The lineup at the Me and Thee Coffeehouse last year was fantastic, but this year seems a little thin. BUT, one of the first up this Fall was Patty Larkin (actually a leftover from a cancellation last year), and there was no question that we were going to be there.
Quite a slog through traffic getting to Salem, where Sarah and I met at a packed Gulu Gulu (even the outside tables were busy). We made it to the church about 10 minutes before showtime and I let Sarah out while I parked. She was able to wiggle into a front-row seat, and the church filled up soon afterwards, including a bunch of chairs in the vestibule.
Scott Alarik came on first and read some passages in his nuanced, high voice from his folk music novel (a genre waiting to explode). Patty came on next and rocked. She must have taken the easy ride through the tunnel from the Outer Cape to Marblehead ... she was fresh and ready to go.
I was hoping for I'm Fine, one of the best songs ever written IMO, and she did that second and followed it up with the sublime Tango. Sitting in the left-hand first pew we had a great view of her fingering and picking and it was enthralling. She's got the fingers and the technique of a concert pianist, as well as a suitcase full of fantastic songs, a soulful voice, and a great sense of humor. After stretching her neck between songs she commented that she'd been thinking of taking up yoga but decided she wasn't ready to take the edge off quite yet.
Patty did a couple of songs from her just-released album, Still Green, but covered songs from throughout her career. Then she nicely asked what songs people would like to hear in the second set. People did not hesitate to shout them out, but she cut us off after 5 or 6, saying, "OK, that's enough!" She took a break while we all got coffee and/or pastries, and then she came out and played all of the requests!
I had asked for Metal Drums, thinking it against the odds that she'd want to do a song from so early in her career, but she did an excellent version of it, citing the pain and struggles that toxic waste problems have caused in Massachusetts, in towns like Holbrook and Woburn ... it was like she knew we're from Woburn.
She also did some of her excellent instrumental pieces, like Banish Misfortune/Open Hand:
Merry Amsterburg came out and accompanied Patty on vocals for an encore of Different World. We hung out a bit after the concert and chatted with Glenn and then Patty. Sarah mentioned my sister and she actually remembered her as "Louise from Portland" from when they met in Ann Arbor years before. What a nice person, and what a nice time at the Me and Thee!
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Ipswich South
Haven't been blogging about all my kayak trips in MA recently, but here's one. I've borrowed Dave's Old Town Castine for local salt water trips and we hit the big time today. We put in at the Ipswich Town Landing, went down the river for a mile or two against the solid incoming tide, and then poked out into the Atlantic, past the opening to Plum Island Sound.
The incoming tide was ripping over the shoals at the entrance to the Sound and was twisting back and forth with the options to go up the river, up the sound, or to crash on the shore. Added to this was the strong South by West wind that grinned at the tide (headed Southeast generally) and whipped up a chop wherever it could. We plowed through turbulent waves and whirlpools out in the mouth of the sound, hiding behind buoys that were almost submerged by the strong current.
Back up the river after a sandwich and strolled through the salt marsh peninsulas on the high tide while motorboats joy-rode down the channel. Made it back to the Town Landing about an hour past high tide and put up.
The incoming tide was ripping over the shoals at the entrance to the Sound and was twisting back and forth with the options to go up the river, up the sound, or to crash on the shore. Added to this was the strong South by West wind that grinned at the tide (headed Southeast generally) and whipped up a chop wherever it could. We plowed through turbulent waves and whirlpools out in the mouth of the sound, hiding behind buoys that were almost submerged by the strong current.
Back up the river after a sandwich and strolled through the salt marsh peninsulas on the high tide while motorboats joy-rode down the channel. Made it back to the Town Landing about an hour past high tide and put up.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Winwood and ABB at Meadowbrook
I don't know if the Bourne Summer Music Tour is going to end ... it's kind of gotten to be a state of mind at this point. It continued with a little trip up to the lovely Meadowbrook in New Hampshire to see a couple of minor acts: Steve Winwood and The Allman Brothers!!! Again, when we saw this show advertised we got tickets as soon as possible and spent the interim in giggling delight. We knew it was going to be a special evening and it was.
I got out of work in plenty of time and had not too much summer traffic on the way to pick up Sarah at the train in Billerica and then to navigate up to 93 North. That slowed down of course with the early rush hour crowd, but we hit our stride upwards of Manchester and cruised on to Route 11, the Lakes region of NH, and the beautiful downhill towards Gilford and Lake Winnepesaukee.
Made our way into the parking lot by 5:40 or so and got out the lawn chairs for some sandwiches and Sobes in the afternoon sun. The crowd was much mellower than it had been for Furthur and the security was too ... they gently told people to put their beers in plastic cups instead of busting their chops. Put the chairs away, walked into the venue, got beers, and paid for the CD of the concert up front, and then made our way to our seats in row 13 (stage right) right before Winwood came out.
God, he was fantastic! He was on keys for most songs; we couldn't see the keyboards themselves, but he apparently had at least an organ and a piano in the same box, with foot pedals that made an awesome, droning sound. His guitar player, José Neto was fantastic; his sax/woodwinds player, Paul Booth, was beyond belief; his congas/percussion player, Café, was phenomenal; and his drummer, Richard Bailey, was an absolute monster. Some notes:
Winwood played the old stuff. How's this for a set list: Rainmaker, I'm A Man, Can't Find My Way Home, Had To Cry Today, Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys, Light Up Or Leave Me Alone, Higher Love, Dear Mr. Fantasy, and Gimme Some Loving?????
Break time and no one in the place wanted Winwood to leave but the stage crew was already out there setting up for the next band ... we'd all forgotten who it was going to be for a minute, but then we all remembered. I had a nice conversation with the guys about Winwood, the Brothers, and stuff while waiting in an interminable men's room line, got another beer, and wandered a little. Not much time left and made my way back to row 13 in time to get just a tad more excited before THE ALLMAN BROTHERS came out and hit that groove hard with Hot 'Lanta!!!!!
For those of you who haven't been paying attention (including me for much of the past century), the current Allman Brothers Band (didn't originally have the "Band" on there but it's called for) consists of original members Gregg Allman, Butch Trucks, and Jaimoe, with Oteil Burbridge on bass, Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks (Butch's nephew) on guitars, and Marc Quinones on congas and percussion. I'm at a loss for what to say now, that's just an incredible lineup.
OK, here's what they played (no set break): Hot 'Lanta, Statesboro Blues, Don't Keep Me Wonderin', Midnight Rider, Worried Down With the Blues, Leave My Blues At Home, Trouble No More, Dusk Till Dawn (new song), One Way Out, In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed, Feel Like Breakin' Up Somebody's Home, No One To Run With, and Whipping Post (encore).
How did I feel about all this? Well, I was really transported to a wonderful spot, grinning in delight, dancing slowly to songs I'd heard since I was a pup, grooving to the sounds and communing with the people around me in ways that I rarely experience. At a Furthur concert there's a sense that what you're hearing is incredibly precious and there's a panic to savor it; at an Allman Brothers concert there's a sense that this is the way the blues and these songs in particular should be played and are always being played by the heavenly choir ... we just have to get in the groove and hear them.
Some notes:
The end of the set arrived and this *really* gave us the blues, except that we knew one last blast was coming. This may have been the longest I've had to wait for an encore, but the crowd kept yelling and banging on the seats, and screaming through the wait. Finally the band came back on stage and it was then that the screams for Whipping Post started, my voice not least among them.
Uh, Oteil starts it off. "I've been run down, and I've been lied to ..."
Whipping Post had been playing on our car stereo when we got to the lot and it was the song of the night, closing the evening, with Trucks and Haynes milking their guitars, Allman throwing himself all over the organ, Trucks shaking our world with his rhythm, and then Gregg coming back after an amazing jam to tell us that sometimes (maybe *all* the time) he feels like he's been tied. "GOOD LORD, I feel like I'm ......... dying."
Gregg was done and politely thanked the crowd, as did Warren. That was really good. We picked up our CD of the concert, made our way back to the car, waited to get out of the parking lot, and then drove the 2 hours home. Boy, was that worth it!
I got out of work in plenty of time and had not too much summer traffic on the way to pick up Sarah at the train in Billerica and then to navigate up to 93 North. That slowed down of course with the early rush hour crowd, but we hit our stride upwards of Manchester and cruised on to Route 11, the Lakes region of NH, and the beautiful downhill towards Gilford and Lake Winnepesaukee.
Made our way into the parking lot by 5:40 or so and got out the lawn chairs for some sandwiches and Sobes in the afternoon sun. The crowd was much mellower than it had been for Furthur and the security was too ... they gently told people to put their beers in plastic cups instead of busting their chops. Put the chairs away, walked into the venue, got beers, and paid for the CD of the concert up front, and then made our way to our seats in row 13 (stage right) right before Winwood came out.
God, he was fantastic! He was on keys for most songs; we couldn't see the keyboards themselves, but he apparently had at least an organ and a piano in the same box, with foot pedals that made an awesome, droning sound. His guitar player, José Neto was fantastic; his sax/woodwinds player, Paul Booth, was beyond belief; his congas/percussion player, Café, was phenomenal; and his drummer, Richard Bailey, was an absolute monster. Some notes:
- You have to be fantastic to play with Steve Winwood and so to say that Neto was the most pedestrian of the 5 is not saying he was bad, he was just the glue that held them together.
- They didn't have a bass, but did that bother them? Not at all ... Neto had his bass strings tuned low, Winwood had those pedal drones, and most of all ...
- Richard Bailey had a drum kit to drool over, including two toms that were as big as normal bass drums. This meant he (being incredibly skilled of course) could get an amazing assortment of bass sounds by striking them in the middle, around the edges, with different sticks, etc. He was worth the price of admission alone, especially when he played as fast as he did and got the rolling blues thunder going.
- Café also had a phantasmagoric array of percussion instruments, from normal-looking bongos and congas to weird basket drums, gourds, cymbals, and chimes.
- Paul Booth opened on flute but then alternated for most of the night between a baritone and a tenor sax (which were really not that far apart in size or tone). He was just amazing on sax, playing it with an ease and dexterity you rarely see (actually, I'd never seen someone who could finger the sax so precisely) and producing beautiful sounds.
- Booth also filled in on organ when Winwood switched to his (rocking) Stratocaster, and did the harmony vocals, which were remarkable themselves: half-bars and snippets of phrases that needed to be emphasized in Winwood's classic songs.
- Light Up was the jam of the set, with Winwood doing unmentionable things to the organ, Booth using his saxophone to twist us into places we hadn't been before (he also did some percussion), and Bailey pounding his kit.
Winwood played the old stuff. How's this for a set list: Rainmaker, I'm A Man, Can't Find My Way Home, Had To Cry Today, Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys, Light Up Or Leave Me Alone, Higher Love, Dear Mr. Fantasy, and Gimme Some Loving?????
Break time and no one in the place wanted Winwood to leave but the stage crew was already out there setting up for the next band ... we'd all forgotten who it was going to be for a minute, but then we all remembered. I had a nice conversation with the guys about Winwood, the Brothers, and stuff while waiting in an interminable men's room line, got another beer, and wandered a little. Not much time left and made my way back to row 13 in time to get just a tad more excited before THE ALLMAN BROTHERS came out and hit that groove hard with Hot 'Lanta!!!!!
For those of you who haven't been paying attention (including me for much of the past century), the current Allman Brothers Band (didn't originally have the "Band" on there but it's called for) consists of original members Gregg Allman, Butch Trucks, and Jaimoe, with Oteil Burbridge on bass, Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks (Butch's nephew) on guitars, and Marc Quinones on congas and percussion. I'm at a loss for what to say now, that's just an incredible lineup.
OK, here's what they played (no set break): Hot 'Lanta, Statesboro Blues, Don't Keep Me Wonderin', Midnight Rider, Worried Down With the Blues, Leave My Blues At Home, Trouble No More, Dusk Till Dawn (new song), One Way Out, In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed, Feel Like Breakin' Up Somebody's Home, No One To Run With, and Whipping Post (encore).
How did I feel about all this? Well, I was really transported to a wonderful spot, grinning in delight, dancing slowly to songs I'd heard since I was a pup, grooving to the sounds and communing with the people around me in ways that I rarely experience. At a Furthur concert there's a sense that what you're hearing is incredibly precious and there's a panic to savor it; at an Allman Brothers concert there's a sense that this is the way the blues and these songs in particular should be played and are always being played by the heavenly choir ... we just have to get in the groove and hear them.
Some notes:
- I was incredibly impressed by Haynes, his leadership, his rhythm, and his vocals in particular. I've seen him with other combos and he wasn't a perfect fit with them but in this case he was perfect.
- Butch Trucks was perhaps the performer of the night for me; all set long he did not stop playing a thundering, precise beat on everything that came within sight. On several songs he moved back to his tympanis and I've definitely never heard them played like that before!
- Oteil Burbridge is one of the best bass players I've ever seen or heard. You have to hear this person play melodies within melodies while keeping up the beat to the screaming blues and see how his fingers dance around the fretboard. He also filled in on the drums at times while Butch was doing barely legal things to the tympanis.
- Quinones and Jaimoe were essential to the sound, Jaimoe producing on the blues groove and Quinones going wild on the congas and high-pitched cymbals.
- Derek Trucks is one of those genius guitar players, what can you say? His expression doesn't change that much, his technique is perfect, and the sounds he produces elucidate the songs for the masses. He couldn't help but look a little bored playing rhythm during Haynes's leads but then he would crank it up at his turn, rip one off himself, and he was in his element. When he and Haynes both led together it was sublime, that's what we came to hear!
- And speaking of what we came to hear, there was that Gregg guy on the organ (he played piano for one song, One Way Out). Though they've always had great instrumentalists, what does it for me for the band is when Gregg puts his heart into the vocals, like on Whipping Post or Leave My Blues At Home. At various times people have knocked him for not being as involved as possible, but that night he was, both vocally and on the organ.
The end of the set arrived and this *really* gave us the blues, except that we knew one last blast was coming. This may have been the longest I've had to wait for an encore, but the crowd kept yelling and banging on the seats, and screaming through the wait. Finally the band came back on stage and it was then that the screams for Whipping Post started, my voice not least among them.
Uh, Oteil starts it off. "I've been run down, and I've been lied to ..."
Whipping Post had been playing on our car stereo when we got to the lot and it was the song of the night, closing the evening, with Trucks and Haynes milking their guitars, Allman throwing himself all over the organ, Trucks shaking our world with his rhythm, and then Gregg coming back after an amazing jam to tell us that sometimes (maybe *all* the time) he feels like he's been tied. "GOOD LORD, I feel like I'm ......... dying."
