Bill Corr's Blog

Todd Snider - Club Congress - February 1, 2012

2012-02-03T13:12:00.001-08:00

Last night we went to the Club Congress in downtown Tucson to see Todd Snider. We checked out this great music venue the last time we were in Tucson a couple of years ago. It's an interesting place that fills the first floor of an historic old hotel, there's a small barroom, an outside cafe, and the music room, which also has a bar. There's even a coffee bar for folks more interested in caffeine and desserts. Todd Snider has attracted an increased amount of my attention over the last few years, this was my first opportunity to see him perform, save for a brief appearance on the small stage at All Good about three or four years ago. He calls his music "stoner folkie" but I say that he's more like a modern day John Prine. There's also an element to his style that is reminiscent of the "talking blues" made popular by Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. Most of his songs are stories, some quite funny, some very touching, many are both. He does mostly all originals but there were a few covers last night. I particularly like "Alcohol and Pills", "Beer Run -> Age like Wine", and one called "Kids" from his new album to be released in a couple of weeks. His roadie opened the encore with a killer Elvis impersonation ("Don't Be Cruel"). This was our first live music adventure since establishing our winter base camp in Tucson and Todd Snider was a great way to kick things off. For my friends back on the east coast, Todd will be playing at the Rams Head in Annapolis and the Jefferson Theater next week, I strongly recommend that you check him out.

Jam Week - String Cheese Incident/Dark Star Orchestra/Donna the Buffalo

2011-12-05T06:47:00.001-08:00

I had the good fortune last week to see three different musical performances, all by bands that would be loosely categorized as "jam bands". The first was String Cheese Incident at the Baltimore Lyric Opera House, then Dark Star Orchestra at the 9:30 club in DC, and finally Donna the Buffalo at the Ram's Head Tavern in Annapolis, MD.

The first show, or "Incident" as String Cheese likes to call their shows, was my first visit to the Baltimore Lyric Opera House. There have been previous performers there that interested me, but I felt that the ticket prices were too steep. But the Incident pricing was reasonable and it is rare for this band to tour on the East Coast so I bought a ticket. It was not quite a sellout, but a house full of devoted Cheeseheads who were totally into the music. I've listened to this band plenty of times, I think they're very talented musicians, but none of their songs have ever really stuck with me. Guitarist Bill Nershi often tours the festival circuit with Drew Emmitt (of Leftover Salmon). Keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth is originally from Baltimore and he commented during the show that he performed as a child at the Lyric in a holiday concert. (Someone next to me believed that his parents were watching from offstage). The Lyric Opera House is over 100 years old, but was recently renovated. It seems to seat about 2500 people (compared to the Warner Theater's 1800). The sight lines and acoustics are excellent and there is a reasonably priced parking garage immediately next to the theater. The only thing that I didn't like (along with other folks that I talked to) is you can't take your drink from the lobby into the theater. So you can drink or listen to music, just not both at the same time.

A couple of nights later we decided to catch Dark Star Orchestra at the 9:30 club, I've commented on this band before in this space, unlike most cover bands who play songs by other artists, Dark Star performs entire Grateful Dead concerts. The date of the concert being recreated is never announced until the end of the show so during the show audience members discuss and guess which one of the 25,000+ Dead shows they are listening to. This one turned out to be from October 8, 1989 at the Hampton Roads Coliseum. I thought the Dark Star lost a step when John Kadlecik was promoted to play with Furthur and was replaced with Jeff Mattson. But this was the best performance that I had heard from them since John's departure, it was really quite enjoyable. In line for tickets we found ourselves standing next to Senator Al Franken (D - Minnesota) who seemed to be having a good time hanging out with real people and not having to deal with the clowns in his workplace a few blocks down the street. He got on stage to introduce the band for the second set, it's kind of funny, you can watch it by clicking here.

The final show of this jam band trifecta was Donna the Buffalo at the intimate Ram's Head Tavern. This was a very enjoyable show, we've seen them plenty of times before but they are always entertaining, especially in a nice venue like the Ram's Head. They played a wide variety of songs, old and new, many of them audience requests. That was the especially nice part of the show, because of the intimate setting, the band members frequently interacted with the audience, chatting them up, Tara even told a dirty joke while Jeb was tuning. She seemed to regret that, so she asked an audience member to tell one, and someone quickly complied. It was great seeing and hearing DTB in this intimate and casual setting. I should also mention that Amy LaVere and her band opened the show. I never had heard of her before, but she was very impressive. She plays stand up bass and sings in a style that reminded me a little of Amy Winehouse. All original material, although she did perform "Candle Mambo" by Captain Beefheart!

So at the risk of sounding like Goldilocks, the first show was a great new venue for me, the band was good but the content (i.e. the songs) were not very strong. The second show was a favorite band in a favorite venue, but nothing really new or exciting. And the last show was "just right", great setting and great music.

Furthur/Back Porch Orchestra/Warren Haynes Band

2011-11-23T08:30:00.001-08:00

I was able to catch the Furthur show on November 8 at the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville. This was the fifth show on their fall tour, the last time I was at JPJ it was to see the Dead in 2009. This is a nice arena because it's small, it's on a university campus, and I always like hanging in Charlottesville. As I've said before here, Furthur continues to improve as time goes on and this show was no disappointment. What was really special for me was the inclusion of Pink Floyd's "Time" (from Dark Side of the Moon) in the second set. It really blew my mind, or maybe it was the cookies and punch that I had in the parking lot before the show? Whatever, by the "Time" they kicked into that song I was comfortably numb. They also did a couple of Dylan tunes ("Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", "It's All Over Now Baby Blue") which are always fun.

I was in North Carolina for the weekend and my cousin took me to hear a local band called Back Porch Orchestra. Just four players (guitar, mandolin, bass, and singer) they were quite good, playing a mix of covers (Led Zeppelin, Tom Petty) and original songs. I'll have to keep them on my radar and hopefully see them again soon.

I raced back from North Carolina to get to the Fillmore in Silver Spring to catch the Warren Haynes Band. I made it in time to hear the last of the first set and all of the second set. Warren has formed this band and released an album as a tribute to his love for soul music, we saw them at the All Good Festival and this show was the last show on their tour. The addition of singer Alecia Chakour has made their vocal sound stronger. They did do some great soul tunes, including Sly Stone's "Let Me Have it All", Mother's Finest "Baby Love" and the Sam Cooke classic "A Change is Gonna Come". Then they started rocking things up with Jimi Hendrix's "Spanish Castle Magic" and Steely Dan's "Pretzel Logic". During the encore, which of course included Warren's "Soulshine" they sequed into Van Morrison's "Tupelo Honey". This was truly a magical musical moment, I think all of the players were inspired trying to make this last show really special. A special nod of appreciation goes to sax player Ron Holloway (from Takoma Park). I think if the Stones ever need a replacement for Bobby Keys, Ron is their man. The Fillmore is starting to work through some of the initial issues that I had with this venue, like no good beer on the menu and a little too much "corporate presence" from the Live Nation folks. The sound is great and look forward to more/better shows in the future.

Journey Across America

2011-11-07T10:39:00.000-08:00

I've seen a great deal of live music since my last blog update, just haven't found the time to write it down. We saw two great shows at the Merriweather Post Pavilion, Steely Dan in the first week of August and Zappa Plays Zappa/Return to Forever in the second week. The ZPZ/RTF show was particularly good, although I was disappointed that Jean Luc Ponty did not join ZPZ for a song or two. We also went to the Frank Zappa Day in Baltimore in September , caught several good bands including the All Mighty Senators. And we saw a really special show in September at the Jammin' Java - Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, and others did an amazing performance of original and King Crimson music that needs additional comment. I spent the first two weekends in October at the Misty Mountain Music Festival and the Festy, two great festivals in the hills of central Virginia (with a nice Bruce Cockburn show at the Charlottesville Jefferson Theatre tossed in there).

But for this blog entry I'm going to diverge from the live music theme and share some photos and comments of our Drive Across America. We wanted to establish a winter home away from home in the Southwest so we decided to relocate our Pinnacle from Maryland to Arizona. What follows is a summary of that trip.

Thursday 10/20

The Bird, the F-350, and the Pinnacle - ready to start

The Bird and I set out on Thursday 10/20 with the Pinnacle in tow, heading south and making our first stop at Natural Bridge, Virginia. We stayed at the Yogi Bear campground which is in a nice rural setting and plenty of space. Our truck was reading 9 miles of fuel remaining on the trip computer, so we headed out Thursday evening in search for a quick diesel fill up. That turned into a white knuckle driving adventure as every gas station in the Natural Bridge/Buena Vista area was either closed/out of fuel/or no diesel on the menu. We must have driven 30 miles before we finally coasted in on fumes to a station with available fuel. Later that evening I watched the last few innings of Game 2 of the World Series, Rangers win 2 - 1.

Friday 10/21

I lived in Virginia for 25 years but for some reason never visited this natural wonder. We were one of the first to arrive at the Natural Bridge Friday morning, I had rather low expectations, thinking it would be a little bridge that you looked at for five minutes and then that was it. Instead this thing is huge, with a beautiful trail that winds underneath and up into the mountains. It is higher than Niagara Falls and the Lee Highway still runs over it. We really enjoyed it and I was glad the Bird suggested checking it out.

Natural Bridge

Here is where a young surveyor named George Washington carved his initials in the bridge in 1750.

Lace Falls, near the Natural Bridge

After that we drove five miles up to a "drive through safari" where you can see and feed a wide variety of exotic animals from the comfort of the front seat of your vehicle.

This llama was the first to greet us.

Ostrich at the Safari

The camels were the most assertive in getting food. One of them decided to grab the whole bowl rather than eat out of it.

After the safari, we went back to Yogi Bear's place, hooked up the Pinnacle and headed south. Our propane system had been acting strangely, so we stopped at the Camping World in Roanoke to have a professional take a look at it. Turns out the switch that allows you to switch between primary and backup tanks is installed exactly backwards, which was causing me much confusion. The folks at Camping World were very helpful and soon we were on our way. The town of Sevierville, just outside of Knoxville, Tennessee was our next stop at the Two Rivers camp resort. This place is right in the middle of a commercial district, many outlet centers and fast food joints but it's right on the French Broad river (what a name) and the facilities are top notch. The on site manager, Ken, helped me back the Pinnacle into the snug site and his wife had hot coffee ready for us in the morning at the main building.

Saturday 10/22

We pulled out Saturday morning and rather than taking the interstate, we decided to take a more scenic route. After getting through the over the top touristy attractions in Gatlinburg we wound through some beautiful fall foliage in the Great Smokey Mountains. Then we nipped across the northwest corner of Georgia and on to Birmingham Alabama. We found a nice state park (Oak Mountain), set up the rig and headed into town in search of barbecue (or is it bar-b-que? or BBQ?). We found some good meat at Jim N Nicks which is right in the downtown area. Saw some of Game 3 of the World Series in the restaurant, caught an inning or so on the radio on the drive home, then finished up watching the bloodbath in the Pinnacle, Cards win 16 - 7.

Sunday 10/23

From Birmingham we headed due south to the Gulf Shores state park and got a great campsite location, this is a park where you could spend several days. We had a nice seafood dinner in Orange Beach, and enjoyed the peaceful serenity of the state park. Watched Texas get their game back and win Game 4 with a score of 4 - 0.

The Pinnacle in Gulf Shores State Park in Alabama

Monday 10/24

In the morning I took a nice bike ride over some trails surrounding the state park and the Bird and I then spent some time on the beach. We met some guys who were using nets to pick up very small tar balls from the beach and we saw some fishermen pull in a few whiting.

Me monitoring Gulf Shore cleanup activities.

Pavilion on the Beach

Fishing on the Gulf Shore

After visiting the beach, we loaded up and drove across the bottom of Mississippi and on to New Orleans. We found a funky campground in the grounds of an old plantation about 45 miles outside of the city. It's called Poche Plantation, right on the Mississippi River, and has a lot of character. After setting up the rig we soaked in the hot tub, made some dinner and watched a tough battle (Game 5) where the Rangers prevailed 4 - 2. During commercials I watched the Ravens take a terrible drubbing against the weak Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Pinnacle at Poche Plantation, outside of New Orleans

Tuesday 10/25

We decided to take a break from traveling on this day and do some sightseeing in New Orleans. Cafe au lait with beignets at Cafe du Monde, then searching the old St. Louis cemeteries for the crypt of Maria Laveau, a voodoo priestess mentioned in songs by Dr. John, Canned Heat, Dr. Hook, and others. We didn't find her but the search was fun. Then beers and oysters at the Royal House, a drive through the lower 9th ward to see how it was faring, and dinner at Jacques-Ismo's with our friend Mariah and some of her Tulane college buddies.

The band takes a break

The Bird checks out the cemetery while keeping an eye on the Powerball.

This might be Madame Laveau's crypt.

View from our table at the Oyster House

Jacques-ismo's Restaurant

With our new friends from Tulane

Wednesday 10/26

Heading west from New Orleans it was a long drive to Katy, Texas just west of Houston. We stopped for a tasty etouffe lunch in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Then we made it the Stephen F. Austin State Park which was very nice. Large campsites in a beautiful wooded setting, the place was crawling with deer and other wildlife. My cousin Woody, his son Jack, and Jack's girlfriend Kayla came by to visit. We had a good time catching up, showing photos to each other, and the Bird even helped Jack with some of his calculus homework. We would have watched Game 6 of the world series, but it was rained out.

Stephen F. Austin State Park

Thursday 10/27

Took a nice but short bike ride in the State Park in the morning, then it was a relatively short travel time from Katy to Austin, where we set up camp in the McKinney Falls State Park. Nice setting, but it was a bit of a challenge to our back up skills to get the Pinnacle in the campsite. Once we setup, we headed into Austin and took the bat watching cruise. There were about 20 of us on a open air party boat that sailed around on Lady Bird Lake ending up at sunset under the Congressional Bridge. 1.5 million bats live under the bridge and at sunset they all fly out to go bug hunting. It is quite a sight to see. Cap'n Dave kept us entertained with fun facts about Austin and the bats throughout the cruise. Afterwards we went to a barbecue joint called Green Mesquite, super service, great atmosphere and tasty smoked meat. Game 6 of the World Series was on a TV in the restaurant, but it was out of my sight, so after eating we headed back to the camper and watched the last half of the game, Cards win 10 - 9 in a wild extra inning extra inning affair.

Here's a one minute video that I took of the bats taking off from under the Congress Street Bridge. In the background you can hear Cap'n Dave giving us bat facts.

Friday 10/28

It is a long drive west from Austin to get to New Mexico. In fact it's too long so most folks stop about halfway in Ft. Stockton, TX. I think this is the only reason this place exists, but we found a very nice campground and an even nicer Mexican restaurant called Mi Casita. There was no real television reception in Ft. Stockton, so I listened to Game 7 on the satellite radio, Cards win 6 - 2 and clinch the Championship.

Beautiful Fort Stockton Texas

There was a barbecue contest at the campground where we were staying. Check out this Texas style Barbecue cooker.

Saturday 10/29

Our next day took us to Alamogordo, New Mexico where we set up at the Boot Hill RV resort. Alamogordo is not much of an attraction, but just 20 miles north at the Three Rivers National Park are these fascinating petroglyphs carved into rocks by Native Americans some 1,000 years ago. It is a National Park and the park rangers that live out there in the desert with the petroglyphs are a hilarious couple, almost like a southwestern version of Stiller and Meara.

Three Rivers Petroglyph site. Our truck is parked in the parking lot down there.

This one looks like a Peace sign.

Sunday 10/30

We set out from Alamogordo with the intention of making another stop in New Mexico to check out their hot springs in City of Rocks or Gila Forest, but once we started rolling we decided to push on to Picacho, AZ, the final destination for this trek. We made it just as it turned dark, all in all over 2,700 miles on the truck and 10 days of traveling.

Picacho Peak in Arizona

Floydest X - July 28 - 31 - Floyd, VA

2011-09-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

This year's Floydfest was billed as "Floydfest X - The EXperience" but for me the theme was more about passing musical legacies to the next generation. This was the tenth annual Floydfest (thus the "X") and the ninth consecutive Floydfest for me. This is absolutely, hands down, the best organized festival in the most beautiful setting that I have eXperienced, the tenth edition brought even larger crowds than years before, but the venue and the organizers handled it eXtremely well. The beautiful setting along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Floyd County Virginia includes at least nine stages, ranging from the ever so intimate Virginia Folklife Workshop Stage to the stunning Dreaming Creek Main Stage. Throughout the four day festival there is superb music being performed on each of the stages and as a festival goer your challenge to see and hear as much of it as you can.

We started on Thursday with two raucous sets by Trampled by Turtles and Old Crow Medicine Show. Trampled by Turtles has the traditional bluegrass instrumental lineup, but they play really, really fast. Their singing seemed to be much better than the last time I saw them. These guys are a lot of fun and I heartily recommend them. Old Crow Medicine Show is one of our favorite bands these days and at the Floydfest they delighted the crowd with a two hour set. They started out played each song straight through without any long instrumental solos or "jams", however this changed over time as Willie Watson commented "2 hours is a long time and our songs are so short. We're going to bring out every thing for you tonight". Soon thereafter they did a very nice spacey jam, but not really very long. They played several new tunes (I probably don't have these names right) "Carry Me Back to Virginia", "Tobacco Farmer Song", and "Levi" which was about a guy from southwest virginia who was killed in Iraq. As they played that song I thought of the soldier who sent a very moving email to the Floydfest organizers. He explained how he was on tour in Iraq and would not be able to make to the festival this year. I highly recommend you read it (click here). A week or so later I was disappointed to see posted on the Old Crow website that they were taking a performance sabbatical to "seek health and wellness in the coming months". I certainly hope that they find it and are making great music again soon.

Bicycling by the Festival on the Blue Ridge Parkway

On Friday we went to the Virginia Folklife Workshop Stage to see Sam Bush. The Workshop Stage provides an amazing opportunity to see top notch performers up close and in an informal setting where folks can ask questions and learn about the person behind the music. Here's a picture that I took of Sam playing (along with guitarist Stephen Mougin) that shows how close you are to the artists (there is no zoom in this picture).

Sam Bush and Stephen Mougin

The workshops are hosted by Jon Lohman, who is Virginia's "State Folklorist" and director of the Virginia Folklife Program of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Jon does a good job of spurring the discussion with the performers and then getting out of the way to let them play.

To kick things off Jon asked Sam if he was considering another run for the presidency and Sam said perhaps, if he could convince Senator Arlen Spector to join him. Then they would have a "Bush 'n Spector" ticket... Har Har. Sam spent some time talking about how he got started playing the mandolin when he was a kid and he demonstrated some of his playing styles, comparing and contrasting to other well known mandolin players. As he was doing this I looked out at the audience and noticed how many young people were there. And I got to thinking how when Sam was young, he watched Bill Monroe and other players of that time, and he has eXpanded and grown their music in his own way. How many future musicians were sitting this audience, and would say 30 - 40 years from now "I remember seeing Sam Bush back in 2011 and that's what got me started in music"?

Later in the day I listened to Railroad Earth at the Porch, it was good but their Smilefest set is still number one in 2011 for me.

Railroad Earth

Later on Saturday we watch Cyro Baptista and Beat the Donkey, who are a crazy group of musicians, with a heavy emphasis on percussion. Then our friend whipped up a great meal of shrimp, clams, and burgers at his deluXe RV, Thanks JD! The evening (for us at least) concluded with a very entertaining set from Robert Randolph and his Family Band. They were joined by the guitarist from New Monsoon and our old friend Sam Bush on the fiddle.

I knew from studying the schedule that Saturday was going to be a Hot Tuna day. We started off with a terrific Hot Tuna acoustic set on the main stage. They really seemed to be enjoying themselves and the feedback from the audience.

Hot Tuna (acoustic, Barry Mitterhoff not shown)

Rodger and I enjoying the Hot Tuna show

After Hot Tuna, we stuck around the Main Stage to hear Donna the Buffalo, they were sounding tight as ever, but after a couple of songs I chose to hike back to the Workshop Porch where Jorma Kaukonen and Barry Mitterhoff were joined by Larry Keel for more acoustic virtuosities. This was another exceptional Workshop session, Jon asked Jorma what was it like to be a teenager in Jefferson Airplane during the 1960's, and he replied that he has two perspectives. One: "How could anyone let me go out in public dressed like that?" and Two: "It enabled me to have a career as a folk musician." Jorma has obviously long ago left the Jefferson Airplane and that type of music behind and now eXpresses a different artistic vision through Hot Tuna and his solo projects. But he was happy to talk about it and they played some great tunes at the Porch, Jorma seemed particularly impressed with Larry's guitar playing skills (he said "I need to go home and practice some more!").

I walked back from the Porch to the John Updike Social Pavilion, taking the same route that Jorma must have taken (in his chauffeur driven golf cart) to get back to the artist area. We passed by the Kid's Stage, where bands (often teenagers and kids) play age appropriate music for the young ones. As I passed by the band was playing "Somebody to Love", the Jefferson Airplane hit from 1967. I wondered what Jorma was thinking when he heard that as he rode by. Again the younger generation, taking the music from the previous generation and passing it on down the line.

