Friday, May 6, 2022. I am standing in the parking lot of the “High Dive” in Gainesville, Florida which has long been called the home of Tom Petty along with other great rock bands. We are waiting on the doors https://highdivegainesville.com/ to open to allow us access to the waiting area which leads to the stage area for a show featuring Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs. As David Byrne once asked in a song “How did I get here?” and as I often say does anyone care?
Excuse the pause in the story…
Well I feel compelled to share my story to just write it down this blog is a total drain on my discretionary spending and has never made a single cent for me by design. Sometimes I wonder what people think about that crazy guy that writes for free and promotes music to generally help people whether they are a working musician or benefiting a charity. I am ok with pushing the bands or artists even the ones who make great money as it is all about the music. It is damn sure not about me although I sometimes tell my personal story so you get my personal linkage to the music.
I don’t care if anyone knows who I am. In fact I prefer it that way. I never intend for anything I do in music promotion to generate money. It is my passion in life so I do not want money to enter the equation. I actually started all this as a journal two decades ago to help me remember all my travels on my amazing musical journey quite simply because I could not remember all the shows and dates I attended over the years!
So for the artists that get pissed at me sharing a photo of you on the internet working (I am thinking of no one in particular except maybe Chris Robinson who yelled at me from the stage 6 feet away for taking a photo (that was not banned) after I paid my own money and travel costs to see his loser band perform – no worries I WILL never promote anything you do Chris! Note there is NO mention on this site I ever saw that show nor did I publish a photo of your ugly ass face) … well as the Neil Young song goes “This Notes for You.”
Back to the article. Excuse the rant I need to say those things at times for a variety of reasons and that rant has nothing to do with this post!
So HOW DID I GET HERE? Well I was all over this band for a number of years listening to all the music. I am more than a casual Tom Petty fan having been a DJ who actually played “Damn the Torpedoes” when it was brand damn new in the late 1970’s. I have been on most of the historical Tom Petty ride seeing the concerts and owning the entire collection of albums which is considerable so it was natural for me to follow Mike Campbell. Then came this first Knob’s album and the new one in 2022. I saw them in Alexandria, Virginia back in March as I wrote in another post. After that show I was driving back home five hours thinking “I gotta’ see this again…that was so damn good.” I like the music and the whole small show vibe. This tour is likely a one off and I had better soak it up.
So. I booked a list of travel. I started In Cocoa Beach for a week. I booked a room in Gainesville. I booked a week in Orlando. I ended up driving the whole trip and not flying so I could bring lots of gear and things to make a two week deal more comfortable. I had this brand new rental Chrysler Pacifica van that made the trip easy with lots of room and Apple Car Play so I could make the speakers work some magic as the 2000 mile trip rolled by. After driving into Cocoa Beach I rested enough to establish a base camp on the beach in a so called “Racquet Club” although I laughed at the place. Not my kinda gig as I never touched the pool and my over-priced tennis gear is collecting dust back home. I did walk on the sand once and touched the ocean for a minute.
I jumped up on Friday to drive over to Gainesville and get through traffic to meet my long-time pal Roger Bartlett http://rogerbartlett.com/ who for the uninitiated has been called “Coral Reefer Guitar Player #001” as he toured with Jimmy Buffett in the beginning and was the very first guitar player in the band. I will leave that story there.
Where did I get the tickets for this show? Well my long time friend Karen Will Dunne who I would have never met had it not been for our mutual appreciation for Jimmy Buffett music happens to be a huge Tom Petty fan and consumer of great rock music. We have spent a couple of decades in locations all over the south from Key West to Orange Beach, Alabama soaking up the music scene. She happened to have two extra tickets to the Friday Dirty Knobs show and was even staying for the Saturday night show. She drove hours to this gig from south Florida and planted the invitation to this show months ago. So she started me on this particular journey. I invited Roger and we joined Karen as well as her friend Robin for the gig. Usually these types of shows are the best. Friends and good music make the best memories. This trip did deliver.
After standing for two hours in a parking lot where we held the last known safe parking space not claimed by the “we will tow your ass if you park here pizza business” we moved to the “beer garden” which was another line to get in to find a standing room only area. We were close to the front of the line. There was not a lot of wait time here and with one bartender at the long bar there was not much beer served in our direction. We made our way into the venue and staked out our small concrete patch to stand for the next several hours. The show was coming and we were standing ready.
So I will insert a video from Gibson Guitars which is a favorite of mine. I really enjoy guitars acoustic and electric. I will leave it there. I really like this video of Mike’s guitar rack in his studio and the talk about many of his guitars. There are some awesome ones in this collection. If you enjoy guitars and Mike Campbell watch this video.
The show started and I had a photo of the set list. The show mostly followed the song list which had a focus on the second album and a few tracks from the first Knob’s album. There were several songs from the Tom Petty recordings and a special one from Stan Lynch singing vocals on “Psychotic Reaction.” This song was written and performed by the garage band “Count Five” in 1966. Tom Petty recorded it and made it his own as he did with several nice tracks. This band is so talented they can cover anything if they were in the mood in fact Mike challenges them all the time to rise to the top of their talent. They always deliver. Stan sang the vocals on this one from the stage and all the Gainesville crowd was singing along. There is no way to fool a Dirty Knobs crowd. They are educated on the music and know how to crank it up as they did on several occasions during the set.
So I am not going to share my photo of the set list but I will tell you that the show was great. I thought the band seemed to be a bit tired if you compare the energy to two months prior but I get that. I can never imagine being on the road as much as bands are at times. Travel can be a real energy drain even for the very young. Try it for a few weeks and get back to me. This band gives it for several hours with no break. They rock and they engage the crowd. I feel fortunate to have seen them twice on this tour as I am not sure this small venue tour will happen like this again. They are on the way to open for Chris Stapleton on some stadium gigs and a portion of the upcoming “Who” tour. Maybe you can check them out on your travels. If not go buy the music. It is the real deal!
I really enjoyed this Florida road trip to experience this gig with my friends. Life is short. Take photos with your friends and find great music to enjoy together.
Until next time I’ll see you, down the road.