|
|
Waful House
by Jeff Waful - waful@unclesammy.comI've been spoiled. I have seen so much great music in the last month that it's beginning to become habitual. There has been an over-abundance of mind-expanding shows in the Northeast as of late. It's hard to even decide what the highlights were. I could very easily say that seeing The Slip last night (the finale of the Jambands.com Tour) was one of the best musical experiences I've had in recent memory. However, I've given up on trying to rate shows. I often come out of concerts thinking, "wow, that was the best show I've ever seen!" That's just silly though. There's no way to judge a musical experience. It's all interpretation. In the last thirty days, I have witnessed some pretty intense music. Instead of trying to tell you about the best concert I saw, I'd rather give you a quick over-view of each experience. After each night, I was sure that I had just seen the best show ever...until the next night.
Best Show Ever: May 15th Trey solo show at the Palace Theatre in Albany, NY. I debated about even going to this show until about 24 hours beforehand. I had seen how similar all of the set lists were on Trey's solo tour and figured that seeing the Portland show on the 14th was all I needed. However, friend and Jambands.com colleague, Dave Saslavsky had an extra for Albany and I decided to go. The scene outside reminded me of Phish shows from the early 90s. It was sold-out, but not obscenely over crowded. There were a few fingers in the air, but the for the most part, people were there for the right reasons. Although the security outside the venue was pretty strict, once you were inside you were pretty much left alone. Fans weren't hassled about dancing in the aisles or in the hallways. Seeing Kuroda's light show in a theater was very surreal, to say the least. Paul had the old room sounding crystal clear. Trey was really on top of his game, playing with tenacity and grace. It was such a treat to see him ripping solos on non-Phish songs. It was very fresh. I'm not the kind of person that automatically dances at any show. In order for me to dance, the music has to inspire me. During Trey's electric set, I couldn't stop moving. The grooves were thick and the funk was deep. A truly energetic, powerful show.
Best Show Ever: May 22nd: Jon Medeski/Bob Moses and Charlie Hunter/Adam Cruz at the Somerville Theatre in Somerville, MA. Wow, talk about virtuosos. Seeing Medeski and Moses as a duo was too much for me to comprehend. There are still things about the performance that haven't sunk in. Medeski sat with his back to us, which gave the crowd an opportunity to watch his fingers move at ridiculous speeds. The man just oozes music. It's scary. After a short break, Charlie Hunter and Adam Cruz took the stage. Hunter is another freak of nature. Can somebody please explain to me how the hell this guy plays counterpoint with himself? Seriously, it frustrates me to try and figure out what he's doing. How many thousands of hours has he practiced? (for those of you that aren't familiar with Charlie Hunter, he plays a custom-built eight string guitar which features both bass and guitar strings with separate outputs for each). At one point, he was playing a walking bass line while soloing on the guitar strings. In addition, he started scat singing over the guitar solo IN HARMONY. Do you know what that means!? He was producing 3 different melody lines at the same time! From one brain. Unbelievable. Adam Cruz was quite mind-blowing as well. He is the king of Latin poly-rhythms. At the end of the night, Medeski and Moses came back on stage to join Hunter and Cruz. It was simply incredible. They did two encores.
Best Show Ever: May 23rd Uncle Sammy and Ulu at House of Blues in Cambridge, MA. This was my first time seeing Ulu. These guys are very tight musically, but are also very easy to work with. I hope to see more of their shows in the future. As for Uncle Sammy's set, I had few religious experiences doing the lights. The House of Blues has one of the better lighting rigs of the rooms we play in. I arrived to the club early in the afternoon specifically to familiar myself with the intelligent lighting controller. By the time the band hit the stage, I had nearly every song worked out in my head. The highlight of the night came when the crowd starting throwing confetti during "Waiting For Life". It's a tradition that our good friend Dawn started a few months ago. Since this was her last show for a while, (she's heading to Italy for 6 months) she came well-prepared and handed out confetti to dozens of people in the first few rows. The spectacle that occurred when the intelligent lights illuminated the shiny confetti was transcending. It felt like New Year's Eve.