Later in the day we listened to some Taj Mahal and then more Hot Tuna, this time the electric version. Saturday evening concluded with one of our favorite live acts, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. She completely delivered on the Saturday night headliner responsibilities, with a big rocking show, full of energy and exciting performances. I was perpleXed by the absence of Catherine Popper (bassist), there was some other woman filling in for her (and she missed 3 or 4 songs in the middle of the set). They did a nice acoustic song and they continue to work and improve what I call the "space jam", some extended instrumental/improvisational sections that I first heard at the 930 club in March and didn't particularly care for. But now these arrangements have gotten better and they seem to work on the bigger stage. When they kicked into the Jefferson Airplane classic "White Rabbit" that has become one of their concert staples, I was so hoping that Jack and Jorma would join them on stage, but I guess that was really too much to ask for. Anyway Grace and the boys put on a spectacular performance to conclude day 3 of the festival.

The festival planners did a good job of programming Sunday's musical entertainment around the current titans of bluegrass/acoustic music, with performances by Peter Rowan, Tony Rice, David Grisman and Del McCoury. Peter Rowan did a funny song about the Tea Party, his vocals are stronger than ever. Tony Rice has had a tough time with his health over the last few years but his guitar playing continues to be masterful. He brought out David Grisman for some nice mandolin and guitar duet playing, but I missed that because I had headed back to the Workshop Porch for an up close and personal session with Del McCoury. This began with a nice interview by Jon Lohman with Del. Del explained how he began his interest in music at a very young age listening to his parents play and going to concerts with them. Then he brought out his band, which includes two of his adult sons (Ronnie and Rob). Ronnie is one of the best mandolin players in the business today and he explained that after he learned to play at the age of 13 his father immediately had him in the band and touring with him. This was the clearest example I had seen all weekend of the theme of passing the musical heritage from one generation to the next.

"Musical Mount Rushmore" - Peter Rowan, David Grisman, Del McCoury

photo: Rick Hartman

After the Del McCoury session on the porch, I made it back to the main stage to hear the David Grisman SeXtet, and their wonderful mixture of bluegrass and jazz that is best described as "dawg" music.

So for four days we spent time in the mountains of southwestern Virginia with friends and family and heard a wide variety of old and new music. Over and over I heard the musicians eXplain their musical heritage and how musicians from years ago influenced them to become the artists that they are today. I'm comforted in knowing that in the years to come, the children of Floydfest will be creating more beautiful music that was inspired by this summer weekend in 2011.

Jim Lauderdale - July 24 - Hill Country DC

2011-08-26T06:33:00.000-07:00

Last month we enjoyed a great summer Sunday evening with our friend, Jim X, in downtown DC. This was especially fun because in addition to hearing one of our favorite singer/songwriters perform, we discovered a great new venue for live music. The Hill Country is not far from the Verizon Center and it advertises itself as "honoring the barbecue and live music capital of Texas". There is also a location in NYC. The food is authentic, delicious, texas style meat that is smoked to perfection. They offer brisket, ribs, sausage, prime rib and other meats, cooked "low and slow" over wood fires. They sell it by weight so you can load up your tray with a sampler platter of your own creation. They also have a big selection of sides, like slaw, mac n cheese, and other tasty items. We had a feast and it was all quite good.

After our dinner of tasty smoked meats we went downstairs to where the live music is served up. It's a small room in the basement with tables and a full bar (seats maybe 75 - 100). We learned that you can reserve a table in the performance room and carry your food downstairs so you can eat and listen to music at the same time. The bartender was very nice and he let me sample some of the Texas beers on draft to help me decide which one I wanted.

When we got downstairs the show had not yet started but Jim Lauderdale was milling around, greeting folks and hanging out. We introduced ourselves and told him that we were going to the Floydfest the next weekend and wishing that he would come back there. He said he loved playing Floydfest and he wished they would invite him back. Maybe next year.

Jim played solo accompanying himself on guitar. He launched into the first couple of songs without intro, but then he warmed up and started talking to the audience. He's quite a funny guy and had great stories to tell between songs. And he played a LOT of songs. Nearly all of them were originals, many from his latest album that he co-wrote with Robert Hunter (lyricist for the Grateful Dead) called "Reason and Rhyme". After 80 minutes of great songs he left the stage to a rousing ovation. As the crowd continued to applaud he acted like the backstage was locked, he twisted and pulled on the doorknob and looked sheepishly back to the audience who continued cheering. He's a funny guy. Then he came back on stage and gave us 6 or 7 more songs.

I heartily recommend Hill Country DC for great food and music and any time you can catch Jim Lauderdale, make the effort.

All Good Festival - July 14-17 - Marvin's Mountaintop, WV

2011-08-11T08:10:00.000-07:00

We've been going to the All Good Festival for many years, it's attraction has always been the stellar line up of performers and the "All Good" vibe that permeates the atmosphere. This year's edition was no different as there were over 40 bands and a true sense of community and common love of music. We took the Jayco Pinnacle and arrived in plenty of time to secure a good spot in the section reserved for RVs. After a quick and easy set up we were ready for music.

Successful Establishment of the Base Camp

We've enjoyed listening to the albums of the John Butler Trio but never had a chance to see this Australian jam band perform live until this festival. They put on an excellent show the first night of the festival that included some tasty didgeridoo playing.

Friday I started the day by taking a bike ride over to the opposite end of the festival grounds to check out the Recipe, a band from Morgantown WV that always puts on a fun show. Despite going through several personnel changes over the years they continue to deliver a high energy show with some great original songs. Later in the day on the main stage we saw the Infamous Stringdusters play a fantastic set of modern bluegrass originals. Usually the music at All Good tends more towards the jam/rock genre and away from bluegrass, but these guys got a rousing reception from the crowd with their clean and pure string sound. I look forward to seeing them in the fall at the festival in VA that they host.

Infamous Stringdusters

After the Stringdusters we headed back to the secondary stage to see the "Rebel Alliance Jam". This was a collaboration between several members of Toubab Krewe, Umphrey's McGee, and Keller Williams. They did not disappoint and put on a nice jam show.

Rebel Alliance Jam

As the sun went down and the evening set in we made it back to the main stage for the Warren Haynes Band. We last saw Warren (who I call the hardest working man in show business) at the Del Fest as a solo acoustic performer, but for the All Good festival he brought along his full band, including Ron Holloway on sax, and the show was much more energetic and appropriate for a big nighttime crowd. He closed out with the crowd pleaser "Soul Shine". Warren Haynes was followed Toubab Krewe on the small side stage and then an unexplained 20 minute delay before Furthur started playing.

Furthur played two complete sets, the first set started off with some Grateful Dead classics ("Jack Straw", "Bertha", "Ramble on Rose") but also included a Rat Dog song ("Money for Gasoline") and finished with Warren Haynes joining them for "Turn on Your Lovelight". The second set had a very nice "Terrapin" suite and included a sort of new song, "The Mountain Song". I say "sort of" because this song began as a David Crosby composition in 1970 and then Robert Hunter wrote additional lyrics and Phil Lesh's son Brian merged it all together in a new arrangement. They also did a tear it up version of "Corrina". John Kadlecik sounds as good as ever singing and playing guitar and I guess after repeated shows seeing him play with Furthur I'm starting to be won over that this can really work.

On Saturday we took it easy and tried to stay out of the sun, we did catch an excellent set by Donna the Buffalo and we also watched Yonder Mountain String Band. I have to admit I'm ready to abandon YMSB as the last few times that I've seen them they've lost their appeal to me. They know how to play to a large crowd and get them energized, but they don't seem to have much more substance beyond that. Their bluegrass playing is sloppy (compared to someone like the Incredible Stringdusters) and they seem to me to be nothing much more than a party type band.

I was too tired to take on the late shows by Primus and Pretty Lights, but my friend Davis represented us there and came back with high marks for both performances. But after a good night's sleep I was ready to rock on Sunday and it kicked off in a big way with the All Mighty Senators playing at noon.

The All Mighty Senators are a Baltimore based band that is full of charisma and energy. Led by their lead singer/drummer (Landis Expandis), they bring out the high powered dance funk whether its midnight in a downtown Baltimore or Sunday morning in the hills of West Virginia. Given the relative early start to this set, there was not much of a crowd there to see the AMS, but I was pleased when I looked to my left and saw Tim Walther (All Good Festival promoter) dancing away with the rest of the crowd.

The All Mighty Senators crank up the Power Generator

As the AMS were performing their wild and crazy act I caught a glimpse of Dave Bruzza of Greensky Bluegrass backstage. They were coming on next and he had a classic look of "WTF?" as he must have been wondering how his bluegrass band was going to follow this insanity. But the show must go on and they did a fine set of bluegrass tunes in their inimitable style.

After Greensky Bluegrass we took a lunch break and made it back to the stage to see Toots & the Maytals perform one of the most memorable sets of the weekend. This was the first time that I had seen the reggae pioneer perform, he's been making music professionally since 1961. The summer weather and the rhythmic reggae sounds brought on a real Caribbean feeling making me long to get back to the island.

And on that note we packed up the Pinnacle and headed home after 4 full days of music. It wasn't until we got home that we learned the sad news that Sunday afternoon a truck rolled down a hill over a tent, killing someone sleeping inside. Despite this terrible accident, Tim and his company continue to do an amazing job of getting so many people together for a weekend of great music and good times. The All Good Festival continues to serve as an oasis of "peace, love and music" in the middle of these crazy times.

Smilefest - June 3 - 5 - Pinnacle, NC

2011-07-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

Smilefest is a very nice little festival at a campground in North Carolina. It advertises that ticket count is limited to only 1,499 total and it looked liked fewer than that number were there. But the weather was beautiful and they had a lineup of excellent musicians to keep us entertained. This was the second time we took our Jayco Pinnacle 5th wheel camper to a festival and it performed very well, our friend Wayne stayed with us and we met our friends Steve and Donna there as well.

Our campsite with the Jayco Pinnacle

After getting set up (see photo above) we checked out the music, the stage was at the bottom of a steep natural amphitheater and gave us a beautiful view of Pilot Mountain. It is widely believed that the town of "Mount Pilot" often mentioned in The Andy Griffith Show was named for Pilot Mountain. Andy Griffith was born and raised not too far from here. So it was a very nice setting and they used the system pioneered by Tim Walther (of the All Good Music Festival) of having two stages side by side. While one band is playing the other stage is getting set up for the next band. Thus there is continuous music and you never have to miss a band due to scheduling conflicts.

Two stages with Pilot Mountain in the distance

Friday afternoon/evening had good sets by Jackass Flats, Pimps of Joytime, and the New Mastersounds, but the highlight for me was seeing one of my favorite bands, Railroad Earth, up close and personal. With such a small venue I was able to watch the entire set from the front rail and the RRE boys put on a fantastic show.

You can in fact download a recording of the Railroad Earth set from the link on the sidebar.

Saturday was another beautiful day, the Bird fixed up some nice food for us and we saw several new (to us) bands as well as a fine set by Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, followed by Melvin Seals and the JGB. That dude knows how to work a Hammond organ. Late night funkiness was provided by Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, complete with a nice flotilla of paper lanterns flying off into the night sky.

Sunday's highlight was Jeb and Tara of Donna the Buffalo, playing a relaxed set without the full band. All in all a very nice relaxing weekend with friends and great music, that's what summer festivals are all about.

DelFest - Cumberland, MD May 27 - 28

2011-06-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend in Cumberland Maryland was the setting for the 4th annual DelFest. We were there as always, psyched about seeing some great bands and enjoying the first festival of the 2011 season. Also this was our first trip in the new Jayco Pinnacle, which we're planning on using a lot this summer as our home away from home.

DelFest is a festival that scores high on the musical quality scale and I believe that is due mainly to the fact that it is hosted by the legendary Del McCoury. Del McCoury started playing bluegrass in the early 1960's and in 1963 he sang and played in Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys. In the 1990's he formed the Del McCoury band with his two sons, Ronnie (mandolin) and Rob (banjo) and they have achieved great success over the last twenty years. Their style of playing is very pure and disciplined, with beautiful harmonies and very tight and fast instrumental breaks. I believe that a big reason for the quality of the musical performances at DelFest is that all of the other performers have such great respect for him they "step up their game" a notch when performing at the DelFest. And it's not unusual for Del, Ronnie, Rob or Jason Carter (fiddle) to sit in on one or more songs with each of the performers. This makes for some memorable musical moments and there were plenty of those this year.

Thursday afternoon some thunderstorms, complete with hail, came through Cumberland and soaked the main stage area enough that the evening's performances were rescheduled for the fairground rec center. This is actually a good thing as the rec center is a nice indoor space, dry and cool with quality beer vendors. Del and the boys kicked things off with what was billed as a "soundcheck". One of the rare times you get to see them perform in casual clothes and not their typical fancy suits and ties. The Del McCoury Band was followed by Donna the Buffalo and then the Infamous Stringdusters. That's a great evening of musical entertainment and we were only in Day 1 of the four day festival!

Del McCoury Band "Soundcheck"

Day 2 was a nice day with some excellent bluegrass bands performing during the day, but in the afternoon the skies darkened and another round of thunderstorms rolled through. The stages were too wet for the Infamous Stringdusters to perform, so they just headed out to the parking lot and played a great impromptu set with no PA or mikes. Another great DelFest moment!

Infamous Stringdusters play in the parking lot

After the Stringdusters we were able to catch Chris Robinson from the protection of the grandstands, which was dry but somewhat distant from the stage and then as the weather cleared we made it to the stage grounds to hear Del McCoury again, but this time performing with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. This is a new project that at first may seem an odd combination, a classic bluegrass band with a New Orleans jazz band, but they find a lot of common ground and this was one of the highlights of the festival. They have released an album together ("American Legacies") that has some new tunes ("Banjo Frisco") and some classics ("Jambalaya"). And they have created and recorded the official theme song for Bonnaroo, which starts up this weekend. Click on this link to see an impromptu performance of the Bonnaroo theme song. Del and the PHJB were followed by a rocking performance by Old Crow Medicine Show, who got everyone on their feet, stomping in the mud and having a good ol' time.

One of the nice features of DelFest is the "Late Show". For an extra $20 you can head over to the rec center at midnight and catch some inspired late night performing, Friday night we saw Trampled by Turtles, who play fast breakneck string music, followed by Railroad Earth. I couldn't make it much past 2 AM, but the next day I was told they show went on until 4 - 5 AM.

Saturday's highlight for me was the early afternoon show by Jesse McReynolds. Jesse is another legendary bluegrass musician (performing since 1947, the "Jesse" of "Jim and Jesse", 42 year member of the Grand Ole Opry, winner of the National Heritage Fellowship Award). Last year Jesse released a tribute album to Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter, and at DelFest he performed several Garcia/Hunter tunes along with several bluegrass classics with Del. Not bad for 82 years old. I bought the Garcia/Hunter CD at the merch tent and he signed it for me. Saturday night we saw Railroad Earth, then the Del McCoury band, and closing things out was Warren Haynes (solo acoustic). I'm a big fan of Warren Haynes and I've written in this space about his performances with Gov't Mule and the Dead. But his song choices and style of play at DelFest was not what one expects for a Saturday night closer. It was a little too slow and downtempo for me. Things picked up some when John Skehan and Tim Carbone of Railroad Earth came out to join him but this set was a bit of a downer.

Sunday (Day 4!) I checked out another cool feature of DelFest... "Playshops" that are conducted each afternoon in the rec center, where 1 or 2 musicians play and discuss music in an informal setting. I was able to sit in on a session with Tony Trischka, one of my musical heroes from college days, as he talked about playing banjo, demonstrating and answering questions from the audience. Sitting at his side and playing with him was Rob McCoury. Then we saw Tony on the main stage with his band "Psychograss", which includes other virtuosos Darol Anger (fiddle) and Mike Marshall (mandolin). Simply amazing seeing that many talented musicians playing together as one. Then I jumped in the truck with the Bird and we drove over the Potomac and up the mountain to look down from West Virginia into Cumberland at the festival site. It was pretty neat.

DelFest as viewed from West Virginia

After our mountain jaunt we made it back down to the main stage area in time to see the Punch Brothers who put a very modern spin on string music. It was a great set (including a Beck song) and I would love to see them again soon. After the Punch Brothers, Del and the Boys did another set and the whole weekend closed out with a rousing show by Yonder Mountain String Band.

The rain (first two afternoons) and the mud (pretty much all weekend) were negated by the comfortable confines of the Jayco Pinnacle and the company of good friends throughout the weekend. So much talent on the stages and everyone is bringing their "A game" because Del and his fans are watching.

A true Del Fan

A New Chapter in My Life… 6 Months of Great Live Shows…Bring on the summer festivals

2011-05-31T13:16:00.000-07:00

It’s been too long since I’ve updated this blog, my only excuse is I’ve been finishing off a 30+ year career at Hughes and preparing myself for life as a retiree. It has been a great experience working with a wonderful group of people and it is with a mix of trepidation and excitement that I enter Chapter 3 of my life. (Chapter 1 = childhood/student life, Chapter 2= professional career/husband/father. Of course I’m still a husband and father, but I’m dropping the career). June 1 is my official termination date, but I’ve been on vacation since May 1 so it feels like I’ve already slid over the edge. A couple of weeks ago the company threw a really fun party for me, nice speeches and great gifts.

But despite all of this work and life changes I have managed to see a good number of excellent live music shows over the last few months, I will quickly mention them here for posterity and hopefully present more current updates as the summer festival season is in full swing.

In January we saw the U.S. Navy Commodores Jazz Ensemble at George Mason University. They were performing as part of a “saxophone symposium” there at the college and they had Branford Marsalis as a guest performer. The Navy has some very talented jazz musicians in their group and it appeared that Branford enjoyed playing with them. But I have to admit it’s a little weird listening to jazz in an auditorium, with all of the musicians in uniform, back straight, nearly at attention. I would love to hear them in a club, where everyone can cut loose and improvise. I had the same odd feeling a few weeks later when we saw the Afro-Cuban All Stars at the Strathmore. These guys really know how to play and their music just makes you want to get up and dance. A great performance, but it would have felt more natural seeing them in a Caribbean club with a rum drink in hand.

Also in January we caught Donna the Buffalo at the State Theatre in Falls Church. The Roy Jay Band opened up, didn’t care so much for them, but DTB always puts on a first rate show.

In February we saw Robert Plant and the Band of Joy at the DAR Constitution Hall. This show really impressed me, Robert Plant continues to push the musical envelope and not simply rely on his legacy from the seventies. We saw him with Alison Krauss a few years ago and that was also really special. He’s assembled a great set of musicians, Patty Griffin sings great, Buddy Miller is the band leader and the rest of the guys are all professionals. They had just the right mix of acoustic and electric, old Zep songs and new songs, everything was just right. Warming up was the North Mississippi Allstars “Duo” (basically just Luther and Cody Dickinson without their bassist) and they were a lot of fun also. They played tunes from their new album “Keys to the Kingdom”, which is quite good and worth picking up if you don’t have it. I usually don’t like shows at the DAR, but I was very glad I made an exception for the Band of Joy.

While visiting the boy in California later in February, we went the El Rey Theater in LA to see one of our favorites, Jackie Greene. That was a fantastic, rocking show, every time we see him it’s better than the last time. He surprised us with a medley of “Heard it Through the Grapevine/Brick in the Wall/Shakedown Street”. Totally fun show in a fun venue.

In March we saw Grace Potter & the Nocturnals at the 9:30 club and then again just a few weeks ago at the Ram's Head Live. She puts on a rocking good show every time and is a lot of fun to watch. We've noticed that the band is adding more space-like jams to their show, will be interesting to see if that trend continues.

On St. Patrick’s Day we saw a very nice Furthur concert at George Mason University. In honor of the day (I guess) they did “Whiskey in a Jar” which made me miss Jerry. But it was a nice, tight show, they really sounded on this night as tight as I’ve heard them in some time. We look forward to seeing them in July at the All Good Music Festival.

April gave us another opportunity to see Jackie Greene, this time at the Birchmere, one of my favorite venues. After having to sit through two warm up acts, Jackie came out and did not disappoint. This guy has so much talent.

It has been a busy 2011 and now we’re ready for the summer festival season!

City Farm - Tiffany Tavern - December 5, 2010

2011-01-15T12:23:00.000-08:00

Due to scheduling conflicts it had been a while since we caught the hottest bluegrass band to come out of Southside Virginia. But when we saw they were playing on December 5 and our nest was empty, we decided to get a room in Alexandria and catch the entire show. It turned out to be loads of fun, there was a good turnout of old and new friends and the band was in fine form. They played plenty of the old favorites, a few nice ones that I had not heard before, and even took some requests (but still No Dancing in front of the stage). We chased away the winter chills and had a great time. They be back at the Tiffany on February 12, try to get out and see them if you can.

Peace Mobile Rally > Furthur - Oct 29/Nov 17 - Washington/Baltimore

2010-12-29T15:47:00.000-08:00

In October there was a rally at a home in DC to support the freedom of speech, in this particular case an old VW bus painted 60's style. I've lifted the description from the Facebook Event invite.

