First thoughts… Beginning to come down a bit off my mindblowing music high. Thank you Gathering of the Vibes!
Zero tolerance of nitrous dealers. There were no balloons. There were no tanks. There was no sketchiness of any sort. Yes, there were wookies and hippies and children playing alike, but there was no Nitrous. Nicely done Vibes.
Camp Scene: Chill people to camp with (about 20 people in the group), Chill people to hang with, Chill people surrounding us. We were close to family/boardie/VIP camping and it was great. Best camping experience, goes up with my Wanee camping.
General Scene:The main difference I saw was there was only 1 stage on the main field instead of the usual 2. Somehow they moved gear swiftly, until the last day, when Jimmy Cliff was 30 minutes late, and NAS was about an hour late. Hell, not so bad at all – nice job crew. Beers courtesy of Sierra Nevada (yum).
Crowd: Still waiting on the official numbers of attendees, but from last year to this year, it was a bigger crowd. I bet somewhere in the 5,000-8,000 people showed up. I figure not all camped but the day passes brought in lots of people. Friday’s Furthur show was packed as was Saturday’s Primus show. Packed as in can’t really move through the field because of all the people and chairs, and serious lines for the port-a-potties.
Water:Water situation at Vibes were a let down after my experience at Nateva. There are no spigots at Vibes. There is a few sporadic placed water fountains. Seriously, water fountains, not spigots. After 15 years, you’d think they could get a water truck or something for the people.
MUSIC: Personal highlights (in order of preference:)
There was a lot of buzz about these guys. A LOT. God Street Wine, popular in NYC in the 90′s and played often at The Wetlands, had 2 weekends filled with four incredibly well received shows in July. Never seeing them before, I did not know much more then “these guys are great, you’ll love them”, and as fate would have it I got a free ticket. These reunion shows were put on as a benefit for The National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
photo by: Dino Perrucci
The first weekend, at The Gramercy was packed with people. The crowd was 40-ish, and everyone was pumped up to see these guys.
Words don’t do justice as pictures and video. Enjoy the ride. I had a blast.
Gramercy Shows:
photo by: Dino Perrucci
7/09/10: Set 1: Borderline, Light My Candles, Run To You, Fortress Of Solitude, April Rain ->Weird Dream, Thirsty, Mile By Mile ->Hellfire, banter – setbreak announce Set 2: Electrocute, Imogene, Stupid Hat, Silver ->Cheap Utah Blues ->Waiting For The Tide ->The Other Shore ->The Princess Henrietta Encore break Home Again encore break #2: Come Together ->Who Do You Love
7/10/10: Set 1: When She Go ->Molly ->Good Night Gretchen ->She Comes Up Softly, Drive West, Who’s Driving ->Dirty Little Secret, Ladyfingers, Epiphany Set 2: intro, Change Your Mind, Call It Love, She Said Dark ->Fourth Of July, R.U. 4 Real?, Manatolking Town, Brand New Pussycat > Crashing Down ->Into The Sea Encore: Dear Prudence, Nightengale
Irving Plaza Shows:
7/16/10 Set I: Wendy, Big Papa, Lighthouse, Crazy Head > Goodnight Gretchen >Hammer and Spike > Stupid Hat, Bring Back the News Set II Stranger, Mile By Mile > Epiphany > I Still Like You > Water > Feel The Pressure > Morning Cigarettes > Waiting For The Tide, Get On The Train Encore 1: Any Major Dude Will Tell You, Brick House Encore 2: Thirsty
7/17/10:
Set One: Nightingale, Driving West, Better than You, Hellfire, The Ballroom -> 6:15, Feather, Straight Line, Imogene Set Two: Good Dream, Snake Eyes, Princess Henrietta, Strange as it Seems, Tina’s Town -> Cheap Utah Blues -> Deep Drag, Diana, Borderline Encore 1: Ticket to Ride, Sweet Little Angel Encore 2: Other Shore -> Into The Sea
It was like the circus… Filled with gypsies… And they all liked to dance… Alot.
photo by: Andrew Bruss, Jambase
It was overcast. I thought to myself, wow, I’m glad the sun is not out. It was a hot, sunny, sweltering few days and I was pleased for the clouds. We needed a break from the sun.
photo by: Andrew Bruss, Jambase
After dealing with “The Incident”, I took my last spigot shower of the festival, ate delicious blueberry pancakes from our new camp family and we all rolled in to hear the Nate Wilson Group from the Port City Music Hall. Um, wow. He shredded his guitar. There were five guys up there, and they just crushed it. It was great energy, great music, tight jams and it just went DOWN in that barn. I will see them again to relive the experience, because, truth be told, I think I needed another cup of coffee. It was Day 3, after all, and I was feeling very fuzzy by this point.
photo by: Phrazz
photo by: Phrazz
Moonalice was next, and had to leave Nate Wilson early to catch their set. (Music Schizophrenia Mode in full force.) By the time I got there, Barry Sless and Pete Sears were SHREDDING the heck out of Cold Rain & Snow. Oh wow, it was on. The main field wasn’t packed so I got myself up to the rail and had a great time. I watched the crowd around me, and everyone had such wide smiles, dancing along, havin’ just as much fun as I was. John Molo on drums was just sick, Barry Sless goes nuts on the pedal steel, and then Roger “Chubby Wombat Moonalice” McNamee tells us that they finished their encore early and we’re treated to more. Oh yeah, that was fun. Always a fun time with Moonalice. Afterwards, I got my free posters, Chubby and I chatted for a bit and he signed them for me. I love this band for their incredible music, the talent on stage and their friendliness.
Then Max Creek comes on the other stage. I haven’t seen these guys in about 100 years, I grew up with them playing all around Connecticut in the 80s. Fabulous time, fabulous music, love them.
photo by: Phrazz
But, as my music schizophrenia continues, I ran out and caught The Alchemystics.
And, holy hell. I have no words. I walked into the Port City Music Hall and it was going wild in there. The place was packed, jamming reggae jam crazy dance party was going on. I caught the last two songs and the encore. It was out of control, great beats, high high energy…. they literally blew my head off. I was dumbfounded. My friend asked me what I thought of them, and I had no words. I could not speak. I was processing the crazy hip-hop reggae rage that just went down and I couldn’t speak. Wow. The Alchemystics. Yeah, these guys are on my radar up near The New Mastersounds, who I saw at Mountain Jam. Phewwwwwww.
photo by: Andrew Bruss, Jambase
Finally, a chance to breathe. Zappa Plays Zappa comes on the stage and by this point I’m in need of a sit-down. I sit on my chair and think, “Ah, I can relax now, and listen to this band play finally.” I’ve never seen Zappa Plays Zappa, but I do know who Dweezil is and had a girl-crush on him years ago. Now here he is, shirtless, on stage, playing great great music. Unfortunately for me, I was pulled away from the music for the rest of the set by my buddy. So, I still haven’t truly heard them play. I will catch them when they come to NYC for sure.
photo by: Andrew Bruss, Jambase
photo by: Phrazz
Crowd: What I forgot to mention was how cool the vibe and the crowd were. We had Aliens, and crazy monsters dancing, fire twirler beauties, and fire lanterns launched into the evening sky. We had lobster rolls (which I never had but heard was amazing), and local beloved vendors like Wormtown Trading. There was a ferris wheel. There were children playing. There were smiling strangers. Click below for more with DTST and Furthur.
Day 2 started with a HOT summer morning, and me jumping out of the tent around 10am. My new camp family hooked me up with the ice coffee, and the morning shower consisted of me, a cold spigot and a bar of soap. I heard the Roots of Creation from the Port City Music Hall and they reminded me of 80′s music – very John Water’s movie score-esque.
