The Fox Theatre
Boulder, CO
Words by
Martin Smith (whiskeyandwaxtrax)
Photos by
Melissa Evans (medoesphotos)
Arlo McKinley and Senora May finished up this leg
of their tour on Saturday night at Fox Theater in Boulder, CO. It was an
intimate affair as many of the University of Colorado college students had
already left town for the holidays, which allowed Arlo and Senora to interact
with the crowd from the stage and play their songs to a fully captivated crowd.
Senora has the voice of an angel and opened the show with some beautiful
country songs. Arlo and his band headlined the night and had the crowd on an
emotional roller coaster playing his sad country songs but also had the crowd
dancing to his rock n’ roll covers and southern rock tunes.
Arlo McKinley has plenty of sad country songs and
he played many of them but to the surprise of many he also incorporated a lot
of rock n’ roll into the show. He started things off with “We We’re Alright”,
“Don’t Need to Know” and “Whatever You Want” while he was nursing a couple of
glasses of whiskey and a handful of Modelos he had laying around the stage. He
mixed in some amazing covers including Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You”, Motley
Crue’s “Home Sweet Home”, Ryan Adams’ “September”, Allman Brothers’ “Ain’t
Wastin’ Time No More”, and Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Woman.” A sweet moment
came when he spoke about meeting John Prine and played one of his tunes. But
one of the most touching moments came when he played Blaze Foley’s “If I Could
Only Fly” as tribute to his mother who recently passed away. A fan could be
heard saying “I wasn’t ready for that” so it’s not hard to understand why he
sells merch that says “Arlo Made Me Cry.” He played a handful of new songs
including “Back Home,” a song that will be on his highly anticipated album
coming out next year. And it wouldn’t be an Arlo McKinley show without some of
his sad country songs like “Once Again”, “Walking Shoes”, “Wishing”, “Suicidal
Saturday Night”, and the drug fueled “Bag of Pills.” He closed the show with
“Die Midwestern” and a little jam session with the band that had everyone in
the venue dancing and wanting more.
I have been a fan of Arlo McKinley for several
years but this was the first time I had seen him perform. I went into the show
expecting a night of beautiful and haunting sad folk/country songs and while
he definitely delivered with the sad songs, I was pleasantly surprised by how
well he was able to weave in some fun rock n’ roll tunes and some southern rock
jams. There were some tears but also some dancing and laughter that made for a
truly amazing night of music. It was one of the more perfect sets that I’ve
seen.
Senora May opened the show with a solo country
set that started with a handful of acoustic songs. She played her new holiday
song “White Christmas” for which all of the proceeds from the single will go to
tornado relief. In between songs she told stories about her family with her
hippie mom and marine baby brother that somehow became a story about dead mice
and cockfights. She talked about life on the road and took a jab at Kansas,
their previous stop on the tour. As someone who grew up in Kansas I can relate
to her desire to flee the sunflower state. She told stories of meeting her
husband, Tyler Childers, and the early days when they would play shows for
“four people, all which we knew.” She closed her set with “Country,” a protest
song against the industrialization of the beautiful Kentucky countryside. I’m
looking forward to more from her in the future.
The Fox Theater is a wonderful mid-size venue in
the heart of the CU campus “on the hill.” The sound system and the lighting
were amazing and the layout of the venue is perfect for an intimate show like
this one was. The surrounding bars and restaurants were quiet for a Saturday
night in a college town, as the students were already on winter break but that
didn’t stop Arlo and Senora from putting on a phenomenal show that left every
person in attendance blown-away.
Melissa's Photo Gallerywww.arlomckinley.comwww.senoramaymusic.com
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