That's how I'd sum up the Dickey Betts and Great Southern show at the Bijou last night. They seemed a little loose at times, and even lost a couple of times, but Dickey managed to reign everyone in (or they reigned him, hard to say) and they rocked the joint with a high-energy two-hour performance.

Read more after the jump...

Despite sounding a little like a rehearsal in a few spots, the show was awesome. They started out with High Falls, ran through several of Dickey's Allman Bros. standards including usual suspects such as Elizabeth Reid, a fresh arrangement of Blue Sky, and a Stormy Monday cover, threw in some new originals, and ended up with Southbound, Jessica, and Ramblin' Man. And the crowd went wild.

Dickey and the band were having a great time, and so was the mostly middle-aged and older (like us) crowd. I scored a Dickey guitar pick, and the Mrs. (who rushed the stage as usual) shook his hand.

It was a great evening of entertainment. I almost hate to admit it, but it was more fun than the last Allman Bros. show I saw. It was a painful parting of the ways, and the Allman Bros. are missing some of the fire Dickey Betts brought to the mix. Hopefully Dickey will be better off for it in the long run, and the Allman Bros. will continue to adapt and overcome.

While the first band was playing, I noticed someone hanging around backstage that I would have sworn was Dickey from 35 years ago. It turns out it was his son Duane, who is now playing lead guitar with the band. He's pretty good, too.

The other nice surprise is the addition of female singer and spinning hippie jam dancer, "Twinkle". Her vocals are reminiscent of Janis Joplin, maybe even better. Somebody ought to sign her pronto.

Say what you will about Dickey Betts, but he is a talented guy and one of the most underrated guitarists, songwriters, and arrangers in the business. And he's a hell of a singer, too, which you tend to forget until you see him live. Hopefully he can keep his personal demons at bay and keep jamming for a long time.

It was our first visit to the newly remodeled Bijou and they have done an outstanding job with the renovation. It looks great and the sound is even better. It's a great smaller venue for shows like Dickey Betts. The only possible complaint I have is that they don't have their liquor permit yet. But they at least have cold beer.

OK, then.