I saw the
Derek Trucks Band last night at the Grand Ballroom at the Regency Center on Sutter and Van Ness (btw, is this room the famed Avalon Ballroom from the 60s?). He's a great slide guitarist in the Duane Allman vein -- in fact I think he toured w the Allman Brothers. I didn't really know his music that well, but I knew what to expect.
He is fast, and he has a great band assembled, but after a while the whole jamminess of it gets a little tedious for me. He doesn't do much other than stand there looking a little hunched and awkward and playing slide guitar better than probably anyone else alive, but I was ready to leave after 90 minutes. Then they brought out special guest
Carlos Santana and he played w them for another half hour.. sah-weet! a nice evening: drinks at McTeague's on Polk, then a little Indian food at Shalimar on Polk, then we traipsed over the venue for the guitar godliness. ... And I rode my bike home in case you were wondering.
btw: the venue apparently does not have any free water: the bar sells bottles of water ($3) and there's no water fountain available. Is this even legal? I will send GoldenVoice a complaint.