Southern Soul Assembly Tour

Taft Theatre–Cincinnati, OH–March 19, 2014

Written by: Zen Wild

Photos by: Tony Vasquez

Gallery Link:  http://jamsplus.smugmug.com/TonyVasquezPhotography/The-Southern-Soul-Assembly/

Southern Soul Assembly is such a fitting name for the current tour featuring songwriters Marc Broussard, Anders Osborne, Luther Dickinson, and JJ Grey.  Every member brings to the table buckets and buckets of soul, all with a bit of southern twang.  When we arrive at the Taft Theatre in Cincinnati to watch their performance, there are many others surrounding us who have obviously come to appreciate these things as well.  While the show isn’t sold out, unless some people have simply chosen not to appear, it is very packed, especially near the front of the theatre, where fans have filled the seats closest to the stage in an effort to be as near to the performers as possible.  The sound system carries the voices of the musicians and their instruments throughout the building, but there is no substitute for being right up front, listening to them as they banter back and forth, telling stories, and endearing themselves to the audience with a bit of Southern charm and hospitality.  There is no opening band and there doesn’t need to be. 

From the moment the musicians walk on to the stage, the applause and shouts of appreciation start.  Undoubtedly, some members of the audience have come here being fans of specific performers, without being well-versed in the musical catalogs of some of the other artists; but I’m sure that by the end of the show, everyone was eager to fully delve into each musician’s repertoire.

Marc Broussard starts the rotation off with a song, “Evangeline Rose,” written for his eldest daughter.  It’s a beautifully sweet little tune.  JJ Grey follows him with the song, “Brighter Days,” off his album of the same name.  When he finishes, and people

are showing their appreciation, he mentions how he was the last one to sign on to the tour and how glad he was that he did so.  “Every one of these boys up here can sing,” he says.  It’s about as true as a statement could be.

Anders Osborne’s first song of the night is “Me and Lola,” a melancholy love song, that I personally think is amazing.  His voice, loaded with emotion, sends the lyrics soaring throughout the auditorium.  When Luther Dickinson gets his first turn to showcase his talents, he plays “Karmic Debt,” a song off his album Rock ‘n Roll Blues, and he tears through it, everyone in the audience bearing witness to his particularly nasty ability with the slide.  It’s an incredible talent that he’ll display all evening, often joining in on the other musicians’ songs.

With the rotation established, the artists continue to play songs for the duration of the roughly two-hour set, cutting up and telling jokes and stories in between.  JJ Grey introduces a new song, “Tic Tac Toe,” which he says will probably be on his new record with his band, Mofro.  All of the other musicians on stage join in on this one, with Luther playing the electric bass and Marc and Anders on guitars.  It is the first song that we’ll hear in which everyone on stage is getting in on the action.

Anders Osborne plays “Peace” afterwards, the title track off his newest album, and again we see all the artists join in.  This song is just heart-rending, and Anders’ delivery is absolutely incredible.  While he certainly isn’t the only wonderful songwriter on stage, his ability to write melodies that fit alongside his revealing, storytelling lyrics is simply first-class.

Marc follows up a bit later with a soft love song, “Send Me a Sign,” and as he sings, his voice is like silk.  That man’s vocal range is staggering.  After JJ plays the title track off his latest album, This River, Anders graces us with another astonishing song, “Boxes, Bills, and Pain,” a deep, soulful blues number.  He tells the others on stage, “This song only got one chord, boy, y’all can jam as much as you want!”  They do.  Again, everyone takes part, with Marc picking up the bass, and JJ whipping out his harmonica, while Luther, once more, plays some scintillating lines on slide guitar.  The song lasts for 10 minutes, at least, and as it finishes I know that I would be perfectly content if it lasted another 10 minutes.  I love to hear

musicians jamming on the blues, taking a short song and stretching it out.

Luther follows this with another blues tune, “Yard Man,” also off his album, Rock ‘n Roll Blues.  He and Marc tell stories about how Luther hates to cut grass and would rather pay someone to do it, while Marc loves to ride the mower out in the Southern sunshine.  The audience is bursting with laughter and this is truly part of what makes this current tour so enjoyable: the ability of the musicians not only to write and perform songs, but their ability to tell stories and make the concert a personal experience.  This is something that goes on throughout the night.

