiful $
   [add Jerry Douglas on lap steel guitar for the rest of the set]
10. [5:04 PM] Million Miles $ (Bob Dylan)
11. [5:12 PM] You Make My Heart Beat Too Fast (Buddy & Julie Miller)
12. [5:17 PM] No One Else on Earth
    [show ends 5:26 PM]

Wynonna and the Big Noise

• Tommy Hannum: lap steel guitar, $ pedal steel guitar, harmony vox;
• Wynonna Judd: @ acoustic guitar, harmonica, vox;
• Michael Cactus Moser: drums, ‡ mandolin, harmony vox;
• Dow Tomlin: bass, © contrabass;
• Justin Weaver: guitar, & acoustic guitar, harmony vox;
  - with special guest (t10-12) -
• Jerry Douglas: lap steel guitar.

It's hard to understand how Wynonna Judd can be so uncomfortable onstage some 25 years after her mom officially retired the Judds as a touring act; my best guess is that some folks just don't realize that if they don't want to be the in the spotlight they shouldn't take up leading roles. She seemed surprised that the entire Hardly Strictly audience wasn't going wild with enthusiasm at seeing her, but aside from a steady stream of folks crashing the rail for selfies or closeups, my guess is that most of the crowd were more or less ignorant of Wynonna's status as country-music royalty … after all, she hasn't really done all that much to maintain her relevancy (unless you count reality TV in that category).

Personally, I liked her latest record, so I was happy to see her listed on the Banjo lineup, and I thought the band played a pretty decent set behind her. Having Jerry Douglas join for the last three songs was an unexpected bonus, as were the cover choices: hard to go wrong with Bob Dylan or Buddy Miller! The highlight of the set was probably when Tommy and Jerry traded licks for awhile on You Make My Heart Beat Too Fast! Woo-wee, two screamin' guitar leads? Lemme hear that one again!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!