Best Show Ever: June 5th Jambands.com Tour at Wetlands, NY, NY. It was the kind of night I live for. The line up was stacked (Disco Biscuits, Percy Hill, Moon Boot Lover, Jiggle the Handle, Juggling Suns, Miracle Orchestra, Lake Trout and Uncle Sammy). There was a certain moment early in the day that made me feel like I was in the center of the jam band universe. We were loading our equipment into the club and all of the other bands started arriving at the same time. Van after van rolled up to the Wetlands within five minutes. Everybody knows each other in this jam band community, so everyone was hugging and laughing. All the bands were coming from different directions and everyone had a different story from the road. As doors opened around 7:30, the club immediately starting filling up as hordes of fans packed the legendary venue. I couldn't go 2 feet without running into to someone I knew. It seemed like EVERYONE in the world was at this show. The music was great as all of the bands rose to the occasion. Butch Trucks and Oteil Burbridge of the Allman Brothers Brothers band sat in with Percy Hill for a rendition of "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed". (Oteil sat in with almost everyone that night). After 5 hours of amazing music, The Disco Biscuits took the stage. They played two indescribable sets that stretched to nearly 5 AM. Whenever I'm at the Wetlands, I get this feeling like I'm at a private show. There's just a great vibe to the place. There should be a club like the Wetlands in every city. Our drummer Tom turned to me at one point and said "this is the greatest night of my life..."
Best Show Ever: June 8th Vermont Jazz All-Stars at Higher Ground, Winooski, VT. Another Trey show at higher Ground. I still can't get over how mellow Vermont is. When he played his first solo show their in February, Trey's name wasn't on the bill. This time, his name was included, and although the show was "sold out" there was still plenty of room to dance up front the whole night. I was once again able to watch Trey's mastery from just two feet away. Along with Big Joe Burell, Dave Grippo, James Harvey, Jeff Salisbury, Bruce Skalar and Stacy Starkweather, Trey played a slew of jazz and blues standards as well as Phish songs, Cars, Trucks, Buses and The Landlady. Although Landlady was pretty sloppy compared to the Giant Country Horns versions form '94, the rest of the night was tight. Trey appeared about 10 years younger. His hair is shorter, his beard is trimmed and he's lost some weight. It looked like he made a conscious effort to take a back seat to the rest of the musicians. He didn't even have a microphone to speak to the crowd which I found weird. Dave Grippo seemed to be the bandleader on this night as he called songs and cued the changes. Trey took some amazing solos as usual and seemed to be having a blast. I wish Phish still played jazz every now and then.
Best Show Ever: June 12th Jambands.com Tour at the Middle East, Cambridge, MA. My ears are still ringing form this one. Another stellar bill featuring The Slip, Scheligho, Ulu, Viperhouse, Foxtrot Zulu, Smokin' Grass and Uncle Sammy. All of the performances were great, but The Slip really moved me. Whenever I see them, their drummer, Andrew Barr, mesmerizes me. He plays the drums like a solo instrument, but not in a selfish way. He is constantly improvising. The musicians in The Slip listen to each other as well as any band currently touring. I found myself torn between dancing and just staring at them with my jaw on the floor. It's hard to categorize their sound, so I'm not going to try. All I can say is that every note they play is straight from their souls. The word is out on these guys and they won't be playing venues the size of the Middle East within a year or two. (In July, there scheduled to play the second stage at Phish's festival at Oswego County Airport). Check them out.
Well, there you have it: five shows that blew my mind. I'm sure by this weekend, I will have forgotten all about them and I'll be rapped up in some new musical experience. That's the beauty of it all. Each moment is a new adventure. Every note of music you hear has the potential to be the most beautiful sound you've ever heard. There are no boundaries or rules. Don't ever think you've seen everything. No matter how many tapes you own or how many shows you've seen, nothing can compare to the actual moment that the music hits you. Nothing can prepare you for the next note. I feel very lucky to be living in a time and place that offers so much great music. Every musical experience has the potential to change your life. Live for the moment...
Jeff Waful is a Jambands.com columnist and manages the Boston-based band, Uncle Sammy.