** Yet another excellent concert by both King's X and the Galactic Cowboys . I ran into Doug a few hours before the show began. He filled me in on the trouble they had crossing the border from Canada to the U.S. Instead of spending their two days off in a large city (Minneapolis), they were stranded in a small town in North Dakota for a day and a half, until some legal hassles could be taken care of. Some of the band members, (including Ty from King's X and Monty, Wally, and Eric from the Galactic Cowboys ) made a quick stop at the world famous Mall Of America prior to the show, which delayed the soundcheck. During the soundcheck, Wally sat in for Jerry on drums initially, which was a riot. King's X played full versions of Groove Machine and Fade , in addition to a couple of old Black Sabbath tunes, War Pigs and Sweet Leaf . I was expecting a version of Live Peace In New York to break out, but Wally didn't have his Yoko Ono garb with him on this tour. I spoke with Wally during the soundcheck, and he was under the impression that MetalBlade would be releasing both the Galactic Cowboys video for Nothing To Say and the King's X video for Fade in Europe, but not in the States. However, the following day I got an E-Mail from MetalBlade saying that they are doing a new video reel that will include both songs, in addition to Inside The Groove Machine for retail sale in a few months.

As far as the concert goes, the setlist changed somewhat from the first leg of the tour. I was surprised by the fact that only one more song was added from Tape Head , while three more songs were added from Ear Candy . The Ear Candy tour of '96 consisted of at least 10 songs from the album, which made me expect the same would happen for Tape Head on this tour. I would liked to have seen live versions of Cupid , Higher Than God , and Happy . As it turned out, Ear Candy dominated the set list with five songs, with only four from Tape Head . The encores were incredible, preceeded by another powerful version of Over My Head , which had Doug leading the crowd in an impromptu sing along. It was nice to see so many first-timers at the show. I think the fact that Tape Head is getting airplay on a local radio station (93X ) helps. Make sure that you visit their internet site, and let them know how much you appreciate the fact that they are playing King's X !

(Special thanks to Dave the guitar tech for being so cooperative!)

** A very strange and surreal night, but definitely one of the most memorable of any I've been associated with. St. Joseph is a small town about 70 miles from the Twin Cities. Aside from the location, there was a somewhat nasty storm a couple of hours before the show. I had to battle through some freezing rain and high winds to get to the show, which could explain the rather small turnout. I got there maybe 75 minutes before the Galactic Cowboys took the stage. Doug was sitting at a table, eating some questionable-looking Chinese food, and chatting it up with Hans Nygaard, founder of the Ugly King's X Site. I had a chance to sit down with Doug for a good hour prior to the show, during which time he talked about his influences and the influence King's X has had on other bands, his song writing inspiration, his feelings about solo projects, his views on Sam Taylor, and the perils of fame.

Back to the concert. The songs were the same as the Medina show the night before, other than a couple of changes by the Galactic Cowboys . The small crowd made for a more intimate show than the night before, which loosened both bands up a little. The Galactic Cowboys gave their usual frenetic performance, including a rather 'unique' rendition of Stress , which had Monty's cord shorting out just before Wally's solo. The band stopped until Monty could get a new cord, and picked up right where they left off, after some creative ad-libbing by Ben. Between sets, I talked with Wally, who filled me in on the recording of their last three albums, his equipment, and the latest on Dane Sonnier and Alan Doss. I was surprised to find out how much of the last three albums included Fender Teles and Strats. He also mentioned how he turned Ty on to the Deja-Vibe, which Ty used frequently during both shows. The only thing I can say is Wally is the coolest!

King's X took the stage and put on another fantastic show. The setlist was the same as the night before, although the interlude during Over My Head was a little bit different. Instead of the usual give and take between Doug and the crowd, Doug let the audience do the singing. I found out later from Scott Clone that there were members of several prominent local bands in the crowd, including members from Jonny Lang's band. Doug was his usual chatty self after the show, and Jerry mentioned that he is still working on a solo project, with a little help from Wally Farkas. He's looking forward to some time back home to complete the project, during which time both Doug and Ty plan to work on their own side projects. But both Doug and Jerry stressed the fact that they've never been more committed to keeping King's X together. The show was sponsored and promoted by Rockin' 101 , who were visited in studio by members of both bands prior to the show. Make sure that you let them know how much you appreciate their support for both King's X and the Galactic Cowboys