I first saw these guys on a hot summer afternoon, last 4th of July weekend at the Nateva festival. I was blown away at the time, but haven’t been able to catch a show since. Needless to say, I was eager to hear their new studio recording, which was released last month.
From their bio,“… the Alchemystics blend reggae, politically infused hip-hop, gritty soul, hard-driving rock, and pulsing Jamaican, Cuban and Trinidadian rhythms into an utterly unique and distinctively original new sound. “
Yeah, I’d say that’s about right. I took a ride to the country on Memorial Day, and turned them on the iPod. They have a great groove, nice reggae roots, with a twist of hip-hop/dub. The dub part reminded me of Thievery Corporation, and my head was boppin’ and my feet were tappin’. Yep, I enjoyed that ride to the country.
Check the link below and grab the cd. And catch them next time they’re around. You’ll have a smile on your face when you leave the club.
The artists who play with Plant are extremely talented musicians, it brings the band up a stratosphere. Add, Plant’s beautifully eerie vocals reminiscent of the Zeppelin days, but not,- add in a splash of the beauty of the Wanee Festival, with its friendly folk and country charm equals… Wow. 15,000 of us out in a Floridian field, next to the Suwanee River, jamming out with Robert Plant. Yes, Wow.
The Band of Joy are: vocalist Patty Griffin, guitarist Buddy Miller, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Daryl Scott, bassist-vocalist Byron House, and drummer-percussionist-vocalist Marco Giovino.
I was sitting on the soundboard, about 30 feet from the stage, and I was elevated, sitting above the crowd. My eyes were fixated on Plant, in awe of his presence. He still dances great, he still sings strong, and he turns the stage over to Miller, Scott, House, Giovino who all respectable, intricately technical musicians. Patty Griffin has one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard, and when she sings with Plant along with the strings of Daryl Scott and Buddy Miller, well, it’s like… I have no words.
Favorite Songs: The Zep Covers, How Many Times Have You Heard Someone Say, I’m In The Mood For A Melody, … actually, to be honest, the whole set I was mesmerized. Plant had a nice banter with the audience, complementing someone’s tattoo, and after his set was done he came back and said something like, “Well hi, they say since I’m the headliner I can play a few more songs.” We started during the sunset, and we ended in the dark, with flame lanterns flying in the sky, all of us dancing away the day.
Ending the set with Dylan’s A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, Plant and Griffin singing duet, my friends and I floated off the field back to camp for food intake before the second night of Allman’s. It was a beautiful 2 hours spent with the incredible Robert Plant and The Band of Joy. It was a beautiful day filled with incredible music. There were still two bands still to play that evening. And I was floating on a cloud, named Wanee.
Set List
1. Black Dog
2. Down by the Sea
3. Angel Dance
4. Black County Women
5. House Of Cards
6. Monkey
7. Somewhere Trouble Don’t Go
8. Gallows Pole
9. How Many Times Have You Heard Someone Say
10 .Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down
11. Ocean Of Tears
12. I’m In The Mood For A Melody
13. Please Read The Letter
14. Houses Of The Holy
15. Ramble On
16. Crowd
Encore:
17. Central 208
18. Rock & Roll
19. A Hard Rain Is A Gonna Fall
The Warren Haynes Band is out on tour with their first album as a newly formed band including Warren Haynes, guitar, Ron Holloway, sax, Ruthie Foster, vocals, Ron Johnson, bass, Nigel Hall, piano/keys, and Terence Higgins, drums. (Set List Below.)
Photo by Allison Murphy
The new album, “Man in Motion” has seemingly found a buzz surrounding the cd, and if you judged the response from opening night in NYC, the crowd is equally excited as it was energized. I haven’t listened to the album yet, I have a penchant for live recordings, but have downloaded it from iTunes and plan to try to decipher the differences between what I heard at Christmas Jam, Wanee Festival and now at The Beacon.
First set at the Beacon, you could feel the energy amped for the Opening night of the Tour. A heavy Gov’t Mule-head crowd represented. I was seated next to the soundboard, and had a perfect shot of Warren and his guitar through the crowd. Unfortunately my neighbor had a few too many drinks a few songs too early, and wanted to be a chatty Cathy with me, while Warren and the band were busy playing. Sorry guy, didn’t mean to be rude but when I go to a show, I go to listen to the music, not chat with strangers. Sorry.
I was lucky though, one of my gals stopped by and grabbed me to go downstairs to the ladies room. Thankfully she ended what could have been my torture for the first set, trying to listen and watch the band while some grabby guy wanted to chat and bump into me. Thank you sister, you saved me from many bruises…
Photo by View Skewed
So – the scene is set, with the exception of the not such the coolest security guards ever, I can finally dance and listen. They sound great. The songs range from rock and roll to bluesy soul, to funky horns explosion.
Warren wails on his guitar. Warren sings. Warren banters back and forth with the amazing vocalist, Ruthie Foster. Foster has this sexy, strong voice which she uses as backup vocals for Haynes, and then her power comes out when she banters with Warren’s guitar licks with her voice. It’s incredible to watch.
Ron Holloway on saxophone. Holloway is the man. Click here for more and YouTube Videos. Continue reading →
…and now we are in May. Oops. I have been absolutely slammed with life since Bowlive, and I apologize for the lack of writing here on View Skewed. I do, however, have a story brewing about this year’s magical Wanee Festival, and today I’ve added a few pictures. My View Skewed on the 3-day Wanee musical marathon magical ride is coming, and I promise to be prompt in publishing!!
I first saw these guys on a hot summer afternoon, last 4th of July weekend at the Nateva festival. I was blown away at the time, but haven’t been able to catch a show since. Needless to say, I was eager to hear their new studio recording, which was released last month.
Yeah, I’d say that’s about right. I took a ride to the country on Memorial Day, and turned them on the iPod. They have a great groove, nice reggae roots, with a twist of hip-hop/dub. The dub part reminded me of Thievery Corporation, and my head was boppin’ and my feet were tappin’. Yep, I enjoyed that ride to the country.
