This is one of the few concerts I didn’t plan for. Lately (in what I call my “old age”) I’ve been very NOT spontaneous. Actually if it would have been just me I probably wouldn’t have gone to this, but my Dad was in town and in searching for something fun we could do I saw that Steve Miller Band was playing at Chateau Ste. Michelle.
Now my Dad doesn’t like music like I do. I can count on one hand bands that I know he likes. ACDC, Hank Williams Jr., Def Leppard, Three Doors Down, and yep you guessed it… Steve Miller Band. Once I saw that they just so happened to be playing while he was in town I knew we had to go.
I was worried he would say no to going since he’s not one to typically deal with crowds but luckily he was down, and even excited to go. We made up our mind to go literally the day before and I was able to get the tix off stub hub for half the price. I guess with it being Labor Day people had other things going on which paid off for us. I got tix for me, Dad, and Alyssa and we were all set to go.
The day of the show we were kind of antsy so we go to the winery pretty early. Around 4pm. There was already a line and we decided to wait so we could get some good seats. Alyssa and Dad went into the winery to scope everything out while I waited outside. After about 15 minutes they came back with 3 bottles of wine. Lets just say me and dad were in for a wild ride.
We started drinking on the sidewalk there and by the time they let us in we had already finished a bottle. We unfortunately didn’t get as close as I had wanted but we did get pretty close. just right behind the line that separated the small chairs from the big chairs. Luckily we were able to get some seats behind people that had the smaller chair so we could see fine.
Dad and I kept drinking and Alyssa had the occasional glass but she was DD and did a good job of keeping us corralled. I actually was not looking forward to Marty Stuart and neither was Dad. We just thought of him as really lame. The show had a random opener with some solo acoustic guy that I believe lived right up the road. He was OK but nothing memorable. After his short 30 minutes set then Marty Stuart took the stage.
By this point I remember where I was because we had finished the 3 bottles of wine and I was buying 2 more. I came back and was impressed at Marty’s music. It was right up my alley! Just sounded like real country to me. Maybe it would have been music I wouldn’t like in high school, but these days I appreciate good true honky tonk country. Anymore I’m just blown away at what passes for country these days.
His set ended with his song “Time Don’t Wait” and I really dug it. Definitely catchy and its been added to my iTunes playlist. I never thought going into this that I would have a Marty Stuart song in my library. Dad was impressed too, definitely liked Marty’s cover of Johnny Cash “Ring of Fire”.
After the set Dad went and bought merchandise for me Kayla and Keryn. Loved the shirt he got. We were definitely feeling good at this point and then Steve Miller hit the stage. Lets just say he hasn’t lost it!
I’m constantly surprised by these older musicians and how they sound so good. I mean all of the older musicians I’ve seen recently (rolling stones, John Fogerty, Steve Miller) have been great live, and full of energy, I honestly don’t know how they’re still stand-in after years of playing.
The set was predictable and predictably awesome! Just filled with hits. I’m so happy I got to experience it with my Dad. I had previously seen Steve Miller when he opened for Journey probably 5 years ago but unfortunately I drank too much and don’t remember the whole show! this show more than made up for it.
Fly like and eagle was amazing, and jet airliner was a dream come true. Rock’n Me was probably my favorite of the whole show. Again, this is one of those things that you just gotta be there to experience.
All in all it was one of th most memorable shows for me. Me and my Dad don’t get a lot of hang time these days, in fact its probably been 5 or 6 years since he was last out here, so this was a good bonding time. On top of this show we saw a Led Zeppelin tribute band the night before at Snoqualmie Casino so it was definitely a music filled trip for both of us. I’m looking forward to the next show we go to together! Below is some video I got from the show. In the meantime, turn up some Steve Miller loud! I was happy to hear a new one after this show “Abra Cadabra”. Spin it!