Photo by: Krista Labbe
I walked down to the main stage area to hear a bit of Ryan Montbleau Band. I heard him for the first time the night before, the buzz about this guy is pretty loud, and I was pretty much blown away. Scorchin’ keys and guitar. I recommend you check this guy out if you get a chance.
photo by: Michael Rossman
Next up was John Brown’s Body. Again, I had never seen these guys and I was in for a ride. HEAVY bass, reggae beat with hip-hop lyrics and brass. Sax, trombone, trumpet. Whooo. Those horns rocked the place into a killer funky reggae jam, and I ended up win a fist pumping bounce. High energy, great tunes, tight band. Yeah. That was fun.
photo by: Geoff Stairs
Surprise of the day? Crash Kings. I went back to the camp for some shade, food and liquid and I could hear them perfectly. They crushed it. Great vocals, tight, fast guitars (my favorite), tight beats. They kind of reminded me a bit of Jethro Tull – these guys were one of my favorite new bands of the weekend, I can’t wait to see them again. Check ‘em out here.
Click for more with The Flaming Lips, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Toubab Krewe and EOTO. Continue reading →
Getting my bearings and figuring out the scene: Woke up and started wandering for coffee on Shakedown Street. I began to get my senses and bearings, but still needed another cuppa. Over breakfast I began to get the breadth of the scope for Nateva. The first day was packed straight with music from 11:30am to 2:45am. I didn’t really realize how full on the music would be and I was beginning to get the first sense of how my music schizophrenia would be. I got out my pen and marked out my whole schedule for the weekend. My “wish list” per se.
While my friend was taking her time getting ready, and I had no intentions on rushing anyone, I decided to scope the place out. We were camped by the Port City Music Stage, so I was happy to have live music so close. I had water in my waterbottle, filled with ice and passed the horse stables, the RV set ups, the port-o-potties and real toilets to the left and the road to the stage to the right. I followed the sounds of Greensky Bluegrass and was told “no liquids.” I had to throw my deliciously cold ice water on the ground, darn.
Photo by LimboJim
To set the scene, there was two stages on this field, and another two stages outside the field. Vending galore and food awaited us. Rainbow colored pinwheels graced the skyways, and a ferris wheel closed the deal. Surrounding this was the word NATEVA on a hill, with huge beautiful trees, a big blue sky and clean air. This is Maine, and it is so beautiful.
I finished out the Greensky Bluegrass set, and have to say – it was nice to start the day with a little bluegrass. Went to get more liquid, it was scorching on the field and there was no shelter, so back to the camp I went. My friend was chilling with the new camp family we met when we pulled in and all was happy and smiles there. I chilled, had a little lunch and went back to the field for Umphree’s McGee. My friend stayed back and took a nap.
Photo by LimboJim
I have to admit, by 2:30 it was more than scorching out and I couldn’t deal with the heat. I decided to go back to camp, go to the vendors, do anything other than standing on a field in the squelching sun. I went to wander. I walked the perimeter, walked the other vending areas, and found a small little gazebo to watch people and be sheltered bythe sun. I then see my buddy Jimbo. Yep, just walking down the path. I truly love things like this, when you are supposed to see people…they just show up.
Finally getting back to my camp I can hear Keller Williams on the Main Stage area. He’s always fun to listen to, he’s got a great voice and he strums those guitars fast and furiously. I love him and was so pleased to hear him from camp. Soon after I heard some amazing beats coming from the Port City Music Stage, and I decided to check out Jimbo’s friends band, The Problemaddicts. I’d say these guys are like a hip-hop, reggae, in your face fun. Great beats. Great energy. I danced hard in that barn and I came out sweaty gross. We all were sweaty gross. There is comfort in that thought.
Photos by Britt Nemeth
Enough of the sweaty gross factor, I was off to find a true shower. There was only one I knew of and I wasn’t telling anyone about it. Unfortunately, when I got to the bath house, there was a slight line. Fine by me, a slight line is better than the line for the “official” $5 showers. As I waited on line, hanging outside the bath house, I saw another friend of mine walking across the way. Sometimes, it’s just that easy. “Jello shots at dark,” is what I was told. Yes ma’am, love ya. Oh, yeah – I lingered in that shower a bit.
Highlights of the day: moe. Ghostland Observatory. Ryan Montbleau Band. Silent Disco.
photo by Jeremy Hageman
Ghostland Observatory: light show extraordinaire. On par with Chris Kuroda from Phish. Seriously. That’s all I remember. No, I remember loving the music, but entranced by the lights.