A colorful, engine-less VW microbus stationed in the Kaplan-Allen family’s Palisades front yard since May is slated for removal by DC Department of Public Works (DPW). On September 16, DPW declared the bus “dangerous,” threatened to remove it by the end of October and fine the family up to $1000. The Kaplan-Allens brought the Peace-Mobile to their yard last spring when it ended its run as a set piece for the Georgetown Day School theatrical production of “Pippin.” Its peace signs, rainbows and hearts are not only entertaining but remind us of a more idealistic time, when, as a Pippin song says, “we all could spread a little sunshine.” All summer, passersby stopped to take photos with their cell phones and celebrate in that spirit. Now, DPW threatens to censor and shut down the display.

So a rally was held and of course we went. Musical entertainment was provided by John Kadlecik and
On the Bus. John is the former lead guitar player for Dark Star Orchestra and was recently given the ultimate promotion to play with Furthur (Phil Lesh and Bob Weir's band). On the Bus is a great Dead cover band that plays in the DC/MD/VA area, we've seen them several times and they always put on a good show.

John played acoustic guitar and a variety of songs (including some Dead songs). One that I really liked was "Down to Eugene" which was made popular (I guess) by David Gans. John was really putting his heart and soul into performing these songs for the 20 - 40 people gathered in a DC backyard on a fall afternoon, it was a nice musical moment. And it struck me that in a few weeks I would being seeing this same musician on a big stage in front of thousands of people playing with the founders of the Grateful Dead.

John stayed around to perform with On the Bus and they did a full set of Dead tunes. It was good times, despite the fact that half of the PA system failed. And there was a happy ending to the Battle of Bus as one of the band members decided to take it to his Maryland farm and give it a complete restoration. You can see lots of pictures and comments about this event on Facebook, just search for "On the Bus" and scroll down to the October time frame.

So sure enough a few weeks later we saw John at the Baltimore Arena playing with Furthur . Furthur consists of Bob Weir (Grateful Dead), Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead), John Kadlecik, Jeff Chimenti (Dead/Ratdog), Joe Russo (Benevento/Russo Duo), and the just added Sunshine (Garcia) Becker and Jeff Pehrson. We've seen Furthur plenty of times before, this set started out interesting because the first 4 songs were not Dead tunes. Opening with "Revolution" (Lennon/McCartney), "Smokestack Lightning" (Muddy Waters), "Crossroads" (Robert Johnson), and then back to "Smokestack Lightning" again. In the second set they also covered "Hard to Handle" (Otis Redding) and a really cool "Dear Mr. Fantasy" (Traffic) that morphed into "Hey Jude" (Lennon/McCartney). They were actually performing both songs at the same time for a while.

I like the Baltimore Arena (officially named "1st Mariner Arena"), as arenas go it's easy to get in and out and it's relatively small. But not as small as that backyard in DC!

Bob Dylan - November 13, 2010 - Smith Center, George Washington University

2010-12-29T09:46:00.000-08:00

The Never Ending Tour stopped by GW last month. I haven't been to the Smith Center for a concert in a very long time (saw the Clash there in the '80's) and I was glad to see there is still a hall that sells General Admission tickets. We camped out on the floor hoping to optimize the acoustics. The place is small enough that any location is fine for viewing and listening.

The show opened as it always does with a deep voiced announcer on the PA:

"Ladies and gentlemen please welcome the poet laureate of rock 'n' roll. The voice of the promise of the 60s counterculture. The guy who forced folk into bed with rock. Who donned makeup in the 70s and disappeared into a haze of substance abuse. Who emerged to find Jesus. Who was written off as a has-been by the end of the '80s, and who suddenly shifted gears releasing some of the strongest music of his career beginning in the late '90s. Ladies and gentlemen —Columbia recording artist Bob Dylan!"

Then Bob kicks things off the show with a rollicking "Rainy Day Women" followed by one of my favorite concert tunes "Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)". During this one he came from behind the keyboards and sang with animated hand gestures and played harmonica. Other highlights included "Just Like a Woman" with Bob on keyboards and band member Donnie Herron (pedal steel) keenly watching him play and shadowing every chord that Bob would play. This occurred on several songs but it was most obvious during the instrumental break on "Just Like a Woman".

In addition to Bob's hand gestures and (almost) dancing there was a large fabric hanging behind the stage that was used as a screen during several songs to show ghostly black and white live video images of Bob singing. I've never seen that before, it was pretty cool.

Other highlights were a very nice "Simple Twist of Fate" with Bob on lead guitar followed by a rocking "Highway 61 Revisited". There were also more recent tunes like "High Water (for Charlie Patton)", "Ain't Talkin'", and "Thunder on the Mountain". All in all a really great show with a nice mix of old and new.

Finally, what I liked most about the show was there were so many young people there really into the music. I remember going to a Dylan concert a few years ago at George Mason University and I literally was one of the youngest people there! I kept wondering where are all of the students? But the GW kids turned out en masse and were having a great time. At 69, Bob Dylan is an American icon and it was good to see that at least some of the next generation appreciate him.

Jackie Greene - October 14, 2010 - Ram's Head, Annapolis

2010-12-29T08:49:00.000-08:00

As I continue to dig through the blog block I'm taking advantage of the holiday down time to remember and reminisce on the shows that I've seen this fall. In October the Bird and I slipped down to Annapolis for a nice dinner and show at the Ram's Head. If you buy the special deal you can get a dinner reservation, tickets to the show and a free microbrew after the show. Probably the nicest part of that deal is you have dinner in the restaurant and then when you're done eating they lead you through the back corridor straight into the music venue and your reserved seat. There was an opening act, Michael Wasekey, a local singer guitar player, nice enough guy but we were ready for JG.

Jackie took advantage of the intimate atmosphere of the Ram's Head and for the first half of the show he played solo accompanied only by his acoustic guitar and nuanced fills from his guitar player (I wish I could remember his name). Between songs it got kind of quiet and Jackie said we could shout out any requests we had. After a couple more songs the requests got so loud and frequent he said "Enough already!". Although I've seen Jackie and his band play many times in the past, this acoustic set was very special. One of the highlights was a very nice version of Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried". After a short break he came back with the full band, electric guitars and it was time to rock. A great mix of old and new tunes, including a couple of Grateful Dead classics. In addition to being an excellent guitarist, Jackie plays great keyboards and harmonica. I have to say that this show was one of my favorites of 2010.

Another thing that sets Jackie Greene apart from other performers is he hangs out after the show to meet and greet. Here's a shot of the Bird and Jackie (she sure is hugging him tight?).

The Festy - October 9 - 10 - Nelson County, Va

2010-10-24T17:03:00.000-07:00

"The Festy Experience" happened on October 9-10 in the backyard of the Devil's Background Brewery in Nelson County, Virginia. Located at the foot of the mountain where the Wintergreen resort is located, this first time music festival had a great debut and hopefully will become a regular annual event. The musical hosts were the Infamous Stringdusters who played both Saturday and Sunday nights. We camped on site with friends in our handy pop up camper while a group of other friends rented a house a few miles away up at Wintergreen.

Despite the awkward name (apparently "Festy" is a derivative of the Stringdusters guitarist Andy Falco's nickname "Cresty")

The festival site was very nice, the weather was perfect, and the music was outstanding. I was anticipating that there may be logistical problems, given that this was a first time festival, but the organizers pulled it off without a hitch. There's a nice write up on Facebook (search for "Festival Project") about what it takes to put on a good festival. Michael Allenby, one of the organizers, is quoted as saying, “This is a prototype, a rough draft and we turned it in and got an A-. The teacher was happy. There were a couple things we would do differently, but we nailed it, for a rough draft.” I couldn't agree more. All of the basic essentials (e.g. parking, camping, food, drink, restrooms, stage and sound) were done well, and most importantly there was a festival "vibe" that permeated the all of the volunteers and patrons. Everyone was warm and friendly, enjoying the music, and happy to be together on a beautiful fall weekend. That is, by definition, "festival".

On Sunday there was even a bike race. If it had been a bike "ride" I would have signed up, but I'm not into the racing thing. But Travis Burns, bassist of the Stringdusters is, and apparently he did pretty well in the event. You can check it out here .

There was a main stage and between acts there a second smaller stage at the opposite end of the field. The acts on the second stage were very good, but I got into a sort of rhythm where after each act on the main stage I would head back to the campsite to take a break and enjoy a cool beverage. What about the music? Well the Saturday line up was incredible.

Robinella started things off, singing and playing guitar with her husband. She has more of a late night, smoky club, jazz feel to her voice and songs, it was nice but seemed out of place in the middle of a sunny day. But a good start nevertheless. She was followed by Crooked Still. They've played at other festivals I have attended, but this was the first time I sat down and really listened to them. Well worth the effort, it was quite entertaining. Aoife O'Donovan's beautiful vocals and the rest of the band's instrumental prowess were very impressive. Back to the campsite for a Bubba, then right back to the main stage to see Old School Freight Train, one of our favorite "newgrass" bands. They came on with plenty of energy and enthusiasm and raised the musical bar another notch. These guys have a great song catalog, and like Railroad Earth, they are hard to classify as they rock out much more than the "grass/string label" would imply. Then the pace changed as bluegrass legend Tony Rice took the stage with his band, the Tony Rice Unit. Straight, classic, pickin'. Done right, the way it's supposed to be. As the sun set, the Infamous Stringdusters came out and did a fun, uplifting set. You could tell they were just as excited about hosting the Festy as we were about being there. The Saturday night closers were Railroad Earth, who released their latest CD two days after this show. They played a great set as always, featuring a couple of songs from the new album. We especially liked "The Jupiter and the 119" and "Black Elk Speaks". October 9 would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday and the band commemorated that with a beautiful version of "Across the Universe" with Aoife from Crooked Still helping out on vocals. I was spent after hearing all of this music, but the Bird went on and checked out the late night jam on the second stage, featuring "Love Cannon Super Jam" playing nothing but top hits from the '80's in bluegrass style. Rick Springfield's "Everybody's Working for the Weekend", Thomas Dolby's "Blinded Me with Science", ZZ Top's "Legs", and many more. Wish I could have seen that!

Sunday morning we had a very nice breakfast buffet at the Devil's Backbone Brewery which included a first for me, a make your own Bloody Mary bar! Great way to start the day. Then we were packing and driving so I was only able to catch Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, a super talented guitar player who deserves way more attention than he seems to get. I was sorry that I didn't get to stick around for another set by the Stringdusters and to see Toubab Krewe, but I still left satisfied with all of the great music that we saw on Saturday.

We'll definitely be putting the Festy Experience on our rotation for the 2011 festival circuit!

Crozet Music Festival - October 1 - 3 - Crozet, Va

2010-10-17T20:21:00.001-07:00

This was the 4th annual Crozet Music Festival, the third at the lovely Misty Mountain Campgrounds just outside of Crozet, Virginia. Biff Rossberg and John Updike have done a great job of organizing a festival with a diverse line up of Virginia based musicians, in a beautiful setting, and an overall good vibe. This year I was able to set the camper up right behind the stage (thanks John!) and enjoy the music up close and personal.

I arrived late Friday afternoon and listened to Jackass Flats while I set up the camper. They're a high energy bluegrass/Americana band from the Richmond area and I would definitely like to see them again. They were followed by what turned out to be the highlight of the weekend for me, the Skip Castro Band. They were a fixture in the Virginia/DC bar band circuit in the late 70's and early 80's. After breaking up in the mid-80's they are now reunited, have released a new CD "Boogie at Midnight", and are still rocking with the same enthusiasm and energy that kept us dancing in the bars and frat houses back in the day. They play a great mix of rock, rock-a-billy, and other blues/boogie/swing tunes. For me they are very reminiscent of NRBQ, who is still the greatest bar band in the world. At the Crozet Music Festival Danny Beirne came out from behind the keyboards to deliver a killer version of James Brown's "It's a Man's World". And they finished with a really nice "Jumping Jack Flash" holding their guitars out for the audience to strum during the big rock finish last note.

Saturday I started the day at the indoor stage, which is set up in Misty Mountains' recreation room. This is a nice diversion from the outdoor main stage, providing a place to sit down inside and still here some very tasty tuneage. Saturday began with the Misty Strings from Charlottesville and they had a very good guitar player (sorry that I didn't get his name). They were followed by another Charlottesville band called Second Draw who played some nice bluegrass/jam tunes.

Then I took a break from the music and checked out some of the tasty food and beverage selections from the vendors at the festival and settled in for one of the "must sees" on the line up - William Walter & Co. I had remarked to a friend before they started that William Walter just doesn't stand on stage and play music, he always gets involved with the audience and is a great entertainer. And this show was no different. By the end of his set he had come off the stage and pulled all of the "pretty girls" from the crowd back up on the stage to dance with him. It was a great set from a very entertaining performer.

One of the things that sets this festival apart from other festivals is the big diversity in musical styles and all of the different kinds of music that you can hear in one weekend. Besides the acts mentioned above, I heard some beautiful acoustic jazz from the Ric Olivarez Trio, some great jazz/funk (including some nice Steely Dan covers) from Funk 45, and a cool world beat sound from the Rock River Gypsies (who were formed at my alma mater William and Mary). I also heard a 16 year old kid (Nick Pollock) do some great classic songs that were classic way before he was born. The only challenge at the Crozet Music Festival is how to hear all of the music, any time you take a break you feel like you're missing something you don't want to miss (and you're probably right).

Every year this festival gets better and better, I don't know how they pick a weekend in October every year that has beautiful weather, but mark your calendar for next year - it's guaranteed to be a great weekend.

Return of the Blog - A Twisted Summer of 2010 - Tons of Live Music but not getting through the BlogBlock

2010-10-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

I know exactly when this blog got turned off. I don't know why but I know when. It was June 7 at Wolf Trap. We were there to watch Jeff Beck and we had lawn seats. But there were two tickets inside the pavilion down near the stage and a group of two would go down front for a few songs, then trade the tickets with others in the group so everyone would get a chance to see the performance from up close. I was resting comfortably on the lawn with a cold beverage so I passed on the opportunity when my turn came up. I wasn't that impressed with music. There's no doubt that Jeff Beck is a phenomenal guitar player, and he was whipping out some impressive guitar solos on this early summer evening. But it seemed to me to be mostly "flash" and there were no real "songs" or "music". However everyone who returned from the front row was ecstatic about his performance. "Fantastic!" "Best guitar playing I have seen! Ever!" "Great Show!" I experienced a moment of self doubt and the BlogBlock set in. Over the next few days/weeks I struggled with how to write about a concert that I thought was only "so-so" and everyone else loved. Was it simply a matter of where you sat in the audience? Was I not hearing what others were hearing? What difference does it make anyway? It doesn't make a difference, but the fact was, The Block was in.

Over the summer I went to the (what is now "routine") set of music festivals. There was the All Good and the Floyd Fest in July, with great performances by plenty of bands (including Furthur, Levon Helm, Wayne Henderson, George Clinton!?!). Then there was the Hot August Blues Festival with Lyle Lovett and Keb 'Mo . We found a nice new outdoor venue in Loudon County where we saw Jackie Greene and Gov't Mule. There were other concerts scattered between, like Cosmic Charlie in Baker Park in Frederick, Nils Lofgren at the Birchmere, and when we were touring the Southwest in late August we caught Bobby Bare Jr. and a band called Blue Giant in Tucson. I saw tons of really good music over the summer and as the list of shows grew, the Block seemed to become bigger.

As summer turned to fall, people began to make subtle comments. "Why no updates to the blog?" "Are you going to write about this show?" "What the hell is the matter with you?"

So now I'm busting through the Block, especially inspired by my friends and a couple of great music festivals in October. I'm not sure I'll be able to catch up on all of the shows that I saw this summer, but I'm going to start fresh and try to stay on top of it from here on out. I'll write off the summer to too much introspection and not enough impulse writing. The Live Music Blog is back, with a new look and some new energy.

Live music lives on!!

DelFest - Cumberland, MD May 27 - 28

2010-06-06T20:19:00.000-07:00

This was the 3rd annual DelFest and we've enjoyed watching it mature into certainly one of the premier venues for bluegrass and Americana music. As I reported in this space last year, the Allegeny County Fairgrounds in Cumberland, Maryland is a beautiful place to be on Memorial Day Weekend. Although the festival continues to grow in popularity, the festival organizers still fit everyone in without much crowding and they handle the festival logistics quite well.

But the music is the reason everyone shows up and the revered Del McCoury attracts an all-star lineup that fills (now) four days with continuous musical highlights. This festival is especially great for the music fans because there is so much "cross pollination" with musicians jumping from one stage to another and sitting in on each others' sets. Del and his sons Ronnie (mandolin) and Rob (banjo) must have played with two-thirds of the performers over the 4 days. And the fine fiddle player of the Del McCoury Band, Jayson Carter, was quite busy also. Also the sound systems at each of the three stages were great and you could easily get up close to see your favorite performers.

Here's a brief rundown of the performers that I saw, because they have overlapping sets and you have to occasionally eat or sleep, it's impossible to see everything, but it sure is fun trying.

Thursday
After arriving in the afternoon and setting up our campsite, we headed over to the Main Stage to catch the end of the Travelin' McCourys' set. The Travelin' McCourys are really the Del McCoury Band without Del. They are a little more experimental and are willing to stretch out some more improvisational jams then when they're in the full bluegrass mode. But guess who was sitting in with them when we arrived? Del of course!

I always like it when you go to a festival and see a band that you've never heard of, you have no expectations about their music and you walk away thinking that was probably the best music I'll hear all weekend. That was my experience with Mountain Heart this year. These young bluegrass musicians were midway through a great set of tunes when the bass player moved to the center of the stage with his stand up bass and started banging out the opening riff of "Whipping Post". They proceeded to whip the crowd into a frenzy with a rendition of this Allman Brothers classic that the Bird and I later agreed might be the best version of that song that we've ever heard. They also did a nice "Statesboro Blues" and, believe it or not, "Back in Black" from AC/DC. A couple of the McCourys joined them and they did a real nice "Rollin' in my Sweet Baby's Arms". The were followed by Railroad Earth, but due to a misjudgment on my part involving ingesting corn from a jar I had to retire to the camper. But the Bird listened to the whole set and said it was one of the best she has heard. Oh well.

Friday

Mountain Heart played another set early Friday afternoon, we enjoyed listening from the campsite. These guys must be real Allman Brothers fans, as they did a nice version of "Soulshine". One of the best aspects of DelFest is the workshops (or as they call them "playshops") which are held in a recreation center (cool and air conditioned). On this day a band that I had wanted to see for some time was playing, Greensky Bluegrass. They were young talented musicians who were thrilled that Ronnie McCoury was sitting in with them. They did a very good set, and were even joined at the end by a couple of guys from Railroad Earth.

That evening we headed back to the main stage and the Del McCoury Band was playing with Bobby Osbourne. Bobby Osbourne was one half of the Osbourne Brothers who started recording bluegrass tunes in the 1950's (with Jimmy Martin, Red Allen, and others). They have had a long and successful career, including a giant hit with "Rocky Top". They were inducted into the IBMA's Hall of Honor in 1994. Brother Sonny retired a few years ago, but Bobby continues to play with a band called the Rocky Top X-press. With Del they played lots of old classics, Del was claiming that they had not rehearsed many of them, but when you've been doing something as good as these guys for over 50 years, is rehearsing really necessary? This set was simply bluegrass being done by the masters.

They were followed by the headliners, the Avett Brothers.  These guys are very popular with the younger folks, some songs I enjoyed, others seemed too pop/commercial. One thing that I had never seen before was there cello player stood and played the entire show.

Then we made it back over to the recreation center for the late show, which started with another band that I was not familiar with, Trampled by Turtles. While this band has the traditional bluegrass instrumentation (guitar, banjo, fiddle, bass, dobro) I would not classify their music as bluegrass. They sit down rather than stand and they have more of an old time folk sound. But they play really hard, loud, fast and furious. These guys go at full speed from the first note of the first song to the last note at the end of the set. I was very impressed and it was a lot of fun. After the Turtles, Railroad Earth came out for the really late show (it was after 2 am by now) and they were sounding as good as ever but I only lasted for half of the show before stumbling back to the camper.
Saturday
After a little breakfast I took my coffee cup over to the main stage and listened to Bearfoot, an acoustic band from Alaska. Although they played well and sang well (female lead singer) there wasn't much spark or emotion in their performance.

We then went over to the smaller stage and saw a great set by an all female acoustic band called Uncle Earl. Now these gals had some energy and stage presence and got the crowd up on their feet and dancing. They've been around for 10 years with several different members, the current incarnation includes founders KC Groves (mandolin, guitar) and Kristin Andraessen (guitar, fiddle, harmonica) along with three other talented gals. They all took turns telling stories and singing their own songs. This is a band that I would happily see again. (Also worth noting is that there last album was produced by Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones. He is quoted on their myspace page as saying "it was definitely one of the most enjoyable productions that I have ever been involved with.”