Gregg was done and politely thanked the crowd, as did Warren. That was really good. We picked up our CD of the concert, made our way back to the car, waited to get out of the parking lot, and then drove the 2 hours home. Boy, was that worth it!
Monday, August 19, 2013
Matt and Jeannie and Joey
We were very, very delighted to attend Matt and Jeannie's wedding this past weekend and had a super, marvelous, really really nice time!
But that's not what this blog's about of course. While we were in the mid-Hudson area we followed the wedding itinerary and showed up at Keegan Ales in Kingston on Saturday night. Kingston is a funky old town with lots of houses made from the local metamorphic shale, many (to my further delight) featuring real wood shutters that could be closed over the windows to shut off the cold blasts coming over the Shawungunk Mountains.
We had a few beers and then Joey Eppard took the stage. He knocked us all dead with an opening acoustic number that rocked the bejeesus out of us. This was pyrotechnic acoustic guitar, featuring an incredible array of right-hand strumming positions, a lot of volume, and some fine vocal wailing.
Then his band came on and and they impressed too, though they were not really ready for prime time. Hey, you can't expect a Saturday night band in a bar in a small town to be ready for prime time ... more like ready for free beer, and they were way beyond that ... they deserved every ounce of applause they got. I didn't catch any names but the super-cool woman on bass was very talented (but could have stepped up more), the keyboard player had some great riffs (but when he ran out of them he kind of sat there), the rhythm guitarist was perfect for backing up Joey (would have liked to hear him play more than one lead), and the drummer could have used a little variety.
The star of the show was Joey, who has some great guitar chops and a really good rock voice. He needed to bring his band into the tunes more and could have kept some things simpler to great advantage. Enough with the criticism, we loved it and would like to go see Joey Eppard again ... hopefully closer than Kingston. And hopefully the next time we go back to Keegan Ales they'll have their best stuff on.
But that's not what this blog's about of course. While we were in the mid-Hudson area we followed the wedding itinerary and showed up at Keegan Ales in Kingston on Saturday night. Kingston is a funky old town with lots of houses made from the local metamorphic shale, many (to my further delight) featuring real wood shutters that could be closed over the windows to shut off the cold blasts coming over the Shawungunk Mountains.
We had a few beers and then Joey Eppard took the stage. He knocked us all dead with an opening acoustic number that rocked the bejeesus out of us. This was pyrotechnic acoustic guitar, featuring an incredible array of right-hand strumming positions, a lot of volume, and some fine vocal wailing.
Then his band came on and and they impressed too, though they were not really ready for prime time. Hey, you can't expect a Saturday night band in a bar in a small town to be ready for prime time ... more like ready for free beer, and they were way beyond that ... they deserved every ounce of applause they got. I didn't catch any names but the super-cool woman on bass was very talented (but could have stepped up more), the keyboard player had some great riffs (but when he ran out of them he kind of sat there), the rhythm guitarist was perfect for backing up Joey (would have liked to hear him play more than one lead), and the drummer could have used a little variety.
The star of the show was Joey, who has some great guitar chops and a really good rock voice. He needed to bring his band into the tunes more and could have kept some things simpler to great advantage. Enough with the criticism, we loved it and would like to go see Joey Eppard again ... hopefully closer than Kingston. And hopefully the next time we go back to Keegan Ales they'll have their best stuff on.
Friday, August 2, 2013
Meet Up At Movies 2013
[written much later]
The Grateful Dead "Meetup At the Movies" took place on Jerry's birthday, August 1st. This year they showed Sunshine Daydream, the famous Veneta OR concert of 1972-08-27. I had seen bootlegs of this documentary, which was never commercially released, and they were in pretty poor shape though the concert itself seemed excellent.
They re-mastered and gussied this up, and the only problem with the final theatrical release was that it wasn't loud enough! We saw it at the Lowell Showcase Cinemas, and the theater was pretty full, though not packed. There was much giggling at all the super-high and super-naked young people in the movie, some of whom may have been some of the theater-goers. A wonderful time was held by all.
The film and soundtrack were released a little later and are excellent. There's just as much nudity as we saw in the theater.
The Grateful Dead "Meetup At the Movies" took place on Jerry's birthday, August 1st. This year they showed Sunshine Daydream, the famous Veneta OR concert of 1972-08-27. I had seen bootlegs of this documentary, which was never commercially released, and they were in pretty poor shape though the concert itself seemed excellent.
They re-mastered and gussied this up, and the only problem with the final theatrical release was that it wasn't loud enough! We saw it at the Lowell Showcase Cinemas, and the theater was pretty full, though not packed. There was much giggling at all the super-high and super-naked young people in the movie, some of whom may have been some of the theater-goers. A wonderful time was held by all.
The film and soundtrack were released a little later and are excellent. There's just as much nudity as we saw in the theater.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Green River Festival 2013, Sunday
I woke up on Sunday for the last day of our Summer Music Tour (actually, it'll continue next month but is now on hiatus) in pretty good shape. It helped that I had slept late in the quiet and homey Oxbow Resort Motel after a late night of sitting in lawn chairs, swatting bugs, and talking about stuff. It was another hot one and golf was again not for me, though some of the other boys hit the links after breakfast.
Sarah and I replenished the ice supply, filled up the cooler with assorted liquids, drank lots of coffee, and sweated though our clothes before we even left the air conditioning. Oh well, we made it to the Greenfield Community College parking lot just as the gates opened and couldn't get our exact same spot in front of the Main Stage, but settled for one about 10 feet in front of where we were Saturday, where we hunkered down and drank some more iced coffee. This was from the "artisan beverages" booth rather than the "coffee grinders" one and they seemed insulted that I wanted just plain black coffee. They asked me about 30 times if I wanted a shot of this or to mix it with that ... their purpose in life was to manufacture exactly the beverage the customer wanted, and they were upset when the customer wanted one off the shelf.
Well ok, the temperature was a little better than the day before, but not by much. The good thing is that you could tell this wasn't going to be a day of adventurous weather, though in New England in the summer thunderclouds are always a possibility. We saw:
Milton -- Had never heard of this singer-songwriter from New York, who was accompanied by an excellent bassist. He played a very assured guitar style and did a bunch of songs on the basic folk music themes of no love and no money, but in a very clever vocal approach, mixing talking blues, intricate rhymes, literary forms, pop-culture references, and some quick melodic runs on the flat-top. Again, very enjoyable, especially for an opening act on a hot Sunday morning.
See more Milton pictures ...
Heather Maloney -- Another artist we hadn't heard ... we (and some people sitting next to us) were surprised when Anand Nayak, the stellar guitar player for Daisy Mayhem, came out and tuned up a mandolin with Heather's band. We soon figured out why: she must be a lot of fun to play with. Her music is advertised as "adventurous folk" and I can see how for a player it would be liberating and chuckle-producing; there's always a lyrical twist or an unexpected coda. Heather played mostly her own compositions, including a few that I absolutely loved such as Dirt and Stardust. She then closed with a number she introduced as "a song I used to jump up and down on my bed to," Her Majesty from Abbey Road. Now that was a surprise, especially when she arranged it as an epic romp rather than a quick ditty, though she didn't add to the words.
See more Heather Maloney pictures ...
Todd Snider -- I've gotta admit that I took the proto-typical hippie folk singer Todd Snider's set as an opportunity to buy food, check out the craft vendors, and basically walk around. I got back to our seats eventually for a few of his songs, and he really is an entertaining performer, though I was a bit burned out on folk singers strumming acoustic guitars and singing about the same stuff (though he was meta-oriented enough to comment on that in his catchy songs and his self-deprecating between-songs patter). Pretty good if you don't know him.
See more Todd Snider pictures ...
Lake Street Dive -- Time for one of the most talented bands of the weekend, Lake Street Dive, fronted by the amazingly lovely and amazingly talented Rachael Price but also featuring one of the best stand-up bass players I've ever heard in Bridget Kearney (she has this twitchy habit of constantly adjusting the tuning pegs, perhaps to get the string slightly more in tune but more likely so it'll produce exactly the sound she wants at that moment, she's that good and that quick), a wizard of a guitarist (and trumpeter) in Mike Olson, and a lovely jazz/pop/whatever drummer in Mike Calabrese. They're all New England Conservatory-trained and feature beautiful ensemble precision. They write most of their own songs but also do covers and can play anything and make it into one of the most most ear-catching tunes you've ever heard. All this and I have to admit that Rachael Price at full emotive swing is one of the most eye-catching females I can imagine. All of the songs were sterling, but perhaps my favorites on that afternoon were Bad Self-Portraits and Don't Make Me Hold Your Hand.
See more Lake Street Dive pictures ...
Spirit Family Reunion -- Some devil of a schedule-maker put them in between Lake Street Dive and Miller-Lauderdale, but I managed to time it right and catch a couple of their songs between the power sets at the Main Stage. Spirit Family Reunion has made some waves with an unexpected performance at the Newport FF last year that got rave reviews, and I was dying to see them. They sure delighted me in a short time, with their traditional/classic sound of frailing banjo, simple drums, and great group vocals. I'd love to see more of these guys. But then I walked as fast as I ever have and got to my seat just in time for...
Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale -- These are two of the best musicians in the world, good friends, and they've recently recorded a ... hopefully not one-off ... album together that is (or should be) at the top of any list of albums done recently. And they were joined on stage by the legendary Fats Kaplin on fiddle, though the airline had not delivered his pedal steel. Sarah was not at the seats and I knew she was up front for this but I wasn't sure where. I saw my friend Kate sneak up front after a couple of songs and I followed her, as did her husband Majer. We moved up past a few people and suddenly there was Sarah standing in front of us! We all grooved to some of the best country music that can be. Not only did they do most of the originals and most of the classic covers from their record (such as I Lost the Job Of Loving You and Down South in New Orleans), but they did A Wide River to Cross (which has been covered by everybody), Buddy soloed on All My Tears, and Jim soloed on King Of Broken Hearts, which he dedicated to Gram Parsons and George Jones. We'd seen some talented people that weekend but no one that could come close to these two, they were (and are and will be) that good.
See more Buddy and Jim pictures ...
Brandi Carlile -- Brandi's become very popular, and you have to love a musician who doesn't fall in love with her popularity and continues to play Johnny Cash songs. Of course, she did mix a Fleetwood Mac song in there and did perhaps play a little too blaringly loud and the band did spend an inordinate amount of time rocking out and pointing to each other. But what the heck, she was great and she set the place on fire for the last act of another fabulous GRF. The most charming part of her set (she's got great charisma) was when she motioned to the guitar tech that she needed the big guitar, he tuned it and got it to her in record time, she strummed a chord to test it, then grinned with delight, turned it up, and absolutely wailed on it. Jeannette, Dave, Rebecca, and some of the kids joined us for this one and we all jumped up and down ... lots of fun!
See more Brandi Carlile pictures ...
Exiting the GCC took forever after the concert, but we caught glimpses of the almost full moon as we waited through endless phalanxes of over-hyped rent-a-cops ... oh well, we were listening to our tape of Furthur from the other night so it was ok. Six days of music were over, but there was still a night of barbecuing, sitting in lawn chairs, and laughing waiting for us back at the hotel.
See more Green River Festival 2013 pictures ...
Sarah and I replenished the ice supply, filled up the cooler with assorted liquids, drank lots of coffee, and sweated though our clothes before we even left the air conditioning. Oh well, we made it to the Greenfield Community College parking lot just as the gates opened and couldn't get our exact same spot in front of the Main Stage, but settled for one about 10 feet in front of where we were Saturday, where we hunkered down and drank some more iced coffee. This was from the "artisan beverages" booth rather than the "coffee grinders" one and they seemed insulted that I wanted just plain black coffee. They asked me about 30 times if I wanted a shot of this or to mix it with that ... their purpose in life was to manufacture exactly the beverage the customer wanted, and they were upset when the customer wanted one off the shelf.
Well ok, the temperature was a little better than the day before, but not by much. The good thing is that you could tell this wasn't going to be a day of adventurous weather, though in New England in the summer thunderclouds are always a possibility. We saw:
Milton -- Had never heard of this singer-songwriter from New York, who was accompanied by an excellent bassist. He played a very assured guitar style and did a bunch of songs on the basic folk music themes of no love and no money, but in a very clever vocal approach, mixing talking blues, intricate rhymes, literary forms, pop-culture references, and some quick melodic runs on the flat-top. Again, very enjoyable, especially for an opening act on a hot Sunday morning.
See more Milton pictures ...
Heather Maloney -- Another artist we hadn't heard ... we (and some people sitting next to us) were surprised when Anand Nayak, the stellar guitar player for Daisy Mayhem, came out and tuned up a mandolin with Heather's band. We soon figured out why: she must be a lot of fun to play with. Her music is advertised as "adventurous folk" and I can see how for a player it would be liberating and chuckle-producing; there's always a lyrical twist or an unexpected coda. Heather played mostly her own compositions, including a few that I absolutely loved such as Dirt and Stardust. She then closed with a number she introduced as "a song I used to jump up and down on my bed to," Her Majesty from Abbey Road. Now that was a surprise, especially when she arranged it as an epic romp rather than a quick ditty, though she didn't add to the words.
See more Heather Maloney pictures ...
Todd Snider -- I've gotta admit that I took the proto-typical hippie folk singer Todd Snider's set as an opportunity to buy food, check out the craft vendors, and basically walk around. I got back to our seats eventually for a few of his songs, and he really is an entertaining performer, though I was a bit burned out on folk singers strumming acoustic guitars and singing about the same stuff (though he was meta-oriented enough to comment on that in his catchy songs and his self-deprecating between-songs patter). Pretty good if you don't know him.
See more Todd Snider pictures ...
Lake Street Dive -- Time for one of the most talented bands of the weekend, Lake Street Dive, fronted by the amazingly lovely and amazingly talented Rachael Price but also featuring one of the best stand-up bass players I've ever heard in Bridget Kearney (she has this twitchy habit of constantly adjusting the tuning pegs, perhaps to get the string slightly more in tune but more likely so it'll produce exactly the sound she wants at that moment, she's that good and that quick), a wizard of a guitarist (and trumpeter) in Mike Olson, and a lovely jazz/pop/whatever drummer in Mike Calabrese. They're all New England Conservatory-trained and feature beautiful ensemble precision. They write most of their own songs but also do covers and can play anything and make it into one of the most most ear-catching tunes you've ever heard. All this and I have to admit that Rachael Price at full emotive swing is one of the most eye-catching females I can imagine. All of the songs were sterling, but perhaps my favorites on that afternoon were Bad Self-Portraits and Don't Make Me Hold Your Hand.
