by happycat! >^.^<m~ | Jun 5, 2012 | Uncategorized
Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers
Lagunitas Brewery
Petaluma, CA
June 4, 2012
Toby’s Song, Keep it Loose, Before You Loved Me, Wanna Be Your Mama,
I’m Your Woman > Pack Up Your Sorrows > Beer and Booze,
Little Too Late, Barbary Blues,
You’re No Good, Big Road, GoGoGo, Sana Fe Runaway, Burnt, Jetplane
Encore: Kill You To Call
Another great set from Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers, and her husband Tim Bluhm was back in the Gramblers fold after some shows with his main band, The Mother Hips; Tim mostly on the keyboards, and playing 12 string guitar on a couple of songs too. It was good to see Tim and Nicki doing their thing, after seeing them do so many shows with Phil Lesh over the last couple months at Terrapin Crossroads.
Nicki’s show started with good energy, and slowly built into an intense rocker. By the middle of the set, people were on their feet and dancing, filling in the dance pit with groovin’ movement. 
The band delivered dancable vibes and good feeling tunes, tight and solid. Funked up bass lines delivered by Mike Pascale, who thumps the bottom lines when Steve Adams (ALO) is not available to keep rhythm with drummer Mike Curry. Deren Ney was smooth and sweet with his beautiful electric lead guitar work. Guitarist Dave Muligan sang and played with great cheer. And of course, Nicki Bluhm shined, with her dynamic vocals, and super friendly stage presence, talking to us as friends.
Ok, maybe it was because there are so many friends in the audience; even Nicki’s parents were there! And, thanks to their wonderfully intimate Van Sessions video series, we all feel like we’ve gone down the road with them feelin’ good. Whatever it is, the warm energy Nicki and her band exudes, mixed with great songs and super cool playing, makes you feel welcome and apprecieted by the band. They love to play, and they love having you there to hear them play. And everyone is smiling, and having fun.
~
Petaluma’s Lagunitas Brewery is just that, a brewery where people go to work making beer. They have a bar with performance spaces open to the public (Lagunitas TapRoom & Beer Sanctuary) . You can try all their fine brews, and mingle with some super friendly Petaluma locals. They have built a very small and intimate amphitheater right there – it holds around 300 people. A small grass hill, a flat front dance area/pit, and a decent size stage (a larger band could still play there). Nice sound, great vibes, and of course, excellent beers for about $5 each. Food too, though we’ll have to try that next time. Check their site www.lagunitas.com for upcoming shows, including Emmylou Harris.
The show was opened by Arann Harris and The Farm Band, country funk without a drum, these Petaluma locals were were more fun than milking a stranger… and they encouraged us to do that!
~
Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers wil be doing lots of shows in the months to come.
Tonight, June 5th, they begin a weekly residency at Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco, and another of our local favorites, Mark Karan is going to be dropping in for a few songs. Mark recently played with Tim and Nicki at several Rambles with Phil Lesh and Friends at Terrapin Corssroads, and of course, is the lead guitar player from RatDog and The Other Ones. Nicki will continue at Rickshaw with shows on June 12th and 19th as well.
Until the next time… Gramble on!
by happycat! >^.^<m~ | Jan 28, 2012 | Uncategorized |
This was my first time seeing Melvin Seals and JGB since they’ve started playing wth Dave Hebert (aka Dave A’Bear). Dave has been playing for a long time with Xtra Ticket out of Arizona, and have heard from many of my AZ friends that he is incredible, both in terms of his Jerry Garcia interpertation and sound, and his exuberance and joyful playing.
Of course the centerpiece and connector in the band is Melvin Seals, and it’s always a great pleasure to hear him play. It seems he is everwhere – I’ve seen him recently with Jay Lane and Band Of Brotherz at Yoshi’s and also last December where he played with his bandmates from The Mix (John Kadlecik, Greg Anton) and the Everyone Orchestra at the Rex Foundation Run For the Roses Benefit.
JGB 2012 has a variation in shade, a different touch of Jerry, than the JGB I saw a year and half ago at Las Tortugas Music Festival. Dave A’Bear was brought in late last year to fill in for lead guitarist Stu Allen.
