Steve Forbert at Hank Dietle’s Tavern, 11/18/21

 One of the things I love about seeing artists perform is seeing them in intimate settings. I’ve done the arena and stadium shows, where most times I’m so far away that I’m resigned to watching most of the show on the projection screens. But nothing beats getting up close and personal with your favorite performers. And on this night, it was intimacy to the max.

Hank Dietle’s Tavern, in Rockville, MD, is a roadside honky-tonk bar that has the distinction of holding the first and oldest liquor license in Maryland, issued at the end of Prohibition. The bar was heavily damaged by fire in 2018, and closed, but a rehabilitation program got the joint back open this summer. They have local music nightly, but Steve Forbert was the main attraction tonight, in a sold-out show. I was lucky enough to get last-minute tickets that were only released on Tuesday of that week, so thanks to Allen, one of the owners, for the notice.

I got to Dietle’s early, at 5:30 PM since I wanted to beat traffic and get a spot in their tiny parking lot. Upon entering, there was only two other people in there: Rona, the bartender…and Steve Forbert, setting up his gear. I knew then that this was going to be something I was gonna remember. There were only a few tables set up, and chairs placed along a wall. Rona told me that all 65 tickets were sold fairly quickly.

65 tickets, for the nationally-renowned Steve Forbert. This is gonna be good.

Steve came out at 8:30, with his well-worn acoustic guitar, and George Naha accompanying him on electric guitar. He started the show with “Thinkin’”, off his highly acclaimed  1978 debut album “Alive On Arrival”. He played 7 of the 10 songs this night off of that album, as well. The Meridian, MS native also paid tribute to another favorite son of Meridian, country music legend Jimmie Rodgers, by covering “My Carolina Sunshine Girl”, which was also on Steve’s Jimmie Rodgers tribute album “Any Old Time” (2002).

Steve mixed in some of his lesser-known gems, like “The American In Me”, “Midsummer Night’s Toast”, and (a shortened) “The Oil Song”, with classics like “Goin’ Down To Laurel” and “Song For Katrina”. Steve asked for audience help with “Autumn This Year”, and a crowd of 65 sounded like they could fill an arena with their singing. He ended the set with his best known song, “Romeo’s Tune” (which reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1980), then finished with a 2-song encore of “You’d See The Things That I See” and another of his gems, “You Cannot Win If You Do Not Play”.

After the show, he stuck around to sell merchandise, sign autographs, and take pictures, which just enhanced the intimate atmosphere of this performance.

I’m seeing Steve Forbert again in March, this time at a “larger” venue, the 200-seat Jammin’ Java, but for this night, it sure looked fine and it blew my mind.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars