Another not-great night at the Hampton Inn, probably over-tiredness and too much rich food. Though we were having a great time (and always have at Phil concerts), it's not exactly a stress-free experience for a senior citizen like me. Anyway, time to get up, take a shower, eat some cereal, and I was ready for another day!
Unfortunately, the weather on Sunday, October 23rd, was pretty dreary. We sat around the room some, blogged and checked out TV, and then decided we wanted to get out and do something. We considered a movie, but the one we wanted to see wasn't showing until late afternoon. I suggested going to see the Long Island Sound coastline somewhere, so we looked at the map and settled on the Greenwich Point Park. But when we got there we were turned away, seems we had to have a sticker that would have cost us $40 for the season, and they charged $9/person on top of that. Fuck that!
So we turned around and had a great time at the John J. Boccuzzi Park, exploring the park and a walkway around the inner part of Stamford Harbor, which is the outlet of the Rippowam River which our hotel was on. Good thing it was high tide, because even though it was there was some smell from the trash and flotsam around the shore. Low tide would have been interesting. But we had a fun time, walking around and talking about, "Can you imagine owning a boat like *that*?" They all looked pretty silly, and most looked downright uncomfortable, though they were probably worth a lot of money. Downtown Stamford is full of huge apartment buildings too, and I checked out one we walked by, where monthly rents exceed $4k, plus fees. Not for us, and not at all scenic!
Back to the hotel after that, but we didn't want to eat our last round of sandwiches yet, so looked on the map again and found what turned out to be a friendly, nearby bar for lunch, Tiernan's Pub. Their beer was cold and their salads not bad. Back to the hotel after that for a nap and then a bit of Sunday football, and then off to Port Chester! Dinner at Kiosko one last time, and then down through the intermittent rain and into the theater.
The Sunday crowd was late arriving, but the people finally started pouring in and the show started a little later than the previous two nights. We had seen two beyond-excellent shows already and so for Sunday, though we expected that great band would vastly entertain us again, we expected a bit of a slower night. And for the first set it *was* slower, but at the same time more precise, with a crystalline quality. I thought to myself that they seemed almost like a chamber orchestra in the first set, playing each part succinctly and making sure to stick to the arrangements, valuing ensemble sound more than virtuosity. And this was great! Here's the setlist:
- New Speedway Boogie
- Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
- Wharf Rat
- Dear Prudence
- Jack-a-Roe
- That's What Love Will Make You Do
- U.S. Blues
I'd anticipated they'd play Speedway at some point during the weekend, and this wasn't as dark as they'd been the previous night but was played exactly and so was top-notch, as was Half-Step. But then they thrilled Dave, doing an epic, precise, version of one of his favorite songs. We were already enthralled by the range of the band again, with Molo's great drumming and the six singers they could go from pin-drop quiet to roaring chorus in a wave of wonderful sound ("I'll get up and FLY AWAY!").
James then stepped up and did a great vocal on Dear Prudence, and of course it was Grahame on old favorite Jack-a-Roe. But then it was Jennifer's turn again and, though we were prepared, she knocked us flat on our backs one more time with an incredible, colorful, emotion-laden cover of What Love Will Make You Do. This had everybody up and hanging on her every turn of phrase, stretching out some of the soulful lines and then roaring the great chorus, "I'm trying hard to express myself because BABY THAT'S THE WAY I FEEL!" Another short and precise song after that to end the set, U.S. Blues.
Oh no, our time on the Phil planet was drawing to a close! And there was so much we still wanted to see them do. We were sure they were going to do the Help/Slip/Franklin's suite sometime that weekend, Dave was dying for some Bobby song I forget, and we were hoping to hear that horn section do some great jam like Let It Grow.
Another long set break, and we were all pretty tired. I was almost ready for a nap in the balcony at the Cap, but then the band came back on and had me up on my feet and dancing through the whole second set. And it was great that after such a tidy nugget of a first set, they came out looser than you'd believe and let it all hang out for the final set of the weekend. Here's the list:
- Shakedown Street
- Mason's Children
- Hard To Handle
- Estimated Prophet
- Unbroken Chain
- Stella Blue
- Turn On Your Lovelight
Wow, this was more fabulous stuff from that great band! Can't emphasize too much that these guys played like they'd been playing together for years (the one exception was that Rick showed some inexperience with some songs). And there were more great performances. James soloed once again on Shakedown and it made the song seen so fresh to be led by a tenor. Mason's was more great ensemble singing and they did not hesitate to milk the song for all it was worth.
And then they did a Hard To Handle of death. When they started this song with a flourish from the horns, we hoped that Jennifer would sing it, but I think that Rick had told Phil, "I'll do anything you want but you have to let me sing HTH." And he sure did an excellent job on both the vocal and the strident lead guitar, and then the guys jammed and jammed, touching on the Dead's early treatments of the song.
Dave called Estimated after that, and then Phil stepped up for a lead vocal on his classic Unbroken Chain. His voice wavered a bit at times on this and he showed a little annoyance with the rest of the band when they didn't fill in where he thought they should. But what's a Phil weekend without a bit of a rough edge from the maestro?
And then after that, the TAB Three cleared out except for Jennifer and we knew we about to go to heaven (or hell) again. I called it, Stella Blue. Her voice is so delicate and powerful at the same time, and even after honking that trumpet all night she brings such emotion and color to her singing. We were all standing on egg-shells listening intently to her phrasings, and then her compatriots came out while the band was working up to the crescendo, and Natalie and James joined her in a full-throated, amazing chorus of, "Seems like all this life, Seems like all this life, Seems like all this life..." and then Jennifer took it to the roof with, "Was just a dream!" What a performance by the TAB Three, they are just fantastic.
They closed with a fun and short Lovelight. We'd been hoping Natalie would take the lead on this, but no lead from her on Sunday night. Whatever, it was a great closer and it had been a great weekend of music. Phil came out and did another nice donor rap, again almost getting all the names right when he introduced the band. I called Ripple as the encore, and yet again they did it as a rocker rather than a ballad, Grahame driving it with a great rock 'n' roll guitar, like they'd done at the Cap in 2021.
Oh no! Goodbye Phil, we really hope we'll see you again! They got together for a last bow and you could tell that Phil was feeling as tired as we were. Anyway, back down the grand stairway in the Cap and out to the street. What had we just seen? Was this concert as good as Friday's and Saturday's? Could or should they be ranked? My feeling at this point is that no, they shouldn't. They were each fantastic in their own right, there's no need to compare them to each other. Each night, everyone in the band had shown the highest level of musicianship, there had been amazing individual performances, and there had been amazing ensemble playing and singing. Perhaps the sound of the weekend for me will be the guitar interplay, or the great vocal performances, or the fantastic bottom end with Molo's drumming and Phil's new speakers, or the versatility of Medeski ... or maybe all of it!
OK, one last slow drive through Port Chester and following a line of cars to the Turnpike, and then back to the hotel, where we decompressed for just a bit and then crawled into bed.
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