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Southeast
Regional Report
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Edited by Gil McLemore
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Greetings once again - this month's feature focuses on recent performances in North Carolina, a hotspot in the past few months for renowned jambands (Galactic, Derek Trucks). But in an effort to increase submissions to the feature from other areas, I'll be looking for new writers to cover other regions where reviews have been less frequent - we know you folks are going to shows, keep the contributions coming! In
This Issue:
Galactic
I: Doublewide, Baker's Dozen, Charlie Dozen, This Thrill, Running Man, Mind is Hazy, Vilified, Sweetback, Two Clowns II: Black-eyed Pea, Something's Wrong, Actions Speak Louder Than Words, Snowball, Funky Bird, Workin' on a Coal Mine, Root Down, Love on the Run E: Tippi Toes, Groovy Lady The 'Nawlins boys of Galactic found their way to Chapel Hill on a chilly Tuesday night for another funk-filled performance. Having established an impressive reputation as a tireless touring act, Galactic knows Chapel Hill all too well, and played with that comfortable familiarity to a full house at the Cradle. Known for their dazzling improvisation and innovative jazz/funk stylizing, Tuesday's performance was a healthy dose of what the NOLA crew does best - spreadin' the funk. The first set opened 'Doublewide', the band very much in their element, delivering a double 'Dozen' to raise the tempo a notch. With shifts of vocal support from The Houseman, the band cruised through the set with ease, following instrumental delivery with Houseman funk, then easing back into its complex, improvisational design - as always, The Houseman supplied a tangible element to the extended jams, giving the performance a cohesive structure that communicated the band's challenging sound. The second set proved a bit more entertaining, pursuing a more intense sound. True to expectations, the musicianship was amazing - in particular that of Jeff Raines, the lead guitarist who continues to develop his unique style much to audiences' pleasure. The night's highlight stood out as the 2nd set closer, 'Love on the Run', with The Houseman belting with all his might as the band brought it to a close at full throttle. A nifty drum loop continued as the band left the stage, became louder and more prominent as they returned and finally dropped the crowd smack into the middle of 'Tippi Toes' and Jeff's funkified licks. The performance delivered in good form, another classic performance from a gritty band that knows how to leave an audience satisfied! Gil McLemore - ed. Galactic
is: **Check out the official website @ http://www.galacticfunk.com**
Adams,
Robinson, and Roby I: This Time, Throwing Rocks at the Moon, Cross the Line, Train to Birmingham, Why You Been Gone So Long?, North Country Fair, Angelita* II: Book of Time, Didn't Forget to Care, Wrong, The Hangman, Wasn't Me, Ocean**, Another Dead Man**, Now She's Gone** III: Birthdays, Losing You, To Be the One, Cinnamon and Pears, Petal in a Rainstorm, Lie, Dancing with the Women at the Bar**, My Heart is Broken**, The Battle and the War** IV: Blue Windows**, Empty Bottle and a Broken Heart**, Cold Steel Brace**, 16 Days** E: Avenues*** [Set
I w/ Chip Robinson (of the Backsliders) North Carolina's leading men of Ya'llternative jamming, Ryan Adams, Chip Robinson, and Kenny Roby, assembled a weekend lineup that rivals the best live performances I've seen this year. Held in a small local venue in Raleigh, the gig was touted as 'An Evening w/ Ryan Adams and Friends', and was held with little fanfare or promotion. Still the die hards arrived on Thursday night, and with surprising word-of-mouth response Friday night's performance garnered a substantial crowd. The show opened with a Chip Robinson (lead man of the Backsliders) solo set, showcasing his trademark growl and vicious guitar licks. A known menace to garden-variety strings, Chip managed a fairly restrained set of low-key songs until 'Angelita' found the tension too much to bear - Robinson hopped off the stage and grabbed the nearest acoustic, pounding the guitar in the middle of the crowd, much to the audience's delight. The house of 100+ gathered around Robinson closer still as he slowed to the song's soft transition, then howled in delight as he ripped back into the song's refrain. At its conclusion, a yank of the broken strings and a nod to the crowd marked the end of the set. After a 10-minute break, Roby (former lead of 6 String Drag) followed with another solo set, continuing Robinson's impromptu song selection. Another low-key set of intimate songs was the result, a sincere performance that highlighted Roby's sense of humor, a blend of honky-tonk and spur-of-the-moment improvisation. The set's highpoint was found in his duets with Caitlin Cary (of Whiskeytown), a violin and acoustic guitar blend that beautifully staged the vocal talents of each performer. Finally, Ryan Adams of Whiskeytown took the stage as the evening's headliner, commanding total attention from the audience. Remarkably, with Adams first song he silenced even the typical loudmouth patrons that are always present around the bar. With candles around the dimly lit room, the surroundings created a surreal stage for the songwriter's talent as he introduced his newest material to the audience, at times even reading from his songbook. After these new songs, fellow band member Caitlin Cary again came onstage, performing an old Whiskeytown classic 'Dancing with the Women at the Bar', before taking requests from the audience. The evening concluded in grand style as all four performers, Adams, Robinson, Roby, and Cary all performed a 4 song set comprised of a special request ('Blue Windows') and one song written from each artist. The set ended, each performer left the stage, but the crowd remained - minutes later, Adams returned by himself and ended the evening with a solo, one-song encore, 'Avenues'. A magical ending to a special night...