Finally, when the artists decide that the set is over, after another 10-minute jam, this time on JJ’s song, “On Fire,” from the JJ Grey and Mofro album, Orange Blossoms, they get up and walk off stage, but applause and shouts of approval are enough to bring them back for a 2-song encore.  JJ and Marc close the show with a couple of their songs, Marc playing “Lonely Night in Georgia,” which features some impressive solos by Anders, and then JJ finishing with “Lochloosa.”  From start to finish, the concert has lasted right at 2 hours, and I’m sure that everyone would agree that they could have listened for another couple of hours without any issue, but unfortunately all good things must end, as pleasant as they might be.  There’s always the next city.  There’s always the next show.  To anyone who hasn’t made a point to purchase a ticket for the Southern Soul Assembly’s next show in the next city, all I can say is, make it a point to do so.  It will be money and time well spent.

Umphrey’s McGee –  Fox Theater – Oakland, CA – 3/8/2014

Review By: Trevor Bexon

Daylight Savings Time in March is a common time for Umphrey’s McGee to be in the Northern California area. If you’re a fan of the band on the west coast, you can mark out this time to plan on seeing these guys somewhere in your backyard.

The first time UM played the Fox Theater in 2012 it was a big deal because it signified their growth on the west coast and it was the biggest venue they had played on this side of the country. The venue and band are a perfect fit for many reasons: venue size, light rigging possibilities, friendly staff, beautiful colors and statues throughout the venue all play a roll in the special feeling within the room. After attending UM at the Fox the past three years, I believe this year was the largest attendance yet.

The opening intro was the “Jaws Theme”, which is always a sign of good times ahead. I really enjoy how UM uses intros to their shows; it allows the band to take the stage with force in a different and powerful way, especially on the west coast where the crowds are laid back and not as ferocious as other parts of the country. The crowd this year was high energy and fully into it from the opening notes until everyone stepped outside onto the streets after the show.

Set one: In The Kitchen > Mullet (Over), There’s No Crying In Mexico > Spires, Glory > Wife Soup, Nothing Too Fancy> In Bloom, Wappy Sprayberry > In The Kitchen.

The meat of the first set was “Nothing Too Fancy” through “In the Kitchen” to end the set. The energy was high at the beginning but the roof was blown off with the last 4 songs, bringing us to setbreak and craving for the lights to go down for the second set. A lot of talk during setbreak offered surprise at such a powerful first set.

The first set provided a dance party atmosphere, while the second set provided more of a musical journey with beautiful flow. One of the things I really enjoy about UM is they can provide a set or a show with amazing flow. It allows you to go on a journey through the music; the ups and downs and emotions within the music carry you away for a few hours and deeply immerses you into the UM experience. As with any musical experience, you must focus, and I find this to be even more true with UM compared to other bands.

Set two: Wizard Burial Ground, Bad Friday, Mulche’s Odyssey, Tango Mike > Higgins, Life During Exodus, Partyin’ Peeps – Encore: Bridgeless > Regulate > Bridgeless.

The “Wizard Burial Ground” set the tone for the second set. “Bad Friday” was cool to hear and they are starting to extend it a bit which is a nice treatment. “Life During Exodus” mashup was really something to hear, I love their mashups and this one brought the energy. The encore was not only “Bridgeless” but also a sandwich with “Regulate” thrown in there. It was cool to hear Andy Farag doing his rap with the tune at the front of the stage.

One of the thoughts I had during the show was how the band has grown in developing a rock and roll sound and production that fills theaters in an impressive manner. Having seen UM in smaller venues, most only a couple hundred people, it was great to see them dominate the big Fox Theater in such masterful fashion.

Next time Daylight Savings Time rolls around be sure to “spring forward” to the west coast and check out UM at the Fox, it will properly jump start your live music year ahead.

Trey Anastasio Band–The Egyptian Room at Old National Theatre—Indianapolis, IN—02/15/2014

Written By: Mark Loveless

Edited By: Rosemary A.W. Roberts

As Marilyn Manson once stated “Music is like magic.” Tonight marked the 15^th Anniversary of the Trey Anastasio Band (TAB) and magic does not even begin to explain how successful Trey has become. Over the course of the last 25 years, Trey has taken Phish on a 21-year journey and now 15 years with TAB.  Before Trey started shredding his Paul Languedoc custom electric guitar, he would show great gratitude and appreciation by spending a few minutes waving and nodding to the crowd.

The Murat was full of energy and Trey would not hesitate at all by kicking the show off with “Cayman Review,” which turned the crowd into a dancing frenzy. Trey would continue the first set with stellar and lengthy jams like “Gotta Jibbo” and “Money, Love and Change.” The long-hair, bearded rock star would then take the crowd on a voyage with “Valentine,” a tune about possible change that is calling for someone.

