Dwight Yoakam

Margarit and I went to see Dwight Yoakam at the Jubilee Auditorium on Monday March 5th.  This was my 5th time and Margarit's third time seeing him.  My first was also at the Jubilee, back in the 1980's when he first broke onto the scene.  Now he is celebrating the 30th anniversary of his first ground-breaking country album... Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc.  I have to say that the last two times I saw him were a bit of a disappointment.  Margarit and I saw him out at the Leduc Recreation Centre a few years ago.  The sound was terrible, and the seating disorganised and chaotic.  Then we saw Dwight about a year ago out at the River Cree Casino.  He put on a pretty decent show, but the acoustics out at the casino leave something to be desired.  This time around the sound was great.  Our seats were down front and center in about the fifth row.  His band was tight and played really well.  And, for a change, this time around he was more open with the crowd.  Usually he starts playing and one song just runs into the next without much discourse.  This time around he actually stopped playing and carried on an interactive discussion with the audience.  It was very refreshing and made this once of the best shows I have seen in a while.  Of course now that I am learning guitar I paid particular attention to the instruments being played, the chords, the changes and got a little more out of it.