JRAD hasn't been touring anywhere near as much as we'd like, but we're really glad that when they do tour, they almost always seem to stop in Boston (and had been in Bangor the week before). They played the waterfront pavilion in Boston on August 12th and we got great tickets and were psyched, though our fingers were crossed that we wouldn't have the bad weather luck we'd had with Phil Lesh back in July.
Dave had been on vacation in Maine with us, and so we had a fun day of croquet and board games before heading into the city through surprisingly light traffic, down to a parking garage on Drydock Avenue so we could eat dinner at Lord Hobo's Seaport restaurant.
And what a sight when we walked out of the garage. We were a block away from the cruise ship terminal and the Caribbean Princess (hailing from Bermuda) was docked there. OMG, I'd never seen boat that big! It towered over us and over the huge office building next to it. We shuddered at the thought of taking a cruise on a ship like that, you'd be surrounded by people, stuffed into an expensive and tiny state room, and expected to enjoy mainstream entertainment. Not for us.
And speaking of non-mainstream entertainment, we headed up to the Leader Bank Pavilion (current name) after a fine meal at Lord Hobo. There they gave me a brimful cup of Harpoon IPA (well, I had to pay for it) and we had a fine time hanging out on their patio over the harbor while waiting for the show to start. We've got to kayak into the Inner Harbor someday and see the venue from there, though I plan to give a wide berth to the Black Falcon Terminal, especially if they've got one of those monsters docked there.
Not a bad crowd experience, but this was not like Bangor to say the least. The place was packed and there was Saturday-night-out-to-a-rock-show crowd noise going on around us all through it, as well as lots of people who really weren't paying attention to the music pushing past us to their seats for a few minutes and then back out, and repeat. But the weather stayed great all night and there were also lots of people there who were dancing (the guy in front of us was dancing so hard he almost fell over a few times), smoking good pot (as opposed to Fenway), and raving along. Many people agree with me that this is one of the best bands around.
The crowd was slow to fill in and the start was a little delayed, but then they straggled out like a good GD band, this time with Dave Dreiwitz back on bass. And he had no problem letting us know of his presence, Dave had taken his vitamins, as well as the other guys on stage. Here's the first set:
- Stagger Lee
- Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line
- Eyes of the World
- Me and My Uncle
- Mission in the Rain
- Uncle John's Band
- Ophelia
We'd talked about them doing Stagger Lee, and here it was! This is such a great, character-driven song and I love that, and Tommy sang it perfectly. His teleprompter was working fine that night. And then they totally reversed again, and Scott riveted us with one of the original, quintessential Outlaw Country songs. Besides growling and singing the hell out of this, he played a space-country lead all through it that had me jumping up and down (figuratively). I was kind of surprised when several people around me were asking, "What's that song??" They claimed to have never heard it before, which I could understand for many people, but not the guys my age.
Well, toweled off after that and then realized that the long, mellow jam they had started into had taken form and they were playing Eyes. Joe has gotten more and more involved in the singing since we first saw his band back in 2015, and harmony singing has gradually become one of their strengths. He backs up Tommy with a lower line, and Scott joins in with a higher one, a bunch of angels, especially on an uplifting song like Eyes. And then Scott brought us right back out to the country with a rollicking MAMU.
After that a fantastic Mission In the Rain that many people talked through, a great UJB, and then a tribute to the recently deceased Robbie Robertson with their Levon-esque cover of Ophelia. Again, wow that was a great set.
Yup, it had been such a great set that I was already kind of worn out. I could have gone home at that point and been satisfied, but there was still another set to go. The crowd was milling about like it was Saturday night at a rock concert, but that's part of the price of admission. Not too long a break though, and then the band came straggling back out.
Again, I have to gush about Marco, who is just an incredible technical player as well as having a truly warped musical imagination. How he can command those keyboards the way he does is amazing. His standard white t-shirt read, "Dear Earth, thanks for the flowers." And Joe Russo is a talent that everyone should experience. Who doesn't like a good drummer? And besides the energy and dynamism he brings, he's an amazing technical player too, who never misses a beat and who conducts his band with facial expressions, sticking out his tongue(!), and a few hand gestures.
Here's the second set:
- New Speedway Boogie
- Crazy Fingers
- Playing In the Band
- I Second That Emotion
- Let It Grow
- Stella Blue
Highlights were a long, jammed out Crazy Fingers and a crowd-pleasing Second That Emotion, that had everyone dancing and singing along. After that though, Joe was taken over again by the dragons and started playing louder and faster and louder and faster until you thought something had to bust. And then Scott jumped up to his mike and started screaming about the young girl singing her way down to the river and gathering her water. I wonder if she knows the little school girl? This was a cathartic Let It Grow, and after that Tommy took over and sang a beautiful but dark Stella Blue to cap it off.
OMG, do these guys never quit? I'd been a little worn out but that second set packed so much energy that I had no choice but to stand and dance all through it, especially when the guy in front of us was dancing so hard you thought his spine must be made of rubber.
Joe is always a gracious host and thanked us as profusely as ever. But after a break they came back out for an encore of Saturday Night. Scott really hammed it up on this, calling out one more Saturday night in Boston. I guess they like it here and I'm glad they do.
We sat back down and let the crowd filter out a bit before we took off. Not a long walk back to the garage and luckily not a long line to exit. We twisted around to the ramp down to the tunnels, and then made it back home without any traffic delays. Another great night with JRAD and I can't wait to see them again!
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