Trey was having the time of his life and set two showed that, as TAB would break out with “Alaska.” The three-piece horn section with Jennifer Hartswick, James Casey and Natalie Cressman would elevate “Burlap Sack and Pumps” to new heights. The band would continue blowing the crowd away with a stellar and mind blowing piece in a classic Phish tune, “Sand.” Trey would get a bit creative as he tore up a Gorillaz tune, “Clint Eastwood.”

As music continues to grow into new genres and blossom into what some like to call Pop, Jam Band music still seems to be liked by a small number of people. However over the course of the last 25 years, Trey has helped with the growth of Jam Band music by bringing it out of the dark and into the light more. In respect to Trey, fans continue to show their love and support in hopes that Jam Band music will someday become that new Pop.

Written by: Zen Wild

Edited by: Rosemary A.W. Roberts

Photos by: Tony Vasquez

We wait for the start of the Alejandro Escovedo/Peter Buck show at the Taft Theatre Ballroom in Cincinnati. In the meantime, despite the sparse early crowd, a man walks up and stands entirely too close to me.  Instead of getting angry, I strike up a conversation with the man.  It seems he is an ex-record storeowner from Bowling Green, KY, who has driven roughly 4 hours just to see Alejandro.  After some music stories bantered back and forth between the three of us, the man assures us that we won’t be disappointed.  “Alejandro Escovedo,” he says, “is never disappointing, nor is Peter Buck.”  Almost on cue, Peter Buck and his band begin to walk on stage, and there is no time for further conversation on the matter, nor pondering, only listening.

When Peter Buck and his band get on stage, they look like they’re dressed for rock and roll.  They’re all wearing black, including Buck himself in a leather jacket and black jeans, except for bass player, Scott McCaughey, who is dressed in a work shirt, which makes him look a bit like a trucker.  With his wild, white hair and dark shades, he reminds me a bit of Jerry Garcia.  Peter Buck starts his set with a song called, “So Long Johnny,” off his album, Peter Buck.  It has a bit more of a loose, laid-back rock sound to it, which is a bit different than some of the songs they follow up with.  Many of the tracks have hard, driving riffs, which remind me of nothing so much as The Ramones.

Near the end of the set, Kevin Kinney comes up and plays a song, “Honeysuckle Blue”, with Buck and his band, which he wrote as the front-man for the band Drivin’ N’ Cryin’.  Honestly, it’s amazing.  Peter Buck even remarks, “That should have been last,” as they finish.  Kinney, Buck says, “Just happened to be passing through.”  We’re fortunate that he is.  Continuing on, Peter Buck and his band end up closing their set with “(You Must Fight to Live) On the Planet of the Apes,” a song by the Mummies, and then finishing with one of their own, “Outta the House,” which appears on Buck’s new LP, I Am Back To Blow Your Mind Once Again.  My only complaint with the entire set is that over top of the wall of guitar sound, it’s hard to hear the vocals.  Like I said, though, some of their stuff reminded me of the Ramones, and if you’ve ever been to any punk shows, there’s almost always a heavy dose of guitars, and less so of vocals.  Meanwhile, as Peter Buck walks offstage, we sit back and wait for Alejandro Escovedo. 

Alejandro Escovedo walks on stage styling, dressed in a silvery gray suit, flower western shirt and silvery gray vest beneath, and a pair of polished brown boots.  With him, is his violin/fiddle player, Susan Voelz, dressed in a Chinese-styled silk dress and tall boots.  In answer to an earlier question we had as to who would be Alejandro’s backing band, Peter Buck and his band accompany Alejandro and Susan on stage.  Alejandro asks how everyone in the crowd is doing, and his smile is a foretelling of what is still to come.  It’s bright and shining.

Escovedo begins his set with one of my favorite tracks off of his newest album Big Station, entitled “Can’t Make Me Run.”  It’s a brilliant, defiant statement of resiliency, from the beginning until the softly sung final words of the refrain, “Don’t give up on love.”  Even from this first song, a person is unable to deny the beautiful tones he squeezes from his Silvertone guitar.  He follows up with the song, “Tender Heart,” off his album Street Songs of Love, before going into another personal favorite which appears on Big Station, “San Antonio Rain,” an ode to the life he’s lived, and of growing up in San Antonio.  “San Antonio Rain” is heartrending, and the delivery of “Tender Heart” reminds me a lot of early Tom Petty.

