The Blasters – July 2, 2010 – Beale on Broadway, St. Louis

Phil Alvin - vocals, guitar, harmonica; Keith Wyatt - guitar; Bill Bateman – drums; John Bazz – bass

Random notes:

No set list planned by the band – Phil just kept pulling them out of his bean, but sometimes took a few seconds too long to decide what to play next, so he seemed at times disorganized.  But for the most part it worked and they put on an enjoyable show.

John Bazz has an amazing amount of dirt on the pickguard of his bass right under the strings – he obviously never cleans it.  About half way through the show, Phil checked his trousers zipper and discovered it was, indeed, down, so he made a joke about that and quickly rectified the situation.

They played a lot of songs from their latest release, 2005’s “4-11-44,” but not the title track.  The usual summertime St. Louis weather is hot and humid, but we had had a respite from that BS and this night was beautiful with the start-time temperature about 74 Fahrenheit with low humidity.  Weather was back to shitty the next day.

Dedicating So Long Baby, Goodbye, Phil said “this goes out to the great Lee Allen who brought us up.   It’s also Lee Allen’s birthday today.”

Phil dedicated one of the encore numbers, One Bad Stud, to St. Louis baseball star Albert Pujols.  It seemed appropriate to me as Phil had made several references to sports throughout the show.  It didn’t hurt that we were just a few blocks from Busch Stadium.

The show lasted a little over an hour and a half and the price of admission was a bargain basement $10.  How come you weren’t there?

The majority of the setlist:

Well, Well, Well
It’s All Your Fault
Rebound
Love is My Business
Dark Night
Border Radio
Red Rose
Bipolar Lover
Please, Please, Please (James Brown song)
Trouble Bound
I’m Shakin’
American Music
Boneyard (Dick Tracy Theme)
I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You
So Long Baby, Goodbye
Long White Cadillac
Slip of My Tongue
Window Up Above
One Bad Stud