See more Lake Street Dive pictures ...
Spirit Family Reunion -- Some devil of a schedule-maker put them in between Lake Street Dive and Miller-Lauderdale, but I managed to time it right and catch a couple of their songs between the power sets at the Main Stage. Spirit Family Reunion has made some waves with an unexpected performance at the Newport FF last year that got rave reviews, and I was dying to see them. They sure delighted me in a short time, with their traditional/classic sound of frailing banjo, simple drums, and great group vocals. I'd love to see more of these guys. But then I walked as fast as I ever have and got to my seat just in time for...
Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale -- These are two of the best musicians in the world, good friends, and they've recently recorded a ... hopefully not one-off ... album together that is (or should be) at the top of any list of albums done recently. And they were joined on stage by the legendary Fats Kaplin on fiddle, though the airline had not delivered his pedal steel. Sarah was not at the seats and I knew she was up front for this but I wasn't sure where. I saw my friend Kate sneak up front after a couple of songs and I followed her, as did her husband Majer. We moved up past a few people and suddenly there was Sarah standing in front of us! We all grooved to some of the best country music that can be. Not only did they do most of the originals and most of the classic covers from their record (such as I Lost the Job Of Loving You and Down South in New Orleans), but they did A Wide River to Cross (which has been covered by everybody), Buddy soloed on All My Tears, and Jim soloed on King Of Broken Hearts, which he dedicated to Gram Parsons and George Jones. We'd seen some talented people that weekend but no one that could come close to these two, they were (and are and will be) that good.
See more Buddy and Jim pictures ...
Brandi Carlile -- Brandi's become very popular, and you have to love a musician who doesn't fall in love with her popularity and continues to play Johnny Cash songs. Of course, she did mix a Fleetwood Mac song in there and did perhaps play a little too blaringly loud and the band did spend an inordinate amount of time rocking out and pointing to each other. But what the heck, she was great and she set the place on fire for the last act of another fabulous GRF. The most charming part of her set (she's got great charisma) was when she motioned to the guitar tech that she needed the big guitar, he tuned it and got it to her in record time, she strummed a chord to test it, then grinned with delight, turned it up, and absolutely wailed on it. Jeannette, Dave, Rebecca, and some of the kids joined us for this one and we all jumped up and down ... lots of fun!
See more Brandi Carlile pictures ...
Exiting the GCC took forever after the concert, but we caught glimpses of the almost full moon as we waited through endless phalanxes of over-hyped rent-a-cops ... oh well, we were listening to our tape of Furthur from the other night so it was ok. Six days of music were over, but there was still a night of barbecuing, sitting in lawn chairs, and laughing waiting for us back at the hotel.
See more Green River Festival 2013 pictures ...
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Green River Festival 2013, Saturday
Woke up on Saturday at the Oxbow Resort Motel to another scorcher. Morning golf was out of the question ... too brutally hot already. We moseyed over to the motel's excellent (and mellow, open the refrigerator and help yourself) continental breakfast separately. I was actually on the same schedule for breakfast as Tristan most mornings.
Got ready slowly and then headed over to the festival in late morning, arriving in time to join the long line to get in around 11:45. The gates soon opened and we grabbed a great spot, stage center about 50 feet back, just about where we sat last year. We got iced coffee immediately but were still suffering from the heat and a bit of exhaustion from being out late rocking the night before (and the night before that, etc.).
BUT, soon the music started, our bodies adjusted, we ate a few cold noodles from one of their Thai-style food vendors, and we were off! There was a short rain shower later in the afternoon and that relieved the heat a bit. The forecast at the beginning of the day was for greatly changeable weather and there was even some fear of a tornado or bad lightning storms, but the rapidly changing sky didn't turn threatening and we all breathed a sigh of relief to make it through the day unscathed, though they cancelled the balloon flights (they held the balloon illumination though).
Here's what we saw:
Slaid Cleaves -- Slaid was one of the excellent known quantities among the spotty (by their standards) lineup at this year's GRF. He played with his current accompanist, Chojo Jacques on mandolin, and ripped through a number of his excellent songs. He did Broke Down, Horses and Divorces, and several other early songs. He also did some of the new stuff, including Still Fighting the War of course, Welding Burns, and God's Own Yodeler. He also did a Don Walser original and was able to rip off some excellent Maine yodeling.
See more Slaid Cleaves pictures ...
Jeffrey Foucault and Cold Satellite -- I'd heard a couple of songs from Foucault's new record and was not that impressed, but live I felt his sound was excellent. David Goodrich (last seen accompanying Peter Mulvey at the Festival last year) playing guitar helped of course. They did some great rock and blues, but were at their best when they toned it down a bit and let the irony of their new songs shine through.
See more Jeffrey Foucault pictures ...
Sallie Ford and The Sound Outside -- We'd seen a few songs by Sallie on YouTube and were psyched to see her let loose in person; Scott and I moved up front, and Sallie did a great set in her typical flowered sun dress, fancy glasses, and eclectic band, rocking our world with her unique brand of bad girls' psycho surf rock. Highlights were Addicted, Lip Boy, and the poppy Do Me Right. For me though, the best part of her set was when she covered Loretta's Fist City; no one there had any doubt that she'd be more than glad to knock that girl's head off if she made her do it. Sallie signed her new record for me afterwards and seemed tickled that her music can entertain middle-aged guys as well as her core audience of bad girls.
See more Sallie Ford pictures ...
Miss Tess and The Talkbacks -- First hard choice of the day was whether to see JD McPherson or run down to the Yonder Tent for Miss Tess. I made up my mind early (actually, I guess I'd made up my mind when I first heard Don't Tell Mama on her new record), and Sarah and I were down there right in front of the stage for her set, though a bowl of peach ice cream made me a little late. We were not quite as blown away as we'd thought we would be; her band seemed to know that they couldn't get the same studio sound that had been so great on the record when live, and so they rocked it up a bit more and this perhaps needed some more practice. But what the hell, we totally got lost in the beautiful sound of her guitar, her mellifluous vocal phrasing, and the burning leads of Will Graef. Highlights were Adeline, People Come Here For Gold, and of course Don't Tell. I ran into Miss Tess in the crowd the next day and gushed about her set ... a charming woman.
See more Miss Tess pictures ...
The Skatalites -- I was going to stay down at the Yonder Tent for The Duhks, but we were exhausted from standing and wanted a break back at our seats and maybe some food. And we were glad we did, because The Skatalites came on and impressed us so much. The band formed originally about 50 years ago in Jamaica and was instrumental in the inventions of ska and reggae. They still have a few of the originals and some killer young additions, including an incredible horn section and a great keyboardist and guitarist. They played a few jaw-dropping songs but then I managed to rip myself away and hurry back down to the Yonder Tent for...
See more Skatalites pictures ...
The Duhks -- I'd never seen this band but had wanted to for years, especially after seeing their fiddler, Tanya Elizabeth, accompany Mary Gauthier a few years ago. They were everything I expected and more, definitely the band of the day for me. I'm not sure how to describe this group of Canadians from the Plains, they're a band you need to hear. They don't have an unusual lineup: a vocalist, an acoustic guitarist who leads the band, a dynamic fiddler who sings a lot of backup, a banjo player who takes some vocal leads, and a percussionist. They do some songs in an almost traditional Cape Breton style, but also veer effortlessly into things like R&B, gospel, jazz, bluegrass, and whatever else comes to mind. They even did a Randy Newman song and then closed with a dark, incendiary version of Traveling Shoes! Do not miss these guys if you have a chance. I also should mention that Leonard Podolak played one of the funkiest banjos I've ever heard and that Scott Senior played box, some kind of leather bell contraption on a high hat stand, and a thing that was a cross between a bodhran and a tambourine. Loved those guys!
The Devil Makes Three -- OK, struggled back up the hill, got some food, and then got just captivated by The Devil Makes Three, from Santa Cruz. This was another band I'd never heard and the blurbs I'd read about them didn't do much for me. But they reminded me once again how many supremely talented musicians there are in the world and what a delight it is to discover new ones. They play what you might call old-timey rockabilly but is all original, and they're all virtuosos on their instruments and can sing like they're not even trying. You should check these guys out, especially pay attention to how often Cooper McBean changes instruments: at least once a song.
See more Devil Makes Three pictures ...
We were shot after that. We could have stayed for Gogol Bordello (the crowd was swelling in anticipation of this band like you wouldn't believe) or Bernie Worrell, but later reports made us glad we hadn't. All reporters agreed that Gogol Bordello was obnoxiously loud and in-your-face ... ok if you like that kind of stuff I guess, and that Bernie Worrell tried to do a cool funkadelic act but was a bit stale.
Whatever, we picked up some ice and some more beer at the Big Y and then were back at the hotel relaxing by then!
Got ready slowly and then headed over to the festival in late morning, arriving in time to join the long line to get in around 11:45. The gates soon opened and we grabbed a great spot, stage center about 50 feet back, just about where we sat last year. We got iced coffee immediately but were still suffering from the heat and a bit of exhaustion from being out late rocking the night before (and the night before that, etc.).
BUT, soon the music started, our bodies adjusted, we ate a few cold noodles from one of their Thai-style food vendors, and we were off! There was a short rain shower later in the afternoon and that relieved the heat a bit. The forecast at the beginning of the day was for greatly changeable weather and there was even some fear of a tornado or bad lightning storms, but the rapidly changing sky didn't turn threatening and we all breathed a sigh of relief to make it through the day unscathed, though they cancelled the balloon flights (they held the balloon illumination though).
Here's what we saw:
Slaid Cleaves -- Slaid was one of the excellent known quantities among the spotty (by their standards) lineup at this year's GRF. He played with his current accompanist, Chojo Jacques on mandolin, and ripped through a number of his excellent songs. He did Broke Down, Horses and Divorces, and several other early songs. He also did some of the new stuff, including Still Fighting the War of course, Welding Burns, and God's Own Yodeler. He also did a Don Walser original and was able to rip off some excellent Maine yodeling.
See more Slaid Cleaves pictures ...
Jeffrey Foucault and Cold Satellite -- I'd heard a couple of songs from Foucault's new record and was not that impressed, but live I felt his sound was excellent. David Goodrich (last seen accompanying Peter Mulvey at the Festival last year) playing guitar helped of course. They did some great rock and blues, but were at their best when they toned it down a bit and let the irony of their new songs shine through.
See more Jeffrey Foucault pictures ...
Sallie Ford and The Sound Outside -- We'd seen a few songs by Sallie on YouTube and were psyched to see her let loose in person; Scott and I moved up front, and Sallie did a great set in her typical flowered sun dress, fancy glasses, and eclectic band, rocking our world with her unique brand of bad girls' psycho surf rock. Highlights were Addicted, Lip Boy, and the poppy Do Me Right. For me though, the best part of her set was when she covered Loretta's Fist City; no one there had any doubt that she'd be more than glad to knock that girl's head off if she made her do it. Sallie signed her new record for me afterwards and seemed tickled that her music can entertain middle-aged guys as well as her core audience of bad girls.
See more Sallie Ford pictures ...
Miss Tess and The Talkbacks -- First hard choice of the day was whether to see JD McPherson or run down to the Yonder Tent for Miss Tess. I made up my mind early (actually, I guess I'd made up my mind when I first heard Don't Tell Mama on her new record), and Sarah and I were down there right in front of the stage for her set, though a bowl of peach ice cream made me a little late. We were not quite as blown away as we'd thought we would be; her band seemed to know that they couldn't get the same studio sound that had been so great on the record when live, and so they rocked it up a bit more and this perhaps needed some more practice. But what the hell, we totally got lost in the beautiful sound of her guitar, her mellifluous vocal phrasing, and the burning leads of Will Graef. Highlights were Adeline, People Come Here For Gold, and of course Don't Tell. I ran into Miss Tess in the crowd the next day and gushed about her set ... a charming woman.
See more Miss Tess pictures ...
The Skatalites -- I was going to stay down at the Yonder Tent for The Duhks, but we were exhausted from standing and wanted a break back at our seats and maybe some food. And we were glad we did, because The Skatalites came on and impressed us so much. The band formed originally about 50 years ago in Jamaica and was instrumental in the inventions of ska and reggae. They still have a few of the originals and some killer young additions, including an incredible horn section and a great keyboardist and guitarist. They played a few jaw-dropping songs but then I managed to rip myself away and hurry back down to the Yonder Tent for...
See more Skatalites pictures ...
The Duhks -- I'd never seen this band but had wanted to for years, especially after seeing their fiddler, Tanya Elizabeth, accompany Mary Gauthier a few years ago. They were everything I expected and more, definitely the band of the day for me. I'm not sure how to describe this group of Canadians from the Plains, they're a band you need to hear. They don't have an unusual lineup: a vocalist, an acoustic guitarist who leads the band, a dynamic fiddler who sings a lot of backup, a banjo player who takes some vocal leads, and a percussionist. They do some songs in an almost traditional Cape Breton style, but also veer effortlessly into things like R&B, gospel, jazz, bluegrass, and whatever else comes to mind. They even did a Randy Newman song and then closed with a dark, incendiary version of Traveling Shoes! Do not miss these guys if you have a chance. I also should mention that Leonard Podolak played one of the funkiest banjos I've ever heard and that Scott Senior played box, some kind of leather bell contraption on a high hat stand, and a thing that was a cross between a bodhran and a tambourine. Loved those guys!
The Devil Makes Three -- OK, struggled back up the hill, got some food, and then got just captivated by The Devil Makes Three, from Santa Cruz. This was another band I'd never heard and the blurbs I'd read about them didn't do much for me. But they reminded me once again how many supremely talented musicians there are in the world and what a delight it is to discover new ones. They play what you might call old-timey rockabilly but is all original, and they're all virtuosos on their instruments and can sing like they're not even trying. You should check these guys out, especially pay attention to how often Cooper McBean changes instruments: at least once a song.
See more Devil Makes Three pictures ...
We were shot after that. We could have stayed for Gogol Bordello (the crowd was swelling in anticipation of this band like you wouldn't believe) or Bernie Worrell, but later reports made us glad we hadn't. All reporters agreed that Gogol Bordello was obnoxiously loud and in-your-face ... ok if you like that kind of stuff I guess, and that Bernie Worrell tried to do a cool funkadelic act but was a bit stale.
Whatever, we picked up some ice and some more beer at the Big Y and then were back at the hotel relaxing by then!
