The Ohio concert "rocked," though that hardly does it justice. The band was a tight unit and in fine form. Mike Roe played fantastic guitar for a very large, enthusiastic, standing-room crowd, accompanied by Mark Harmon on bass and Bruce Spencer on drums, both of whom have been the regular 77's band for quite a while now and who have a thorough command of the band's extensive repertoire.

Among the songs played were an amazing rendition of "Pearls Before Swine," complete with many sound effects courtesy of Mike, and "Nobody's Fault But Mine," which included a lengthy guitar solo and some nice harp playing, also by Mike. The usual set of lengthy encores by request, however, was missing since Guardian wound up closing the show.

Although it took a few minutes to get everything plugged in and working right, Mike seemed to have great control of his guitar tone throughout the show, and the sound was awesome. He also added frequent quotations from many songs and influences throughout the set, including some Peter Green and Santana riffs, a Chuck Berry melody, some Dick Dale and at least a verse and chorus of "Money" ("That's What I Want"), which the Beatles had something to do with.

At the Illinois show, fewer Chicagoans attended than I expected. I guess they knew where this show "really" was -- which is, to say, on the last outpost this side of the moon. Although the announcements billed the concert in Rockford, which is easy enough to find, the show was actually in Davis, a booming metropolis with a population 500 or so, located deep (make that, deeeeeeep) in the heartland.

The Mill, as the location is affectionately dubbed, was actually a very rustic converted grain storage bin that had been rebuilt into a quaint and quite nice unofficial youth center in the middle of some beautiful farm countryside. The food was good, the vibes were cool, and the crowd was big. Outside of a few people, however, no one had any idea who the 77's were, and some converts were made at the barn dance/jamboree.

The show's highlight was a lengthy request set/encore. Mike agreed to play "Snowblind" if the crowd moshed, and an extended impromptu blues jam took place in which the Mill percussion ensemble and Andy Jones (the impresario of said establishment, who apparently works with James Taylor on occasion and co-wrote "The City of New Orleans") joined the 77's to sing about the Mill and its ministry, the 77's and the struggles and triumphs of providing such a place in the middle of "Egypt" (as he later put it).

A glorious time was had by all. As Bruce Spencer said, "When we got here, we could tell it was either going to be really awful or really great."

-- by John Cook