Then it was back to the recreation center to see what was billed as a McCoury family reunion, it was the Del McCoury Band along with a couple of Del's brothers, very talented musicians in their own right. We saw another set by Greensky Bluegrass before heading back to the campsite for dinner.

For us the Saturday evening set kicked off with another rousing set on the main stage by the Del McCoury Band. John Cowan joined them for a song.

That was followed by the Yonder Mountain String Band, the Saturday night headliners. I saw YMSB at the AllGood festival last year and was very impressed with their high energy bluegrass, and again this time they took the stage with enthusiasm and the full "rock star" treatment (lights, smoke, etc.). But having seen so many true master craftsmen of bluegrass (like Del, Bobby Osbourne, Ronnie McCoury) I felt like this was a little, well, sloppy. But it was entertaining, Darroll Anger sat in on fiddle for entire show and the crowd liked it so what the heck. They closed with a nice version of Pink Floyd's "Goodbye Blue Sky" (that's when you bring on the lights and smoke!).

Sunday

Day 4 takes us into the final stretch. First up for us was David Grisman's Bluegrass Experience. Once again we were back to seeing true master craftsmen and Dave turned it into a little bit of a "History of Bluegrass" seminar as he described the origins of the genre and played songs from each major period. Of course he described Del's impact and influence and brought Del on stage to sing one with him. Del didn't have his guitar with him so he just came up to sing, but he said "I don't have an axe to play and I don't have an axe to grind!". It was a good time.

The next act was the last one for us and it was a great way to end the festival. Keller Williams, joined by Jeff Austin (mandolin, from YMSB) and Keith Mosely (bass, from String Cheese Incident). I always enjoys Keller's shows, especially because they're so unpredictable. Keller has been spending much of the summer playing with Grateful Dead drummers Bill Kreutzman and Mickey Hart, so it seemed natural that he would kick off his set with three Dead tunes. That was followed by a mix of originals and covers (including "Midnight Moonlight") and four more Dead songs. He was also joined at various times by Joe Craven (who I forgot to mention was the MC for the entire weekend), Darroll Anger,  Larry Keel, and others.

All in all, another great DelFest, well managed, superb line up (truly too many acts to see), and a beautiful venue. Bluegrass and string music is alive and well in the hills of Cumberland!

David Bromberg's Big Noise Festival - May 15

2010-05-18T20:08:00.000-07:00

Boy, it's been too long since I've seen some live music and had a chance to update this blog. I have seen a few sets of City Farm at the Tiffany Tavern, but was reluctant to comment in this space as I only saw a set or two and didn't catch the entire show. But each performance is great fun and Holly will surely be missed as she is moving on to new challenges.

But finally as Spring arrives the 2010 Festival season begins! And we kicked it off in fine fashion last Saturday in Wilmington, Delaware at David Bromberg's Big Noise Festival. This was a day long music event to benefit the Light Up the Queen foundation, which is a non-profit organization devoted to restoring the Queen Theatre in downtown Wilmington.

David Bromberg, a wonderful singer/guitarist that was one of my favorites back in the college days, is still kicking around Wilmington and hosted some of his prestigious musical colleagues for a full day of excellent tuneage at a small park down in a newly developed downtown area.

First to play was the Angel Band, led by David's wife and two other female singers. I kind of like them, but all of my friends don't care for this band for some reason. But they got things kicked off while we set up our folding chairs and grabbed a cold DogFish 60 minute IPA.

Next up on the stage was Jorma Kaukonen, with Barry Mitterhoff on mandolin. This was a very nice, low key acoustic set, I was able to walk right up to the front of the stage and enjoy the music from 10 feet away. Among others they did one of my favorite Jorma tunes, "Hesitation Blues". David Bromberg joined them and sang a song called "Summer Wages" with Jorma taking a nice guitar solo. Sweet, clean picking by some true masters.

This was followed by Railroad Earth and the festival got rocking. There were many RRE fans there and the band seemed to understand that they had limited time, so they quickly ripped into a great set. "Dandelion Wine" and "Like a Buddha" were jamming and then David Bromberg joined them and they did a really fun version of "New Lee Highway Blues". Great smiles back and forth between Todd Scheaffer and Bromberg as they sang. You know there are some shows when the musicians are having more fun than the audience and this was one of those moments. The "New Lee Highway Blues" segued right into an instrumental closer called "Fiddlee". We could have listened to another hour of Railroad Earth, but there were more musicians waiting back stage.

So next was the Sam Bush band, and I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised. I've seen Sam Bush multiple times over the last few years and many of the set-lists were very similar and kind of starting to get, well, worn. But this was a bluegrass line up (no drummer) and they did several songs from his new album "Circles Around Me". In fact, some of the "new" songs were actually "revisits" of old New Grass Revival songs. Nice, straight ahead "newgrass" without all the tricks. I especially liked "Souvenir Bottles". Great job, Sam, I think I'm going to get that new album.

Sam was followed by John Hiatt and his rocking 4 piece band. John seemed inspired (again having the most fun of anyone with all of these great musicians). Elvis like moves as he ripped through a great set of tunes. He gave a nice shout out to Bonnie Raitt before doing "Thing Called Love" ("she put my daughters through college with this song") and once again David Bromberg comes out for "Memphis in the Meantime".

David Bromberg closed the show with his big band, including horn section. Several musicians came back out to play on some songs, including Jorma, Sam Bush, and Tim Carbone. It was a great finish to a full day of music.

The venue was nice, sound was somewhat muddled by the gusty winds, but as I said earlier it was so easy to walk up to the front where you could hear and see clearly. The food vendors had some fine cajun food and the Dogfish Head was flowing freely. I hope Bromberg and the Light Up the Queen organization can make this an annual event, it was a great way to kick off the festival season.

Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams - March 6 - Blackrock Performing Arts Center

2010-03-07T15:24:00.000-08:00

Ed and Nancy gave me some tickets to this show, I had never heard of this band with the full mouthful of a name, but it sounded like fun so off we went. This band, I'll just call them GM & SCoD, are led by Joziah Longo on guitar and vocals. He's an entertaining fellow who provides a running commentary between each song, sometimes even talking over the beginning of songs ("We take a long time between songs, that's one of the reasons we're not famous."). Joziah's wife, Tink Lloyd, who plays a variety of instruments but mostly accordion. She also is a very accomplished player of the theramin (does that make her a "theraminist"?). The theramin is often used by musicians simply for novelty or as a sound effect, but she was able to truly make music with it. The lead guitarist is Sharkey McEwan, he uses the slide a lot and he is quite good. The rhythm section is Tony Zuzulo on drums and Chen Longo on bass and keyboards. Chen also happens to be the son of Joziah and Tink.
So what kind of music do these guys play? Well their web site calls it "punk-classical-hillbilly-Floyd" and I certainly won't argue with that. You can definitely hear a sound similar to early Pink Floyd, especially with Sharkey's slide guitar work. Joziah's voice at times sounds like Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. Their songs are very entertaining and original. They didn't do any covers, but they started one of their songs singing the lyrics of "Pinball Wizard" to the tune of "Folsom Prison Blues" (it works!) and their encore was a combination of the Christmas song "Angels We Have Heard on High" and Van Morrison's "Gloria", which was quite clever.
The Black Rock Center for the Performing Arts has a beautiful little theater that seats about 200. Perfect for someone like the Seldom Scene (who will be there in a couple of weeks) and a solo acoustic performance, but with a rock band like GM & SCoD you need room to move around and dance. Not to mention the fact that the average age in the room must have been about 68.
I look forward to seeing GM & SCoD again, they would be perfect for Floyd Fest. And I hope to go back again to the Black Rock, to see a musical act that is more suitable for the intimate theater.

I've posted a widget to the side of this entry that you can use to listen to some of their songs, give it a try, they're fun to listen to! And thanks to Ed and Nancy for the tickets!

Yes - February 15 - Warner Theatre

2010-02-20T19:52:00.000-08:00

This show was scheduled for Saturday 2/6, but the Snowmageddon pushed it back to Monday 2/15. Yes was such an iconic band in the early 1970's, they were far and away the most popular "progressive rock" band. Now forty years later they're still doing the same thing, but the line up has changed slightly. Lead singer Jon Anderson is sidelined with health problems and is replaced by Canadian Benoit David. Benoit made a name for himself in Yes cover bands and was drafted into the real band when Jon went down. Also keyboard maestro Rick Wakemen has been replaced by his son, Oliver. I don't know why Rick is retired, maybe he just doesn't care anymore.

But original band members, Chris Squire (bass/vocals), Alan White (drums), and Steve Howe (guitar/vocals) are still kicking out the progressive rock classic jams and they look like they're having more fun than ever. We had some great seats, in the first couple of rows, directly in front of guitar virtuoso Steve Howe. Steve Howe looks like one of those guys you see sitting in the lobby of an assisted living facility, but when he straps on that Gibson guitar he is simply amazing. Chris Squire is full of energy and approaches each song with utmost enthusiasm.
And the band performed all of their big hits from the heyday, starting with "Siberian Khatru" (someone in the audience yelled "Welcome to Siberia!" with 2 feet of snow outside) and they whipped through "I've Seen All Good People", "Your is No Disgrace", "Heart of the Sunrise", and "And You and I". Each song was close to the studio version, but did include extended solo's for everyone (except Wakeman for some reason). They also did a wonderful version of "Machine Messiah", a song from the Drama album that I'm not very familiar with, but this might have been the musical highlight. Steve Howe played two songs solo acoustic that were just marvelous. And of course they did "Roundabout" for an encore.
The audience was all old guys and a few wives (including the Bird, who is a big Yes fan). The Boy was there as part of his Continuing Music Education. In January we saw Dweezil Zappa play his tribute to his father's music, then we saw the Furthur show, which is a tribute to the Grateful Dead with a couple of original members and several younger players, then Yes with three original members and two youngsters filling in. I'm a little tired of "recreating" musical experiences from decades past and ready for some young musicians playing some new music. Bring on the festival season!

The Boy, Greg Barnes, myself, the Bird

Furthur - February 13 - George Mason University

2010-02-17T19:34:00.000-08:00

For those of you that don't know, Furthur is a band put together by Phil Lesh and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, to keep Dead music alive and out there. Joining them for this tour are keyboardist Jeff Chimenti (from Bob Weir's band Ratdog and he also played with the Dead last year), drummers Jay Lane and Joe Russo (we've seen him before with Benevento/Russo) and a couple of backup singers. But what had me most perplexed and anxious was the presence of guitarist/singer John Kadlicek. We've enjoyed John's performances for years as the lead guitarist for Dark Star Orchestra, which is the very popular Grateful Dead cover/tribute band. He plays and sings just like Jerry Garcia and when he plays with Dark Star and he has been essential to their ability to "re-create" the live Dead experience. So I was apprehensive when I heard that this Jerry imitator was filling in with Phil and Bobby. I did not have this feeling when the Dead toured last year with Warren Haynes as the lead guitarist. Warren didn't try to be Jerry, instead he brought his own sound and his own style which meshed really nicely with the Dead songs.

We rolled in the GMU Patriot Center, it was a near sold out crowd, a suprisingly older demographic. Of course you expect there to be many gray hairs there, but these shows usually attract a good number of young folks as well, especially on a college campus, but for whatever reason it was just us old folks.

They opened with "Playing in the Band" and my apprehension quickly slipped away. The band was tight, they were having fun and the music was good. Unlike earlier shows in the tour, Saturday night turned into a greatest hits sort of show, with "Friend of the Devil", "Ship of Fools", and "Truckin'" in the first set. I was particularly impressed with Jeff Chimenti's \crazy piano solo on "Wang Dang Doodle".

The second set kicked off with the superb trilogy "Help on the Way>Slipknot>Franklin's Tower" from the Blues for Allah album. This was followed by a really nice version of "Cassidy", it was here that Phil, Bobby, Jeff, and John seemed to get into a synergistic state where they were really listening to each other and playing together well. "Lovelight" had a nice part where the backup singers and Bobby were calling back and forth, almost gospel style. However the backup singers were mostly redundant on the other songs as they only sang the chorus lines where the crowd sings along anyway.

The band jammed on with "St. Stephen", a loose version of the Beatles' "Revolution", then "The Eleven" and "So Many Roads". Now I've always thought that John Kadlicek really sings "So Many Roads" very well, he sort of makes it his own song (as they might say on American Idol) and he rose to the occasion here as the band let him take the spotlight. So what was I all worried about? Let the music play! They finished up with "Let it Grow" and then slipped back into "Playing in the Band" to put a nice bookend on a fine evening of music. The crowd called for more so they came out and ripped through "Johnny B. Goode" to get us fired up for the long trip home.

Furthur is named for the bus that Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters drove through history in the 1960's. Phil and Bob were there and it's inspirational that some 40+ years they're still out there playing music and having fun. In fact watching Phil on Saturday night I've never seen him in such an great mood, laughing, singing and playing. I salute him and wish him the best as he celebrates his 70th birthday next month

Zappa Plays Zappa - January 15 - Ram's Head Live

2010-01-17T15:54:00.000-08:00

This was my fifth time seeing Dweezil Zappa and his band perform his father's music. Each time has been a superb evening of live Zappa music. In past tours, ZPZ has included guest performers who are alumni from Frank Zappa bands (Steve Vai, Terry Bozzio, Ray White, Napoleon Murphy Brock, et. al.), however on this short tour it was pure ZPZ with no guests. But that was fine since Dweezil has assembled a band of very talented musicians who can play the heck out of a wide range of Zappa tunes. They had a new singer, Ben Thomas, who I had not seen before. He did a very good job with the challenging vocals and the improvisations that always made Zappa music fun to watch live.

The band started out on time and seemed almost in a hurry as they whipped through "Broken Hearts are for Assholes", "Bamboozled by Love", and "Dirty Love". Then a very nice version of "RDNZL". Dweezil introduced "You Didn't Try to Call Me" saying that it was a rare arrangement that was only used briefly in the mid seventies when Frank had a female vocalist in the band (I missed her name). Scheila Gonzales handled the lead vocals this time and it was really nice. That was followed by "Road Ladies", a gem from the Chunga's Revenge album and version of "T'mershi Duween".

The band seemed to loosen up some and relax as they went back to the Joe's Garage album and played "Catholic Girls" and "Crew Slut" (with a superb guitar solo by Jamie Kime and some nice harmonica work by Ben). By now Dweezil was joking with the crowd, asking where to get good crab cakes.

It was recently announced that the City of Baltimore had selected a place to put a statue of Frank Zappa that was being given to the city by some dedicated fans in Lithuania. You can read about it here. Dweezil improvised the lyrics to "Pigmy Twylyte" to say that he'd be glad to attend the dedication ceremony if someone would tell him when it would be.

They closed with an encore including "Stinkfoot" and "Muffin Man" (which is a great song for an encore). We grabbed a bite to eat before the show at a Mexican restaurant/night club next door to the Ram's Head where Vanilla Ice was scheduled to perform. I don't know why I'm mentioning that, it just seemed weird. My complaint on the Ram's Head is still that unless you're packed in the front, your choices are places where you can see well or hear well, but not both. Otherwise it was a good crowd with a high percentage of females for a Zappa show, the Bird suspects that Dweezil is gaining a following of his own with the ladies. In fact when Dweezil asked the audience in "What should I eat for dinner tonight?", one girl in front answered "Me!". Dweezil said his wife wasn't fond of that recipe.

A couple of other notes. Someone named Fred Midgett posted a very nice review of the show earlier in the week on the Zappa Plays Zappa web site. Fred is a huge Zappa fan and he wrote a loving note of thanks to Dweezil. You can read it in its entirety here. Scroll down to find Fred's posting.
Dweezil also mentioned a new web site called dweezilzappaworld.com that has a bunch of cool stuff on it, especially details on DZ's guitar rig and a great video of Dweezil playing with Tenacious D!

Finally as I look at my first three concerts of 2010 I notice an interesting common thread. They're all shows with bands playing music from the sixties and seventies, dare I say "re-creating". My next concert is Yes, with some original members, but the keyboard player is the son of the original keyboardist (Rick Wakeman) and the lead singer is a replacement (who sounds exactly like Jon Anderson). That will be followed by Furthur, which is Bob Weir and Phil Lesh and several other talented musicians playing Grateful Dead songs. And of course I just saw Dweezil, faithfully performing his father's music. I'm not sure what it all means, I'll share my perspective over the next few weeks. Perhaps a few years from now all the shows that I go to will be cover bands consisting of sons and daughters of the original artists. But at this point I'm happy to see Dweezil any time he wants to bring his band to town and play some tasty Zappa tunes.

City Farm - January 9 - Tiffany Tavern

2010-01-11T19:05:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday the Tiffany Tavern and City Farm teamed up again and provided a warm refuge from the frigid winter with great music, drink and friendship. Brother Ed was absent due to another commitment, but the remaining five members stepped up to the challenge and provided a evening of fine musical entertainment. Without Ed on guitar, Paul had to keep the mandolin mainly in the case and take out the six string. But Paul is a really fine guitar player so while Ed was sorely missed, it was nice to hear Paul's tasty finger picking style.
The atmosphere is always that of a neighborhood bar, though the neighborhood is thirty years ago and two hundred and fifty miles away. The bar was full (as normal) with a healthy representation of Danville expats and I was especially pleased to find a couple of pals from my college days in attendance. When City Farm plays at the Tavern there is a definite synergy between the band and the patrons, with everyone enjoying the music and making requests, and the band (I believe) getting inspired and motivated by the warmth and positive feedback from the crowd. The cramped, er.. well let's call it "intimate" space at the Tavern encourages you to strike up a conversation with those sitting or standing next to you. Saturday night a guy said to me: "These guys are great! What's the name of this band?"
"Why, they're the City Farm," I said. And while I didn't get his name, I expect I'll see him back there again real soon.

2009 Year End Summary

2010-01-03T10:28:00.000-08:00

Now that 2009 has come to an end I thought that I would look back and review my live music experiences, which after all was the primary reason for starting this blog at the beginning of 2009. Live music is one of my favorite “hobbies” or “recreational activities” and this tool has turned out to be a good way for me to document and somewhat preserve my memories. I look forward to continuing this blog in 2010 and I hope that I create some great new memories to save here. I’m toying with adding new features, perhaps live “tweets” from shows, certainly adding more photographs, and I would like to figure out how to add relevant music downloads.

Looking back at 2009 the first major highlight is definitely our seven show Dead experience in April and May. We caught the first show of the tour in Greensboro, NC only hours after returning from our Jamaica vacation and we finished five weeks later in Mountain View, California. This was wonderful for me on so many levels. The band reinvented itself for this tour with new energy and provided some of its best performances (I believe) in over 20 years. As I noted in the blog, I finally realized how the tour is really one long show and that is why so many people make the effort to see as many concerts as they can. I also saw my first show at the historic Madison Square Garden and one of the last shows at the venerable Philadelphia Spectrum (“we’re going to tear this old building down!”). It was a great experience to share with my wife (“The Bird”) who loves the Dead so much and I think it was an excellent new chapter in the continuing rock music education for my son (“The Boy”) who went to the first and last of our seven episodes.

Music festivals have always been great fun for us and an excellent way to experience many different bands in a beautiful outdoor setting. As is tradition for us, we went to the All Good and the FloydFest Festivals again in 2009. These two festivals are very different in their character and environment, but both deliver a nice mix of new bands and old favorites. We went to DelFest this year for the second time, and although a near tornado ripped through the festival site on Saturday afternoon the spirit and the music prevailed. In October of 2009 I went to the Crozet Music Festival (just outside Charlottesville) and had a wonderful time at this small local event. The weather and setting were perfect and there is plenty of local music talent to keep this festival on the “repeat” list.

The concert with the most “star power” for me in 2009 was probably Steve Winwood/Eric Clapton in June at the Verizon Center. For some strange reason I had never seen Eric Clapton before, but his performance with his old partner from Blind Faith was top notch professionism and a 2009 highlight for me.

Other musical artists that truly impressed me in 2009: Old Crow Medicine Show at the DelFest. After the storm, everyone was sort of wet, down, and wondering if the festival was going to go on (the main stage took major damage). The OCMS moved to the indoor rec center and created a positive storm of musical energy that got everyone dancing and back in the zone of good vibrations. Jackie Greene at the All Good Festival. I would love to see him again soon, he’s got just the right combination of original songwriting and musical skills that leave you wanting more. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at the FloydFest. This performance made a big impression on me and I made the effort to see them again (a short set at the Rt. 29 Revue at Merriweather Post and a rocking show at the Ram’s Head Live). She is a very talented performer and continues to win fans nationwide. Mark my word, she’ll have a hit single someday and Grace Potter will be a household name.

Another super highlight for me was the City Farm Benefit show in August, seeing so many Danville friends, young and old (well I guess old and older!) in such a positive setting was a ton of fun. My parody of the event in my blog got a lot of favorable comments, except from the band members who thought it was a factual report of the event.