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Rubblebucket at the Shea
Our personal Summer Music Tour continues! We were heading out to the Green River Festival but before that, there was a little matter of Rubblebucket playing at a small theater in Turners Falls. This was the official GRF kickoff concert; Rubblebucket couldn't make the main show this year but were booked for the night before with And The Kids, who would perform at the show.
Got on the road for the West at a bit after 1:00 with the thermometer reading an even 100 degrees. Traffic leaving the city was mid-summer snarl, but it calmed down as we got further and further beyond Worcester and we pulled into the Oxbow Resort Motel just a bit after 3, where it was still crazy-hot. The others hadn't arrived yet but we broke the ice and took room 25 in the back left of the hotel, a very nice room.
The motel's under new management and they're struggling to get their staff and their act together in some ways. The golf course isn't really mowed except for a few areas (which is bad for golf) and there are other signs of needing to catch up. The proprietors were skimming the swimming pool in a mad hurry because they knew their weekend guests would be using it heavily. One of them told me that they'd recently hired someone to do housekeeping, so she could finally concentrate on the grounds work that she knew needed to be done.
The others showed up and we all hit the pool. Sarah and I had to take off a little after that for a nice dinner in pretty downtown Greenfield at the Greenfield Grille with my high school teacher/friend Peter. On the way to Turners Falls after that we detoured by Poets's Tower but didn't have time to climb the trail up to it ... some other visit.
Crossed the strong Connecticut and the swift-flowing spillway past the old mills in Turners Falls and turned up into the middle of town, where we had time for a beer in a tavern across the street (at about half the price they'd charge in Boston). We crossed the street to the funky little Shea Theater and made out way inside (no one asked for our tickets). There's a dance floor in front of some seats there and of course we walked right up to the stage and sat on it. What's the point of going to a concert if you're going to choose to sit in the back?
And The Kids came on right on time and were a bit freaked out by the fact that a couple of older people were standing in front of the stage. They thought they appealed to youngsters. But then some youngsters stepped up to the front too and it was ok. What helped them relax was that we obviously enjoyed their music too ... guitar, electric piano/vibes, and kit drums. I was very impressed by the guitarist picking up her mandobird at one point and changing the key with four precise twists of the four tuning pegs; she knew her instrument well.
Between sets Scott, Michelle, and Tristan finally made it and the place started to get seriously packed. Then Rubblebucket came on and the place exploded. We all were soon jumping up and down, shouting, and stretching our arms up to the ceiling (and beyond) in ecstasy. Those guys are great.
They've got a new bass player and one new percussionist instead of the two they'd had previously, but they still had the core of Annakalmia Traver, Alex Toth, Adam Dotson, Ian Hersey on ripping guitar (the guitarist for And The Kids had a great-sounding axe and Ian borrowed it for their set), and Darby Wolf on organ and synth. They ripped our ears off with their classics: Worker, Silly Fathers, Triangular Daisies, Young As Clouds, etc. They also mixed in a few songs from their upcoming EP (one of which was very good and got Adam the thumbs-up, which he accepted gravely), their newer Pain From Love, a Doobie Brothers cover, and closed with Came Out Of a Lady. They waved people up on stage for the last number and then of course the horn players (and the drummer) jumped off the stage after the last song and paraded through the crowd, delighting us all. Their actions show that they want their music to belong to their audience.
We stumbled out of there after the show and found a nearby bar where the Karaoke was rocking and the beer was even cheaper (I couldn't resist a 20-ounce Bud Light Lime for $2.35(!)). Soon back to the Oxbow for a few more beers on the veranda and then to bed.
More excellent pictures at:
And The Kids - http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahebourne/sets/72157634757176020/
Rubblebucket - http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahebourne/sets/72157634757175984/
p.s. We returned home on Monday the 22nd and got an email from Kalmia to her list of fans. They'd mysteriously cancelled a few upcoming gigs, and we were glad they didn't cancel on the one we had tickets for. But Kalmia announced the reason for the cancellations is that she's got ovarian cancer and is scheduled for surgery soon. We feel so strange to remember her putting on her usual incredibly dynamic show on Friday, her and her band knowing what they did and we not having any idea. What a brave person she is, and best wishes to her.
Got on the road for the West at a bit after 1:00 with the thermometer reading an even 100 degrees. Traffic leaving the city was mid-summer snarl, but it calmed down as we got further and further beyond Worcester and we pulled into the Oxbow Resort Motel just a bit after 3, where it was still crazy-hot. The others hadn't arrived yet but we broke the ice and took room 25 in the back left of the hotel, a very nice room.
The motel's under new management and they're struggling to get their staff and their act together in some ways. The golf course isn't really mowed except for a few areas (which is bad for golf) and there are other signs of needing to catch up. The proprietors were skimming the swimming pool in a mad hurry because they knew their weekend guests would be using it heavily. One of them told me that they'd recently hired someone to do housekeeping, so she could finally concentrate on the grounds work that she knew needed to be done.
The others showed up and we all hit the pool. Sarah and I had to take off a little after that for a nice dinner in pretty downtown Greenfield at the Greenfield Grille with my high school teacher/friend Peter. On the way to Turners Falls after that we detoured by Poets's Tower but didn't have time to climb the trail up to it ... some other visit.
Crossed the strong Connecticut and the swift-flowing spillway past the old mills in Turners Falls and turned up into the middle of town, where we had time for a beer in a tavern across the street (at about half the price they'd charge in Boston). We crossed the street to the funky little Shea Theater and made out way inside (no one asked for our tickets). There's a dance floor in front of some seats there and of course we walked right up to the stage and sat on it. What's the point of going to a concert if you're going to choose to sit in the back?
And The Kids came on right on time and were a bit freaked out by the fact that a couple of older people were standing in front of the stage. They thought they appealed to youngsters. But then some youngsters stepped up to the front too and it was ok. What helped them relax was that we obviously enjoyed their music too ... guitar, electric piano/vibes, and kit drums. I was very impressed by the guitarist picking up her mandobird at one point and changing the key with four precise twists of the four tuning pegs; she knew her instrument well.
Between sets Scott, Michelle, and Tristan finally made it and the place started to get seriously packed. Then Rubblebucket came on and the place exploded. We all were soon jumping up and down, shouting, and stretching our arms up to the ceiling (and beyond) in ecstasy. Those guys are great.
They've got a new bass player and one new percussionist instead of the two they'd had previously, but they still had the core of Annakalmia Traver, Alex Toth, Adam Dotson, Ian Hersey on ripping guitar (the guitarist for And The Kids had a great-sounding axe and Ian borrowed it for their set), and Darby Wolf on organ and synth. They ripped our ears off with their classics: Worker, Silly Fathers, Triangular Daisies, Young As Clouds, etc. They also mixed in a few songs from their upcoming EP (one of which was very good and got Adam the thumbs-up, which he accepted gravely), their newer Pain From Love, a Doobie Brothers cover, and closed with Came Out Of a Lady. They waved people up on stage for the last number and then of course the horn players (and the drummer) jumped off the stage after the last song and paraded through the crowd, delighting us all. Their actions show that they want their music to belong to their audience.
We stumbled out of there after the show and found a nearby bar where the Karaoke was rocking and the beer was even cheaper (I couldn't resist a 20-ounce Bud Light Lime for $2.35(!)). Soon back to the Oxbow for a few more beers on the veranda and then to bed.
More excellent pictures at:
And The Kids - http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahebourne/sets/72157634757176020/
Rubblebucket - http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahebourne/sets/72157634757175984/
p.s. We returned home on Monday the 22nd and got an email from Kalmia to her list of fans. They'd mysteriously cancelled a few upcoming gigs, and we were glad they didn't cancel on the one we had tickets for. But Kalmia announced the reason for the cancellations is that she's got ovarian cancer and is scheduled for surgery soon. We feel so strange to remember her putting on her usual incredibly dynamic show on Friday, her and her band knowing what they did and we not having any idea. What a brave person she is, and best wishes to her.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Emmylou and Rodney at LSMS
We'd crossed the Lowell Summer Music Series off of our list; they pissed us off with their lack of caring about having room for everybody and left us cold with their selection of artists. BUT ... then they announced Emmylou and Rodney on their 40-year-delayed dual tour, and we decided to take the day off from work (actually not a hard decision seeing as what we'd done the past two nights) and show up there really early in hopes of a decent seat. We'd seen Emmylou and Rodney back in March and suspected that this would be much the same show, but whatever ... that show was fantastic and we wanted to see it again!
It was a slow morning and we were anxious to get up to Lowell in time to grab a prime patch of grass. The heat started soaring early and was pretty bad when we finally left the house. Not much traffic up to Lowell and we pulled up to John Street about 1:15. I parked while Sarah went looking for a spot on the lawn in Boardinghouse Park; I joined her with the blanket and we were amazed that we could put it down to claim a patch right to the left of the VIP section, basically second row left, in front of where the lead guitar would be. We were psyched! As mentioned, when we had seen Emmylou and Rodney in March it was overwhelmingly good and we were looking forward to being overwhelmed to a higher degree.
We immediately went looking for a place with really good air conditioning for a leisurely lunch ... the show wasn't scheduled to start until 7:30. We cruised around for a bit and almost fainted in the heat, then stumbled upon the Fuse Bistro on Palmer Street. They have seats on the sidewalk and they were in the shade on a quiet street, but even that was too much with the blaring heat. We went inside and they had great air conditioning, a great beer selection, and a really good lunch menu. I recommend the place enthusiastically (for lunch at least, though I assume dinner would be good too); Sarah had a crab Nicoise and I had a pan-seared tuna burger ... both fantastic and not expensive.
OK, left there and spent the afternoon in Boardinghouse Park, mostly in the shade. I took a nap, read, walked up to Dunkin's for iced coffee, ate some grapes, listened to Furthur from the night before, and chilled. A guy walked Emmylou's dogs through the park and cleaned up after them of course. The band came out to do the sound check and when Rodney emerged (looking like he'd just woken up and wearing your Dad's Bermuda shorts) he was hanging out near me to the left of the stage. I walked over and told him how much I had liked his music since 1979 and thanked him for it; we had a nice talk about the Orpheum in March, the current weather, and stuff. Emmy came out without her stage clothes/makeup also and politely asked the few of us there not to take pictures before the show ... but she was as beautiful as always anyway. There were a few afternoon showers but the time went by quickly. They set up Amy Black in front of the main band's stuff and her band did their sound check ... all set for the show!
Amy was playing with a different band than we'd seen her with before. She's recently moved down to Nashville and then back to Somerville, trying to kick start her singing career. She's got a new album in the can (Fall release??) and did a few songs from that. She was really good, opening with Dance Floor and One Time, doing a few of the new songs, and just impressing the heck out of us with her powerful voice ... she filled Boardinghouse Park for sure. One of her new songs, about her grandfather's love of Alabama, is top quality song-writing.
Break time and then Emmylou and Rodney came out as the sun started to go down and the temperature had dropped to the point where it was just a balmy summer evening rather than a blast furnace. They had timkered around with Millworker in the sound check (James Taylor's song about a young woman working the mills in Lowell), but didn't do that ... but they did do 26 straight songs without a break and the crowd was in heaven. We'd seen Emmylou from up close before, outdoors at the De Cordova in the 80s, up in Hampton Beach, and recently at the Green River Festival ... and of course we'd seen Rodney from up close at the Bull Run recently also. But this was a little piece of heaven to see them sing together from 15 feet away with a killer band in that pretty setting in the Lowell National Park.
They opened with what they called "the old stuff" and then did "the new stuff" ... as they had in Boston ... but then kept on playing songs old and new way beyond what they'd done back in March. Here's the list: Return Of the Grievous Angel, Wheels, Pancho and Lefty, Earthbound, 'Til I Gain Control Again, If I Needed You, San Antone Rose, Ashes By Now, Love Hurts, Luxury Liner, Red Dirt Girl, Rock Of My Soul, Darling Kate, Love Is All I Need, Hanging Up My Heart, Invitation To the Blues, Spanish Dancer, Chase the Feeling, Dreaming My Dreams, Back When We Were Beautiful, Still Learning How To Fly, Leaving Louisiana In the Broad Daylight, Ain't Living Long Like This, and Old Yellow Moon. How about that set list????? Just incredible stuff. And these were not done as a "greatest hits" medley; every song was given a full treatment and in particular Luxury Liner, Leaving Louisiana, and Ain't Living' Long went on forever with the proper searing lead guitar riffs.
Emmy was as gracious as ever about introducing songs (calling out Susanna Clark, Patty Scialfa, and Kate McGarrigle (but skipping Townes and Kris)), and Rodney was his self-deprecating, grinning self. There were all kinds of demons in the sound setup on a hot, humid night, and the PA was suddenly not working when they opened with the killer Grievous Angel, though they got it fixed soon. Emmy's in-ear monitor failed a couple of times and she looked angrily toward the engineers, but she smiled at us of course and shrugged it off.
The afore-mentioned killer band consisted of old colleagues Byron House on bass (he had 4 of them on stage and used them all, at different times that is), Steve Fishell on wonderful pedal steel and dobro, Jedd Hughes from Australia on lead (he had to wipe his brow after his drenching lead on Luxury Liner), Chris Tuttle on beautiful piano, organ, and accordion (Emmylou pointed out that their "new" songs shone with his accompaniment), and Gerry Rowe on excellent country drums.
So the list above is 24 songs, not 26 ... but even after they said Old Yellow Moon would be their last song, no one in the Park wanted to leave. We stood and applauded until they came back out, with Amy Black! Gee, what hadn't they done? Well how about Stars On the Water and then Even Cowgirls Get the Blues? People stayed up for these, dancing, singing, waving their hands like crazy people, and throwing their hats up in the air. Amy brought out Emmylou's dogs for a cameo, and then they all faded away into the night.
Emmylou commented during the show that she'd keep on doing this until she dropped because she loved it so much, and I hope to be there too!
Pictures taken by Sarah at:
p.s. Furthur played Boston again that night and we were definitely bummed not to be there (especially after we heard they did Alligator, Eyes, and Dew!), but in all I think this show with Emmylou and Rodney was more enjoyable and will be a memory that sticks with me more than another Furthur show would have. That makes three nights in a row of music, now off to Rubblebucket tonight and then the Green River Festival this weekend!
It was a slow morning and we were anxious to get up to Lowell in time to grab a prime patch of grass. The heat started soaring early and was pretty bad when we finally left the house. Not much traffic up to Lowell and we pulled up to John Street about 1:15. I parked while Sarah went looking for a spot on the lawn in Boardinghouse Park; I joined her with the blanket and we were amazed that we could put it down to claim a patch right to the left of the VIP section, basically second row left, in front of where the lead guitar would be. We were psyched! As mentioned, when we had seen Emmylou and Rodney in March it was overwhelmingly good and we were looking forward to being overwhelmed to a higher degree.