Photos by Britt Nemeth
moe. Who doesn’t love moe.? If you haven’t heard of them, you should. They are a solid jam band, all I could think of was Widespread Panic + Phish = moe. Wicked guitar riffs. Amazing beat by the two drummers. Killer drums. We were treated to a 2 song encore, and the show ends at 12:30. Woo hoo, here we go, Day 1.
Photos by Britt Nemeth
Ryan Montbleau Band: The Barn Stage (the smallest of all the stages), was packed. Seriously packed. Ryan has great energy, funky beats and it was a lot of fun. I had begun my music schizophrenia mode and ran down to see Big Gigantic which wasn’t really my style as they are a Rave/Techno type band. But they had a sax. I’ve never heard a techno/rave band with sax. I was intrigued and I loved it.
Photos by Britt Nemeth
Silent Disco: OK. This was amazing. AMAZING. You would walk by this field and all these people would be standing around looking like zombies. Kinda scary. But once you went through with the headphones that was given to you upon entry, it all changed. You heard the DJ and the music that everyone else was listening to on the headphones. Immediately you were in another world, a shared experience with only the people with the phones on. The music was amazing, the DJ was amazing and I danced for a long time. I think I called it a night around 4am, leaving my friends behind. I was out. I needed sleep. We had two more days to party through.
These guys just wail. I have no words except to catch them. No, wait. I have words…
Pre-show: I walk up to the Brooklyn Bowl and the crowd is walking towards me. I missed the John Legend & The Roots sold-out show because, to be honest, John Legend is not on my radar and I didn’t have a ticket for that show. I had bought tickets for The Lee Boys at least a week prior to the show… I try to pre-plan the shows when the “bands to catch” are in town. Chicks with stilettos, skirts and jewels on, the men dressed for clubbin’, boy Brooklyn was all cleaned up! I felt a bit out of my element here. Luckily this was outside the club, the minute I got inside all was fine. The Bowl is my favorite place in the city. There. I said it. It is whatever you want it to be. Tonight, after John Legend, it was chill.
Questlove was spinning when I walked in. The Lakers game was on the big screen. The place is open, space galore. I went to my spot near the bowling alleys, under the speaker and waited for my Floridian friends. Roosevelt walks by me and smiles. Ah yes, The Bowl.
Once all the gear cleared off the stage, The Lee Boys show up and play for a short set, 90 minutes or so. There is no real ramp up time, no slow moving crescendo. Within no more than 5 minutes into the first song, I knew we were in for a ride, bam! right in the face power, deep and low vibrating through your body bass, squealing steel guitar, wailing vocals. The band are the three brothers, Alvin Lee (guitar), Derrick Lee and Keith Lee (vocals) along with their three nephews, Roosevelt Collier (pedal steel guitar), Alvin Cordy Jr. (7-string bass) and Earl Walker (drums). Their style is what they call Sacred Steel, and its a pretty damn good description. With their roots in gospel, these guys take the steel guitar and just drive it DOWN.
From The Lee Boys’ website, I was able to find more information about the genre: “Sacred steel” is a type of music described as an inspired, unique form of Gospel music with a hard-driving, blues-based beat. The musical genre is rooted in Gospel, but infused with rhythm and blues, jazz, rock, funk, hip-hop, country and ideas from other nations.
Hard driving blues based beat – yeah that sums it up. My notes say words like “Frikkin hot, Roosevelt smokin’ the steel, Alvin going down on the bass.” Phewww, it was like a freight train coming right at you so fast you could feel the wind in your hair.
Partial Set List: Testify>Stevie Wonder’s Superstition (which was insanely funky, bassy, steel guitar craziness)>PFunk’sWe Want The Funk (which brought the funk even lower, Mothership landing in Brooklyn kinda funky)>Superstition (oh my, hello there!)
This is my own video, it’s short, its fuzzy but the audio is fine. A little sampling to whet your whistle. See these guys. I promise you (promise you!) you won’t be disappointed.
