Wylie and the Wild West at the Bing Crosby Theater on Saturday, October 16th
Tonight was a gorgeous fall evening in Spokane with a crisp breeze on our walk down to the Bing. We were very excited to see Wylie and the Wild West because Trucker Dave has known Wylie for a while and it was such a treat to be able to see the man behind the stories. Wylie and the Wild West is the first band I have seen where every gentleman on stage was wearing a cowboy hat, and tie. I loved it! Wylie even had a very pretty guitar strap that had his name on it in silver! There was a lot of very fancy western wear in the crowd too; I should have worn my boots!
Unfortunately cowboy poet Paul Zarzyski was unable to come to Spokane for the show tonight because he has the flu. So Wylie and the guys sent him home with bed rest and a pint of Whiskey. I hope you get better Paul! Wylie and the Wild West still played a few of Paul’s poems to music for us later in the evening, which were gorgeous.
Wylie and the Wild West treated us to around 28 songs with an encore! It was a night full of cowboy rodeo romance, cowboy waltz, lonesome ol’ cowboy lullabies, and yodeling tunes. I also can’t forget to mention the horses, a few of the songs tonight were dedicated the majestic animals.
Some of the songs we heard tonight were “When I’m Riding I’m Right,” “Cattle Call,” “Buffalo Gals,” “Ridin’ the Hi-Line,” “Whoop Up Trail,” “Double Wild,” “True Love Travels On A Gravel Road,” “Equus Caballus,” “To Her,” “Hooked on Honkey Tonk,” “Ain’t No Life After Rodeo,” “Grace,” “Ugly Girl Blues,” “The Yodeling Fool,” “Hooves of the Horses,” and many more. Even a cover of “Everyday” by Buddy Holly which both Dave and Matt think it should have been a country song because it sounded so cool. Wylie also took a lot of requests and dedicated songs to people in the crowd tonight which was cool to see the amount of dedicated fans he has. Don’t think you have Wylie all figured out either, this cowboy likes rock n roll as well! He loves Keith Richards, and even snuck in a little “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” during one of his songs.
Ray, Scot, Rick and Wylie were tighter then the stitches on my wrangler jeans. Or as Dave said “you can set your watch buy these fellas.” Just a top notch group of cowboys who have a love for music and you can hear it. Tonight was the first time I have heard a singer yodel, I got goose bumps each time; from the more mellow yodel, to Wylie’s longest yodel, to the fast fun yodel they were all so beautiful and just such a talent! Wylie even sang his famous Yahoo, Yodel for us which was pretty darn cool too. The harmonies from the group were just perfect too, and who knew Wylie could yodel and play a mean bass guitar! I was just all ears with my jaw dropped a lot of the night.
Wylie and the Wild West warmed up the Bing tonight; they said they wanted to take the crowd on the road with them because we were so enthusiastic. The crowd was very enthusiastic; people were having such a great time, clapping and laughing. Wylie would dance around on stage and it was very hard not to want to dance. I think that was the one thing missing from the night… a dance floor! However the night was perfect. I felt right at home and just loved every single tune! Wylie and the Wild West is the real deal, this is real country!
We were very lucky to have Spokane as the third and final stop on their three day tour; I can’t stop talking about how great the evening was! Don’t be strangers Wylie and the Wild West, I have to see you again!
Photos courtesy of Matt Auclair.