We immediately went looking for a place with really good air conditioning for a leisurely lunch ... the show wasn't scheduled to start until 7:30. We cruised around for a bit and almost fainted in the heat, then stumbled upon the Fuse Bistro on Palmer Street. They have seats on the sidewalk and they were in the shade on a quiet street, but even that was too much with the blaring heat. We went inside and they had great air conditioning, a great beer selection, and a really good lunch menu. I recommend the place enthusiastically (for lunch at least, though I assume dinner would be good too); Sarah had a crab Nicoise and I had a pan-seared tuna burger ... both fantastic and not expensive.
OK, left there and spent the afternoon in Boardinghouse Park, mostly in the shade. I took a nap, read, walked up to Dunkin's for iced coffee, ate some grapes, listened to Furthur from the night before, and chilled. A guy walked Emmylou's dogs through the park and cleaned up after them of course. The band came out to do the sound check and when Rodney emerged (looking like he'd just woken up and wearing your Dad's Bermuda shorts) he was hanging out near me to the left of the stage. I walked over and told him how much I had liked his music since 1979 and thanked him for it; we had a nice talk about the Orpheum in March, the current weather, and stuff. Emmy came out without her stage clothes/makeup also and politely asked the few of us there not to take pictures before the show ... but she was as beautiful as always anyway. There were a few afternoon showers but the time went by quickly. They set up Amy Black in front of the main band's stuff and her band did their sound check ... all set for the show!
Amy was playing with a different band than we'd seen her with before. She's recently moved down to Nashville and then back to Somerville, trying to kick start her singing career. She's got a new album in the can (Fall release??) and did a few songs from that. She was really good, opening with Dance Floor and One Time, doing a few of the new songs, and just impressing the heck out of us with her powerful voice ... she filled Boardinghouse Park for sure. One of her new songs, about her grandfather's love of Alabama, is top quality song-writing.
Break time and then Emmylou and Rodney came out as the sun started to go down and the temperature had dropped to the point where it was just a balmy summer evening rather than a blast furnace. They had timkered around with Millworker in the sound check (James Taylor's song about a young woman working the mills in Lowell), but didn't do that ... but they did do 26 straight songs without a break and the crowd was in heaven. We'd seen Emmylou from up close before, outdoors at the De Cordova in the 80s, up in Hampton Beach, and recently at the Green River Festival ... and of course we'd seen Rodney from up close at the Bull Run recently also. But this was a little piece of heaven to see them sing together from 15 feet away with a killer band in that pretty setting in the Lowell National Park.
They opened with what they called "the old stuff" and then did "the new stuff" ... as they had in Boston ... but then kept on playing songs old and new way beyond what they'd done back in March. Here's the list: Return Of the Grievous Angel, Wheels, Pancho and Lefty, Earthbound, 'Til I Gain Control Again, If I Needed You, San Antone Rose, Ashes By Now, Love Hurts, Luxury Liner, Red Dirt Girl, Rock Of My Soul, Darling Kate, Love Is All I Need, Hanging Up My Heart, Invitation To the Blues, Spanish Dancer, Chase the Feeling, Dreaming My Dreams, Back When We Were Beautiful, Still Learning How To Fly, Leaving Louisiana In the Broad Daylight, Ain't Living Long Like This, and Old Yellow Moon. How about that set list????? Just incredible stuff. And these were not done as a "greatest hits" medley; every song was given a full treatment and in particular Luxury Liner, Leaving Louisiana, and Ain't Living' Long went on forever with the proper searing lead guitar riffs.
Emmy was as gracious as ever about introducing songs (calling out Susanna Clark, Patty Scialfa, and Kate McGarrigle (but skipping Townes and Kris)), and Rodney was his self-deprecating, grinning self. There were all kinds of demons in the sound setup on a hot, humid night, and the PA was suddenly not working when they opened with the killer Grievous Angel, though they got it fixed soon. Emmy's in-ear monitor failed a couple of times and she looked angrily toward the engineers, but she smiled at us of course and shrugged it off.
The afore-mentioned killer band consisted of old colleagues Byron House on bass (he had 4 of them on stage and used them all, at different times that is), Steve Fishell on wonderful pedal steel and dobro, Jedd Hughes from Australia on lead (he had to wipe his brow after his drenching lead on Luxury Liner), Chris Tuttle on beautiful piano, organ, and accordion (Emmylou pointed out that their "new" songs shone with his accompaniment), and Gerry Rowe on excellent country drums.
So the list above is 24 songs, not 26 ... but even after they said Old Yellow Moon would be their last song, no one in the Park wanted to leave. We stood and applauded until they came back out, with Amy Black! Gee, what hadn't they done? Well how about Stars On the Water and then Even Cowgirls Get the Blues? People stayed up for these, dancing, singing, waving their hands like crazy people, and throwing their hats up in the air. Amy brought out Emmylou's dogs for a cameo, and then they all faded away into the night.
Emmylou commented during the show that she'd keep on doing this until she dropped because she loved it so much, and I hope to be there too!
Pictures taken by Sarah at:
- Emmylou and Rodney: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahebourne/sets/72157634706405766/
- Amy Black: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahebourne/sets/72157634706405770/
p.s. Furthur played Boston again that night and we were definitely bummed not to be there (especially after we heard they did Alligator, Eyes, and Dew!), but in all I think this show with Emmylou and Rodney was more enjoyable and will be a memory that sticks with me more than another Furthur show would have. That makes three nights in a row of music, now off to Rubblebucket tonight and then the Green River Festival this weekend!
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Furthur in Boston 2013
So the next day we went to see Furthur again! Their tour visited Boston for two days at the BOA Pavilion on the beautiful Boston waterfront and that's, naturally, where we were headed.
We parked in Sarah's building a little after 5:00 and hiked down there through the heat, the tourists, and the organized chaos of evening rush hour. We stopped at The Daily Catch in the Federal Courthouse building for a great meal of Sicilian-style mussels marinara.
The crowds got pretty thick as we passed the Fish Pier and snaked our way into the Pavilion, though there was no Shakedown Street per se ... too crowded. We ran into our neighbor from the show Tuesday night, he was just a few rows in front of us last night. We also talked and talked with a bunch of guys behind us who were coincidentally all named Rob and from Westford.
The crowd was very late-arriving and there was a rush to pack the pavilion during the textbook opening rocker, Passenger. The followed that with a spacey Crazy Fingers, I Need a Miracle (*lots* of people had been walking around with a finger in the air outside), a slow Wang Dang Doodle, picked up the pace just a bit with a great Mississippi Half-Step, kept up the mellow vibe with Let It Ride, and closed the first set with Sugaree. Sugaree has been played so many times it's sometimes a bit formulaic, but this was a great one, definitely one of the stand-outs of the evening.
Break time again, and we picked up a couple more $13 drafts(!) and hung around out by the patio talking it up. Again, the band beat everyone back and I had to dash back quickly for the second set opener: WRS Prelude. They went on to play the rest of the suite and this appealed to me totally, they should not break up this song, it's one piece. From there they did an excellent He's Gone, spaced out a bit, and then did a long, slow, spacey Speedway with John and Bobby trading verses, more jamming, and then a cool, mellow UJB. Looking back at the set list I think how lucky I was to get some great songs from Wake Of the Flood and then some classics from Workingman's. Great stuff, but then they did another song from Workingman's and it all went downhill.
Bobby has a very hard time singing Black Peter well. This is one of those songs that bring forth associations in my mind of specific times and places; it's very personal to me as well as being a great song. Jerry sang it with an apocalyptic, Americana, folksie soul and Bobby can come nowhere near that. Guess you've got to hand it to him for trying, but I think the rest of the band needs to do an intervention here. Oh well.
OK, enough Bobby-bashing. They then got it going again with Not Fade Away and did the full Monty with this one, segueing into GDTRFB and then back into NFA. Joe Russo was banging those things, the band was singing their hearts out, Phil was running up and down the fretboard and dropping bombs, JeffC was doing things to his keys that had never been done before, etc. The Boston crowd got into the idea of clapping the NFA chorus as the band disappeared, but it was too hot to be really enthusiastic about this.
I should mention that Jeff's keyboard had been replaced by a grand piano! Jeff played the B3 a bit but then seemed to look around and say, "What's that thing? Oh my Dog, it's a fucking GRAND PIANO!!!" He then spent most of the rest of the show on that and produced some excellent sounds with it.
After a donor rap we could barely hear (well ok, people shut up and listened politely after Phil got a few sentences in), they encored with Ripple ... another song from their most fertile period.
We hung out a bit after the show because we'd ordered CDs from Gnomes and Hobbits and knew they wouldn't be ready yet. And as we walked out, we realized that Sunshine was walking right in front of us, she'd come out to mingle with the crowd at the patio, a very classy move. We had a short conversation with her and she seemed to appreciate my opinions that she should get a lead with Furthur and that she and JeffP really put the band over the top. Without them the vocals would definitely be a weak point of the band IMO.
Finally got out of there and made out way through a few blocks of dazed hippies wondering where their cars were, then climbed up through downtown Boston to Beacon Hill and found our car!
We parked in Sarah's building a little after 5:00 and hiked down there through the heat, the tourists, and the organized chaos of evening rush hour. We stopped at The Daily Catch in the Federal Courthouse building for a great meal of Sicilian-style mussels marinara.
The crowds got pretty thick as we passed the Fish Pier and snaked our way into the Pavilion, though there was no Shakedown Street per se ... too crowded. We ran into our neighbor from the show Tuesday night, he was just a few rows in front of us last night. We also talked and talked with a bunch of guys behind us who were coincidentally all named Rob and from Westford.
The crowd was very late-arriving and there was a rush to pack the pavilion during the textbook opening rocker, Passenger. The followed that with a spacey Crazy Fingers, I Need a Miracle (*lots* of people had been walking around with a finger in the air outside), a slow Wang Dang Doodle, picked up the pace just a bit with a great Mississippi Half-Step, kept up the mellow vibe with Let It Ride, and closed the first set with Sugaree. Sugaree has been played so many times it's sometimes a bit formulaic, but this was a great one, definitely one of the stand-outs of the evening.
Break time again, and we picked up a couple more $13 drafts(!) and hung around out by the patio talking it up. Again, the band beat everyone back and I had to dash back quickly for the second set opener: WRS Prelude. They went on to play the rest of the suite and this appealed to me totally, they should not break up this song, it's one piece. From there they did an excellent He's Gone, spaced out a bit, and then did a long, slow, spacey Speedway with John and Bobby trading verses, more jamming, and then a cool, mellow UJB. Looking back at the set list I think how lucky I was to get some great songs from Wake Of the Flood and then some classics from Workingman's. Great stuff, but then they did another song from Workingman's and it all went downhill.
Bobby has a very hard time singing Black Peter well. This is one of those songs that bring forth associations in my mind of specific times and places; it's very personal to me as well as being a great song. Jerry sang it with an apocalyptic, Americana, folksie soul and Bobby can come nowhere near that. Guess you've got to hand it to him for trying, but I think the rest of the band needs to do an intervention here. Oh well.
OK, enough Bobby-bashing. They then got it going again with Not Fade Away and did the full Monty with this one, segueing into GDTRFB and then back into NFA. Joe Russo was banging those things, the band was singing their hearts out, Phil was running up and down the fretboard and dropping bombs, JeffC was doing things to his keys that had never been done before, etc. The Boston crowd got into the idea of clapping the NFA chorus as the band disappeared, but it was too hot to be really enthusiastic about this.
I should mention that Jeff's keyboard had been replaced by a grand piano! Jeff played the B3 a bit but then seemed to look around and say, "What's that thing? Oh my Dog, it's a fucking GRAND PIANO!!!" He then spent most of the rest of the show on that and produced some excellent sounds with it.
After a donor rap we could barely hear (well ok, people shut up and listened politely after Phil got a few sentences in), they encored with Ripple ... another song from their most fertile period.
We hung out a bit after the show because we'd ordered CDs from Gnomes and Hobbits and knew they wouldn't be ready yet. And as we walked out, we realized that Sunshine was walking right in front of us, she'd come out to mingle with the crowd at the patio, a very classy move. We had a short conversation with her and she seemed to appreciate my opinions that she should get a lead with Furthur and that she and JeffP really put the band over the top. Without them the vocals would definitely be a weak point of the band IMO.
Finally got out of there and made out way through a few blocks of dazed hippies wondering where their cars were, then climbed up through downtown Boston to Beacon Hill and found our car!
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Furthur Summer Tour in New Hampshire
Earlier this year I'd been watching and watching Furthur's site like a one-eyed hawk, ready to pounce when they announced a Northeast tour. They played Port Chester NY in April and I almost, almost got tickets for that but it's a bit far for me and I was sure they'd come closer. The finally announced a summer "amphitheater" tour with two dates in Boston ... and for the second of those dates I'd already gotten tickets to Emmylou Harris. Oh well, I snapped up tickets to Meadowbrook in Gilford NH and the first Boston show and spent a long time smiling and smiling.
Tuesday the 16th finally arrived and after a busy day at work I left at 3, picked up Sarah in Billerica, and headed on up. Meadowbrook's tucked right next to Lake Winnipesaukee with lovely scenery and beautiful mountain backgrounds and the drive up on a hot, bright, summer day was gorgeous. We had tickets to their West Entrance lots and arrived at around 5:30 ... with barely any traffic delays ... to find exactly what we'd expected: a dirt and rock parking lot in the middle of NH forest already half full and soon packed with hippies playing frisbee, grilling, drinking beer when the security wasn't looking, and mostly being very, very mellow in the hot sun (90 degrees when we arrived).
The car we pulled in behind was a VW bus with CA plates, and the people living out of it were delighted to be iconoclasts. They set up a tent that brought us some grateful shade and set up tables to peddle their pottery and posters. Security was omnipresent though, and the bastards soon confiscated their posters, probably because they were in copyright violation. Pretty harsh. I also saw a Gilford Police paddy wagon roar through the crowd and pick up another hippy who'd obviously done something to piss them off.
Oh well, as I say it was exactly what you'd expect. Scott and Michelle showed up about a half hour after we did and we all had a few Sobes and sandwiches, and then trundled past the crowd/Shakedown Street into the site. When we got there I realized I'd left my wallet in the car! What is it about me with Furthur and forgetting my wallet? Sarah had money though and we paid for a CD of the concert we were about to see at the Gnomes and Hobbits booth.
