Leo Kottke
Feb. 7 2025
Lobero Theatre
Santa Barbara, CA

7th Row, Just ROC:
Neumann AK40s >LC3 >KM100s >Beyer MV 100 (20db gain) >Tascam DR100mkII (24bit/48kHz)

WAV >Audacity (Lower Crowd Applause Between Songs, Amplify, Index Tracks, Minor Edits, Fades, Downsample To 16bit/44.1kHz) Fix SBEs >FLAC (Level 8) + Tags Via xACT 2.53

Recorded, Transferred, Audacity Post Production, FLAC, Tags, & Front Cover Artwork By Oldneumanntapr


Disc I:
01. Intro
02. Room At The Top Of The Stairs
03. Untitled New Song*
04. Ojo
05. Linseed Oil Story
06. Disco
07. Louise
08. William Powell (w/Joe Pass Story)
09. Grumpy Child**
10. 'Daddy Don't Sing' Story
11. The Room At The Top Of The Stairs
12. Chet Atkins Story

Disc II:
01. Twice
02. Ghost Light Story
03. Unknown
04. Busted Bicycle
05. Tony Bennett / Airport Ride Story
06. Jack Fig >
07. Vaseline Machine Gun
08. Jack Fig Hallucination / Red Alarm Clock Story
09. Pamela Browne
10. Tiny Island
11. Down Home On The Farm Story
12. Living In The Country (encore***)


Leo Kottke - Six & 12 String Acoustic Guitars, Vocals

* "I played a new one earlier in the set. I don't know what that one's called. I should, I wrote it. I don't know."

**This song was announced as 'Grumpy Child' but it sounded an awful lot like 'The Brain Of The Purple Mountain' to me. Perhaps the name was changed or portions of that song were recycled to make a new one. I guess that would be considered as 'Artistic License'.

***"I'd like to play the encore now so that we can all go home at the same time."


OldNeumanntapr Notes;
I bought a seventh row center ticket for this show as soon as it was announced last October. I'm a huge Kottke fan and couldn't wait to see him again. The Lobero is a beautiful theatre, originally built in 1876 and rebuilt in 1924. It has wonderful acoustics and I have recorded there for almost 27 years. My first time at the Lobero was when I recorded Doc Watson and David Grisman in 1998. That was back when I was using Nakamichi CM 300s. I was the 6th person or so through the doors when they opened at 7 pm, and when I walked into the men's room to set up, the room was pitch dark. I asked out loud, 'No lights?' and the one person standing in front of a urinal remarked, 'You gotta pee in the dark.' I was starting to wonder how I was going to set up my microphones in the stall in total darkness when, thankfully, the lights came on. I think this show was the most I've ever heard Leo sing. Usually he does mostly instrumentals. Leo told some interesting stories, including one that I had never heard before about a wind-up alarm clock that he once carried in a paper bag when he thought that he was 'crazy'. He started a song and then told a story about the traditional 'Ghost Light' that theaters use to ward away the spirits of past performers on the stage when the hall is empty. He looked to stage right and called out to a stage hand if they had a ghost light in the house, and the stage hand promptly brought it onstage. Too funny! The highlight of the set for me was hearing a blistering rendition of 'Jack Fig' segued into 'Vaseline Machine Gun' that really showcased his slide playing. Leo had a couple of musical mis-steps, but still not bad for a 79-year old guitar virtuoso who has been playing since the mid 1960s.


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