Pre-festie: The rain had stopped when I woke up. It looked beautiful enough at the start. We had a leisurely morning, I went down to the festival to grab some coffee and then headed back to pack up. By the time we all motivated ALO was already on stage.
I missed the morning Michael Franti show and we left before the Levon Helm 70th Birthday Celebration. Rolling Stone reviewed it here.
Michael Franti & Spearhead: Franti is amazing. He has this wonderful energy that comes along with him, and magic happens when he is on stage. I first saw him at last year’s Mountain Jam, and he moved the mountain, literally again. The crowd moves with him, jumps with him, his energy is so loving and peaceful and his voice is… well. Amazing. He was telling us we were going to sing and send the sun back. That lasted for about a song. Then it came. The downpour literally was torrential, people (myself included) running off the mountain into the lodge and other areas for cover. It poured for about 20 minutes. And then it stopped.
Franti comes back on stage and my friend and I move from our shelter of the vending area back up the hill. I was able to watch down on the crowd in front of the stage and watched them ooze love to the man. Franti then comes off the stage and into the crowd. Singing, talking, he was so close to me. The sun beamed down as he was in the crowd. I had goosebumps. Literally. He brought the kids on stage. It was great. Love Franti. Franti Love. Wonderful.
Matisyahu: He’s powerful on stage. I like him, but have to admit, I have a hard time understanding the lyrics. The time was ticking (we were leaving after Alison Krauss), and I needed to get some hippie gear for a sister, so I went off to the vending area. I believe it was during Matisyahu I tried one of those fried dough with sugar on top things. Yep. I did. Archive link here.
Alison Krauss and Union Station: I didn’t know who Alison Krauss was, so I settled in for a nice Sunday afternoon bluegrass set with my winter hat and mud boots on. The temperature had dropped. Her voice sounded familiar to me, and I began to sing along with the songs, knowing every word. Have you ever had that experience before? After much thinking over a few songs, I realized that I owned some of her cd’s in the early 2000′s. About the time that I imported cd’s into iTunes. I don’t think that one made the cut and I realized that I haven’t heard this in a long time. It was beautiful, she sings so sweetly, so crisply, heavenly. Perfect for a Sunday afternoon. Perfect for the last set of Mountain Jam (for me). Bliss.
Thank you Mountain Jam VI. Looking forward to lucky VII. Here’s a link to Mountain Jam’s official blog. More pictures here.
Pre-festie: Going to a festival without a car is like going fishing without a fishing pole. It’s weird, a bit offputting and I had a lot of bags to schlep. After a subway trip out to the last stop in the Bronx, my girl and I were picked up by our buddies and we were off. Goin’ to the Country was playing in my head, very apropos since Hunter Mountain is very close to Woodstock, NY, and I always associate Country Joe with Woodstock. I spent time up in “Upstate NY” as a child – so, this was like going home, very familiar terrority…with the tribe. Wow, I love Mountain Jam.
Showtime: Dr. Dog canceled at the last moment so there was a shifting in schedule. Toots and the Maytals were playing Friday, and a second set of Lettuce was to follow on Saturday. Not so bad, except I missed Toots. And Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue and Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. A real bummer. However, after all was said and done, I made it to The Avett Brothers, Gov’t Mule and Les Claypool/The New Mastersounds madness.
Mule: Oh I love me some Mule. Love Warren, his talent, the shredding, the band, Jorgen Carlsson on bass makes Mule even that hotter. With Matt Abts on drums and Danny Louis on keys…. well, the whole band just rocks. I realized that the reasons that people may not like Gov’t Mule (“It’s very heavy.” “too hard”) are exactly the reasons I love Gov’t Mule. To me, you can never be too heavy, too hard – fast guitars, wailing keys, a heavy beat bringing the noise tumbling down through your body and your brains? Yeah. That’s Mule, and that’s why I love them. Outfrikkinrageous.
