The Hot Club Of Cowtown, whom we are nuts about, seems to have pencilled in a visit to the Bull Run every summer. We missed it the last two summers but were some of the first to buy tickets when they announced their gig this July 27th. We got a ticket for John too and though we didn't get the front center table, we were right behind it and sight lines were excellent.
It's been an incredibly hot and humid summer and that Friday was another stifling day. Left the new office in Waltham about 4:20 though, and had not too many issues with traffic while picking up Sarah and Dave at Alewife, though the Western exodus was at (late July) high tide when we left there. Got out to Shirley in decent time anyway, arriving around 6 for an 8:00 show.
Which left plenty of time to yuck it up with John (who'd arrived a few minutes before us) and have an excellent meal with a few People's Pints. They had left a little "dance floor" where the 2nd and 3rd row center tables would have been and I don't think anyone danced (which gave us more room at our table, especially when the other four seats there were not taken, though the Sawtelle Room was otherwise pretty packed). We're from Massachusetts and though we dance when the situation warrants it, we were all there to see the damn Hot Club. Everyone there knew how excellent these guys are and we were all really looking forward to it. We hadn't seen them for three years, and that's way too long!
No Whit or Jake in the bathroom but as I was exiting about half an hour before show time, a blonde in a beautiful dress came bursting out of the ladies and I stopped short to let her by. Took me a second to realize it was Elana, and she was booking back for the green room, apparently hoping not to run into any fans. As she turned in I essayed, "Are you going to be playing Exactly Like You tonight?" She turned on the charm (though she didn't turn her head, maybe not made up), and said, "Sure, we can do that!" I told her, "Thanks Elana" and she was gone.
Back to the table and they came out right on time and surely satisfied our wishes for a great Hot Club show. Whit's excellent old amp had died three years ago in Shirley, but he had a "new" old one that sounded great, and of course his fingering on the fret board was obscene. Dave later tried some of those chords and almost broke his hand in the attempt. Jake was booming and holding the whole thing together, actually bringing out his bow a few times for the ballads.
But the most amazing thing about this band for me is the power and volume Elana brings to the fiddle. There's a recorded conversation between Jerry Garcia and David Grisman where David says, "It's louder but is it better?" and Jerry says, "Louder *is* better in this world, David." I've seen plenty of fiddlers who can get the tone and the power Elena gets, like Carrie Rodriguez, Jason Carter, Allison Krauss, Tim O'Brien, Brittany Haas ... I even saw Vassar Clements once. But Elana also has her volume turned up to 11 and when she touches a string with the bow ... well, she doesn't just touch it, she attacks it, and that's for the soft notes. For the loud notes she's sawing away with an earnestness that makes you pity the poor instrument, though it seems to love it. As much as Whit is amazing to watch and listen to (he played some great rhythm guitar during her leads) and as dominant as Jake can be, my head kept turning back to Elana because she's so unique.
Elana's singing wasn't as good as we've heard it, possibly a little cold or allergies. She also announced that her wonderful dog, Eva, had died. I remember seeing them at Passim and having a nice conversation with Elana outside while Eva on the leash charmed all passers by. Whit was singing very well though, and this was such an entertaining concert.
They played a bunch of hits and then got to the part of the concert where they had to catch up on requests, and played mine. The last song of the (2 hour!) set had me in ecstasy: this was the first time I'd ever seen them do Orange Blossom Special and they nailed it. And the song I was really hoping for was Whit's incredible cover of the 1906 song, Chinatown, in which his fingers actually leave his sleeve.
What a great show and what a fun night! John had a word with Jake and then we packed the car with the things he'd brought for us rather than discard them on his way down to Florida (he was taking the Orange Blossom Special). And we made it home in the normal time on a beautiful mid-summer night.
"Hey, talk about a-ramblin'
She's the fastest train on the line
Talk about a-travellin'
She's the fastest train on the line
It's that Orange Blossom Special
Rollin' down the seaboard line"
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