There were many other highlights, seeing Dave Matthews in California with the Boy after touring the college where he’ll be for the next four years, a killer Allman Brothers performance at the Merriweather, watching Donna the Buffalo from the shelter of the VIP seats at FloydFest while it poured down rain (thank you John!), the list goes on and on. In fact, by my count I saw 29 shows (counting each Festival as one “show”) and over 90 bands this year. I’m afraid to run the total on my Quicken account to see how much $$ I spent on concert tickets, that’s a number that’s probably best left unknown.

As I look over the 2009 list a few things are missing. No shows at the Birchmere or the Strathmore! This is a sin to live so close to such treasures and not take advantage of it. I still have yet to see Bruce Springsteen live and I missed his tour again this year. My calendar didn’t line up this year with Bob Dylan’s never ending world tour. These things will be addressed in 2010. And speaking of Bruce and Bob, check out Jon Stewart's tribute to Bruce Springsteen at the Kennedy Center Honors. It's brilliant.

We finished 2009 in Austin, Texas (“the live music capital of the world”) and I was able to catch a few sets (the Evans Johnson band played some rockin’ rock-a-billy at Antone’s and I saw a fun bar band on Sixth Street but I forgot their name). Austin is a town where you can hear great live music every night if you want so we’ll have to get back down there again soon.

It looks like 2010 will start off with some good music, I have tickets already for Zappa Plays Zappa in January, in February it’s going to be Yes and Furthur. And I have tickets for DelFest and FloydFest, and I’ll pick up my All Good tickets as soon as they go on sale. Thanks for reading this, I appreciate your comments and I hope to see you at the next show.

On the Bus - December 12 - Rockville, MD

2009-12-13T08:12:00.000-08:00

I haven't been able to get to see much live music in the last few weeks, so I was intrigued when an ad appeared on Facebook for a Grateful Dead night at the Potomac Grill. Then when the Bird suggested that we try a new sushi restaurant that was right across the street, fate seemed to be directing us to a Saturday night in Rockville. On the Bus is a Grateful Dead cover band that I know little about but it seems they've been playing in the area for 7+ years. Saturday night they did an admirable job of playing a variety of songs from the Dead catalog, including "China Cat Sunflower", "Eyes of the World", "Cassidy", and "Ramblin' Rose". A pleasant surprise was "Peggy-O", one that you don't hear very often. Their lead guitarist, Darrell Bailey, played some excellent solos and their instrumental improvisations were very nice. Another added bonus was the frequent additions of friends from the audience to sit in on a song or two and sing, play guitar or harmonica.

The Potomac Grill is in a small strip mall and seems to be your typical American cuisine restaurant/bar. The band was set up in the bar area and the remaining seats and tables were all taken by the time we arrived. We were able to get a table in the restaurant area, but our view was blocked by the room layout, and we were reminded of City Farm nights at the Tiffany Tavern. Friends of the band get there early and secure the seats with good sight lines and the late arrivals are relegated to the back room. From their website it appears that On the Bus plays regularly at the Potomac Grill, so next time we'll have to arrive early to get a good spot among the regulars.

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals - November 16 - Baltimore, MD

2009-11-19T15:50:00.000-08:00

This show was billed as Grace Potter and the Nocturnals "co-headlining" with Brett Dennen. I was most impressed by Ms. Potter's performance at Floydfest this past summer and I saw her again in August at the Rt. 29 Revue. So I knew that I was guaranteed at least 50% of the show was going to be good. They snuck in another band to start things off, Pete Francis. He sucked. Just too much of a pop, soft rock, smooth sound for my taste. But Grace and her band came out next and they put on a fantastic show. She seemed truly happy to be in Baltimore, said she found some great tapas restaurants in the area and had so much fun hanging out in Charm City that they decided to stay over an extra day (they were performing the next night at the 9:30 in DC).

The Ram's Head Live was only about 2/3 full, which makes it a much more enjoyable space compared to when it's sold out and we were able to get right up front. They played several new songs which will be in their new album scheduled for release in the spring. One new one was "Oasis" which really rocked and I really liked "Medicine", with the refrain "I got the medicine that everybody wants". Indeed!

The current Nocturnals includes two great guitarists (Scott Tournet/Benny Yurco), their new bass player Catherine Popper (who is very easy on the eyes), and drummer Matt Burr. And of course there's Grace alternating between the Flying V guitar and the Hammond B-3 organ. I was standing close enough to the organ to see several labels on it that said "Customized for Grace Potter". Would be interested to learn more about that. A young guy next to me was looking quizzically at the Leslie cabinet with the spinning speaker, I told him it was a Leslie speaker and it was commonly used with the Hammond organ. He said "I have no idea what you're talking about". Darn kids with their iPods, where is their appreciation for musical heritage?

Anyway Grace puts so much energy in her singing and playing it is truly infectious and you really don't want her to stop. Couple that with her ability to write songs that are full of hooks and memorable lyrics and I imagine that she will be at the top of the charts and a household name in another year or two.

Based on what I've read, it seems like the project that she was working on with producer T-Bone Burnett has been cancelled and instead she's teamed up with another producer for the new album. I had high hopes for what T-Bone could do with her, but in the meantime she's still tearing up the concert circuit.

But don't take my word for it, take a look at this video from the show that my buddy Dan made or better yet, go see her the next time she's in town. I'll be there!

Oh, and Brett Dennen? We left after 1.5 songs, just a little too cutsie for my taste, but the 15 year old girls seemed to be enjoying him.

Dark Star Orchestra - November 13 - Washington, DC

2009-11-14T18:13:00.000-08:00

Just 48 hours after seeing a sort of lackluster performance of DSO I decided to give them another chance and tagged along with Davis to the 930 club to see them again. The club was completely sold out and I luckily found someone with an extra ticket. What a difference! They totally ROCKED the house with one of the best musical performances that I have ever seen from this band.

The setlist was from the June 27, 1976 Grateful Dead show and each song was performed better than the one before it. Special kudo's to the second set In the second set they played a spectacular version of "Wharf Rat", followed by "Samson & Delilah", and a "Help on the Way->Slipknot->Franklin's Tower" sequence that whipped the crowd into a real frenzy. All of the hippies, yuppies, and college kids were dancing and singing together as it should be. Then they finished with a very powerful "Sugar Magnolia". For the encore it was "US Blues" which was the end of the '76 show. But DSO showed their appreciation by playing a few more, "Midnight Hour", "Easy Wind", and "Brothers and Sisters".

We left hot, tired and fully satisfied from a night of great music, it's just amazing how different a band can be from one night to the next. I'm really looking forward to celebrating another New Year's Eve with this band, this time they have promised an acoustic set as well as special guests Jeff Mattson and Donna Jean Godchaux.

Dark Star Orchestra - November 11 - Hagerstown, MD

2009-11-14T17:43:00.000-08:00

It was cold and raining when we headed west on I-70 to Hagerstown. But as we crossed over South Mountain the rain stopped and the sky lifted so when we pulled into downtown Hagerstown it turned out to be a lovely evening. Last time we saw Dark Star Orchestra it was at the AllGood Festival and we still had fresh memories of seven live Dead shows. So Dark Star seemed a little too much like "let's pretend this is a Dead show". But now it's five months later and we're ready for some live Dead music, even if it's not being played by the real guys.

For this show DSO was celebrating their 12th anniversary, certainly a longer run then they must have envisioned when they started. As with any DSO show you spend some time trying to guess the period, year, and date (if you're really good) of the Grateful Dead show that they are "recreating". On Wednesday night it was pretty tough as they played several older tunes that were not part of the regular repertoire and they finished with some songs from the 1980's. They also threw in a very nice version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". The guessing game ended at the conclusion of the show when they usually announce the date of the original show, this time they said "I guess if it's your birthday you can play whatever the fuck you want". Well of course, you should be able to play whatever the fuck you want on your 12th birthday.

But the music still seemed a little lackluster, not much energy, nothing really wrong, but just didn't get us moving.

The real star of the show was the Maryland Theater in downtown Hagerstown which is almost 100 years old and restored to beautiful condition. As their web site says, "The marvelous acoustics are only surpassed by the wonderful ambiance" and I could not agree more. The room was beautiful, the sound was perfect, there was a great bar in the lobby and the little old ladies taking tickets at the door were enjoying the music as much as the audience. It looked like there were several nice bars and restaurants in the same neighborhood, I will definitely have to get back up here soon to more concerts.

So we headed home not really musically satisfied and as we climbed South Mountain the rain started again and it was back to the real world.

As for Dark Star Orchestra, see my more recent post for the rest of the story....

City Farm - October 24 - Tiffany Tavern

2009-10-25T15:08:00.000-07:00

We popped in to catch a couple of sets of the City Farm Band at their "home court", the Tiffany Tavern in Old Towne Alexandria. The band was in great form, with each member making solid contributions. Paul's vocals and mandolin playing was spot on. Don was eliciting exciting solos from his new Stelling banjo (lovingly handmade in Charlottesville). Holly's singing was beautiful, while singing lead but especially on the harmonies. Ed periodically steps from the back to whip out a great song (either written himself or a Dylan tune). Fred, fresh back from the IBMA, seemed especially inspired. And finally, I was particularly impressed with Marcus' singing. It was the most animated and musical singing that I had heard from him. Of course there was a good turnout (which seems to always be true) and they were in fine "spirits", both literally and figuratively. City Farm plays regularly at the Tiffany Tavern (next show is December 11) and I certainly recommend that you check them out.

The Allman Brothers Band - October 6 - Merriweather Post Pavilion

2009-10-18T13:52:00.000-07:00

It's taking me some time to get this entry out, but that's not because this wasn't a great show. To the contrary I think that every time I see the Allman Brothers it's a better show than the previous. I believe that each of the band members are are in the peak of their musical form (despite the fact some of them are old enough to be collecting Social Security), so when they crack open the deep ABB song catalog you know you're in for a night of great music.

The Allman Brothers Band is celebrating their 40th anniversary this year, and the first song "Trouble No More" was accompanied by a nice photo montage, showing the band in their early days. Their story is really pretty interesting, a few years ago I read a biography of Duane Allman ("Sky Dog") that does a good job of telling that story. Pick it up here or I'll be happy to lend you my copy. Anyway, "Trouble No More" was followed by "Leave my Blues at Home", a nice blues number by Gregg, then they did a rousing version of "One Way Out" with an excellent guitar solo by Derek Trucks. During all of these songs Gregg was playing the Hammond B-3 and they had Danny Louis sitting in on piano.

Next up was "The Sky is Crying" a song that was made popular by Stevie Ray Vaughn, then a great version of the Allman's classic "Dreams". Next up was a song originally done by Dr. John, called "I Walk on Gilded Splinters". According to Wikipedia ("it's got to be true"), Johnny Jenkins recorded this song in 1970 with Duane, Jai Johanny Johanson, and Butch Trucks. Joining them for this song were John Bell and Sonny Ortiz of Widespread Panic.

Then they did "Woman Across the River", which was the only song they did from their last CD (Hittin' the Note). I love this CD, to the best of my knowledge it's the only one with Derek and Warren on guitars. Come on guys, what about a new one?

Next Susan Tedeschi (Derek Trucks' wife) joined the band and she sang the Dylan classic "Don't Think Twice". That went straight into "Southbound" the straight ahead rocker from the "Brothers and Sisters" album. Also sitting in at this point were Jimmy Herring on guitar and Todd Nance on drums (both from Widespread Panic) and Ron Hollaway on sax. The highlight for me was a stinging guitar solo by Susan that seemed to say to the other guitar masters on the stage, "this lead guitar club is not just for boys".

The fun was just beginning as next Gregg took an acoustic guitar and sang "Melissa". Then another great tune "Stand Back" again featuring Holloway on sax. Butch Trucks moved over to the kettle drums and they began the familiar strains to "Mountain Jam". And jam they did! Somewhere along the way Derek broke a string and completely retuned his remaining strings to compensate, it was very spacey and improvised. But then they morphed into a screaming version of the Led Zeppelin classic "Dazed and Confused" with Warren handling the vocals, then back to "Mountain Jam" and then they left the stage with the audience whipped into a wild frenzy.

But the crowd wanted more, I was screaming "Whipping Post" and sure enough they came back on ripped into the classic to finish the show.

A couple of postscripts. Widespread Panic opened the show, those that were with me thought they were really good but they didn't do it for me. Too loud and the songs sounded too ponderous to me. Actually they did a couple of nice songs when Warren Haynes joined them on stage. Second note, I'm continued to be impressed with the job that Seth Hurwitz has done with revitalizing and improving the Merriweather Post Pavilion. The service is excellent, plenty of food and drink (although rather pricey), they've added some high def video screens that enhance the experience, and this is a super place to see shows. Hopefully next year they'll book more exciting acts.

Crozet Music Festival - Oct.2 - 4 - Crozet, Va.

2009-10-10T17:56:00.000-07:00

I went to the first Crozet Music Festival two years ago, it was a one day event that was fun, but it had some start up problems and I wasn't sure it would carry on. But after attending Crozet Music Festival 3 this year, I'm convinced that this will be a must see event for years to come. The festival is now a three day event and the venue has moved to a beautiful setting called the Misty Mountain Campground. The organizers did an excellent job of filling three days and two stages with a line up of musical performers with a wide variety of styles, mostly artists from the talent rich Charlottesville area. This is a non-profit event with all proceeds going to the Western Albemarle Life Saving Crew.

I arrived early Friday evening and set up my pop-up camper in a nice camping spot that I had reserved earlier in the week. Through the woods I could hear the Kings of Belmont playing some spirited rock and roll. After the camp was set up I strolled down to the open field where the music and vendors were, just in time to catch the performance by William Walter & Co. We last saw them at Floydfest (check my entry from late July). These guys play an original mix of infectious tunes, led by their energetic frontman. He reminds me of Keller Williams in some ways, mainly his enthusiasm and liveliness. And it turns out he lives just a few miles from the festival site. Afterwards I was able to meet Mr. Walter and have a beer with him, he seemed pleased with the way the festival was going. I dropped in on an after show party in the campground rec center, where another band was playing for festival volunteers, then it was back to my campsite where my neighbors were celebrating a reunion of the 1979 Western Albemarle High School class. My friend and cousin John (also a promoter of the festival) of course had many mutual friends with them so we sat down and had several late night drinks and listened to their view of the world.

The next morning after a breakfast sandwich I checked out the merchandise tent that was being sponsored by a local record shop to benefit The Music Resource Center, a facility that helps teens learn and practice their musical skills. The merchandise tent was chock full of t-shirts, hoodies, CD's, DVD's, and other musical memorabilia with yard sale bargain prices. There was a ton of Rolling Stones stuff and folks were buying it up quickly. This had an odd side effect as I noticed later in the day there were many folks walking around wearing Rolling Stones clothing.

Saturday's music started off with a band of "youngsters" named Chick Tragic and the Roosters. Singer/songwriters Carleigh Nesbit and Carl Anderson are backed by a very talented group of musicians. They sounded great, but a little something was missing, and I'm thinking it's experience. The songs weren't sung with much conviction and there was some rather embarrassing between song chatter. But they are very good musicians and I'd love to see them again.

Next band was the Hogwaller Ramblers, a Charlottesville band since 1991. They're named after an area in Charlottesville where the stockyards used to be. In contrast to the previous band the Ramblers have a ton of experience and they were one of my favorite bands of the festival. They played songs with plenty of swing and rhythm and their leader, Jamie Dyer, got the afternoon crowd up and dancing.

The Hogwaller Ramblers were followed by Alex Mejuas who was a little to "pop" for me. Then it was the Atkinsons from Richmond, Va. My notes on this one say they were "sort of a Railroad Earth wannabe". I'm sure that I meant that in a nice way. I liked this band's spirit and when they had three electric guitars going it kind of had a Lynyrd Skynyrd feel to it.

The next band I saw was called Six Chasing Seven, they are a reggae band from Lynchburg. The reggae music was a refreshing change and they did a really nice version of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition". Their web site says they have released an album that was produced by Boyd Tinsley of the Dave Matthews Band. They were followed by a "tweener" act to play while the stage was being prepared for the next band. Adrienne Young is a musician from Charlottesville who we had seen before at FloydFest. She had brought her Backyard Revolution to the Crozet Music Festival which is a project to preserve and celebrate some of the region's cultural heritage (both agri- and other). For example they were cooking up some delicious brunswick stew over a campfire and showing how to make your own bow and arrow to hunt down the ingredients for your stew. She's a very good singer/songwriter and her web site says she was just named the "Virginia Garlic Queen" for 2009! Congrats to her!

For Saturday evening, my notes and memory get a little hazy. There was "Tim be Told" who I recall were quite good, followed by the Downbeat Project and then the Saturday headliners "Trees on Fire". Trees on Fire is an ecologically minded rock band from Charlottesville and the crowd was very supportive. There were songs they did that I didn't like (being too "pop" then there were other songs that really rocked out). I'm pretty sure they did a nice version of the Stones' "Miss You", but my reviewing of the local microbrews at this point was influencing my ability to review the local music.

I finished off the evening at the volunteers' after party, which featured a Pink Floyd cover band. They played the entire "Dark Side of the Moon" album and a very good version of "Comfortably Numb". What a great way to end a full day of music in the sun!

Sunday we got to get up and do it all over again, the first performer was Katherine Caine and she had a fine band playing behind her. She did a very nice "Angel from Montgomery" and her sweet vocals mixed with the fine mandolin playing (Andy Thacker) was the perfect soundtrack for this sunny October Sunday in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Midway through her set she pointed out a bald eagle flying directly over the festival. Now how cool is that? The "Blues Farm" played some great rocking road house style tunes with very nice harp work. By the time they were done, I was too, even though there were plenty of more bands to play on into Sunday evening. I particularly wanted to see Alligator, a Grateful Dead cover band, with some of the local musicians I listened to as a college student in Virginia. Oh well, that will have to wait until next year.

In summary the Crozet Music Festival is now a fantastic event that has all of the necessary ingredients for a great festival experience: deep and varied musical lineup, beautiful setting with onsite camping, tasty food and beverage vendors (I forgot to mention the superb quesadillas from La Cocina del Sol), and no hassle promoters who deliver on the promise. I'll definitely be back next year, I should really take Friday and Monday off for the full experience. The only thing that could mess up this festival is its own success. If too many people come then it may become too crowded or have to move to a bigger venue. We wouldn't want that to happen, in fact maybe this positive blog entry will inspire my legion of followers to overrun this peaceful and serene event. I better not publish this as it's written... where is the delete key?... Is this it?

Dave Matthews Band - September 13 - Irvine, CA

2009-09-15T04:07:00.000-07:00

The Boy and I were in Southern California checking out a college and we noticed that the Dave Matthews Band was in town. Since they are his current favorite band and I'm always up for a rocking show we decided to check it out. The venue is the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine, California. Formerly known as "Irvine Meadows", this place is rather large outdoor venue (16,000+) with mostly reserved seating and a small lawn section. Nissan can hold more, but I think that is because Nissan has a much bigger lawn area. The Verizon Amphitheatre is on a steep mountainside and unlike other "sheds" it has no roof for the patrons. Everyone sits outside and the roof only covers the stage. You gotta love that California weather!

Switchfoot was the opening band, their performance was rather forgettable except when the lead singer ventured out into the audience while singing. He went way up behind the sound board singing all the while and shaking hands in the audience. Reminded me of the William Walter performance at the Hill Holler stage at FloydFest. But William was handing out CD's while he was roaming through the crowd.

The DMB put on a fine show, they have a stage with big video screens that allows everyone to see what's going on. They played a good number of tunes from their new album ("Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King"). This is a fine album and it was nice to hear the songs live. The DMB can definitely stretch out into some great instrumental jam sessions. I had seen them a couple of times before, but this was the first time I'd seen them with Tim Reynolds on electric guitar and Jeff Coffin (of the Flecktones) replacing the late LeRoi Moore (the "GrooGrux King"). They've also added a trumpet player (Rashawn Ross) in the last few years, he helps out with the background vocals. They rocked the house with a cover of "Burning Down the House" (Talking Heads). Dave seemed in good spirits, joking with the crowd between songs and pleased with the number of women's "drawers" that were being thrown on stage.

We had a lot of fun at this show and it was a nice way to end our sojourn out west.

It Might Get Loud - Documentary Film - September 6

2009-09-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

OK, this was not actually a live music event, but I thought that it was worthy of an entry here. "It Might Get Loud" is a new documentary film that pays tribute to the guitar as a rock and roll instrument by focusing on three guitarists representing three different eras in rock history. You can get up close and personal with Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White. Each spends time alone on the screen playing and taking you back to where they grew up and first began to play guitar. And all three sit down together with their guitars on a soundstage and no script and just trade stories and play together.

I think this film was put together very well, click here to see a nice trailer of the movie(click on "Trailer").

After spending 90 minutes with these three guys, I think the Edge relies a little too much on the effects and electronics, I do have much more respect for Jack White as a guitar player, and Jimmy Page is still the old master who can blow away any and all comers!