Scott and Michelle had seats a few rows back from us and we all found our places, which Sarah and I were a little bummed about. We were in the 11th row in a great outdoor-with-canopy venue BUT we had the two farthest left seats in the row and from there we wouldn't be able to see the drummer, the backup vocalists, and maybe the keyboard player. Oh well, we had a TV monitor in front of us (which turned out to be kind of sucky picture-wise, they need to upgrade).
But then a guy in a wheelchair with a well-chewed cigar in his hand came up and introduced himself, Patrick. He could not get his wheelchair to his seats and so asked if we wanted to trade ... being right at the edge of the 11th row was ideal for him. And his seats were 11th row, same section but about 25 places farther right ... and they were VIP tickets! We thanked him profusely, he thanked us profusely, and we took our places right as the band appeared and tuned up, then launched into Scarlet Begonias.
What can I say, we and everyone else in the packed amphitheater were instantly back in one of the finest places in the world. Strangers stopped strangers just to shake their hands, we all danced and danced (I got blisters on my feet from my sandal straps), and the band was as good or better than ever.
The show's probably still too recent for me to be objective about, but this was unquestionably a well above average Furthur show. Some observations are that Bobby was not jumping around but was still as on fire as I've ever seen him; he was taking this absolutely seriously and his guitar playing was phenomenal ... several times during the show I had to force myself to stop listening to Bobby and listen to the other players. John had an excellent evening himself, and I think some of his ... not just leads ... but his leading guitar presence on some songs, was approaching Garcia territory. Russo and Chimenti are just so good and I don't want to damn them with faint praise but here goes: Russo's cymbal sounds took me away, how do you make such delicate noises when you're being an octopus all over your traps? And Chimenti on the other side was all over his keys, from piano to organ to synth and back; from our angle we could see his skinny/hairy bare legs working the pedals on his organ, though we couldn't see his hands.
And though our seats were great, we could not see Sunshine at all, except for her expressive hands once in a while. I wish the camera had shown her more because she and Jeff are a big part of what puts this band in the stratosphere IMO. Who's left? Oh yeah, that tall old guy on the bass. Phil is a musical genius and he seemed to recognize that the rest of the band was in the sweet spot and so didn't feel he had to or should step up and dominate. His bass soared above and through the rest of the sound.
First set was a Scarlet Fire sandwich: Scarlet Begonias, Big Bad Blues, Brown-Eyed Women, Tom Thumb's Blues, Corinna, Fire On the Mountain. This was perhaps the best BBB I've heard, drawn out to a proper bluesy tempo and sung with the winsome conviction the words require. Phil nailed the vocals on Tom Thumb, as did Bobby on Corinna. The drumming on Fire was beyond infectious.
OMG, that was good! We resumed normal breathing, hung out with Scott and Michelle, high-fived with Patrick, hit up the VIP bathroom, and did our between sets thing. Between sets at a Dead/Furthur show is a surreal experience where you are still in awe from what you've just seen and heard and you know that it'll just get better. And then it did.
A word about security, they were all over the place in the first set and were very strict about keeping people out of the aisles, showing wanderers to their seats or kicking them out, etc. But then in the second set they were nowhere to be seen, like their shift had ended and they went home, and the pipes and joints came out and the aisles started to get clogged with people wildly dancing. As I say, exactly what you'd expect.
The second set topped the first, it was a sandwich within a sandwich! Here's the list: China Cat Sunflower > All Along the Watchtower, Mountain Song, Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Throwing Stones, Wharf Rat > Franklin's Tower, and then I Know You Rider (of course) as an encore.
Second set observations: China Cat was lovely, right off the bat Bobby emphasized that he was leading the band and he was playing some great guitar; they also did a nice vocal arrangement where they swapped lines (not just verses) between Phil, John, and Bobby. Watchtower was maybe the throw-away song of the set; so many people have done this song so well it seems futile to do it unless you can top that; they did a good job of jazzing it up, particularly with JeffC on organ, but failed to knock it out of the park. The people in front of us were *so* delighted to get a Mountain Song that we could not help but rave with them, this is one of the great things about Dead/Furthur concerts, that a song can mean so much to you and/or your neighbors and that's what it's all about. I'd predicted a few songs they played, and the Help On the Way troika was one of them; there have been some great versions of this through the years and this would not rank with them, but was still beyond delightful. I'm a bit burned out on Wharf Rat, it's a great song but I've heard it so many times, but this cover of it was extraordinary ... just listen.
We all let out a huge breath of relief? sorrow? end-of-delight? at the end of Franklin's and perhaps began to think about the drive home. Of course we all knew what was coming up for the encore. After a lovely Donor Rap they teased us with bits of La Cucaracha (to the best of my encyclopedic musical memory) and then launched into a killer I Know You Rider complete with copious Phil bombs that had everyone in the place rocking and reeling. Oh how perfect and wonderful!
After the show, paid a last visit to the lovely VIP bathroom, picked up my CDs from Gnomes and Hobbits, wondered where Scott and Michelle were, and then made our way out to the parking lot. The traffic was not moving so we set up our chairs, Scott and Michelle appeared, and we all had a few beers and sandwiches until the traffic freed up and we could start on the road back. Sarah drove and I have to admit that I was asleep almost as soon as we left the lot, though we had the CDs of what we'd just heard cranking on the car stereo.
Tuesday the 16th finally arrived and after a busy day at work I left at 3, picked up Sarah in Billerica, and headed on up. Meadowbrook's tucked right next to Lake Winnipesaukee with lovely scenery and beautiful mountain backgrounds and the drive up on a hot, bright, summer day was gorgeous. We had tickets to their West Entrance lots and arrived at around 5:30 ... with barely any traffic delays ... to find exactly what we'd expected: a dirt and rock parking lot in the middle of NH forest already half full and soon packed with hippies playing frisbee, grilling, drinking beer when the security wasn't looking, and mostly being very, very mellow in the hot sun (90 degrees when we arrived).
The car we pulled in behind was a VW bus with CA plates, and the people living out of it were delighted to be iconoclasts. They set up a tent that brought us some grateful shade and set up tables to peddle their pottery and posters. Security was omnipresent though, and the bastards soon confiscated their posters, probably because they were in copyright violation. Pretty harsh. I also saw a Gilford Police paddy wagon roar through the crowd and pick up another hippy who'd obviously done something to piss them off.
Oh well, as I say it was exactly what you'd expect. Scott and Michelle showed up about a half hour after we did and we all had a few Sobes and sandwiches, and then trundled past the crowd/Shakedown Street into the site. When we got there I realized I'd left my wallet in the car! What is it about me with Furthur and forgetting my wallet? Sarah had money though and we paid for a CD of the concert we were about to see at the Gnomes and Hobbits booth.
Scott and Michelle had seats a few rows back from us and we all found our places, which Sarah and I were a little bummed about. We were in the 11th row in a great outdoor-with-canopy venue BUT we had the two farthest left seats in the row and from there we wouldn't be able to see the drummer, the backup vocalists, and maybe the keyboard player. Oh well, we had a TV monitor in front of us (which turned out to be kind of sucky picture-wise, they need to upgrade).
But then a guy in a wheelchair with a well-chewed cigar in his hand came up and introduced himself, Patrick. He could not get his wheelchair to his seats and so asked if we wanted to trade ... being right at the edge of the 11th row was ideal for him. And his seats were 11th row, same section but about 25 places farther right ... and they were VIP tickets! We thanked him profusely, he thanked us profusely, and we took our places right as the band appeared and tuned up, then launched into Scarlet Begonias.
What can I say, we and everyone else in the packed amphitheater were instantly back in one of the finest places in the world. Strangers stopped strangers just to shake their hands, we all danced and danced (I got blisters on my feet from my sandal straps), and the band was as good or better than ever.
The show's probably still too recent for me to be objective about, but this was unquestionably a well above average Furthur show. Some observations are that Bobby was not jumping around but was still as on fire as I've ever seen him; he was taking this absolutely seriously and his guitar playing was phenomenal ... several times during the show I had to force myself to stop listening to Bobby and listen to the other players. John had an excellent evening himself, and I think some of his ... not just leads ... but his leading guitar presence on some songs, was approaching Garcia territory. Russo and Chimenti are just so good and I don't want to damn them with faint praise but here goes: Russo's cymbal sounds took me away, how do you make such delicate noises when you're being an octopus all over your traps? And Chimenti on the other side was all over his keys, from piano to organ to synth and back; from our angle we could see his skinny/hairy bare legs working the pedals on his organ, though we couldn't see his hands.
And though our seats were great, we could not see Sunshine at all, except for her expressive hands once in a while. I wish the camera had shown her more because she and Jeff are a big part of what puts this band in the stratosphere IMO. Who's left? Oh yeah, that tall old guy on the bass. Phil is a musical genius and he seemed to recognize that the rest of the band was in the sweet spot and so didn't feel he had to or should step up and dominate. His bass soared above and through the rest of the sound.
First set was a Scarlet Fire sandwich: Scarlet Begonias, Big Bad Blues, Brown-Eyed Women, Tom Thumb's Blues, Corinna, Fire On the Mountain. This was perhaps the best BBB I've heard, drawn out to a proper bluesy tempo and sung with the winsome conviction the words require. Phil nailed the vocals on Tom Thumb, as did Bobby on Corinna. The drumming on Fire was beyond infectious.
OMG, that was good! We resumed normal breathing, hung out with Scott and Michelle, high-fived with Patrick, hit up the VIP bathroom, and did our between sets thing. Between sets at a Dead/Furthur show is a surreal experience where you are still in awe from what you've just seen and heard and you know that it'll just get better. And then it did.
A word about security, they were all over the place in the first set and were very strict about keeping people out of the aisles, showing wanderers to their seats or kicking them out, etc. But then in the second set they were nowhere to be seen, like their shift had ended and they went home, and the pipes and joints came out and the aisles started to get clogged with people wildly dancing. As I say, exactly what you'd expect.
The second set topped the first, it was a sandwich within a sandwich! Here's the list: China Cat Sunflower > All Along the Watchtower, Mountain Song, Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Throwing Stones, Wharf Rat > Franklin's Tower, and then I Know You Rider (of course) as an encore.
Second set observations: China Cat was lovely, right off the bat Bobby emphasized that he was leading the band and he was playing some great guitar; they also did a nice vocal arrangement where they swapped lines (not just verses) between Phil, John, and Bobby. Watchtower was maybe the throw-away song of the set; so many people have done this song so well it seems futile to do it unless you can top that; they did a good job of jazzing it up, particularly with JeffC on organ, but failed to knock it out of the park. The people in front of us were *so* delighted to get a Mountain Song that we could not help but rave with them, this is one of the great things about Dead/Furthur concerts, that a song can mean so much to you and/or your neighbors and that's what it's all about. I'd predicted a few songs they played, and the Help On the Way troika was one of them; there have been some great versions of this through the years and this would not rank with them, but was still beyond delightful. I'm a bit burned out on Wharf Rat, it's a great song but I've heard it so many times, but this cover of it was extraordinary ... just listen.
We all let out a huge breath of relief? sorrow? end-of-delight? at the end of Franklin's and perhaps began to think about the drive home. Of course we all knew what was coming up for the encore. After a lovely Donor Rap they teased us with bits of La Cucaracha (to the best of my encyclopedic musical memory) and then launched into a killer I Know You Rider complete with copious Phil bombs that had everyone in the place rocking and reeling. Oh how perfect and wonderful!
After the show, paid a last visit to the lovely VIP bathroom, picked up my CDs from Gnomes and Hobbits, wondered where Scott and Michelle were, and then made our way out to the parking lot. The traffic was not moving so we set up our chairs, Scott and Michelle appeared, and we all had a few beers and sandwiches until the traffic freed up and we could start on the road back. Sarah drove and I have to admit that I was asleep almost as soon as we left the lot, though we had the CDs of what we'd just heard cranking on the car stereo.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Southern Rail at the North End
They really have a great concert series going in Woburn, at the North end of Horn Pond in the pretty area known as Ice House Park (ice harvesting and storage happened there between 1873 and 1939). When we heard that Southern Rail was going to be playing there ... and saw it was a free date on our calendar ... we were psyched!
We hadn't seen Southern Rail for maybe 20 years, through no fault of theirs. They exemplify some of the truest merits of bluegrass music: well-worked harmonies, well-chosen covers of the classics, democratic arrangements, and some hot licks.
We showed up a song-and-a-half into the first set and it was amazing how far back from the stage all of the 50-75 people there had set up. Most were there to enjoy a cool evening (at last, after an incredible heat wave) and let their kids/grandkids run wild on the grass on a Friday night ... it was a relaxed community event. I moved up front though and others followed, which the band really appreciated. They thought we didn't like them, but some of us *were* there to hear the music.
The music was fun, spattered with some goofs here and there, but as energetic as you might want on a summer's night. They hadn't worked up one of my favorite Southern Rail songs, Just a Little Man, but did I Didn't Ask, Caroline Lightning, a great cover of Coal Tattoo, Rodney Crowell's seminal Song For Life, a number of Scruggs covers, and a couple of excellent originals by Jim Muller's brother Damien. Of course Jim leads the band (and has written their iconic songs), backed up by his wife Sharon on bass and beautiful harmonies.
We hadn't seen Southern Rail for maybe 20 years, through no fault of theirs. They exemplify some of the truest merits of bluegrass music: well-worked harmonies, well-chosen covers of the classics, democratic arrangements, and some hot licks.
We showed up a song-and-a-half into the first set and it was amazing how far back from the stage all of the 50-75 people there had set up. Most were there to enjoy a cool evening (at last, after an incredible heat wave) and let their kids/grandkids run wild on the grass on a Friday night ... it was a relaxed community event. I moved up front though and others followed, which the band really appreciated. They thought we didn't like them, but some of us *were* there to hear the music.
The music was fun, spattered with some goofs here and there, but as energetic as you might want on a summer's night. They hadn't worked up one of my favorite Southern Rail songs, Just a Little Man, but did I Didn't Ask, Caroline Lightning, a great cover of Coal Tattoo, Rodney Crowell's seminal Song For Life, a number of Scruggs covers, and a couple of excellent originals by Jim Muller's brother Damien. Of course Jim leads the band (and has written their iconic songs), backed up by his wife Sharon on bass and beautiful harmonies.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Mallett After Croquet
After a great week-plus of relatives, family reunion, endless croquet games, kayaking, and touring historical and heart-memory sites, we and some relatives went to Club Passim for an American/folk/Harvard Square thing and saw David Mallett, one of the foremost poets of Maine.
We forgot how tough (no pun intended) it can be to order well from the Veggie Planet menu, but we all got fed, had a few Cambridge Brewing Co. beers (they actually had two of them on!), and then settled in for a hot evening (literally) with David and accompanist Michael Burd on bass.
