I caught Bela and the boys at the Bijou Theater in Knoxville on Monday night.
Lineup had Victor, Futureman, and Jeff Coffin.
First half was the amplified large Flecktones sound.
Most of the material was all instrumental,
but Futureman did sing on "Sunset Road."
After intermission Bela asked the audience if we would mind if they went more "acoustic" -
as they "had not done that in a long time."
Of course there were no objections and much support for doing this.
The crew set up 4 folding chairs and microphones at the front edge of the stage and move a few of Futureman's drums over.
We had this acoustic treat for a half hour or so (before they went back to the amplified stuff).
In the second half, Bela asked for any requests and they did accept one for "Royal Garden Blues," which Bela said they hadn't played in a few years...
I requested "Amazing Grace" hoping Victor might do it as one of the encore numbers, but no such luck.
However, the Maryville Daily Times newspapaper article a couple days before provided an explanation of sorts:
"No two sets are alike. The band is constantly seeking out new ways to improvise and do something different, and Fleck keeps meticulous records of previous concerts the band has played at venues like The Bijou Theatre, where the Flecktones perform on Sunday and Monday.
“I have setlists from every show we’ve done over the past 15 years, and every time we go to a city we’ve been to before, I’ll check the last two or three times we’ve played in that town,” Fleck said. “I’ll see how much of a turnover there’s been in material, how much we’ve repeated ourselves. For example, the last two times we played in Knoxville, we performed ‘Big Country,’ so we probably won’t do that one.
“I would hate to have somebody say, ‘I saw that band four times in four years, and every time they ended with the same song or played the same setlist. I don’t know if I need to see them again.’ A lot of people might want to hear us play certain songs that were big for us and seem to work as hits, but we don’t feel any compunction to play those unless we want to, and one of the excuses I have for thinking that’s a good thing is the reaction from people who have never seen the band before.
“They feel like they’re getting something they’ve never seen before, and if we don’t repeat ourselves, they can conceivably have the same experience when they come back,” he added. “Those are the people who say, ‘Wow, I saw you guys before, but then I saw you again and it was completely different.’”
Very nice show...highly recommended.
Catch them if you can!
