i saw Cowboy Junkies last night

[dc]

and they were excellent. the show was at beautiful Benaroya Hall (home of the symphony) in Seattle. it was the recent touring lineup of the four Junkies plus Jeff Byrd on mandolin, harmonica, and "shakey things." the music was great, the band was tight and the sound was exquisite.

the fact that we were in the front row didn't hurt either! 

the Junkies' albums can be kind of a mixed bag (my favorite is "Open"), but their songs just take on a new dimension live. they did at least three of those droney, noisy jams Michael Timmins is fond of these days...very cool! and Margo is, well, Margo.   

[Pingu]

What songs did they play? Like most people i guess my favorite CJ album is The Trinity Session.

[dc]

a lot of brand new material....chestnuts like "Murder Tonight in the Trailer Park" and "A Common Disaster"....covers of Townes Van Zandt and Neil Young...i forget what all, and i can never remember the names of their songs anyway for some reason. i was hoping for "Small Swift Birds" or "Bread and Wine," but maybe next time!

no "Sweet Jane," either - 

[i love sharin foo]

I love them, too. I like pretty much every record they have done, though Open and One SOul Now are two of my favorites. I would love to see them live at some point if I have the chance. I agree though, Jeff Byrd does add a LOT to the live shows.

I would have LOVED to have seen one of the shows from a few years back when LInford and Karen from Over the Rhine were touring with them and sitting in on parts of the set. I have seen them live a couple times and it's always a great show. I highly recommend them to anyone who hasn't heard of them. (also, Michael did a really great melodic solo on an Over the Rhine track called "When I go". Also, a lot of the organ and backup vocals on Open are courtesy of Karen and Linford.

Justin