First Set: Raging. Dead on raging. I stomped my feet on the mountain, I shook my head side to side, eyes closed, shook my behind so hard and kept my balance on the slope of the mountain. Yes. I felt it in my bones. We had arrived. Mule was on stage. The weather was gorgeous. Bliss. They ended first set with Thorazine Shuffle. Whooo damn, it was just first set! My friends laughed at me and said, “yeah, that’s right girl, this is all you – Mulehead.” Yeah, well… some things are true.
Second Set: They started with Pink Floyd, the same two songs they played at Wanee(One of these days and Fearless). Wanee memories crossed into Mountain Jam reality and I laughed out loud. They broke out some Hendrix w/ The Wind Cries Mary (loving it!) and then Les Claypool joins in on the fun and the banter between Les and Warren go a bit like this: “We’ve been practicing this song for a while… “so don’t F it up Warren.”
As if Warren would do such a thing!! Next up, Abts goes crazy during the drum solo and brings out timpani sticks and just beats the drums like there’s no tomorrow. We slide into Wishing Well into Raven Black Night, and I heard a flute up there. I look up and it is Kofi Burbridge blowin’ on that flute, it sounds like dancing. Twirling dancers. Then we fly into a Fleetwood Mac tune Gold Dust Woman with Grace Potter wailing like only Amazing Grace can. Phew boy, Night 1 has begun!
Set 1: Intro, Stay With Me, New World Blues, World Gone Wild, Time To Confess, The Shape I’m In, Monkey Hill >, Monday Mourning Meltdown, Where Did You Sleep Last Night, Thorazine Shuffle
Set 2: One Of These Days >, Fearless, The Wind Cries Mary, Greasy Granny’s Gopher Gravy (Part 1 & 2) > (w/ Les Claypool), Drums, Wishing Well, Raven Black Night > (w/ Kofi Burbridge), Gold Dust Woman (w/ Grace Potter) Encores: Inside Outside Woman Blues, Any Open Window >, Steppin’ Lightly
Late Night Show: The New Mastersounds. Stop right here. Go to this page and find a show near you. They are a London based band, heavy funk, heavy soul oh good lord. Kofi Burbridge showed up again and played a couple of songs, the room rocked. You could feel it. These guys rocked me. Rocked my friends. Rocked the house. They could be my new favorite band. Go see Live Music!!
I experienced the first of my schizophrenic music behavior on Day 1 – running between the Colonel’s Hall with Mastersounds, and running up the mountain for Les Claypool. I had left a very very steamy set going on in the Hall and knew I was going to see Les at Brooklyn Bowl on Tuesday when I get back, but still wanted to get some Les in. I was trying to figure out what to do, so I finally just stopped and stood on the mountain for a second. I took it in, felt the Mountain energy, looked up at the stage and listened to the deep bass plucking from Mr. Claypool. Ahhh. Then I bolted down back to The Mastersounds. I heard I wasn’t the only one with schizophrenic music behavior that evening.
Tamborine
Africa
Brother Jake
Congo Square
Voo Doo
Big Chief
Charlie
Change Gonna Come
Bro John
Yello Moon
Pocky Way
Charlie
Funksta
Fiyo/Go to New Orleans
“There just has never really been a concert like this before. It is something new for people, and for me too. And I have never gotten an audience reaction like this. All through Europe, people were going crazy and I think a big part of that comes from the uniqueness of this experience. And for me, it is about the most fun I have ever had onstage. Each night is a new adventure” – Pat Metheny
Preshow: I thought the show started at 8:45 so I was a bit hurried when I realized I was wrong, and the show started at 8. Oops. Got to the theater at 8:15, and felt relieved when I saw people outside. After a bit of chaos, the venue staff were more than a little unhelpful, I got up to the cheap seats of the balcony. After my incredible experience at Radio City Music Hall, I am no longer worried about balcony seats. In some venues, it is the best place for the sound. Town Hall is no exception, this balcony got incredible sound. I walked in, Pat was already on the stage playing.
He played songs from New Chatauqua, First Circle, We Live Here, Secret Story, Trio, Works and Works II. He spanned all his recordings, I only have 16 albums in my collection, Pat has recorded gazillions more. Discography list here.