Derek
Trucks Band This guy is the real deal - forget word of mouth, the one-time witnesses at this year's Allman concerts, whatever you might have heard - seeing is believing. The 20 year-old nephew of Butch Trucks (longtime Allman Bros. percussionist), one could say this guy was already destined for greatness. But until you've witnessed Derek in all his multi-faceted splendor, whether sharing the stage with other renowned greats or alone in the spotlight, you haven't seen him take each performance to another place unto itself. On Saturday night we had that opportunity again and loved every minute of it - For me, it was a first opportunity to see Derek as a headliner after having seen him guest with jam greats Widespread Panic (12/28/98) and Phish (7/7/99) - to my delight, each performance was an entirely different creature, showcasing Derek's talent in a very different light. Friday night was no exception. The band made a gradual move into the first set, with an Allmansesque feel that was immediately familiar - but generalizing that sound as the tone for the entire show was a mistake. As the set progressed, the next song evoked an old Clapton feel, with drums and keyboards taking a rhythmic backseat to the beat licks laid by Derek and his guitar - but as we delved even further into the setlist, each song posed a new style, with funk laced lyrics and rhythm leading into a Funkadelic tone, only to be followed by true R&B. The highlight of the show was in a flute-guitar duel near the end of the show, reminiscent of the old Marshall Tucker Band, and absolutely enjoyable - as Derek brought the level of tension upward the crowd responded immediately, making the resolution that much more powerful. The night's only complaint came immediately after - the show's only set clocked in at 93 minutes, a shorter time than we had expected, but a small price to pay for such a complete show.
The
Slip and Sound Tribe Sector 9 Tallahassee is popular for certain things. College football dominates the scene and lifestyles of most natives of the capital city of Florida. The stigma of "#1 Party School in the Nation" doesn't slack too much from our football team's importance. In fact, if you haven't visited this small cozy southernly comfortable city sometime in your life, you must do it soon. This is the only place in the world where all the city dwellers party like rock stars but don't even have enough time to realize it because they gotta keep throw down like ragin partyholics. Momma sing sing that you gotta throw down. Its like Jack Kerouac says: party, drink to get drunk and when you get drunk you git. So the alcohol is being consumed at a faster rate than our football players are getting into trouble, and only NOW WE ARE GETTING THE FUNK. Tallahasse is being twirled round in circles with a new sound that has invaded. the Jambands have arrived, DUN DUNNA DUNN DUN (the trumpet has been blown) A new promotional group known as Shimon (She-MOAN) Presents has been bringing down the (Cow) Haus with all the crazy jam music that has been patiently waiting to invade the #1 party town in the nation. The liquor infested bar scene in Tally is drinking up these jam bands like the fat kid who drank from the chocolate river in Willy Wonka. Some of the shows that have already come through here as a result of SHIMON PRESENTS include the west coast skunky funk for the drunk of Robert Walter's 20th congress who brought a 3day party with them to Tallahassee. The acid folk groove tunes of Dexter Grove came through with jams and vials of smiles..:) But this week, the true funk came down hard, hard enuff to make Fraternity kids get spun. Two of the most original and unique sounds the Jam scene has to offer: The Slip and Sector 9. The Slip, a groovy trio from the Boston area, took the stage first at the Cow Haus this wednesday and slowly grabbed the crowd by first tickling each and everyone's genitalia and making them squirm til they had to dance. The three cats from up north turned up the sound with each groove up through til there final song which turned out to be a Slip-dafied version of Thelonius Monk's "Rhythm a Ning." Someone's gotta tell the guitarist from the Slip that with his jazzadelic sounds and his emotional expressisons, he could do a whole lot of damage to the crowd. It seems like he could almost kill someone with some diminished shit thrown at you to quick. Regardless Tallahassee really dug the sound of these 3 musicians who reminded us all that it doesn't take many musicians to sound good; it just takes the talented ones. We cant wait to Slip out sometime soon again in Tallahassee. And so the stage was set for the Georgia native Sound Tribe Sector 9......... What can be said about what these guys did.... It may be in place to simply quote from the old Batman television show by saying: "BAMMMMMM; UUUUUUUGGGHHHH! SLAMMMMMM!!" Sound Tribe Sector 9 has got it goin on. Those kids came on stage without the need of mics and simply got into it by flowing some funky groovadelic wave patterns that had kidz hopping. I'm not talking bout Bouncin Round the room type hoppin. The club was groovin with kids shakin down hard time. The kind of groove that would make Chris Farley turn in his grave it was so damn ugly. The kind of funk that reminds James Brown that he ain't that funky anymore. If the band were a cereal brand they'd be the Funky Charms. Words can't describe the mood set by these kidz. Realllllly silky smooth way-deep funk. The show took off during the encore with Sector 9 throwin round some dub-like reggae funk that brought out the Irie-ights smilin, red eyed some wide eyed and some who couldn't even speak (like me). David Phipps, the keyboard player, seemed to be writing musical compositions for a new video game maybe Metroid 2 or even one of those new Sega I'm-So-Phuckin-Expesive-Dream Cast. He reminded me of a mix of Medeski and the keyboard player for the disco biscuits. However, he had this calm look on him that almost made me think this guy could be a true funkmaster who recognizes his powers from within with no need for movin an inch. All together these kids are a young band that can only grow with what they are already doing. I had to go out and check the freakin mayan calendar after seein what they had to offer becuz its not so often you leave a show feelin WAY TOO GOOD.
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