The Blue Light Amarillo, TX - February 7, 2003 ~ Zak Everson Once the date for Reckless Kelly had been confirmed, I was immediately as giddy as an unsuspecting man on his wedding night (you know what I mean – wink, wink, nudge, nudge). Later on I learned that Eleven Hundred Springs (an Amarillo favorite) was playing elsewhere the same evening - then the real blow, Pat Green was also to play the same evening at the Midnight Rodeo. The way things are now, Pat Green would win the election for mayor of Amarillo. We drove by the Midnight Rodeo at 5:00pm to pick a friend up who called and was sick of waiting in line - there was already about 2,000 people waiting to get in to this this show (I heard that show sold out 1 hour after the doors opened). Given what I had seen outside the Midnight Rodeo, I thought to myself “there’s only going to be about 30 people downtown at The Blue Light for the RK show.” That would have been just fine with me as the only RK shows I have been to were packed to the rafters. I met about 15 friends at another bar for a little pre-party in honor of our evening to be had. We left for The Blue Light at about 9:00 to meet up with some friends who had driven in from Lubbock. Micky and the Motorcars (best CD purchase of 2002) were schedule to go on at 10:00. To our surprise there were already about 300 people in the place. It didn’t take but two songs until M&MC had the crowd in a semi-frenzy. Granted there were only a select few who knew the band and the songs, but that is the beauty of winning over new fans plus I had heard that CD sales were excellent for the Motorcars. When Micky and the boys started the closing song, "Which Way from Here" I turned around briefly for the first time all night to see a completely sold out bar, and a line still forming outside. By the way, Gary is quite the singer himself. By 10:30 The Blue Light was full with over 500 folks there, and the Motorcars haven't even finished playing. After a while, I don't think any more folks made it in at all and this is all PRIOR to Reckless taking the stage. To help pass the short wait between bands, we started making beer bets for what the opening song would be. It really wasn't fair for everyone, seeing how I had heard that “Baby's Gone Blues” had been the opener as of late – needless to say, I won the bet. It was very chilling to know that I was standing in Amarillo listening to my favorite band, and not on a roadie to Trees in Dallas or Gruene Hall in Gruene. Amarillo is coming around musically for a smaller city - Thanks Marc and Tom! The night seemed to fly by for me. The only disappointment of the night was that there was not an encore since they played right up until 2:00 - damn liquor laws! It was a great show filled with a few new tunes that I really wish I could remember (I can’t wait until I’m sliding that new Reckless CD in my CD player). The classics were well represented as well - I heard “Hatax” for the first time live (very impressive). “Waitin’ On The Blues” had unsuspecting audience members hitting the merch table. I love to see when new fan is born. "So Lonely" was also one of the highlights of the night. I was in complete amazement as they outdid The Police on that song (sorry Police fans). There were quite a few intoxicated ladies that kept trying touch or get close to Willy, and finally he just knelt down and let them strum the guitar a couple of times, and that calmed them down a bit. This is the first time I have ever really tried write a review for a show, so here is a preemptive apology. Word around the campfire in Amarillo is that Reckless has been booked for Homer's Backyard Ball. It is an outdoor festival with approximately 10 other bands. Cooder Graw, Stoney Larue (check this guy out if you can!), and hopefully the Motorcars will join the card. I will be making an April trip to the Wreck Room in Fort Worth to see M&MC open up for Reckless Kelly. It would be cool to meet some other folks that may read this. Until then… Zak Everson

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