Bob Schneider - Aladin Theater - May 11th

Austin great Bob Schneider played the Aladdin Theater in Portland last night to a packed out crowd. This is only the second time I have seen him live and the first time was a solo acoustic show, so this was quite a different experience with his band. The solo show was in turn dark and funny, with a lot of rambling between songs. This show as all go. There was a lot of dancing and a wide range of genres explored from blues to mamba. Many of the songs were unrecognizable from his solo records as the band reworks them constantly and rarely plays the same composition twice. There was very little chat from Bob, which I have to say was a disappointment. He made a few cracks about how well people dress in Portland and how he doesn't like blues music, but that was about it. Much more buttoned up than I thought he would be. I have to say the band was tight, they play off each other well. Unfortunately I can't remember his name, but the the guy who plays the trumpet, sousaphone, and harmonica is amazing.

To prove that Portland is small town, when we walked down to the front of the stage, I was surrounded by the entire Nike Golf executive staff, from the President to the CFO. I look forward to finding out how they became Bob fans.