Chris Isaak in Minneapolis

Went to see Chris Isaak at the Orpheum Theater last night, courtesy of some friends who kindly supplied the tickets. Really a great show, what a fabulous entertainer. Oddly enough, the sound guys didn't do a very good job. The bass guitar and bass drum were way heavy, while the lead guitar could hardly be heard in the first half of the set. The more acoustic part of the evening sounded good, though, and the levels were better when the electric set came back. I can't tell you how many rock/pop concerts I've been to where I thought the sound guys should just have been fired on the spot. There's no excuse for it, given the technology that's available today. Tristan Prettyman opened the show, and clearly had a following in town, although I have to confess that I can hardly bear to listen to girl singer-songwriters these days. The genre seems to be crowded with lesser talents that lack the poetry and musicality of forebears like Joni Mitchell and Shawn Colvin.