Traffic Jam - Baltimore, MD - September 5

2009-09-06T08:09:00.000-07:00

The "Traffic Jam" was advertised as a 3 day festival at the Sonar club in downtown Baltimore. Musical acts included Leftover Salmon, the Lee Boys, Medeski Martin & Wood, Sam Bush, and the Travelin' McCourys. Some streets were to be blocked off and there would be multiple stages including an outdoor stage. Sounded intriguing so the Bird and I headed up there Saturday to check it out. We were surprised that we were able to park in a public lot right in front of the club, the street was indeed blocked off and a small festival ground was created. There were a handful of vendors with your typical festival fare but there was no outdoor stage. Apparently there had been a snag with the City at the last minute, so the Sonar club used their three indoor stages. This was our first visit to the Sonar club, which appears to be the first level of a three level parking garage converted into a night club. There are 3 rooms, sort of reminiscent of Goldilocks, each room is a larger version of the previous one. When we arrived there was a band (never caught the name) playing in the middle sized room with about 4 people watching. They had a talented left handed lead guitar player, but the sound was so loud (and very poorly mixed) that we retreated back outside. Then we found the smallest room which had a teenage trio playing some progressive '70's style instrumental rock. They were actually very entertaining (couldn't figure out their name either), the crowd size doubled when we entered that room. After listening to them for a while we went to the Main Room, which was a large open space with 3 bars, a concrete floor, and some risers on one side that you could sit on. Playing in this space was Papa Mali, a blues guitar player from New Orleans. They played some fun music for the 30 or so fans hanging in the big room.

So the pieces were in place for a downtown music "festival" but it appeared that the crowd didn't show. The Bird and I decided to take a break and we jumped in the car, headed to Fells Point and had a nice early al fresco dinner. Then back to the Sonar in time to catch the Lee Boys and Leftover Salmon. We had seen the Lee Boys earlier in the summer at the Floydfest, these guys play a style of rocking gospel that is known as "Sacred Steel", probably Robert Randolph is it's most famous practitioner. A few more people had shown up and the Lee Boys were really rocking. They were joined onstage by a local blues guitarist name Bobby Lee Rodgers and then later by a guitarist called "Mike" (apparently they forgot his last name). This turned into a really good show as the guest guitarists traded licks with the steel guitar player known as "the Dr."

Leftover Salmon brought the energy level up even further as Vince Hermann, Drew Emmitt and the rest of the boys ripped into their unique brand of "polyethnic cajun slamgrass". The crowd had picked up a little by then, the sound was good, and so was the music. We rocked through this set and even though there were more bands scheduled to follow was time for us to make the drive home.

In summary I would say this was a good idea for a festival, but several things went wrong. An outdoor stage would have made it a lot more fun, there wasn't much food to be had, and there weren't enough people there. I don't know if it was poor promotion or just the fact that no one wants to hang out in a dark club on the last weekend of summer. It would be interesting to see what Saturday and Sunday were like. I'll keep the Sonar on my list of venues to watch and hope for better things to come.

City Farm Band - August 22 - Danville, VA

2009-08-24T09:38:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we went down to Danville to see the City Farm band play a benefit concert for the Free Clinic. The Free Clinic is a community-based organization that provides quality health care at little or no charge to low-income, uninsured Virginians. Of course the City Farm band is a group of Danville natives, now living in the Washington, DC area, who get together regularly to play progressive bluegrass and acoustic music and they are always a lot of fun to watch. There was extensive press leading up to this event (click here to see the Danville Register & Bee coverage) so I knew that there was going to be a big turnout for this show. But the City of Danville was ready, police and portable signs were stationed at the major highways coming into town, funneling the traffic to the concert venue in the downtown area. I motioned with my beer bottle to the officer directing traffic that I was headed to the hotel district and not downtown, he quickly waved me through.

We first checked into our room at the hotel, which was the same one where the band was staying. The lobby was packed full of groupies, hangers-on, and press people, but we were able to get checked in relatively quickly. I tried getting a room near the band members' suites, but the floor where the band was staying was completely sealed off with extra tight security. Fortunately I had planned ahead of time and pre-ordered the mini-bar to be stocked with cold beer. You would have thought the President was staying there, but the fleet of six tour buses in the parking lot indicated we were in the right place. I'm not sure why the band members can't travel together on one bus, instead each one has their own bus customized to their individual preferences. Here's a picture from the hotel parking lot:

City Farm Musicians Tour Buses

Knowing that it was going to be a big crowd at the show, we hurried on downtown to the Community Market. The cars were lined up for several miles and we even saw some people abandoning their cars and walking the last mile or two. Once we got to the parking lot it was a big tailgating party, obviously many people had arrived early in the morning and were spending the day cooking out, drinking, and visiting with friends. There were many vendors selling City Farm t-shirts, stickers, and bootleg recordings. Of course there were folks wandering around with a finger held high in the air, hoping for a "miracle" - someone with an extra ticket to this long sold out event. (In fact the Ticketmaster servers crashed twice when tickets went first on sale, something that had never happened before, even for Bruce Springsteen.) After having a few beers in the parking lot we went on into the venue to catch the show.

Community Market Parking Lot before the Show

This was a large hall for City Farm and the sellout crowd packed it to the rafters. One of the best things about this large audience was that included every single person who attended George Washington High School between 1938 and 1978. It was great fun to see so many old high school friends that we haven't seen in so many years. Even my parents' generation was well represented with several of the band members' parents watching with pride. "I never knew Paul could sing!", his father said to me. Fred's (nee "Marty") mother said, "I always wondered what Marty was doing in the basement by himself all the time. He was practicing the resophonic guitar!"

City Farm takes the stage

I hit the bar for a couple of beers and moved to the VIP suite (one of the benefits of being related to the guitar player) and settled in for what turned out to be an epic performance. As soon as the band took the stage they tore into a raucous set of their most popular songs. The sound (mixed by the notorious "DJ Wayne") was impeccable and the light show was unlike anything I had seen before. The VIP suite was rocking, the champagne was flowing (a case had been provided by the Danville City Council, most council members were in attendance) and we all danced with youthful abandon.

VIP Suite at the Show

The band played late into the night, during the intermission there was a montage on the big video screen over the stage with a beautiful tribute to Les Paul, Michael Jackson, and Farrah Fawcett. I was most impressed when Don Parrish played a lovely banjo solo suspended high over the audience in a cherry picker. After 3 encores the house lights went up and the show was over. The band quickly slipped into 3 long limousines and was led away by a police escort. I had so much beer and champagne that I was reminiscing with high school friends that I had never met before.

But the festivities continued as we all moved to a local watering hole named "Sal's", but in true Danville fashion, no one calls it that, instead they call it the Wurst place. Lex Bendall (who is an old friend of mine) was holding court there and we solved most of the world's problems over a few beers. Too bad we didn't write any of it down.

Seriously though, it was the most fun I've had in that town in a long time, and it was great for everyone to come out to raise money for such a fine cause. Maybe the day will come when the government feels like giving a bunch of Wall Street fat cats a few hundred million dollars, they'll need to have some bake sales and benefit concerts. And when someone is down on their luck and needs to see a doctor the health care system will have the resources to take care of it.

Rt. 29 Revue - August 16 - Columbia, MD

2009-08-21T16:02:00.000-07:00

So I created my own little mini-festival this weekend by going to see the Hot August Blues Festival in Cockeysville, MD on Saturday (see my comments on that in the entry below) and going to the Rt. 29 Revue at the Merriweather Post Pavilion on Sunday. Three bands on Saturday and six bands on Sunday, not bad! The Rt. 29 Revue was organized by the Old Crow Medicine Show and had a superb lineup and a very affordable ticket price.

On my arrival Justin Jones was playing, he's a DC based singer songwriter, a nice sound but honestly I was hitting the bar and checking out the crowd so I didn't give him a fair listen.

He was followed by the Felice Brothers, a band I had heard good things about so I found my seat in the pavilion and got focused. This guys are nuts. They came out with a ton of energy and played their own brand of rocking Americana music. The drummer sets up similar to Levon Helm (more about him below), the fiddle player did the first song on his knees for some reason, the keyboards were also set at a low level (not volume, but height from the floor) and they all played like their lives depended on it. They were joined on stage by a couple of guys from Old Crow and this was all in all a very enjoyable set. I particularly enjoyed "Whiskey in my Whiskey" which is about a guy who shoots his girlfriend. "I put some whiskey in my whiskey, I put some heartbreak in my heart, I put my boots on that ole dance floor, I put three rounds in my 44". Depressing when you read it, but fun to listen to...

Next up was Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, we had seen her last month at the FloydFest and it was great to see her again. Her musical style was different than the other bands at the Rt. 29 Revue, but honestly I can't get enough of her performances. Each band was scheduled to play about 45 minutes and she ran a little long but the crowd was definitely into it. One of my favorite songs of hers is "Joey", which is also sort of depressing since it's about a woman in an abusive relationship (Joey also has a "44"). But the tune is great and it appears that the law has caught up with this bad guy. Anyway, she finished with "White Rabbit" the Jefferson Airplane classic, just like she did at Floyd and left the crowd begging for more.

The next band was "Iron & Wine" which is actually one guy who sings and plays acoustic guitar. I needed a musical break so we went back to the shade trees and listened from afar. Actually the sound was pretty good, but he's a little too mellow for me.

Levon Helm was next on stage with his big band and the tempo was back up to full throttle. Levon (a survivor of throat cancer) was under doctor's orders to not sing, so guitarist/producer Larry Campbell handled most of the vocal chores. They had a horn section and played a lot of great songs from the Band of course. But they also played some good Dead tunes, "Tennessee Jed" is on Levon's latest album, they did a nearly a capella version of "Attics of my Life", and a nice version of "Deep Elem Blues" (which is not an original Dead tune, but they certainly played it a lot). Even without Levon singing, they were very entertaining, joined onstage by some of the Felice Brothers for some raucous times and all in all a great set.

Finally the Old Crow Medicine Show took the stage, we had seen them earlier this year at the DelFest where they revived the crowd after the horrific storm. These guys put a modern spin on old time music, they have the bluegrass instrumentation (plus a guitar/banjo hybrid called a "guitjo") and, like the Felice Brothers, they bring a lot of energy and great songs to the stage. I'm particularly fond of "Wagon Wheel" which was co-written by Ketch Secor (of Old Crow) and Bob Dylan. But the twist is that Bob sang the chorus to himself in a tape recorder in the early 1960's and never did anything with it, some 30 years later Ketch heard the tape and filled in the rest himself. Subsequent to that, he and Dylan reached an agreement on the songwriting credits and now it's Old Crow's signature song and covered by several other bands. You can click here to see their "Wagon Wheel" video on youtube.

I have to admit that after two days of music, summer sun (and a few drinks) I had enough and I checked out before the Old Crow boys finished. But it was a super weekend (thanks to Dan and Jack for hanging with me) and I'll see Old Crow again soon.

Hot August Blues - August 15 - Cockeysville, MD

2009-08-17T17:04:00.000-07:00

This one day festival has been happening for many years now, we went about 10 years ago and had a great time so I thought I would cruise up to Cockeysville and check out the 2009 edition. It was well under way by the time I arrived, but I got to see three fine bands. The first was Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit . Jason used to write songs and play with the Drive-By Truckers, he left that band in 2007. The 400 Unit played mostly original songs that at times sounded like Mountain, the Heartbreakers, or classic southern rock. But I was most impressed by their cover of "Into the Mystic" a simply great Van Morrison song. I liked these guys and they brought a lot of energy to the stage.

They were followed by Joe Bonamossa, an American born blues guitar player who was mentored as a kid by the legendary Danny Gatton. He wails on the guitar and did an excellent set, including "Had to Cry Today" and "Further on Up the Road". I liked the way he would walk off the stage and down the grass embankment and play guitar right in front of the crowd. And it was a big crowd there to see him, lots of folks wearing Joe Bonamossa t-shirts. He also did a couple of nice acoustic pieces.

Finally, headlining the festival was the Derek Trucks Band and they rocked us into the evening. For those of you that don't know, Derek Trucks is the nephew of one of the original Allman Brothers drummers (Butch Trucks) and he is now the slide guitar player in that venerable band. Derek is only 30 years old, but just like Joe Bonamossa he started impressing folks with his talent at a very early age. He was sitting in with Buddy Guy at age 12, started this band at age 15, and by age 20 he was officially enlisted in the Allman Brothers. He's also married to Susan Tedeschi who is a talented guitar player herself.

Saturday's night performance was a good mix of blues, jazzy numbers and extended jams. Derek's slide work is exceptional and at times certainly reminiscent of Duane Allman. Like Carlos Santana, Derek doesn't sing, instead he has a vocalist (Mike Mattison) who handles that job. Joe Bonamossa came out and jammed with them on one song and that was fun. But as we were listening I commented to a friend, the problem with a Derek Trucks show is that he doesn't have a deep catalog of songs from which to choose. We'll see Derek again in October with the Allman Brothers Band, and they have a very deep catalog, which I suspect will make it more entertaining. But I'm not complaining, I like listening to DTB and it was an enjoyable show.

A couple of notes on the Festival, this was their first ever sell out, and I believe that was because the parking lot couldn't accommodate any more cars. The lines for food and drink were way too long and as was the line of cars leaving the parking lot after the show. But I think that this is a great festival and the promoter will address these issues. (In fact a few days after the show I received an email from them asking for my feedback). Looking forward to next year's Hot August Blues.

FloydFest 8 - Floyd, VA - July 23 - 26

2009-07-28T20:02:00.000-07:00

FloydFest on the Blue Ridge Parkway

FloydFest is certainly the best music festival in the country, you don't have to take my word for it, just ask anyone who has been there. The setting, the great group of volunteers, superb musical lineup, everything comes together for a sublime experience that is the epitome of "Festival". It's impossible to see all of the musical performances that are packed into the 4 days, but this year I did a pretty good job of seeing the ones that I considered "must see".

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals headlined Friday night on the main stage and put on a great show. She is young singer/songwriter with a rocking band and I believe that their album to be released this fall (produced by T-Bone Burnett) could very well make her a household name. You read it here! She has taken influences from Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin and come up with a new original sound.

Two bands that I've written about in this space before, Donna the Buffalo and Railroad Earth are regular performers at the FloydFest and they both turned in great performances. Donna the Buffalo was late Saturday afternoon and I was fortunate enough to use a friend's VIP pass so I could watch the show from on the stage. Up close and personal, this turned out to be a double bonus as a summer storm came through during the show and we stayed dry throughout. I can't say the same for the band though, because of the high roof they took a good soaking. Tara had to give up on the fiddle ("no traction between bow and string, just too wet") but the rest of the band soldiered on through the rain, with a long jam on "Mystic Water". As their amplifiers and keyboards became too wet to function, in typical FloydFest fashion other bands volunteered up their equipment, the roadies swapped it in and the show went on. As the sky cleared, they started up "Blue Sky", a rainbow formed over the stage and the crowd threw off their ponchos and kept on dancing.

Rainbow over the Dreaming Creek Stage

Railroad Earth closed out the festival Sunday afternoon with a great performance. It's hard to believe that after 4 days of fun and music we were able to muster up the energy for more dancing, but RRE's lively performance had us jumping. They were joined by Peter Rowan for beautiful version of "The Cuckoo". Even though they finished at the appointed 6 pm, the crowd and the promoter (Kris Hodges) brought them back out for an extended encore, with "Gone to the Fields" and "Hard Livin'". Great extended back and forth solos between Tim Carbone (fiddle) and John Skehan (mandolin). This was also the first time that I had seen Tim play electric guitar.

In addition to the music, FloydFest makes a great effort to raise everyone's consciousness on the environment and what we all can do to make our world a better place for our children and grandchildren. There was a panel discussion Saturday afternoon with Jeb Puryear (of Donna the Buffalo), several members of Blues Traveler, and several other performers (I missed the introductions so I couldn't get their names). While the discussion was a little "pie in the sky" for me and not too grounded, at least they're making the effort to talk about it. Someone made the point about how Europeans rarely use ice in their drinks but in America we fill our cups and coolers with ice all the time (which does cost a great deal of energy to create). After the Donna show, my cousin/good friend John and I ran into Jeb and admitted that we had been filling our cups with ice that day. He laughed and said there are a lot of great solutions for saving energy and it doesn't mean we have to punish our selves to make the world cleaner. On Sunday before the RRE show, Tim Carbone also made an impassioned plea for everyone to do their part change the course we're on, or else we're going to leave a real mess for future generations. But this blog is about music so I'll end the discussion here. If you want to learn more check out Rock the Earth.

Jeb Puryear (of Donna the Buffalo) tells John it's OK to put ice in Bubba

One of my favorite things about FloydFest is I always see some great bands that I've never even heard of. This year it was The Sadies a band from Toronto that has two brothers on guitars, they must be 6'5" tall and they wail on country, rockabilly, surf style tunes. We were thoroughly enjoying their set and then they said when they were invited to FloydFest they thought it had something to do with Pink Floyd. So they had worked up a Pink Floyd song for the show and they played a killer rendition of "Astronomy Domine" from Floyd's first album. That just blew me away!

Another band that I had never seen, but came highly recommended from a friend, is the Mantras from Greensboro, NC. They play some great original jam/funk tunes and they put on a good show (despite the fact the PA system blew up during the first song).

Peter Rowan and his bluegrass band turned in a classy and classic set of pure bluegrass music. He played for years with the father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe, and there are not many people still walking the earth who can say that. We tried watching him earlier in the year at DelFest with his Mexican Airforce band, but I just could not get into that. But when he sings a bluegrass song, it feels to me that I'm as close to the source as I can get.

There are many other bands that we saw and enjoyed, I'll briefly mention Stop, Drop, and Roll, a great jam band. William Walter and Co., he was voted the favorite new artist at FloydFest 2008 which means he got to play 3 different sets this year. He reminds me somewhat of Keller Williams, he's a high energy entertainer whether it's solo acoustic or with his electric band. While his guitarist was playing a solo during one set, William jumped into the audience with a bag of his CD's and starting running around handing them out to everyone. Now that's promotion! The Duhks put on a fun show, and so did Toubab Krewe (who turned out to be more of a jam band than I imagined, I would definitely like to see them again). And on Sunday The Lee Boys played their famous "Sacred Steel" music while we cleaned up our on site base camp and said goodbye to our friends.

You may have noticed that I didn't say anything about the Saturday night headliner, Blues Traveler, this is because I was rather disappointed with this performance. The sound mix didn't seem right to me, we had seats with obstructed view, and maybe at the end of Saturday I was suffering some music fatique. Anyway, we'll give them another chance.

There were some bands that I didn't see that other folks said were quite good, particularly The Yard Dogs Road Show and The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker. Oh well, maybe next year.

One final comment, the FloydFest scene and "vibe" is so nice that I think the musicians pick up on it and raise the level of their performance for this venue. My kudo's to the promoters Kris Hodges and Erika Johnson for another spectacular event. Revival!

Most of our gang at FloydFest (my family was still sleeping!)

All Good Music Festival - Marvin's Mountaintop WV - July 8 - 11

2009-07-14T18:46:00.000-07:00

The Bird and I have been going to the All Good Festival for many years now, going all the way back to the Wilmer's Park days. Tim Walther and his team have always done a first class job of taking care of the patrons, making sure that there is always great music, and putting together a great festival. This year was no exception, in fact some are saying this was the best All Good ever. There's no doubt that this was the best weather ever and the music was top notch, too.

We headed out to West Virginia on Thursday afternoon and saw Maryland State Police and county troopers pulling over loads of kids and searching their cars all along the way. Crossing into West Virginia only changed the color of the uniforms as Morgantown cops were dragging more festival goers out of their cars and arresting them. Even as we turned into the last road into the festival there was a set of troopers selectively pulling people over and performing what have to be illegal searches and seizures. I was pulled over and ticketed for "speeding" in Masontown, although my friends who were following me said I was going nowhere near the speed the officer claimed. What a waste of misdirected energy to harass these fun loving and peaceful music lovers (who spend a pretty fair sum of tourist dollars in the area). OK, enough of that soapbox on to the music.

After setting up a deluxe camping compound, we headed over to the secondary stage area for some tunes. Boombox was playing, which is a DJ and a guitarist/singer. They were entertaining and had the crowd dancing, they even did their own style of "Shakedown St." and a Beatles tune. Then came the guy that we wanted to see, Keller Williams. We've seen Keller plenty of times, in fact the first time I ever saw him was many years ago at a music festival at the Sunshine Daydream farm not far from Marvin's Mountaintop. When Keller was introduced, it was pointed out from the stage that he has performed at All Good festivals more than any other artist. He put on a fine show, did a version of "Barracuda" by Heart, only he whistled the "vocal" part. I've seen Keller play bluegrass, play with a band, and do acoustic solo. This night he was solo, but in full "DJ" mode, which suited the crowd and the vibe fine. Everyone was in the mood for dancing and kicking off the festival with something with a beat. It got late, so we headed back to the camp to rest up for the next day.

