Better late than never, here's a bit o' writin' from another groupiegirl, you might call her the "ultimate groupie girl"



LTH, Jr. at Velvet Lounge



Well, Eric's "solo" act was short, a mere nine songs, but very sweet. I
kept a set list for y'all, so here's some details. First, Eric was
accompanied by Kevin Cordt on trumpet and backing vocals. It was awfully
nice to hear Kevin's lovely voice, which sounds really nice with
Eric's--they should really let Kevin sing more. Jim Gray was on acoustic
bass guitar--an instrument I don't think I've ever seen before. He sounded
fantastic, you could really hear the bass lines with it just being the
three of them up there. Eric played the hell out of his acoustic
guitar, I think he's been doing some practicing and its paying off, he
sounded great. However what was above and beyond the greatest moment of the
evening--Eric yodeled! It was on the song Tonight (which I was hearing for
the second time that evening, Karl performed it earlier at Visions). It was
a lovely version of the song, not their usual raucous rendition, it
actually sounded a lot more like the original GraveRobber's version than it
usual does when LTH performs it, and then Eric ended it with yodeling
(Kevin also did some whistling). I almost fell out my seat.

They opened with the new song, I Still Like You, which I like more and more
every time I hear it. Its a great song. Then Tonight, then the song about
Harlin County and the lovers who have to run away from the girl's no-good
father who doesn't want them to be together. Don't know what this one's
called but I've been calling it See What Love Can Do in my head, which is a
line in the song somewhere. That was was followed by a simply gorgeous
Angelina, Kevin's singing and trumpet were definitely the standouts. Eric
then asked for requests and played mine, Shenandoah, which was lovely. Eric
seemed a little surprised by this request, but played it anyway. Then they
did My Sally, Finally, and my second request of the evening, Last Train
Home. They encored with Sugar. A short but really really lovely performance
by all counts.

ahhhhhhh. Going to a show at The State Theater out by the East Falls Church Metro is kind of like going on a vacation in the amount of time it takes to go to a dinner party. The show that Last Train Home put on this past Fri., 10/4, heightened that feeling even more. Going out there in the dark, it's all highways and byways and an old time theater look made out of brand-y new blue board, like vacation destination Branson, which I have seen, or possibly 'new' Nashville, which I have not-just on a smaller, much, much, much smaller and friendlier and less disneyfied scale.

The clean and cavernous interior of The State, the good sound system and the rolling-stone-pyrotechnics-on a radio-shak-budget pump up the performance of any band that gets on the stage. Now in the case of Last Train Home that has been performing around DC since 1997, I am pondering that this past weekend's show (their first headliner at The State) let's us local's glimpse what life will be like with the band on a four foot high stage instead of a two foot tall one. You'll get no complaint from me-they've got it in them. Performing regularly with seven to TWELVE musicians you could say there is collectively already 180 + years of performance experience under the bright lights. Frontman Eric Brace's new tailored, embroidered, and black and white rhinestone accesorized suit could count for 80 years of showmanship by itself. Lesson, it never hurts to sparkle!

Now what about the music?.....stay tuned