New in 2017

Right Marty, Hiatt's Perfectly Good Guitar album tour. That album was a radical change from the previous two, Bring The Family and Slow Turning, both of which I loved (still do, of course!). I had mixed feelings about PGG upon it's release, but heard live I better understood what John was trying with it. Matt Ward's Gibson 335 was cranked way up, with lots of sustain and distortion, not my favorite electric guitar tone. But it worked with the material. And you're again right, the band rocked real hard, very exciting. I still prefer the material and musician's on BTF and ST (how ya gonna top Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe, Jim Keltner, and Sonny Landreth?!), but John couldn't keep making the same album over and over. John Hiatt, one of our best living songwriters and singers!

I wish that I could have seen Sheryl Crow/John Hiatt bill on tour.

Looking forward to Laura Marling's new album due in March.  I have all her cd's and they are fabulous!  

BDP,

Actually,. I agree with you across the board - Bring the Family, Stolen Moments, and Slow Turning was an astounding triple header from  Hiatt.  PPG wasn't quite in the same league.  However....

That PPG tour was just a startling live show.  Still my favorite concert from Hiatt and, before that tour....

I'd already seen Hiatt many, many times.  During his earliest performing years, Hiatt used to play at The Bottom Line in NYC when I lived three blocks from the place.  I never missed a show.  These went all the way back to the Observatory and Slug Line years, when a John Hiatt show was often just JH and an acoustic guitar.

The Sonny Landreth bands may have been more skilled (and probably were more nuanced, as well), but that PPG band rocked like mad.  Relative quality of the material notwithstanding, that was my favorite John Hiatt concert.

Wow Marty, you were into John early! I didn’t catch on to him until Bring The Family, his breakout album. Three blocks from The Bottom Line! You musta seen a lotta great shows. I had only to make the 15 minute drive from Burbank to Hollywood to get to The Roxy Theater, The Whiskey a Go-Go, The Troubadour, The Starwood, and The House Of Blues, not much of a deterrent! I saw SO many great shows in the 80’s, 90’s, and 00’s. That was after living in San Jose in the 60’s and 70’s, only a 45 minute drive from San Francisco. A lotta great shows there too of course---not only The Fillmore Auditorium, Carousel Ballroom, and Winterland, but all the clubs. Luckily, Portland Oregon is part of the concert circuit for most currently touring artists, so great live music is still available to me. And Portland also has a thriving local music scene---lots of Blues, Singer/Songwriter, and Alternative. Can’t complain!