God Street Wine played the final shows of their eleven years as a band at Wetlands Preserve on New York City's west side on December 21st, 22nd and 23rd. The shows were a bittersweet testament to the endurance of a band that became the first unsigned band to sell-out another New York City venue, Irving Plaza, booked their own tours, recorded their own studio & live tapes, promoted their own tours, quit their jobs and moved from New York City to Ossining, New York, dedicated to taking on a musical career at full-force.

Blending the musical styles of blues, jazz, reggae, bluegrass, rap, rock, funk, country, gospel, Latin, hip-hop and maybe some others that I am most likely leaving out of the mix, the former N.Y.U. & Manhattan School of Music students formed the band in 1988 in New York City via Pennsylvania & New Jersey and have now come full-circle. In the beginning they performed gigs at downtown NYC bars such as Nightingale's where they first met Blues Traveler & Spin Doctors; both are bands that GSW would continue to perform with for years, including a spot on the 1995 H.O.R.D.E. tour. They released Bag in 1992 and the live compilation Who's Driving on the indie distributor Ripe'n'Ready. The band signed to Geffen Records in `94 and released $1.99 Romances but due to the lack of interest and power struggles from the label in the midst of the success of acts such as Nirvana and Beck, they left the label. GSW signed to Mercury Records in late 1995 and recorded Red and their self-titled CD in 1997. By 1998, the rigors of touring begin to tear at keyboardist Jon Bevo (Liebowitz) and drummer Tomo (Tom Osander),

leaving front men Lo Faber and Aaron Maxwell and bass player Dan Pifer to hold auditions for new members. As a result, GSW gained Pete Levin on keys and Aubrey Dayle on drums. A major corporate merger of Polygram, Mercury Records' umbrella, and Seagram's, left GSW's future uncertain. This uncertainty, and a desire to stop touring, ultimately contributed to the decision to end God Street Wine, hence these last momentous shows.

Fans, family, friends and Winos, respectively, showed up in droves throughout the three night run at Wetlands, as well as a few special guests. GSW played three to four hour shows chock full of songs from the GSW catalogue and some added surprises. Tuesday night's acoustic set with Lo, Aaron & Dan opened with "Red and Milky White" and "Thirsty" with a "Friend of the Devil" tease, paving the way for many interesting cover songs to come. Jason Crosby & Julia Kent added some nice touches to "Ballroom" with violin and cello and accompanied the guys for the rest of the set. The second half of the first set, like Bob Dylan in `66, went electric. The crowd started to really get going when the band dipped into Bag on "Borderline" with a "Wendy" tease into "She Comes Up Softly" and "Princess Henrietta". By the end of this set, with Tomo, Bevo, Woody and Pete Levin joining in, the stage was full. Aubrey Dale joined us on the second set bringing the number of musicians on stage to six followed by Tomo and Bevo. Highlights included the "Slinky" into 'Dirty Little Secret" segue and "Hellfire" with Crosby on violin. This eventful encore jammed with "Wonderful Westchester Women", "A Day In the Life" and "Drive West"

Wednesday night kicked our collective butts in the memorable jams department. Now, there were many exits and entrances during this set but the true highlight here had to be "I'll Still Like You" into an incredible guest appearance by Otiel Burbridge on "Water", followed by "Diana" with John Popper on harmonica. What did set two have in store for us after that? Not only did Otiel step up on "I Wish" (with Pete Levin singing lead) but Jordan Katz joined in the jam. That tasty morsel was topped with "Peanut Butter Jar" followed by a song originally recorded on GSW's 1988 demo, "Electrocute". Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed" was the meat in tonight's encore sandwich. Next…

This was it folks: The closing curtain. The "swan song", if you will. This set just blew the room away. Part of the reason was the "Mile By Mile" ® "Don't Tell God" ® "Weird Dream" portion of the set with a great version of "Cheap Utah Blues" after that. Lo opened the second set alone with his acoustic guitar, playing "Souvenir" with Aaron & Bevo joining in mid-song. It was the night's most serene moment breaking loose into "Simple Twist of Fate". This twenty song set, double encore included, had so many fine moments. From the funky "Imogene" to the reflective "Get on the Train", nothing could bring the energy down from it's cathedral-ceiling high. There was even a dance contest to the Madonna song "Express Yourself". Aaron sang lead and this tune was smokin'. Contestants on stage took part in the contest and winners received memorabilia from GSW's career that included the tour bus stuffed animal mascot, used drum heads and set lists. "If I Could Dream" was dedicated to Scott Reilly, the band's manager since 1993. The last song we heard that night was the Van Morrison classic "Into the Mystic", a tangent and poignant rendition that is one of those moments best left unexplained.

(all photos by Janene Otten) photo@jambands.com