Friday night, not last night - but here's a cut-and-paste of my post to flatpick-l from Saturday morning:

Saw George Jones and band at the Vermont State Fair (Rutland) last night. Pam Tillis opened. Big crowd. A significant fraction of Rutland County, and people from as far away as Montreal.

In brief, George is beginning to slow down, and letting his band members do more of the hard work. But he's still got the essentials. He still has all the note bends that nobody could get away with and get back where he should be by the end of the line...does with melody what Clarence did with time.

He has a fiddler, a telecaster player, and a chick singer, any of which would have been worth going to see in their own right, and his band is VERY tight. They all seemed to be actually enjoying themselves. I suspect, if this crowd was typical, knowing the ticket prices, they were doing a lot better for themselves than they could as soloists, even given their abilities, and they know it.

I didn't get into Pam Tillis's set very well. The volume was set too loud in general, and the instrument volumes overpowered the vocals. I guess that's the way the "hot new country" fans like it. But I like to hear the songs, not just a wall of noise. Normally, I'd be aware that what old f....old folks like has no economic significance; but this crowd had a majority of old folks. So you'd think she would have adapted. Oh, well. The good news was that _her_ tele player was incredible. I just ignored her and listened to him. I didn't get his name, but she introduced him as a grandson of Hank Snow. That made sense.

After nearly 50 years of playing acoustic guitar and sneering at electrics, I want a telecaster. Have since I saw Bill Kirchen a year or two ago. But I'm probably too old to learn to do anything with it, and I'd need a band. Ah, well, none of us can have it all, and I've had more than most.

Peter.