David was as fantastic as ever, if not better. He whipped through his songbook and I was delighted to hear Red Red Rose early in the set, along with a bunch of newer songs and also the classic Garden Song. He even threw a melancholy Elvis song in there. Our relatives from away were stunned at how much they enjoyed the evening. Live music can be such an invigorating experience, especially with an experienced artist like David, who knows exactly how to shape the evening.
We forgot how tough (no pun intended) it can be to order well from the Veggie Planet menu, but we all got fed, had a few Cambridge Brewing Co. beers (they actually had two of them on!), and then settled in for a hot evening (literally) with David and accompanist Michael Burd on bass.
David was as fantastic as ever, if not better. He whipped through his songbook and I was delighted to hear Red Red Rose early in the set, along with a bunch of newer songs and also the classic Garden Song. He even threw a melancholy Elvis song in there. Our relatives from away were stunned at how much they enjoyed the evening. Live music can be such an invigorating experience, especially with an experienced artist like David, who knows exactly how to shape the evening.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Spring Kayaks Finally
Kayaking has net been on the schedule this Spring because of a number of things, but the rain has been falling like in the Bible this June and I finally was able to get out on the full river on Thursday, June 13. I put in at Egg Rock and of course it had started pouring again. There was no one else out there and I got soaked. Went up the Assabet well past Huck and Jim's Island, which was far under water. It was kind of chilly by the time I got back.
Met R on Sunday the 16th at the 225 put-in (crowded for Fathers Day) and we took my car up to West Concord, where we met L by the Concord Bakery and launched by the old RR tracks. Had a wonderful paddle far downstream. Under route 2 I could almost touch the roof of the bridge in the middle of the arch and under the Monument Street bridge I had to scrunch up to make it. The water was even higher than it had been on Thursday.
Where the Concord widens out North of the Wildlife Refuge the river had way-overflowed its normal course and we were able to go hundreds of yards back into the woods. Made it to 225 in what seemed like a short time, loaded in R's car, and drove up to West Concord to re-group. We all realized we'd had a great time ... 6 hours or so by the time I got home ... and have to do it again soon.
Met R on Sunday the 16th at the 225 put-in (crowded for Fathers Day) and we took my car up to West Concord, where we met L by the Concord Bakery and launched by the old RR tracks. Had a wonderful paddle far downstream. Under route 2 I could almost touch the roof of the bridge in the middle of the arch and under the Monument Street bridge I had to scrunch up to make it. The water was even higher than it had been on Thursday.
Where the Concord widens out North of the Wildlife Refuge the river had way-overflowed its normal course and we were able to go hundreds of yards back into the woods. Made it to 225 in what seemed like a short time, loaded in R's car, and drove up to West Concord to re-group. We all realized we'd had a great time ... 6 hours or so by the time I got home ... and have to do it again soon.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Dave Alvin Returns
Dave Alvin has been playing Johnny D's on an annual basis lately and this year we got it together to get dinner-and-show seats for him. I bought them as soon as I heard about it but the place was already half sold-out by the time I got tickets and was *way* sold out last night. Dave deserves it of course ... it's stunning that a guy who plays guitar like he does can still be seen at small clubs, he should be selling out Foxboro Stadium!
Sarah Borges opened on solo acoustic and was vastly entertaining. I actually grabbed a pen and wrote down one of her lyrics: "My bottle's half empty, got half a bottle more; I don't know where I'm going, but I know you won't be there for sure." Great stuff!
Then we drank some more and the room got even more crowded. We were at an elevated table near the back of the big room but still had to struggle to see. Dave played with the same band we'd seen a couple of years ago: Lisa Pancratz on drums, Brad Fordham (who's supposedly married to Lisa) on bass, and Chris Miller on rhythm. This time they saved 4th of July for second (after opening with Harlan County Line), and then proceeded to rip it up good. I was on my feet and doing some serious dancing by the last few songs, struggle with decorum though I might. It's all right, everyone else in the place was dancing, riveted on Dave, or dead.
Sarah Borges opened on solo acoustic and was vastly entertaining. I actually grabbed a pen and wrote down one of her lyrics: "My bottle's half empty, got half a bottle more; I don't know where I'm going, but I know you won't be there for sure." Great stuff!
Then we drank some more and the room got even more crowded. We were at an elevated table near the back of the big room but still had to struggle to see. Dave played with the same band we'd seen a couple of years ago: Lisa Pancratz on drums, Brad Fordham (who's supposedly married to Lisa) on bass, and Chris Miller on rhythm. This time they saved 4th of July for second (after opening with Harlan County Line), and then proceeded to rip it up good. I was on my feet and doing some serious dancing by the last few songs, struggle with decorum though I might. It's all right, everyone else in the place was dancing, riveted on Dave, or dead.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Della Mae in the Middle East
Hadn't had enough sleazy rock clubs lately, so we went to see Della Mae at the Middle East (upstairs) in Central Square on Tuesday, June 4th. Della Mae is a fine all-woman bluegrass band that's just put out their second CD and is hoping/preparing for a fast rise.
They definitely have some world-class talent floating around in the band, like Courtney Hartman's (another Berklee product) guitar playing, Celia Woodsmith's song-writing, the fiddling of Kimber Ludiker, and wonderful bluegrass-with-a-twist vocal arrangements. They've got room to improve, but are vastly entertaining now.
The Middle East upstairs was packed (celeb sighting: Rubblebucket's guitar player, Ian Hersey was in attendance), and Rushad Eggleston opened with his normal ton of energy and in-your-face cello playing [sic]. Della Mae came on and Kimber's fiddle's bridge broke! Oh no!! So Celia and Courtney opened with some folkie songs on guitar, and very quickly a replacement fiddle was found and brought up on stage. Trouble was it was a 4-string rather than a 5-string, but Darol Anger was also in attendance (don't you love Boston?) and came up with a replacement of his own, which sounded wonderful once it finally arrived. I'd love to hear Kimber's chops with a fiddle she's used to.
The played a short set, we yucked it up with Kate and crew, and then took off into the night. A *real* rock band was going to be on next...
They definitely have some world-class talent floating around in the band, like Courtney Hartman's (another Berklee product) guitar playing, Celia Woodsmith's song-writing, the fiddling of Kimber Ludiker, and wonderful bluegrass-with-a-twist vocal arrangements. They've got room to improve, but are vastly entertaining now.
The Middle East upstairs was packed (celeb sighting: Rubblebucket's guitar player, Ian Hersey was in attendance), and Rushad Eggleston opened with his normal ton of energy and in-your-face cello playing [sic]. Della Mae came on and Kimber's fiddle's bridge broke! Oh no!! So Celia and Courtney opened with some folkie songs on guitar, and very quickly a replacement fiddle was found and brought up on stage. Trouble was it was a 4-string rather than a 5-string, but Darol Anger was also in attendance (don't you love Boston?) and came up with a replacement of his own, which sounded wonderful once it finally arrived. I'd love to hear Kimber's chops with a fiddle she's used to.
The played a short set, we yucked it up with Kate and crew, and then took off into the night. A *real* rock band was going to be on next...
Monday, June 3, 2013
DSO on the NH Coast
Saturday June 1st was a scorcher after the long cold Spring, and as we drove up to Hampton Beach in the early evening there was a solid line of cars heading back from the shore. Once we got to 1A in Hampton we got caught in the mob too: lots of pasty-white people of all shapes in bathing suits walking aimlessly up and down 1A, some with baby strollers, some with coolers, some with attitudes, and some with t-shirts saying all kinds of pointless stuff. I guess they were enjoying themselves.
Finally made it to the parking lot of the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom and got our tickets at the will-call window. We had left enough time (we thought) to find a nice place to eat after we got the tickets, but traffic had delayed us and there seemed to be no choices for miles and miles but greasy seafood, greasy burgers, or fried dough. So we went into the Ballroom, emptied our pockets and got wanded, and picked up some barely acceptable sandwiches from the food booth inside. I went to get beer from the bar and the limit there is 1, but they were embarrassed and told me that I looked like a fine upstanding person and so let me pay for Sarah's, as long as she went and picked it up.
After we ate we snuggled up to the island in the middle of the floor that was the soundboard, surrounded by metal fences. This meant we were just 50 feet from the stage (we've seen them up close and were not psyched to put up with the battering that being out on the floor would mean that night), and were protected on one side at least from the tidal flow. We were right next to the tapers section and conversed with a few of them.
DSO came out and RobK did an introduction of Kevin's last show. He mentioned that we owed it all to Jerry, Bobby, and Phil, but also owed a lot to people like Kevin, and many of the people there agreed wholeheartedly, though some were clueless of course. He announced that they'd be doing an original setlist but with a twist: that most of the songs were chosen by Kevin rather than by consensus. And Kevin did an *excellent* job, this was the polar opposite of when we'd seen them on Thursday: every song was one that you were dying to hear rather one that you thought, "Well that song's ok and they did a really good job on it" ... especially when they played those songs the way they did.
Started off with a beautiful ensemble vocal on Here Comes Sunshine, and isn't that what it's all about, especially at the beach on a lovely Spring day?; followed with the only stinker of the set though it's one of my favorites, Jones's The Race Is On, which they just didn't add much too; Lisa got her harmonica out at that point and wowed us with Next Time You See Me; this was followed by the first of many showstoppers in Cumberland Blues; then a surprise in Dark Hollow; a greasssssy Chinatown Shuffle; an inspiring Bird Song (the Casino Ballroom is decorated with photos of stars who've played there in the past, including a classic picture of Janis playing there in 1969); the next showstopper in the also surprising You Ain't Woman Enough, which Lisa just sang the stuffing out of, jumping up and down and emoting and doing her best to look mean while we all roared, after which she giggled and then walked off stage; a not-totally-up-to-par Hard To Handle (you can see the bass player's influence here); a great Ramble On Rose; and the classic Around and Around to close the set.
Yikes! The temperature in the ballroom may have been over 100 at certain points during that first set as the sun hadn't quite gone down yet. The place was packed and we were all rivers of sweat, I was drenched. The concession stands were mobbed and we barely had time for Sarah to get a smoke and another drink and then for me to hit the bathroom and then get another beer (the second period of the first Bruins-Penguins game ended as I stood in line (B's ended up winning 3-0)). In fact, I missed the first song of the second set. But we were determined not to give up our beachhead by the sound board and it's good we stuck to it. Sarah got walked into twice by two people at full stride in the second set anyway, and it's scary to think how un-mellow it would have been to mosh with the crowd out on the floor. I'm reaching my limit with rock clubs.
Anyway, though the first set had been great, the second set was just incredible. Here's the list: 'Til the Morning Comes, Weather Report Suite, Let It Grow (to be pedantic, this is *part* of the suite, though it's usually broken out into a different song), Good Lovin', He's Gone, Truckin', The Other One, Eyes Of the World, Not Fade Away, Going Down the Road Feeling Bad, Not Fade Away.
Don't have much to say about that set except that everyone in the packed hall was dancing, grooving, and loving it. There was a time during Let It Grow when I could feel the dragon emerging, like at the best of Dead concerts, and for me to say that is very high praise. It was an excellent Truckin' (RobE didn't forget the words to it, as Bobby usually does, but he *had* forgotten the words to Let It Grow so that's ok), and then Kevin, who had been pounding those bass notes all night, started on a magical, floating run ... and then I realized that he was playing TOO, and then a lightning bolt coursed through the hall as *everyone in the place* realized it, we were all sharing the same mind ... and then Kevin went boodle-ey boodle-ey Boodle-ey BOODLE-EY BOOM and the whole band was instantly playing TOO and we all roared! This was great stuff.
We all flew around the room with Eyes, NFA-GDTRFB-NFA was a classic from early live Dead, and we all stood there exhausted while the band took a short break, amazed to realize that the temperature had gone down and we hadn't yet died. They came back out and payed more tribute to Kevin. RobK built up the song they were going to play for an encore (Kevin didn't know what it was going to be), and then announced Louie Louie! Kevin cracked up and played a few bars of it before they got serious.
They started and it *was* a classic: the Nix-Penn chestnut, Like a Road Leading Home. The Dead never played this, but of course Garcia and Saunders had. They just killed it, as we all soared along with them and I personally hoped that Kevin can meet the upcoming challenges of elder care and raising kids while remembering the road fondly. We stumbled out the back entrance after it was over and the "beach" crowd was still mobbing the streets, though when we finally got out of town it was a smooth ride back home.
Finally made it to the parking lot of the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom and got our tickets at the will-call window. We had left enough time (we thought) to find a nice place to eat after we got the tickets, but traffic had delayed us and there seemed to be no choices for miles and miles but greasy seafood, greasy burgers, or fried dough. So we went into the Ballroom, emptied our pockets and got wanded, and picked up some barely acceptable sandwiches from the food booth inside. I went to get beer from the bar and the limit there is 1, but they were embarrassed and told me that I looked like a fine upstanding person and so let me pay for Sarah's, as long as she went and picked it up.
After we ate we snuggled up to the island in the middle of the floor that was the soundboard, surrounded by metal fences. This meant we were just 50 feet from the stage (we've seen them up close and were not psyched to put up with the battering that being out on the floor would mean that night), and were protected on one side at least from the tidal flow. We were right next to the tapers section and conversed with a few of them.
DSO came out and RobK did an introduction of Kevin's last show. He mentioned that we owed it all to Jerry, Bobby, and Phil, but also owed a lot to people like Kevin, and many of the people there agreed wholeheartedly, though some were clueless of course. He announced that they'd be doing an original setlist but with a twist: that most of the songs were chosen by Kevin rather than by consensus. And Kevin did an *excellent* job, this was the polar opposite of when we'd seen them on Thursday: every song was one that you were dying to hear rather one that you thought, "Well that song's ok and they did a really good job on it" ... especially when they played those songs the way they did.
Started off with a beautiful ensemble vocal on Here Comes Sunshine, and isn't that what it's all about, especially at the beach on a lovely Spring day?; followed with the only stinker of the set though it's one of my favorites, Jones's The Race Is On, which they just didn't add much too; Lisa got her harmonica out at that point and wowed us with Next Time You See Me; this was followed by the first of many showstoppers in Cumberland Blues; then a surprise in Dark Hollow; a greasssssy Chinatown Shuffle; an inspiring Bird Song (the Casino Ballroom is decorated with photos of stars who've played there in the past, including a classic picture of Janis playing there in 1969); the next showstopper in the also surprising You Ain't Woman Enough, which Lisa just sang the stuffing out of, jumping up and down and emoting and doing her best to look mean while we all roared, after which she giggled and then walked off stage; a not-totally-up-to-par Hard To Handle (you can see the bass player's influence here); a great Ramble On Rose; and the classic Around and Around to close the set.
