This is the third Keller concert we attended, and it was at the Chameleon Club in Lancaster. The last two times we saw him was at the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg. The Chameleon is a great venue for getting close to the performer, but the problem is everyone can get close and after awhile it gets a bit claustrophobic. The problem with the Chameleon is that the venue tends to be narrow and deep thus if you are not up front, your view of the stage is limited.
The first set that he did was with two other musicians (Claude Arthur on bass, Jay Starling on dobro) and he performed a "grunge grass" set, which I had never seen him perform before. He covered popular grunge tunes from the 90's, but with a twist, he performed them blue grass style. Try to imagine Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilot songs with a blue grass beat. It's hard to do, but Keller made it work, and it was awesome. I can't remember all the songs that he did, but some that I do remember were "Smells Like Teen Spirit,' "Jeremy," "All Apologies," "Alive," "Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town," and "Daughter." He had the place rocking, and his musicianship was superb.
After this set, he took a break, then came back on stage solo. By this time the venue was extremely crowded. He opened with "Freaker," which is one of my favorite songs then continued to jam and get the house rocking. We stayed up front for two more songs, but then we decided to move back. There was just two many people pushing and shoving that it was no longer enjoyable. Keller was great, but the invasion of personal space was off-putting. We stayed for a few more songs, but decided to leave half way through the set. Honestly, we felt that we got our money's worth by this time, so we decided to call it a night.
I would definitely see him here again, but prefer the Whitaker Center over the Chameleon. At this point in my life, I'd rather focus on the music as opposed to the scene.
2 comments:
Cool...had never heard of him. I'm listening to Freaker by the Speaker, now. The (Fish)magic of Youtube...
Grunge grass sounds really cool! Sorry to hear the crowd got out of control, but it seems like you still had a great time.
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