Show: First few songs were acoustic. Pat strummed that guitar, furiously. He then was passed an instrument that I have never seen before. It had three necks on it, see the picture above. He played three different lines on it, it sounded like a bass, regular guitar and a xylophone. Then he used his palm and tapped the face of the guitar to make a percussion beat. Wow.
The thing I love most about Pat, besides his incredible talent, is his ability to tell a story. That is why I love his albums, he is one of those musicians who use the album to tell a story arc with his music. Secret Story is, to me, the most obvious example, but really it’s with all his albums that he releases. We were in the prologue part of Pat’s story tonight… he was showing us the basics of how he ended up in Orchestrion-land with this oddly shaped guitar.
Then Pat started strumming the electric, playing through his songs like he’s practicing chords. Like it’s nothing. After that beautiful moment, Pat begins to unveil his Orchestrion with one little cymbal with a strobe on it. It’s the metronome, keeping time and beat. He plays a song from Secret Story, and I am beginning to hear him do a multi-track thing, where he records one or two beats of music and then layers another beat or two on top of it. It’s a cool thing to try to analyze as you hear it, and to hear it live… so cool.
Then the curtain goes up to reveal the monstrous crazy rig he’s got going. All types of percussion, cymbals, snares, pianos, guitars, bass, strobe lights, globe lights, other types of instruments I’ve never seen before and have no idea what they are. The audience laughs. It’s a crazy sight. Well, this is the Orchestrion. Pat’s electronic/robotic band.
I can see what he’s doing and how he is orchestrating this crazy concoction of instruments behind him. Somehow he is instructing the instruments to play a chord he is playing, over and over. Multi-layering of all these sounds robotically. He doesn’t touch the instruments, he plays his guitar, and then the instruments pick it up somehow and play the notes themselves. It was bizarre. It was cool. It was the merging of music, instruments and technology. I have talked about the merge of music and technology, but I had never in my wildest dreams thought about music and technology intersecting like this before. Yep, head was exploding.
After about 18 minutes of this beautiful instrumental improvisation, with moments of “Oh, I know this verse..” happening inside my head, Pat took a breath. The crowd was thunderous in their applause and we stood up and gave love. And then, Pat began to try to explain what this is. Thank goodness, because I was thinking, “how does this thing work?”
Pat’s Banter/Explanation: He tells us he was excited for the NYC shows because this is his new home. YAY! Then he tells us the story about how his grandfather had a player piano and as a child he was a bit obsessed with it. He then lived his life as a jazz guitarist, but the idea of the player piano stayed with him. And now, here he is, with the player piano to the extreme. He explains the idea of the overdub, what I had been calling multi-layering. Same idea, just now I know the official word. Overdub. This whole night was overdub overload. He said, “it’s like a fingerprint upon fingerprint.” I love that image. He said that there are these things called solonoids, and they are electromagnetics. He then said, “I can’t really explain it because it takes 3 hours… I’d rather be playing.” So, not much of an explanation, but a beginning glimpse. I want to know more. I’m curious that way.
Finally I just sat there. Legs crossed, feet tapping, no camera, no notes, no nothing. I watched the people for a brief moment. They were captivated. I was captivated. He finished the show with trying to show us what he was doing. He said he’d go slow for us. This was all improv, he put out the disclaimer because this was improv, some nights were better than others. (I love disclaimers!) I tried to count the amount of overdubs he had going, I lost track at 10.
Pat came out for 2 encore songs, and left the crowd with Sueno con Mexico. People had started to leave the auditorium after the first encore, and now they were standing on the side of the theater, watching… listening. I was in a trance. My heart was shining. And I whistled that beautiful song in the subways.
I highly recommend you see this tour. Even if you’re not a Pat fan, if you like jazz, and you like a good theatrical show, check him out. Album available on iTunes and Amazon.
Day 2 started with a HOT summer morning, and me jumping out of the tent around 10am. My new camp family hooked me up with the ice coffee, and the morning shower consisted of me, a cold spigot and a bar of soap. I heard the Roots of Creation from the Port City Music Hall and they reminded me of 80′s music – very John Water’s movie score-esque.