The set continues with Alejandro cutting up, and telling stories in between songs.  That is one of the best parts of his performance.  He engenders himself to his audience, like many noted folk songwriters have been known to do.  As he gets back to playing music, he plays some older songs, and some newer songs, including “Sally Was a Cop,” off Big Station, and “Arizona,” from The Boxing Mirror.  It is a testament to the power and energy generated by his persona and his music that I find myself truly energized all the way until the end of his set.  This is saying something, because, as all of the music of the night started, I was dead tired, due to a lack of sleep.  “Who wants to sleep when you can hear music like this?”  That’s what I kept asking myself.  It was really a rhetorical question.

One of the highlights of the entire night was when, for the last song of his initial set (before the encore), Alejandro invites Kevin Kinney back on stage, and along with Peter Buck and his band, they play a blistering version of Neil Young’s, “Like a Hurricane,” passing blistering solos back and forth between three guitars and Susan Voelz’s violin.  I’ve always loved this song, and Escovedo and crew do it absolute justice.  Listening to it, a person is only stuck hoping that it will go on for another 10 minutes, but eventually all things end, and as it does, everyone thanks the crowd and heads backstage.

A few minutes later, Alejandro and Susan return for an acoustic encore.  It is soft and heart-touching, and the stories related in between tracks continue.  When Alejandro decides that it’s time, he invites everyone back on stage, including Kinney, and they play a lengthy cover of The Stooges, “I Wanna Be Your Dog.”  Again, solos are passed back and forth, with a few being taken by Alejandro himself, quivering with vibrato from a repeated use of his guitar’s tremolo bar.  It’s an excellent way to close the show after slowing things down with the acoustic pieces, and as we walk outside, after Alejandro Escovedo, Peter Buck, and everyone have said their farewells, I still have the music running through my mind.  Regardless of what the real lyrics might have been, the words I have repeating internally are: “I have to see Alejandro Escovedo again.”

Gallery Links:

Alejandro Escovedo: http://jamsplus.smugmug.com/TonyVasquezPhotography/Alejandro-Escovedo/

Peter Buck: http://jamsplus.smugmug.com/TonyVasquezPhotography/Peter-Buck/

Umphrey’s McGee–The Riviera Theatre—Chicago, IL—02/22/2014

Written by: Cassidy Maley

Edited by: Rosemary A.W. Roberts

There is nothing like seeing a great band in their hometown. I was lucky to see the last night of a three show run by Umphrey’s McGee in the city that first fell in love with them: Chicago, IL. Umphrey’s threw a great three night party February 20, 21, and 22^nd at the Riviera Theater. Seeing Umphrey’s back in Chicago brought back some great memories of the days when every show was in the Midwest.

Umphrey’s McGee is originally out of South Bend, Indiana, forming in 1997 at Notre Dame. After a lot of small bar shows around South Bend, and eventually into Chicago, this band has grown to something larger then life. The six member rock show features lead guitarist and master rock soloist, Jake Cinninger. To me, Jake brings that characteristic shred, rock style that is what makes Umphrey’s something unique. Singer and guitarist Brendan Bayliss is a brilliant writer and his unique voice adds just the right amount of sentiment to the band’s sound. Drummers Andy Farag and Kris Myers play seamlessly together and are the steam engines of this band with the support of Joel Cummins (keyboardist and pianist) and Ryan Stasik (bassist), with his charismatic stage presence and heavy bass lines. In my opinion, after 6 years of seeing this band play together, they are on the top of their game.

Per usual, the perfectly composed set list was accompanied by the amazing light work of Jefferson Waful. The band took the stage that Saturday night with a brand new song called “Bathing Digits.” The Riviera was packed wall to wall, this show had been sold out for several weeks, and every face was lit up with a smile. The band went on to play “Phil’s Farm” and “Miami Virtue > 2^nd Self” before treating the crowd to something special. The second half of the set featured Brendan and Jake on acoustic guitars. They went on to play “The Weight Around” and “Bullhead City” featuring Chicago singer and songwriter Daphne Willis accompanying vocals with Jake.

The second set featured some of Umphrey’s McGee’s great staples like “Believe the Lie” and “Divisions” and also a great cover of the Cars song “Just What I Needed” played for the very first time. The night came to a close with a great twist. Drummer from the Smashing Pumpkins, Jimmy Chamberlain sat in to play the Smashing Pumpkins original “Cherub Rock.” The night came to a close in epic rocker fashion with the lights flashing at ultra speed and perfectly in sync with every change of tempo. It was a night to remember as the crowd spilled into a beautifully clear Chicago night, and hugs and smiles were passed from friend to friend.

If you can’t get enough of Umphrey’s McGee, check out their website and follow them as the head out West to Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. www.umphreys.com.