My personal view is that Joe has long since fancied being part of a band thing where there is other serious creative input. Until now he hasn't found what he felt comfortable with.

Like ole Slan said, the man is having a blast, be happy for him FFS. There's often too little fun in life and I say go for it Joe!

Scubapersil - You often need to think other than the immediately obvious when viewing Slan's linky's. He has a well developed sense of humour.

castle49:I never got the impression Joe was mad on that part of rock n roll.T be truthful, thats what i like more about the man...not easy i,m sure t say "k lads i,m goin t rec ideas etc goodnight" on tour when the rest have it big...

Would i think better of him if he got happy after gig for a night or few?.....hmmmm probably...happy after gig Joe

So I'm a bit late with this, but I'm writing it before the next Chickenfoot gig so I think it's still OK. ;-)

I've seen back-to-back Joe shows about five times in the past, and it was always the same...like I was seeing the same band twice (which I was). But these Chickenfoot gigs were completely different.

The San Francisco show felt like the hometown show of a band that had been around for a few years, and Sammy even made a comment to that effect. The Los Angeles show had more of the "we're a new band and this is our fourth gig" feel. There were high points, but the energy level didn't quite stay up like it did in SF. I don't know if it was the smaller venue that caused that, or the "LA crowd" that has very little interest in anything.

And Tracie, the line outside the Roxy was very organized...there were paper signs taped to buildings telling people where to wait. We all got wristbands before we went in and no one cut in line. So the LA crowd would have won, were it not for the guy a few people to my left who peed all over the floor and the guy in front of him a few minutes before the band went on. Wonderful.

I was in front of Joe in SF and between Sammy and Mikey in LA, so I got to see the show from both sides. I think what sticks in my head most is just how much Mike brings to this band. His bass playing is more interesting than it ever was in Van Halen (he even played a bit of slap bass at one point), and man can he SING. Because of where I was standing at the Roxy, I actually heard his unamplified voice more than what was coming through the speakers...it sounded great and looked so effortless.

Highlights from SF include Avenida Revolution (I already mentioned the crowd response after this was the loudest I've ever heard for Joe), Oh Yeah, Learning To Fall, and Highway Star.

LA highlights would be Get It Up, Down The Drain, Bitten By The Wolf and Bad Motor Scooter. BBTW sounds unlike anything else on the album, so I think I'm glad it's a bonus track. It's very swampy/bluesy, and I love the Louisiana lyrics (I'm from there). Joe used the doubleneck here...most of the song was done on the top, but he switched to the bottom for the ending solo.

My Kinda Girl and Turnin' Left were solid both nights. Sammy played guitar on Turnin' Left and Bad Motor Scooter, but I wish he would've played on a few other songs as well. Get It Up in SF sounded really empty, and even though it was better in LA I think a second guitar would have helped a lot. BBTW could have maybe used another guitar too, to keep the song "together" (it's hard to explain if you haven't heard it).

In SF, Sammy started a guitar "duel" with Joe during Turnin' Left that seemed too fake/staged to me because Sammy told Joe not to hold back (but he'd play circles around Sammy if he didn't). I think it worked better in LA, without the comment.

The coolest image from both shows would have to be during Sammy's Bad Motor Scooter solo in LA. Joe walked over to him and rested an arm on Sammy's shoulder...then Mikey walked over to his other side and did the same thing. I'll have to look for a picture of this...it was really funny.

I haven't said too much about Chad here, but he's incredible. I don't know how he does it, but he seems to pull amazing fills out of thin air. And he's hilarious too. We made eye contact several times during the LA gig...he sings along to all the songs, even if the mike isn't in front of him, and he seemed impressed I knew a lot of lyrics. But toward the end there was a part where Sammy or Mikey tried to get the crowd to clap to the beat. I didn't join in, and Chad gave me a really stern look...haha.

Lastly...Sammy made a comment about Montrose early into the LA gig, so Chad played part of the Rock Candy intro. They didn't do the song, but the setlist had that song, Goin' Down, and Rock and Roll printed on it at the end. So they might mix up the encores as the tour progresses.

I think that might be my longest single post ever...haha. 3,999 of the 4,000 allowed characters. Maybe I should have written to separate reviews, and not procrastinated. ;-)

Who here is going to tonight's Chicago gig?

Nice review Austin, thanks....sounds like the Fillmore gang could learn a thing or two about line control from the LA gang :) So there were no half naked wimmens tryin to cut in line at the front eh?

With these guys, I can only imagine that each show will have it's own "flavor" and rock n roll moments different from the rest. I hope they film each one of them and manage to share them somehow :)

Yamboy (webmaster Jon) tweeted that they have the footage ready from the first of the "12 Days of the Foot" shows.....can we be expecting a podcast mebbe, oh World's Greatest Webmaster??

cheese101 - Tracie, you're right...but, given the choice, I'll take half-naked women over a puddle of pee any day! ;-)

I can't wait to see footage of this. I know the webmaster recorded some shows, but I think it'd be really cool to have a proper Chickenfoot DVD. That probably wouldn't happen until after a second album, though.

As a slight aside, I've found these Chickenfoot shows were so good it makes me not want to listen to Van Halen because it just doesn't measure up. These guys are that good.

Austin - nice one, thanks. How is the job search going or you still on holiday?