Rickie Lee and Her Slave Boy. Had a great time at the Rickie Lee Jones show Monday night. The Lensic Theatre in Santa Fe is a very beautiful venue, that, dang it, happens to be 60-plus miles away from my house. I shouldn't complain, because the guy next to me said he came down from Taos for the show. Rickie was great, and was accompanied by a very versatile six person band in which each member played a variety of instruments. The stage was decked out with vertical strings of white Christmas lights interspersed with Chinese paper laterns. Very cool. Most of the songs were from her new album The Evening of My Best Day. Rickie said almost nothing to the audience until over halfway through the show, when she started in on some of her more "political" songs. And even then she said very little, just a one sentence intro to a couple of songs.

The weirdest thing about the show was her "slave boy." There was this typical roadie looking guy who came out after nearly every song and gave Rickie a new guitar, or a fresh beverage, or he would kick on a different effects switch with his foot. After about 6 songs and six different guitars, this just started to seem strange. Anyway, it reached a peak when he walked out with a shiny yellow electric guitar, then stood behind her for awhile. She ignored him, and he walked of dejectedly. Watching this poor guy work his butt off was almost as entertaining as the music.

I think I enjoyed seeing her live much more than listening to her CDs, due to the stage set, the multi-talented band, and slave boy. I have been listening to the new album for about a month, and it hadn't really grabbed me. By seeing the songs done live, it made the songs richer and more interesting, and now I've decided I really like the CD.

A couple minor quibbles. No encore. Right before the end, Rickie made an offhand comment about having a cold, played Pirates and said good night. The group stands up to give her a standing O and about 15 seconds later the lights come up. I hate when that happens. I also tried to buy an extra large tour shirt and the guy in front of me nabbed the last one. Bummer.