Yikes! The temperature in the ballroom may have been over 100 at certain points during that first set as the sun hadn't quite gone down yet. The place was packed and we were all rivers of sweat, I was drenched. The concession stands were mobbed and we barely had time for Sarah to get a smoke and another drink and then for me to hit the bathroom and then get another beer (the second period of the first Bruins-Penguins game ended as I stood in line (B's ended up winning 3-0)). In fact, I missed the first song of the second set. But we were determined not to give up our beachhead by the sound board and it's good we stuck to it. Sarah got walked into twice by two people at full stride in the second set anyway, and it's scary to think how un-mellow it would have been to mosh with the crowd out on the floor. I'm reaching my limit with rock clubs.
Anyway, though the first set had been great, the second set was just incredible. Here's the list: 'Til the Morning Comes, Weather Report Suite, Let It Grow (to be pedantic, this is *part* of the suite, though it's usually broken out into a different song), Good Lovin', He's Gone, Truckin', The Other One, Eyes Of the World, Not Fade Away, Going Down the Road Feeling Bad, Not Fade Away.
Don't have much to say about that set except that everyone in the packed hall was dancing, grooving, and loving it. There was a time during Let It Grow when I could feel the dragon emerging, like at the best of Dead concerts, and for me to say that is very high praise. It was an excellent Truckin' (RobE didn't forget the words to it, as Bobby usually does, but he *had* forgotten the words to Let It Grow so that's ok), and then Kevin, who had been pounding those bass notes all night, started on a magical, floating run ... and then I realized that he was playing TOO, and then a lightning bolt coursed through the hall as *everyone in the place* realized it, we were all sharing the same mind ... and then Kevin went boodle-ey boodle-ey Boodle-ey BOODLE-EY BOOM and the whole band was instantly playing TOO and we all roared! This was great stuff.
We all flew around the room with Eyes, NFA-GDTRFB-NFA was a classic from early live Dead, and we all stood there exhausted while the band took a short break, amazed to realize that the temperature had gone down and we hadn't yet died. They came back out and payed more tribute to Kevin. RobK built up the song they were going to play for an encore (Kevin didn't know what it was going to be), and then announced Louie Louie! Kevin cracked up and played a few bars of it before they got serious.
They started and it *was* a classic: the Nix-Penn chestnut, Like a Road Leading Home. The Dead never played this, but of course Garcia and Saunders had. They just killed it, as we all soared along with them and I personally hoped that Kevin can meet the upcoming challenges of elder care and raising kids while remembering the road fondly. We stumbled out the back entrance after it was over and the "beach" crowd was still mobbing the streets, though when we finally got out of town it was a smooth ride back home.
Friday, May 31, 2013
DSO in 2013, part 1
We'd had such a great time seeing Dark Star Orchestra on June 1 2012, and then had missed the opportunity to see them last Fall, so we were chomping at the bit to see them a year later, last night (5/30) at the House of Blues Boston.
Quick notes here since we're seeing them again at Hampton Beach tomorrow:
Quick notes here since we're seeing them again at Hampton Beach tomorrow:
- got into Boston in good time even though traffic's been horrible lately, thank Dog the Sox weren't playing
- got a parking space immediately on Van Ness and a cop's approval
- I was 30 minutes before time to meet Sarah, so hung out on the sidewalk across from Fenway, talking to some serious DSO heads from VT while RobE, RobB, Lisa, and then RobK straggled out from the soundcheck to their (air-conditioned, suddenly in the 90s in Boston) bus
- had a fine dinner (mushroom and arugula pizza) at the HOB, and then waited in the "bought an entree" line and were some of the first people into the hall after getting thoroughly searched (rock concerts can be so much fun)
- the place we wanted was roped off for "VIPs" who never showed (anarchy ruled there eventually), but put our backs to a pole, 25 feet to the right of the stage and were happy; it got crowded, especially in the second set, but we defended our space
- the band and the show was awesome; they did an original set list and (though it was filled with an over-abundance of 80s songs to my taste), this was what you want from a band: to play the songs they're feeling that night and just ride with them playing them at their best
- highlights were opening with Might As Well, some great vocals by Jeff including a masterly job on the incredible To Lay Me Down, Lisa just tearing down the house with her soulful-but-spacey alto on Music Never Stopped (end of first set), as good a drums/space/feedback second-set interval as you could ask for, a 10-minute romp at the end of the second set on Let It Rock (which I believe the Dead did only once, which shows the benefit of DSO not being bound by historical accuracy), and a closing Golden Road which had *everyone* jumping
- Kevin Rosen (DSO bass player) is retiring from the road and this was his last show "with the full band" according to Lisa and Dino (though his official last show is supposedly tomorrow in NH); I joined a sidewalk conversation with him and the aforementioned DSO heads before the show and was very glad to be able to thank him for his years of service
- rock concerts can be such a pain in the ass: they searched us, they wouldn't let us stand where we wanted to, they wouldn't let our friends sit on the floor an hour before the show (for security reasons?!?), the hall reeked of spilled beer halfway through the second set (it was a sticky mess after everyone left), and worst of all I yelled at some people who were shouting their conversation DURING To Lay Me Down, which is like farting during the sermon (luckily I talked later with one of them and we both apologized)
- here's the setlist: Set 1 - Might As Well, New Minglewood Blues, Candyman, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (sung by Kevin), Hell In a Bucket, When Push Comes to Shove, Hey Pocky Way, It's All Over Now, To Lay Me Down, The Music Never Stopped; Set 2 - Cats Under the Stars, Estimated Prophet, Touch of Grey, Lost Sailor, Saint of Circumstance, Drums, Feedback, Dear Mr. Fantasy, I Need a Miracle, Standing On the Moon, Throwing Stones, Let It Rock; Encore - The Golden Road to Unlimited Devotion
- paused to catch our breath (Kevin was lingering on stage), and then straggled out ourselves at a few minutes before midnight and had a quick drive home, getting to bed by 12:45 or so on a work night
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Ithaca College Graduation 2013
Time flies by and my son David, whom I just took to first grade the other day, graduated from Ithaca College on Sunday, May 19th. Some family and friends were able to make it and we were all able to sit together in Butterfield Stadium for the big event.
Dave and some graduating friends lucked out and processed into good seats up front, but we could see them and waved back and forth all through it. The speaker was a TV star who'd graduated from IC (David Bore-eanatz I think), and the other speakers kept up the same level of "excitement." Good thing none of them had anything coherent to say, since that would have just detracted from the occasion. We absolutely loved it, and on this I'm not kidding!!!
This was a unique experience for me, and I'm still struggling to encapsulate it. Perhaps others who've watched their kids graduate college share the same feelings. There was the intense background sense of happiness I felt at his high school graduation, but there was also a sense of relief that he'd made it so far, a sense of handing over the reins, and a sense of feeling right with the universe. We'd kept our noses to the grindstone (our son more than us, and this definitely added to the significance), and we'd come out in an over-the-rainbow place that we always felt existed but we knew wouldn't be real until we got there.
OK, enough with the heaviness of it ... it was actually a very light day and we all were floating, not mired in meanings. After the ceremony we gathered by the fountains in Dillingham for a school reception and some pictures, and then drove back and forth across town endlessly as we all changed clothes and settled.
Then we took off up to Lansing for an incredible party with a lot of drinking and hugging.
Dave and some graduating friends lucked out and processed into good seats up front, but we could see them and waved back and forth all through it. The speaker was a TV star who'd graduated from IC (David Bore-eanatz I think), and the other speakers kept up the same level of "excitement." Good thing none of them had anything coherent to say, since that would have just detracted from the occasion. We absolutely loved it, and on this I'm not kidding!!!
This was a unique experience for me, and I'm still struggling to encapsulate it. Perhaps others who've watched their kids graduate college share the same feelings. There was the intense background sense of happiness I felt at his high school graduation, but there was also a sense of relief that he'd made it so far, a sense of handing over the reins, and a sense of feeling right with the universe. We'd kept our noses to the grindstone (our son more than us, and this definitely added to the significance), and we'd come out in an over-the-rainbow place that we always felt existed but we knew wouldn't be real until we got there.
OK, enough with the heaviness of it ... it was actually a very light day and we all were floating, not mired in meanings. After the ceremony we gathered by the fountains in Dillingham for a school reception and some pictures, and then drove back and forth across town endlessly as we all changed clothes and settled.
Then we took off up to Lansing for an incredible party with a lot of drinking and hugging.
Hot Rize in Ithaca
Well, this was just serendipity rearing its ugly head: Dave was graduating from Ithaca College on May 19th (Sunday) and Hot Rize, the greatest bluegrass band that's ever existed, was playing at the State Theatre in Ithaca on Friday night, May 17th. So we got out there in plenty of time for a dinner at the Fine Line Bistro with family and friends and then took off the few blocks for the State on a fine Spring night.
We'd gotten tickets a few months before the show and at that point a great number of the best orchestra sets were taken, and so I opted for tickets in the second row of the balcony, center. As it turns out, they probably never sold much beyond that, those of us who wanted to go had gotten tickets as soon as we could. I couldn't see the orchestra well enough to count the empty seats, but probably over 90% of the balcony was a ghost town. Our friend John bought a ticket at the box office and sat in the row behind us.
Oh well, that's the music business. Hot Rize is apparently not the thrill they once were. Tim's let it slip that they're working on a new record, and they played one number from it, but the band seemed interested only in playing the old Hot Rize songbook, singing the same old harmonies, and trading the same old licks. I think these are the finest kind (to quote Red) and that, for example, O'Brien's and Forster's harmonies are some of the best ever and I could listen to them on a desert island ... but I could stand a few new tunes.
A local band, Cornerstone, opened and demonstrated what an intriguing musical art form bluegrass is. In some runs they were extremely technically proficient and on some songs, especially the ones sung by Dee Specker, they showed some great vocal talent. We were grooving and then they brought out Pete Wernick (an ex-Ithaca resident) and our jaws dropped open as we realized what a gap there is between "pretty good" and talents like Hot Rize.
I won't go far into describing the main act because they were exactly what we expected: High On a Mountain, Radio Boogie, Brian Sutton blowing us away with hot leads, Tim blowing us away with even hotter leads, Tom and Jerry, Empty Pocket Blues, Pete blowing us away with deceptively simple banjo runs, Nick looking so cool in his suit and permed hair, Don't Make Me Believe, Lamps Trimmed and Burning, and the same stuff we've seen many times.
Then this other band came out and played some of *their* standard stuff like Oh Mona, If You Ain't Loving You Ain't Living, and Always Late. Then the first band came out and finished with the best, like Colleen Malone, Walk the Way the Wind Blows, and Shady Grove. A quiet crowd but this is/was some of the most incredible music I've ever known ... and most of the people there seemed to feel the same way, nodding their heads slowly as we walked away and out into the college crowd night.
We'd gotten tickets a few months before the show and at that point a great number of the best orchestra sets were taken, and so I opted for tickets in the second row of the balcony, center. As it turns out, they probably never sold much beyond that, those of us who wanted to go had gotten tickets as soon as we could. I couldn't see the orchestra well enough to count the empty seats, but probably over 90% of the balcony was a ghost town. Our friend John bought a ticket at the box office and sat in the row behind us.
Oh well, that's the music business. Hot Rize is apparently not the thrill they once were. Tim's let it slip that they're working on a new record, and they played one number from it, but the band seemed interested only in playing the old Hot Rize songbook, singing the same old harmonies, and trading the same old licks. I think these are the finest kind (to quote Red) and that, for example, O'Brien's and Forster's harmonies are some of the best ever and I could listen to them on a desert island ... but I could stand a few new tunes.
A local band, Cornerstone, opened and demonstrated what an intriguing musical art form bluegrass is. In some runs they were extremely technically proficient and on some songs, especially the ones sung by Dee Specker, they showed some great vocal talent. We were grooving and then they brought out Pete Wernick (an ex-Ithaca resident) and our jaws dropped open as we realized what a gap there is between "pretty good" and talents like Hot Rize.
I won't go far into describing the main act because they were exactly what we expected: High On a Mountain, Radio Boogie, Brian Sutton blowing us away with hot leads, Tim blowing us away with even hotter leads, Tom and Jerry, Empty Pocket Blues, Pete blowing us away with deceptively simple banjo runs, Nick looking so cool in his suit and permed hair, Don't Make Me Believe, Lamps Trimmed and Burning, and the same stuff we've seen many times.
Then this other band came out and played some of *their* standard stuff like Oh Mona, If You Ain't Loving You Ain't Living, and Always Late. Then the first band came out and finished with the best, like Colleen Malone, Walk the Way the Wind Blows, and Shady Grove. A quiet crowd but this is/was some of the most incredible music I've ever known ... and most of the people there seemed to feel the same way, nodding their heads slowly as we walked away and out into the college crowd night.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Steve and Wilbur
Went to see Steve Earle on Sunday, 5/12 at the Wilbur Theater in Boston. His wife, Alison Moorer did not play but the Mastersons and his regular drummer and bassist did and it was extraordinary. They had the Wilbur set up for cafe seating and we were at a table right in front of the stage. This was fantastic. He did stuff from his new album, some old songs like Guitar Town, Copperhead Road, Hard Core Troubadour, etc. The crowd was really enthusiastic and he did two encores, three songs in the first and two in the second. He closed with the song he closed with in Concord NH the last time we saw him: It Takes a Lot To Laugh It Takes a Train To Cry, introduced as before with , "This one is by Bob."
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
2013 Walk for Hunger
Participated in the 45th (my 22nd) Walk for Hunger this year. Here's my synopsis:
It was a sunny but not-hot-at-all day on Sunday, as
we've often gotten this Spring, and that was perfect weather for walking.
The Spring flowers were popping up everywhere and it's always a great
time of year to see the neighborhoods of Greater Boston.
At the start I detoured up
Boylston street rather than sticking to the route up Comm Ave, and stopped at
the memorial to the Marathon tragedy that's sprung up at Copley Square.
It's bigger than I thought, hundreds and hundreds of caps, stuffed animals,
running shoes, flowers, cards, etc. It was very moving, especially in the
early morning (6:45 or so) on a Sunday, with the rising sun lighting up Trinity
Church and the Boston Public.
The participant turnout and the
total raised for the Walk was a little lower than average this year, probably
because people had other opportunities for contributing to the community.
So your contributions meant even more than normal. Thanks again!
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