Above: Tina Dico

Seattle, You Was There, 3/30/08 - I don’t usually go out on a Sunday, but when Bob Schneider is on the playbill, you make sacrifices.

A word to the ignorant masses, and an aside to those that already know: Do not go to a Bob Schneider show and expect it to be anything but a delight. It was amazing; amazing like when you were a little kid, and got to see fireworks

Chop Suey reminded me of a joint permanently celebrating Chinese New Year. I liked the layout and was impressed by the sound and light boards. This place strives to be a big player in the scene, and it offers up everything a concert-goer craves in an intimate experience. Well-priced drinks, a lounge up front for yakking so you don’t interrupt the show, great snacks, and attentive staff.

I had a beverage and welcomed Jay Thomas to the stage. I told you the whole show rocked. Jay is the sound man on the Schneider tour, but when he’s doing his own thing as the opening act, you would never guess he had a day job with the band. In any other tour, he’d headline. His set was full of testosterone, diesel, and whiskey-soaked American Splendor. This guy plays a 12 string like the rock and roll harp that it was meant to be. By the end of his set, his opening act had won the crowd over. I saw quite a few folks saunter back to grab a CD.

Tina Dico was something I did not expect. Hailing from Denmark, she brought her own crowd of flag-waving Danes. She has a following in Europe, and apparently, here too. This rock star deserves it. Her set touched me in a manner I have not felt in decades, and that’s no exaggeration. When she sang, I felt every word, like she was speaking right to me. “Strumming my pain with her fingers” was such a cliché to me until March 30th when I experienced it in this performance. In the interview that followed her performance I got to know her better, and grew to love and respect her work even more. This is the next big rock star, and I am delighted I got to hear her first. I’d share our interview, but I’m afraid to. She brings out feelings in you that you just don’t feel like expressing to the rest of the world. This interview I will keep to myself. Just know this: She is an artist very close to her work, and it shows. I gave her album, Count To Ten, a listen the night of the interview. She could not give me a copy of the album then because she sold out the night of her performance there at Chop Suey, so I picked it up on Itunes. Maybe I’m just in love, but I found the latest album more than worth it. She plays a different sound on her studio projects than she does live, where she tends to rock a lot more, but it felt more like a different side of the artist than a betrayal of her true sound. The songs flow really well, and I didn’t realize I’d listened to it three times through until I looked at the time. My favorite probably “Cruel To The Sensitive Kind”. Her voice is so piercing, and the sentiment so eloquent, even jaded guys like me want to tear up.

Finally Bob Schneider… Who has ever seen a bad Bob Schneider show? I cannot imagine. I had the chance to interview Bob before the show. We shared our common experiences riding “The Soul Bus” in Germany, and also where he gets and finds the inspiration in his music. “When the sun breaks down on the moon” is going to blow you away. It demonstrates the creative arc that Bob continues from the last album, while taking it up and over in new ways. Great art always strikes you where you least expect, and this long-awaited work did not fail to surprise.

With the Bob interview, I must confess I was star-struck. I’d stream the interview but for how embarrassed I would be if anyone knew how much I sounded like Chris Farley interviewing Paul McCartney. Let it be said that it was not Bob that made me nervous, but simply me. Being in the same room, after so many years, with an artist that I’ve admired for so long was a dream come true that I probably wrecked… Oh well. Who gets to live the You Was There lifestyle anyway? Part of the experience is the risks you take looking stupid. I would not trade seeing Bob, Tina and Jay for a thousand other concert nights. Even though I made a huge fool of myself, and will probably get banned from Austin, and banished from Denmark, I accept it willingly. For one night, I got to see the face of genius Bob, America diesel folk humorist Jay, and blush in the reflected glory of the next rock star Tina Dico.

Oh yeah. Listen to “When The Sun Breaks Down On The Moon” and if you don’t sop it up like a biscuit, I owe you a beer when you see me next. I’m good for it. I’ll even make it a Lagunitas IPA.

- By Rob Lewis (stumpx@hotmail.com), The Stonewailer in Seattle