Friday we started off watching Hill Country Revue, who were really rocking hard with some great southern country blues. This band has Cody Dickinson and Chris Chew (of the North Mississippi All Stars) and they playing some great original material. On this day they also had Jackie Greene sitting in the keyboards. Jackie Greene was one of the "must see" artists for me a this festival and he took the stage with his band right after Hill Country Revue. My expectations were exceeded as he did a great show. This is a guy to keep your eye on, I expect that he will become very popular over the next few years. The Mayor of Masontown, a sweet little old lady, came out after that to welcome everyone and tell them how glad she was that we were all having a good time in West Virginia. She even went on to say how if anyone got a ticket, just "stop by the library" and she would make it "go away"! I don't have time to drive back up there, but the offer was nice. So we took a little break, then came back for Robert Randolph and his Family Band. These guys really rock, Randolph is master of the pedal steel guitar and can elicit "Hendrixian" licks out of that thing. He played a couple of Michael Jackson songs and gave him a bit of a tribute, which made me wonder why more artists this weekend weren't playing some MJ music. Next up was Todd Snider, another pleasant surprise for me. I've heard him on XM ("Outlaw Country") but never seen him live. Just Todd and the acoustic guitar and some great, often funny, always entertaining songs. From his latest album he did "America's Greatest Pastime" which is about the no hitter that Dock Ellis pitched in1970 while tripping on LSD. An American folk classic. Todd was followed by Les Claypool, the eccentric and talented bass player from Primus. I respect him as a musician, but this show got a little boring for me. I think Les would be better in a band where he's not the leader. After Les Claypool was the The New Mastersounds, an English soul/groove band. This was filler and not very memorable. Finally, Bob Weir and Ratdog took the stage and the musical bar was definitely raised. I really enjoyed this show from a great jazzy "Truckin'" to open the show, through a neat "Maggie's Farm", "Loose Lucy", and "Eyes of the World". Then they finished strong with a great "Morning Dew", "China Cat Sunflower->I Know You Rider". Les Claypool sat in for a song and Al Schnier (of moe.) sat in for the last three. Whew! what a great day of music! Even though moe. was starting up at 1 am we had our fill and retired to the campsite.
Saturday kicked off with Cornmeal, a bluegrass band on steroids. Then the Bridge, who I've seen several times before and have always enjoyed. The Bridge led into the Steve Kimock Crazy Engine. We last saw Steve Kimock almost exactly a year ago at the Birchmere playing with Mickey Hart. He's quite a talented and entertaining guitar player. His new band "Crazy Engine" is quite a treat, featuring Melvin Seals on organ. Mr. Seals used to play with Jerry Garcia in the Jerry Garcia Band, so it was nice to see him back out on the jam scene. And jam he did! I've never heard a Hammond played with such ear splitting volume and rocking intensity. After the Crazy Engine we took a break at the campsite. While the rest of our crew was napping I slipped back to the main stage to see Yonder Mountain String Band who I had seen once before at All Good a few years ago. These guys have a classic bluegrass lineup with guitar, banjo, mandolin, and bass, but that's about where the similarity ends. They put on a high energy show with a rock star attitude. They really play to the audience with lots of jokes and whooping it up between songs. It would be nice to see them do a full show, outside of the festival format. Later in the evening we caught Dumpstaphunk (featuring Ivan Neville) and the festival headliner, Ben Harper and the Relentless 7. Ben's apparently reinvented himself with this new band, becoming more of a hard rocker. But most of us felt this was a forgettable performance, certainly not worthy of the prime Saturday night slot. There was nothing especially wrong with the performance but there was just nothing very exciting about it. After Ben, I'd had enough after a long day of music and retired to the camper. Davis stuck around to see moe. a band that I've never been very fond of (jams don't have enough inspiration for me), but he said that they had the crowd dancing enthusiastically.
Sunday, we started with the Recipe at 10 AM on the small stage. This is a band that we used to see frequently but they seem to have been on hiatus for the last few years. They were in fine form on this beautiful morning and they said that they'll start touring and working on a new album soon. The Recipe are a great band to see in a bar at night (or they would have been great on Saturday night instead of Ben Harper) but it was a little hard to get dancing and energetic at that hour of the day. Anyway, we fixed up a nice breakfast after that then made it over to the main stage to see Donna the Buffalo. These guys are one of my favorite bands to see live and they didn't disappoint on Sunday. We were able to watch them from the front of the stage and the sound was great (actually the sound was great all weekend). Later in the afternoon Donna the Buffalo's Tara Nevins joined the BK3/featuring Bill Kreutzmann. They played several Dead tunes and Tara's vocals were strongest that I've heard in a long time. They were followed by Dark Star Orchestra, the well known and popular Dead tribute band. We saw on them on New Year's Eve and I thought that it was a really good show, excellent musicians playing some of our favorite songs. But after hearing the seven Dead shows I have to admit that the DSO sounded a little "thin" and it was clear that they're not the "real thing". Maybe I was also just a little maxed out after a long festival. At any rate we headed home happy and full of music. We heard 19 bands in 4 days, had beautiful weather and enjoyed the company of thousands of fun loving folks. It certainly was ALL GOOD.

Eric Clapton/Steve Winwood - Verizon Center - June 13

2009-06-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

Went down to the Verizon Center on Saturday night to catch Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood with the family, Libby, and those damn McPhersons. I've never seen Eric Clapton (aka "God") before so this was a special treat for me. As someone else on the Internet pointed out, the show could be divided into three sections:

The Good Stuff - The first side of the Blind Faith album ("Had to Cry Today", "Well Alright", "Presence of the Lord"), several Traffic classics ("Glad", "Pearly Queen" although I really missed the sax on that one) and several other great tunes. "Tough Luck Blues" had some truly amazing guitar work by EC and they did a really spectacular jamming version of "Little Wing".

Then there was the Acoustic part of the show, first with Steve Winwood alone at the organ doing "Georgia", then Eric sitting down with the acoustic guitar and doing "Driftin' ", "Nobody knows When You're Down and Out", "Layla" and Clapton/Winwood together doing a beautiful "Can't Find My Way Home".

Closing out the show, they rocked out on the Crowd Pleasers, "Crossroads", "Voodoo Chile", and "Cocaine". Clapton certainly can wail on the guitar with innovative solos and inspirational runs. Winwood's vocals and Hammond organ playing are also top notch. This show was all about the music, as the only interaction with the audience was a quick "Thankyou" by Clapton after each song and Winwood at one point said "Thanks for coming out, this is fun". I thought it was rather rude that they never bothered to introduce the other band members. The encore was "Dear Mr. Fantasy" another great Traffic song (that we heard the Dead perform last month).

But the concert was put together well, two fine musicians with a great catalog of songs, overall a top notch performance.

A final non-musical note, there was a pyscho woman sitting right in front of us who was talk-talk-talking with her date through the first part of the concert, finally when Winwood was softly singing "Georgia", the Bird leaned down and "shusshed" her. This woman got all ticked off firing invectives and insults back to the Bird, but she finally settled down and watched the rest of the show. Then during the encore when we were all standing and dancing, psycho woman couldn't take it anymore and turned around and started really bitching and insulting the Bird. Even the folks in the row behind us were taken aback and everyone started telling her to shut up. I can't imagine what makes someone act like that especially in such a friendly musical environment. Oh well.

John Prine/Steve Earle - Wolf Trap - June 5

2009-06-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

I've seen John Prine many times (and many of those times at Wolf Trap). Walking in we talked of our dear old friend Mark, who would rarely venture out to concerts, but would always buy tickets for this show as soon as they went on sale. Mark's stories and poems are similar to John's songs in that you know that some of them are going to make you really sad and you know that some of them are going to make you laugh out loud.

Mark would have enjoyed Friday's show and because you go expecting to see him play many of the great songs from his deep catalog of classic and Prine did not disappoint us. It had been some time since I had been to Wolf Trap and I had almost forgotten what a beautiful venue it is and what great sound they deliver. I sat in a balcony box for Steve Earle, then moved down below to the orchestra section for John Prine. Sound was great in both locations. Fortunately the week long rain had come to an end and the weather was comfortable.

Steve Earle started the show playing guitar and singing. His latest album is a tribute to the late songwriter Townes Van Zandt and most of the set consisted of Van Zandt songs. I'm not as up to speed on either Townes Van Zandt or Steve Earle as perhaps I should be, but it was a very nice set of songs. I particularly liked "Pancho and Lefty" which has also been covered by Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, and Old and in the Way (on their "Old and in the Gray" album). You hear Steve Earle regularly on Sirius XM's "Outlaw Country", in fact he has a show on that channel called "Hardcore Troubadour Radio". Often Steve records with a full band and I think that presents him and his songs in a better setting, but no complaints about Friday's solo acoustic set.

John Prine played in a trio with Dave Jacques (bass) and Jason Wilber (guitars and mandolin) and as mentioned every song felt like a putting on a comfortable old slipper. He did 3 or 4 songs in the middle of the set without backup and there was one song that we had not heard him do in concert before, "Bad Boy", which was quite good. John was in fine spirits and filling the space between songs with interesting tid bits and observations. "Angel from Montgomery" was great, but it always is, and he brought Steve Earle out to sing and play mandolin for the encore "Muhlenberg County".

Sitting between two beautiful women, listening to two great singer songwriters on a lovely spring evening at Wolf Trap Park. One show worth remembering.

Chili Cookoff Band - Laytonsville, MD - May 30

2009-05-31T17:07:00.000-07:00

Once again we were fortunate enough to have some of the members of City Farm and the Orchard Boys play at the 19th annual Spring Chili Cookoff. These guys haul all of their PA equipment to our house and set up on our big porch. Some of them even are cooking chili for the competition and playing music. I know it's a lot of work and we are most appreciative of it.

This year we had from City Farm Ed Corr (guitar), Marcus Haynes (bass), Marty ("Fred") Smoral (resophonic guitar) and Paul Mengel (guitar and mandolin). From the Orchard Boys, which are rumored to be defunct, Jim Rosenfeld played mandolin and Paul Houck played banjo. Of course Fred is actually in both bands. Fred was also the 2008 Spring Chili champion and this year took home 2nd place.

The band sounded great and performed a variety of bluegrass songs and other popular songs in bluegrass style (e.g. the Beatles "I've Just Seen Her Face", Dylan's "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You"). I only wish the Chili crowd would give these guys the attention that they deserve, but they're focused on cooking and socializing. Maybe next year I'll set up some chairs in front of the stage/porch for folks to sit close and listen....

Anyway thanks to all of the musicians, I certainly enjoyed the music and I'm sure many others did too.

2009-05-26T12:46:00.000-07:00

FloydFest 2009 Radio

DelFest - Cumberland, MD May 22 - 24

2009-05-25T16:49:00.000-07:00

DelFest is a 3 day music festival at the Allegeny County fairgrounds hosted by the venerable Del McCoury and his musical family. We went to the inaugural DelFest last year and were very impressed with the setting, the incredible line up of musicians and the overall vibe. This year's DelFest had many more patrons than last year and the festival organizers did their best to handle the larger crowd. They did an adequate job, but I'm afraid this festival is going to outgrow the fairgrounds as the camping was pretty tight this year.

Friday
We listened to a few of the first acts (Davisson Brothers, Steep Canyon Rangers) as background music while we set up at our campsite. We were pleased that Tim Carbone of Railroad Earth stopped by for drinks and conversation. Here's a shot of Tim and Tim Stephens, two oenophiles wondering how they can get more Bubba!

With Tim Carbone toddling off to take a Bubba nap, we headed to the main stage to hear the Infamous Stringdusters. This was the second time that I've seen this band and they are excellent purveyors of fine acoustic music. They did a nice mixture from straight up bluegrass numbers to more jazzy tunes, including a tasty rendition of John Hartford's "Steam Powered Aeroplane". Then the Del McCoury Band took the stage and they were great (as always). Del apologized for having voice problems (which plagued him all weekend) but the rest of the band stepped up and filled the void. Actually I noticed that Ronnie can sound pretty much like his dad when he's trying. They took requests from the audience and played lots of great bluegrass.
Del and the boys were followed by Railroad Earth, sounding fine as always. I especially like hearing "New Lee Highway Blues". However it had been a long day (5 am wake up call) and I had consumed several Bubbas, so I headed back to camp to rest before the set was over. (I knew I would see RRE again the next night at the late show.) I rested for an hour or so then got up and listened in to the late night pickup jam at our campsite. There were some members of City Farm, joined by other festival goers, it was a wild musical experience that lasted until 3 am but is probably best left undocumented.

Saturday
I got over to the Main Stage Saturday morning to see Joe Craven (who is a talented multi-instrumentalist, first got to know him via the David Grisman Quintet) performing as a solo artist. He uses digital loops (a la Keller Williams) that allow him to lay down a percussion track, then play along with himself (musically that is) on fiddle, mandolin, etc. He's very entertaining and just the right way to start the day while nursing that third cup of coffee.
Later in the day we went to the "Playshop" area, which is a rec center type of building (air-conditioned!) where first we saw Joe Craven and Ronnie McCoury play some beautiful music together, but I wanted to catch Peter Rowan on the main stage so we headed back there and I have to say he was a disappointment. I've enjoyed Mr. Rowan's performances plenty of times before, but something about his current band "the Free Mexican Air Force" didn't click with me. So we head back to the Playshop to catch members of the Lee Boys and the Del McCoury band doing some great jamming together. Then we went to catch Sam Bush on the main stage but a sudden storm sent the audience running for shelter and chased Sam from the stage. The festival organizers did a very good job of keeping the music going after the storm as they put Old Crow Medicine Show in the Playshop building. This was the first time that I saw these guys and they truly rocked the house with a high energy set that had everyone dancing. I would definitely recommend seeing them the next time they come around. Then we saw Leftover Salmon back on the Main Stage with a good but short set of their patented "polyethnic cajun slamgrass". After Leftover we went straight to the late night show, Railroad Earth back in the Playshop building. We got in and got seats only 15 feet from the stage. They started with "Warhead Boogie" which is always fun, then they were joined by Jason Carter (violin) and Ronnie McCoury of the Del McCoury Band. Jason and Tim were trading licks back and forth for the entire show. They kept challenging each other and raising the intensity to the highest levels. This was certainly a high point of the festival for me.
After a rousing RRE set, then the Del McCoury band took the stage along with Andy Goessling and Tim Carbone. They continued to kick out the high energy jams until the wee hours of morning...

Sunday
This was an easy going day for us, tried to catch Tim O'Brien but the logistics just didn't really work. But as the evening started we got to see Del's band one more time (by now he was hardly singing at all). Tim O'Brien was sitting in with them. A highlight with the DMB is always "Nashville Cats" and they didn't disappoint this time. Then another big highlight of the festival, Dark Star Orchestra put on a great show, the first set was acoustic, and of course they were joined by Del, Ronnie McCoury and Jason Carter! Del only stayed for a couple of songs, but Ronnie and Jason sat in for the remainder of the show. A big favorite for me was hearing "Ripple" with Ronnie on mandolin.

In closing, this was a super festival from a musical point of view, there is such a great lineup of artists and with the Playshops you can get up close and personal. The organizers will have to deal with the increasing crowds each year, but if you ask me if I'll be back next year: "Del Yeah!"

The Dead - Mountain View, CA (5/14)

2009-05-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

Trekked out to San Francisco California to see the Dead in their penultimate show on this '09 tour with the Bird and the Boy. Our good friend Gerard was our host, he did a fantastic job of driving us and around and making sure we had a good time during our visit. The Shoreline Amphitheatre was built back in 1986 in cooperation with Bill Graham, it's a venue in the style of Merriweather Post/Nissan Pavilion with a rather large lawn. The Grateful Dead was supposed to play the first show there in 1986, but had to cancel due to Jerry's illness. But being in their "hometown", the Dead have performed there many times and according to Wikipedia (it's got to be true) Bill Graham's design of the place is supposed to resemble the "Steal Your Face" image. If you tilt your head to the left and squint when you look at this picture you can imagine it.

After waiting through some heavy traffic, we arrived as the band was playing their first song, "Jack Straw". There was a big crowd, especially on the lawn, it was not a sellout but it must have been close. There were a mix of young (plenty of kids) and old with everyone standing up and dancing. After "Jack Straw" they did a rousing version of "US Blues" followed by "Mason's Children". I had never heard this song before this tour, it was never released on an album but only as a B-side to a single. If you're reading this and under 30, I know that last sentence makes no sense to you, call me and I'll explain it. Anyway after "Mason's Children" they did a very good version of "Ship of Fools", with Warren Haynes handling the lead vocals and Jeff Chimenti adding a nice piano solo. Some songs I don't care much for Warren's singing, but this is one that he does very well. This was followed by "Friend of the Devil", very nice and then a great sequence of "Standing on the Moon" leading into "Terrapin Station" and then back to "Standing on the Moon". By now it was dark, they had the big video screens cranked up and the band was sounding great. I have to give a major league dose of praise to those on the Dead team responsible for the sound mixing. The sound quality has been simply phenomenal at each and every show (with the exception of the very first show in Greensboro, OK it took one show to get the kinks out and to get it right).

After the break, the Dead did an excellent version of "Estimated Prophet" (everyone singing along with the chorus "California, I'll be knocking on the golden door"). They stretched this one out into a nice easy jam which lead into "New Potato Caboose" and then "Born Cross Eyed". The Bird has been wanting and begging to hear them do "Dear Mr. Fantasy" (they played it at one of the NJ shows) so she was most excited when they started in on this classic by Traffic. Then they went to the Drumz part of the program, this time it was augmented by a team of fire dancers. They added a nice visual with their flaming hoops and batons to the drum session by Billy and Mickey. This was followed by the Space Jam and then "Morning Dew". They closed the second set with an ass kicking "China Cat Sunflower->I know you Rider". The band was really smoking by this point.

For an encore, they did the classic "Scarlet Begonias->Fire on the Mountain" medley. This was the first show that we got to hear this and I got to try my new trick of tapping the shoulder of a nearby nearby stranger and extending my hand in synchronization with the lyric "Strangers stopping strangers, just to shake their hand". Who knows what she thought of that? The Dead did one more song "Deal" to close out our Dead '09 experience.

And what an experience it was. I know that there are purists out there that say this is not really the Grateful Dead without Jerry and of course they're right. I remember I was at a party back in March and the Bird was telling a friend about the tour and how much we were looking forward to it. The friend said, "So Warren Haynes will be doing the Jerry parts..." and I had to speak up and say "No, he won't be playing Jerry's parts, nobody can play Jerry's parts, Warren will be playing his own style." And listening to these shows with that expectation, made them all the more enjoyable. It's also been pointed out that the Grateful Dead in the '80's sounded very different than the Grateful Dead in the '70's, and the Grateful Dead in the '90's sounded very different than the Grateful Dead in the '80's. And guess what? The Dead in this century sounds different than the Grateful Dead in the '90's. Is it better? Probably not, but actually there were some parts that I think were better, but the main point is it was different. That's why we keep going to the shows and that's why it's fun.

One of the reasons I love my wife (the Bird) is that she makes me get off my butt and go out and do fun stuff. I was a little skeptical when she was suggesting that we go to as many shows on this tour as we possibly can, but she was right, it was great, an experience that I'll never forget and I'm really glad we did it. It's been a Long, Strange Trip and I can't wait until the next one!

The Dead - Philadelphia, PA (5/2)

2009-05-04T21:29:00.001-07:00

My fantasy is that sometime on Saturday after I posted my blog saying that the Friday night show was somewhat “lackluster” Bob Weir stumbled across it while surfing the net and told the band they would have to “step it up” for tonight’s show since the fans were complaining. It’s doubtful that happened, but for whatever reason Philadelphia’s Saturday show was much more entertaining, in fact some are saying it is the best one of the tour. I’ve been working on a theory lately that it’s foolish to compare one show to another, in fact the tour should be viewed as simply one long show, split up over a series of nights and venues. This is why the Dead rarely repeat songs from one night to another and why fans go to such efforts to see as many shows as possible. Missing a show would be akin to missing one act in a play or skipping a chapter in a book. It has been documented that sometimes the Dead will extend songs over several shows (e.g. playing “Sugar Magnolia” one night and playing the ending part “Sunshine Daydream” several nights later). So maybe Friday night in Philly was designed to be more contemplative and a quiet lead in to Saturday night’s rocking show.

Like the first set in Greensboro, the first set in Philly #2 was all popular tunes that the crowd could sing along to, with little or no extended jams. However unlike Greensboro, all of the songs from the first set were older, nothing later than 1972 (except "Althea"). They kicked off with “One More Saturday Night” and “Brown Eyed Women” and the crowd was instantly having a great time. Then a nice arrangement of “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl”, followed by “Althea” and “He’s Gone”. Just like Greensboro, “He’s Gone” had a major element of crowd participation. This was followed by a relatively short jam (you can’t keep the jam jar completely closed!) which led into an excellent version of “Uncle John’s Band”. This morphed in “Mason’s Children” and then the set was over.

The band returned from the break with a loose jam that ultimately led into “Good Lovin’” to get the crowd right back into it. Then an upbeat “Cumberland Blues”, the guys can still sound like a bluegrass/jug band when they want to. Then lid came completely off the jam jar as they improvised through “Cryptical Envelopment>The Other One>Drumz>Space. Then a really long extended “St. Stephen” with everyone playing great solo’s. The crowd got to singing again with the Beatles’ “Revolution”. They finished the show with the first tunes post 1972, “Help is on the Way>Slipknot>Franklin’s Tower”.