Stu recently married, and was on paterinty leave. In addiiton to nesting, Stu has been playing increasingly frequent close to home gigs with Ghosts of Electricity (a Dylan tribute group also featuring Ratdog’s Mark Karan), and Mars Hotel his mostly weekly Deadhead dances at Ashkenaz in Berkeley; as well as sitting in everywhere at the never ending string of benefits and special shows in the Bay area (Steve Block Memorial for example). Stu is keeping busy enough… and then, earlier this week, Stu posted to his Facebook page that he was officially making his exit from the JGB Band, after 5 years. It seemed there was no animosity or ill feelings, just time to move along…
Upon hearing Dave A’Bear in person live for the first ime, I agree he knocks out a very clean Jerryish sound that respects the original, without cloning it. And it had a nice feel. Enjoyed the jaming reparte with the mighty Melvin Seals on keyboards and the rhythm section of Pete Lavizzoli on drums and Jimmy Tebeau.
Just like no one can really ever replace Jerry Garcia, the same can be said of Stu Allen. There is nothing to not like with the A’Bear JGB, it was quite good, but it is different… can’t quite put my finger on it – then again, it shouldn’t be the same! I really enjoyed what Dave brought, and he was smiling and beaming, and listening in along with all of us. You can tell he is a fan, not of himself, but of Jerry and the music. And he played his heart out… anyone that sweats like that must be all right…
JGB 2012 delivered the goods, a fun night of Jerryesque grooves, great songs like “Forever Young”, and “BreadBox”, and a great crowd of people into the music . A young fan next to me in the first set kept telling me she was hoping for a “Brother Esau”. It would be very intersting to see them stretch beyond just the JGB catalog, maybe throw in a Weir song or two just to surprise expectation? I know they know more than just the JGB songs.
Then again, perhaps that is the distinciton, only play Jerry Garcia Band tunes, since these musicians all play with one another in other configurations, including doing stints in Jimmy’s Tebeau’s other band, The Schwag. JGB – keepers of the flame.
The second set seemed kind of short, thought that had to do with the venue’s curfew; we were expecting 2 or 3 more songs and an encore. It was still a meaty 2nd set, with a really killer jam on “Let’s Spend The Night Together” that was the peak for me musically. It should also be noted, the band always has pristine and kick ass sound, thanks to their Sound Engineers Bo Putnam and Shaun Wilson.
Catch Melvin Seals and the JGB Band tonight at the Arcata Theatre, and next week they play Grass Valley, Chico and Lake Tahoe. And then back to San Francisco on Feb. 17th. In March they play all over the New York area!
Check out their schedule: JGB Band Tour
JGB Band
Melvin Seals, Scheryl Rucker, Shirley Starks, Jimmy TeBeau, Pete Lavizzoli, Dave Hebert
January 27th
McNear’s Mystic Theatre
1st set:
How Sweet It Is
Stop that Train
C’est La Vie
Lay Down Sally
That’s What Love Will make You Do
Forever Young
RIde Mighty High
2nd set:
Second that Emotion
Dear Prudence
Ain’t No Bread In the Breadbox
Mystery Train
Sisters and Brothers >
Let’s Spend The Night Together
by happycat! >^.^<m~ | Apr 23, 2011 | Bob Weir |
Bob sat in with Chris’s band Friday night at the Mystic Theatre in Petaluma California, during the first set… they played:
Bright Lights, Big City ***
They Love Each Other ***
Mister Charlie ***
Sugaree ***
See the full setlist here.
by happycat! >^.^<m~ | Apr 19, 2010 | Uncategorized
Jackie Greene Band played at the Mystic Theater in Petaluma on Saturday April 17, 2010, and Grateful Dead/Furthur bass player Phil Lesh joined in for “Deal” and “New Speedway Boogie” in set 1.
In set 2 Phil joined on “Dont Let Me Down”, “Mexican Girl”, “Ball and Chain” and the double encore: “Scarlet Begonias” > “Sugaree”!
How great is that! Jackie had lots of great music of his own too, check him out: www.jackiegreene.com and be sure to download his free Grateful EP!
Here is a video of “Deal” – if more videos show up, Deadheadland will share them!
Were you at the show?
If you have pictures to share, or want to write up a short review of the show, send them to happycat@deadheadland.com
Here is Phil playing on Sugaree from last year, with The Skinny Singers , featuring Jackie Greene and Tim Bluhm (The Mother Hips )
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbFsdgEyyK0