The encore was "Samson & Delilah" with the chorus "If I had my way, I would tear this old building down." Much was being said this weekend about the long history between the Grateful Dead and the Philadelphia Spectrum, with over 50 shows played there and the building scheduled for demolition later this year. Sunday on the radio I heard an interview with Bob which was recorded just before the show and he wisely pointed out that it’s not the building, it’s the people in it. He said the folks in Philadelphia come to the venue with high expectations and they demand the band to deliver. Well I’m sure that everyone walking out of the Philadelphia Spectrum Saturday night would tell you their expectations were exceeded.

The Dead - Philadelphia, PA (5/1)

2009-05-02T07:44:00.001-07:00

The Bird and I got through Baltimore and Philly traffic on Friday to make it time to the Philadelphia Spectrum (or "Rectum" as the locals call it). They're going to tear down this building soon, so these 2 shows will be the first and last shows here for me.

We got to our seats just as the band kicked in with the first number "Playing in the Band", a great way to start the show! That morphed into a long nice jam, then they played "Mississippi Half Step Uptown Toodleloo". Then a slow and easy "Lazy River" with Warren taking a nice guitar solo. The next two tunes got the crowd energized again, "New Speedway Boogie" and "Shakedown Street". "Shakedown Street" finished acapella/funky soul style "Shake it down, shake it down now". Then a long jam that morphed into "Dupree's Diamonds" and they got the crowd jumping again with "Hard to Handle". On that one Warren took the lead vocals and it was more of a "Warren Haynes song" with the Dead backing (which was fine). Warren and Bobby did some guitar solo's back and forth, then they did "Friend of the Devil". Just like their television appearance on the The View, Phil sang the little extra verse at the end that Jerry never did for some reason.

You can borrow from the Devil
You can borrow from a friend
But the Devil give you twenty
When your friend got only ten

Then they reprised a really nice jazzy "Playing in the Band" to complete the circle and finish the set.

The Bird and I were in a section that was crowded (there was no security so guys would just stand in the aisles) so we decided to use the Intermission time to walk around and check out the view from behind the stage where one our tickets for tonight is located. Just like Madison Square Garden sitting behind the stage is pretty cool. It wasn't crowded at all, we were much closer and the sound was way better, and you get a great view of the drummers, which I really like. So we stayed there for the entire second set, which started with a slow jam of cascading notes that turned into "Jack Straw". Then "Alligator" and "Caution" with Warren handling the vocals. He plays the Pigpen role well in these types of tunes. Then a really long (again "jazzy" in my notes) with Phil playing a fast "walking bass" rhythm that kept it moving at a good pace. Space Jam and Drumz, always entertaining for me, if I haven't mentioned it before Jeff C. has been joining Billy and Mickey on Drumz providing some additional psychedelic sounds. The band came back out for "Loose Lucy" and "Comes A Time" which was played ballad style with Warren singing. Lots of Warren vocals in this show. Then they rocked to the finish line with "Cold Rain and Snow" and "Sugar Magnolia/Sunshine Daydream".

"Box of Rain" for the encore and it was over.

Going over it all again this morning, this description of the show reads much better than it felt last night to both us. We both felt like it was just a little "lackluster" although I can't point to any specific issues. On the ride up to Philly I pointed out that this was the first Dead show that the Bird and I have attended just as a couple, without a bunch of other folks. She reminded me of 2004 at Nissan (we met Wayne there), but I don't think that had anything to do with it. Though we did miss Davis.

Anyway, Jack the Wad will be joining us tonight and we'll do it all again! Stay tuned...

The Dead - New York City

2009-04-28T19:10:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to see a concert at Madison Square Garden and I'm so glad that I finally did. After a completely hellish week at work, Davis, the Bird, and I rode the Vamoose bus (only $25) from Bethesda straight up to NYC and it dropped us off right at Madison Square Garden. We had a reservation at the Hotel Pennsylvania directly across the street, so we go to check in. That was a super long wait, but after finally getting our room we headed down the street to Mustang Harry's for some drinks and food. They were playing Dead tunes on the stereo, the Yankees/Red Sox game was on the TV so all was good. The place was full of folks going to the concert.

As we headed to the venue I asked an obvious concertgoer if he would take a picture of us. He was rather hesitant but said OK, then I asked him to be sure to get the sign "Madison Square Garden" in the picture and he said, "I'm not your guy, see I'm basically legally blind." What are the odds that I would pick a blind guy to take our picture? Anyway the next guy I asked had all of his senses and I think he did a good job (see above).

Then it was on to the show. The place was sold out and packed, and everyone was in a Saturday night party mood. The Dead opened up with "Cosmic Charlie", some very nice harmonies and Phil looked animated and excited. Then "China Cat Sunflower" which morphed into a very nice jam. Then "Shakedown Street", again Bobby and Phil doing some great harmonies on the background vocals. The New York crowd was totally into it, "Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart". This was followed by "He's Gone", you can't help but think about Jerry when they sing this one (which we also saw them perform in Greensboro). Then "Cassidy" and a super long jam "Sugaree" to finish the first set. A special tip of recognition to Warren's guitar playing and singing on this one.

Mickey and Billy came out after the break and started with the drumz. I should mention that our seats were actually very close to the stage, but we were behind the stage. This was an interesting vantage point, the sound was quite good and we could see Mickey and Billy particularly well. After Drumz, came "Cryptical Envelopment" which led into "Born Cross Eyed" and then "St. Stephen". Then came "The Eleven" and I swear just like in Charlottesville they mixed in about 10 seconds of "Foxey Lady". I wonder if anyone else is hearing that? That was followed by "Uncle John's Band" and a nice long "Unbroken Chain". Then they rocked the house with "Gimme Shelter" a classic Stones tune, you could literally feel the floor moving up and down with the music. And finally "One More Saturday Night" to rock the show to a close. Their encore was a very tasteful "Brokedown Palace" to ease everyone back out into the night.

All in all a great evening of Dead music, with each show it seems like they're getting better and better. I was most impressed this evening with their harmonizing vocals and, dare I say this, their vocals sounded "tight". Never a descriptor that I thought that I would use for the Dead, but there it is. These guys have been practicing and preparing for this tour and it shows. Another unique aspect of watching from behind the stage was that we had a good view of Jeff playing the Hammond organ (and he had a grand piano on the stage). He plays the Hammond as it should be played, almost like a percussion instrument the way he bangs on the keyboard with his open palms. This was also the first night that we heard several songs repeated from earlier shows, but several of them were performed in a very different manner.

You can get a little taste of the music by clicking on the songs below.

We Vamoosed back the next morning, spent just under 24 hours in New York and never left a 3 block area. This weekend it's back to back shows in the City of Brotherly Love!

The Dead - Charlottesville, Va

2009-04-19T14:24:00.001-07:00

So the day after seeing the Dead in DC, we journeyed back down Rt. 29 to Charlottesville to see them at the relatively new John Paul Jones Arena at UVA. Cousin John and his lovely wife Sandy hosted us, and despite the damp weather, we were able to have some drinks (Bubba!!!) and food on the tailgate before the show. FA and some of the guys from the Eastern Shore were there and they always make the scene fun.

The JPJ arena is a great place for concerts, small venue with very good sound, easy to get in and out, all in all a very nice experience. And the Dead rose again to the occasion, dipping into their extensive catalog and thus far they have not duplicated any songs. They started off with "New Speedway Boogie", "Bertha", and "High Time", then a song that I was not familiar with "Masons Children". Davis tells me this was never released on an album, but only as a single in the '60's. Then a very bluesy "Big Boss Man" and "Doing that Rag". The entire first set, except for the final song "Standing on the Moon" were originally recorded before 1971. Warren's slide guitar work really fits in nicely with these old tunes.

After the break, a very jammed out version of "Playing in the Band", a space jam that led into "St. Stephen", then more extended jamming. At several points both Bobby and Warren are playing slide guitar and I noted that the music had a very Allman Brothers like sound. I also think they did about 10 seconds of "Foxy Lady" in there, but that might have been Bubba talking to me. After "Half Step Mississippi" and "Lazy River" they reprised back into "Playing in the Band". I really like it when they bring you back to where they started with a reprise like that, they also did it in DC with "Dark Star". I should also complement these guys for obviously rehearsing their vocals/harmonies, there are spots in these shows when the preparation really shows. A rocking encore with "G-L-O-R-I-A". We retreated to the parking lot for more drinks and snacks until security kicked us out (politely I might add, checking that we had a designated driver). Thanks again to John and Sandy for letting us crash at their house. Now a week off before we head up to Madison Square Garden and the Big Apple!!!

The Dead - Washington, DC

2009-04-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

The show and the venue had a very different feel in Washington compared to Greensboro. While in North Carolina it was a holiday weekend and there were lots of young folks and school aged kids, in DC it was a gray weekday evening and the Verizon Center filled up with lawyers and other downtown office workers.

The band started right on time with "Cassidy" and "Passenger". Phil sang "Pride of Cucamonga" which was a bit of a surprise to me. I didn't recognize "Easy Wind" but I could tell that Warren was trying to bring back the PigPen style with his blues rap. Then a kickass "Alabama Getaway" with Jeff Chimenti wailing on the Hammond B-3 followed by "Big Railroad Blues" to finish the set. This set was unique in that there was virtually no extended jams, just straight ahead songs, many of them older songs.

After the break I was thrilled to see them come out with acoustic instruments and they played "Peggy-O", "Glory Road" (a Warren Haynes song), and "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall". That was truly sweet and just after I had wondered aloud about seeing some acoustic songs this year. Then they went into a very long extended space and drums jam that ultimately led into "Dark Star". The acoustics in the Verizon were very good which made this space jam exceptionally interesting to listen to. Then some tunes from Blues for Allah and a very nice rendition of Sugar Magnolia to finish off the set. Big surprise was Tipper Gore sitting in on percussion during Sugar Magnolia!!! It appears Al was on the side of the stage watching and having a good time.

The encore was "Uncle John's Band" and "Ripple", a great way to close a great show. I would have to say all in all this was one of the better Dead shows that I have seen, including with Jerry. It was a great mix of older songs and really nice space jams, the acoustic tunes will probably remain one of my favorite parts of the tour, and the sound was just right.

Fado's across the street provided us with a nice place to grab a couple of beers before the show and to wait out the Metro crowd after.

The Dead - Greensboro, NC

2009-04-18T13:30:00.001-07:00

We arrived at Charlotte Airport from Jamaica at 2:30 Sunday afternoon, cleared customs and immigrations, retrieved our cars from the hotel parking lot and headed north to Greensboro to the Dead show. We were listening to the Dead Channel on XM radio, they had folks reporting from the parking lot and they were taking calls from fans going to the show, so the Bird called in, got on the air and updated the country on our status and excitement about seeing the Dead. According to the radio it was a quite a parking lot scene but by the time we arrived the show was starting.

The Greensboro Coliseum was my "local" venue for concerts when I was a teenager, Davis and I compared notes as we walked in, we've both seen a lot of good shows there over the years. My favorites might be Allman Brothers in the mid 1970's and Jethro Tull performing Passion Play in its entirety just after it was released. Davis and I both saw Led Zeppelin there in the late '70's. So it felt like old times when we walked and grabbed our seats just as the music was starting.

This first set of the tour I would call a "Greatest Hits" set. While they did stretch out some jams, mainly they just blasted straight ahead rocking tunes, including the "Music Never Stopped", "Jack Straw", "Touch of Grey", and "Truckin'". They also did a very nice "He's Gone". The crowd was totally into it, singing along on the verses, and making lots of noise. There were some problems with the sound system, which muddied up the vocals during the first set.

For the second set they started with a bouncing "Shakedown Street" and "All Along the Watchtower" then the space jams started. Or as Mickey says on one of the rehearsal videos, "It's time to crack open the jam jar"... They did a couple of old tunes ("Cosmic Charlie" and "New Potato Caboose") then finished it strong with Help is on the Way/Franklin's Tower/Slipknot.

The crowd was really loud and appreciative throughout the show, especially when Phil came out before the encore (which was "Samson and Delilah"). It was a good mix of young folks (including our teenagers, who enjoyed the show much more once we reshuffled the seats so the adults were on one side of the Coliseum and the kids were on the other side) and older Deadheads. The building was completely full of smoke (probably 3/4 cigarette and 1/4 ganja), classic North Carolina.

Each of the band members seemed excited and energized about getting back out on the road, Phil's vocals were the best that I have heard, Mickey and Bill were in top notch condition. Warren plays very well, he doesn't try to fill Jerry's shoes, he just brings his own style to the sound without dominating it.

All of us had a great time, I think that it was an excellent tour launch, plenty of energy and a good rockin' show. I remarked to the Bird that it would be nice to hear them play acoustically sometime (my appetite was whetted by the appeance on "The View" the other day). After spending the night at a lovely Hyatt Place, we loaded the car and headed north to Maryland...

Runaway Bay, Jamaica

2009-04-13T07:02:00.000-07:00

Been so busy after returning from our annual spring break "Power Off/Reset" trip to Runaway Bay, I haven't had time to provide any updates. We had a great time as always. From a music point of view we listened to everyone's iPod through the AR Partners that Wayne was gracious enough to provide for the week. The most tasty treat that I found on Davis' iPod was a 3 disc compilation by Peter Tosh called "Honorary Citizen". Some great live tracks their as well as super studio stuff.

We didn't really see any live music this week but we did get to Flavours a few nights to hear some Jamaican DJ's. Flavours is right on the beach just 100 yards from our villa, you can sit at tables outside and hear the local tunes through a nice house sound system. Great drinks and they serve good food too. Thursday night Wayne and Davis caught the DJ competition, but I was unable to make it. They reported that it was a big crowd and you could look over each DJ's shoulder as he worked his laptop (it's all done on laptops now, who knew?).

The most surreal experience was Friday night, when we went across the street (only 1 block) to a relatively new club called Jamaica-Jamaica Club. Clifford is the owner, we've known him for nearly 20 years, he's always been an ambitious business man (he used to own the glass bottom boat that we would take on diving trips) and now he has invested what must be a huge amount of money in this club, 4 levels (including the open air roof), top notch sound system, with 2 VIP rooms and 2 separate bars (Retro Room and Jazz Lounge). When we went in there were no patrons but plenty of folks working and the music was cranking. Clifford assured us that "folks were coming later" but after a couple of beers and watching Davis disappear in a cloud generated by the smoke machine we cleared out. You can check it out at www.club-jamaicaJamaica.com. Flavours with the open air and direct access to the beach is more my speed.

So a great time playing golf, eating, drinking, swimming, and hanging with the kids. Also very restful in anticipation of the Dead '09 tour which began immediately on our return and is the subject of my next post.

March 29 - Children's Hospital Benefit at the Greene Turtle

2009-04-02T17:56:00.000-07:00

There were a number of bands playing last Sunday night at the Greene Turtle in Germantown. The event was a charity fundraiser for Children's Hospital. We timed our arrival in order to see The Lost Highway because the Boy's drum teacher (Paul Goldstein) is their drummer. They were quite good playing a mix of rocking blues. The crowd was mostly old folks (i.e. my age) but the Bird enjoyed seeing many of her former students who were employees there. Special surprise was when Flatfoot Sam joined the band onstage for a tune. All in a great time, once again local music needs to be supported (especially when it's for a good cause).

We're off to our annual Spring Break in Jamaica, perhaps we'll catch some music down there, either DJ's, toasters or like last year a car stereo competition on the beach. Mainly we'll be resting up for the Dead tour which starts a few hours after our plane touches down on our return in North Carolina. I hope to be providing frequent updates on the tour, so keep watching this space.

Eric Brace and Peter Cooper @ St. Mark's Church

2009-03-18T15:05:00.000-07:00

The Institute of Musical Traditions hosts a concert every Monday night at the St. Mark's Presbyterian church in Rockville. I went for the first time last Monday to join my 50 year old brother and his lovely wife to see Eric Brace and Peter Cooper perform. Eric and Peter are singer/songwriter guitar players and they have just released an album cleverly called "You Don't Have to Like Them Both".

Eric used to write nightclub reviews for the Weekend section of Washington Post (how do I get that job?), and at the same time he was the front man for the roots rock band Last Train Home. That became a conflict of interest, so he quit the paper gig and moved to Nashville to become a full time musician. There he met Peter Cooper, also a journalist/musicians, and through a series of "disc jockey parties" where they shared musical interests a duo was born.

Good fortune for us, this duo became a quartet on Monday, when Kevin Cordt (trumpet) and Mike Auldridge (dobro virtuoso) sat in for most of the show. Yes you read that correctly, trumpet. Kevin also plays for Last Train Home and provided an interesting jazz vibe on top of the country/Americana songs that Eric and Peter played. Mr. Auldridge has more skill, knowledge, and talent in his little finger when it comes to playing the dobro (or resophonic guitar) than most guys playing the instrument today (Fred S. being excepted). And in the second set he moved over to the pedal steel guitar and that was even sweeter.

But Eric and Peter were the stars of the show and they performed a mix of original songs (many from the new album) and covers (including tunes from Bob Dylan, Seldom Scene, and Last Train Home). Between songs they told lots of funny stories and overall it was a great 2 hours of music and fun. Original tunes included songs about Mt. Denali (not McKinley), Hank Aaron, and a really good one (Lucky Bones) cowritten with my main man Jim Lauderdale during a late night partying session.

The venue is an interesting one, it's a general purpose room with a high ceiling and excellent acoustics, I would guess seating for 150 or so and they serve snacks, coffee, tea and soda. A little weird checking out the tunes with no alcohol, but hey it's a Monday night. $20 to get in, but a chunk of that money goes to the church and the Institute.

I would love to see these guys again, and I may just pick up that CD (I like 'em both!).

Happy Birthday Ed, thanks for inviting me.

The Fabulous Dialtones at the EndZone in Gaithersburg

2009-03-08T10:05:00.001-07:00

Great turnout last night at the EndZone in Old Town Gaithersburg to see the Fabulous Dialtones. This a band that plays "Classic Rock for the New Millenium" as well as a few originals. They are fronted by Tony Bardo, who during the day is the Vice President of Government Sales where I work at Hughes Network Systems. Many of the musicians used to work together at MCI (thus the genesis of the name).

Tony and his crew started off with a more acoustic set that included some very nice harmonizing on some CSNY tunes, then were joined by a 4 piece horn section and began to really rock the joint. Faithful renditions of many familiar classics that got the crowd off their seats an onto the dance floor.

Earlier in the day I was listening to "Hell in a Bucket" by the Grateful Dead, which starts off with the line "I was drinking last night with a biker, and I showed him a picture of you". Last night's crowd was about 50/50 bikers and Hughes employees, and I think we showed those bikers a good picture of the old Hughes spirit (work hard/play hard), which seems to be too focused on the first half of that equation these days.

Tony and the Fabulous Dialtones certainly helped us "enjoy the ride" last night and I look forward to seeing them again.

Final note to self, I'll have to keep an eye on the EndZone's live music calendar (you can see it here), I wished I had seen Jah Works there last week. We need more local live music.

2009-02-28T06:50:00.000-08:00

The only live music we've seen in 2009 is DSO (described earlier) on New Year's Eve and City Farm on January 31. City Farm put on a fine performance, perhaps inspired by the large Danville contingency that was there. Nevertheless it's been 4 weeks and I'm starting to suffer withdrawals from not seeing any live music. Railroad Earth is playing on 3/17 at the Birchmere so that may provide the relief that I need. We saw RRE 4 times in 2008 and each performance was unique and quite tasty. The Birchmere is one of my favorite venues, so 3/19 is looking good.

I heard on SiriusXM the "Outlaw Country" channel "Snake Farm" by Ray Wylie Hubbard followed by "Choctaw Bingo" by James McMurtry. Two cool songs that have a common feel. Check it out.

1st Entry

2009-02-23T18:05:00.000-08:00

This is my first foray into the blogosphere. My goal is to capture my musical adventures in 2009 and at the same time learn something about blogging. It will be interesting to see if I can maintain the discipline to keep this updated.

My focus here will be live music and 2009 promises to be another great year for shows (see the list of festivals on the left side of this page). 2009 started off with a bang when Rikki and I spent New Year's Eve at the Ram's Head Live in Baltimore with Dark Star Orchestra. Rikki made a prescient call suggesting that the show would be the 1978-79 Winterland show. We have that show on CD, so we listened to it on the way to Baltimore ( a rather long strange trip that took us through Bethesda to drop off Ben). Sure enough that was the show that DSO chose to recreate and they did a great job playing it. You can see some pictures here and here's the set list. During Scarlet Begonias I get a tap on my shoulder, when I turn around the tapper extends his hand and sings "Strangers stopping strangers, just to shake their hands" right in time with the band. He timed it perfect and I shook his hand while singing the line with him. I'm definitely going to try that when we see the Dead in April.

That's my first post, hopefully I can put something interesting in future posts. Let me know what you think and let me know what music you're listening to!