Played Mum’s Pub Friday night, in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, a stone’s throw from Ravens Stadium. Chuck and I debuted the “acoustic duo” format of the band, and it went really well, quite a lot of fun actually. Tried a little bit different type of set list, with some of the more straight ahead stuff up front, and it seemed to go over great. The Shelly Coats had invited us to play, after we shared the stage with them last month at the Baltimore IPO festival; Sarah Pinsker was on the bill as well. Everyone was really nice, especially Brian doing the sound… we just may have to come back.
Live recording plans are in the works for our New Year’s Day evening show at Jammin’ Java, in Vienna, VA (Thur JAN 1st 2004)… take Friday off, and save the date…!
Excellent night in Baltimore, and great working with Andy, Erica and everyone at the Mojo. The trip from Northern VA to Northeast Baltimore… in rush hour… we may as well have been going to Cincinnati. We played first, with a 45 minute, 10 song set (set list)… great sound on stage. Tried opening things up again in the outro of Good Again, seemed to work pretty well. Things really get rockin’ on an intimate stage like that. The closed-circuit TV set-up is a really cool thing about this club… you can watch (and hear) the other bands from the comfortable upstairs lounge, which is newly graced with framed Jackie Brown posters. Another show here is in the works for January…
It was a cold, wintry Sunday night in Arlington, but there was rock to be had inside the cozy Iota Club and Cafe last night. Only our second show with Chuck on bass (and first at Iota), and things felt really tight. The stage is actually big enough now that when there’s not another band’s gear already set up, we’ve got a real nice amount of space to work with… can set the amps back a bit (and turn them up a bit). First gig with the new guitar rig, and it worked great. Still may switch out the second amp (the Mesa), but for now it’s happening. Dave on sound was gold as usual, and a genuine pleasure to work with… it’s just plain fun up there when it sounds that good; a great room. Our set clocked in right at one hour… we were just getting warmed up, too. Scott and Mike from Carroway did a cool acoustic duo opening set, and Cliff Hillis and the Forward Thinkers closed out the night with an excellent full-on rock set, great guitars and harmonies. Baltimore (at the Mojo) coming up this Thursday…
Really looking forward to tomorrow night… we’ve got our great bill at Iota, and across the street at Galaxy Hut is Rocket Transfer Warehouse (whose bass player Greg will hop back across the street to Iota after their set, to join Cliff in the Forward Thinkers for their show. Rock ‘n’ roll…
I‘ve really got to get some satellite radio happening in the van before the next road trip, and be able to escape the hijacked public airwaves. Locally, there’s brief respite at D.C.’s WGMS 103.5 FM, now weighing in with their “Classical Countdown” for the holidays… the Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3 broadcast yesterday was the best performance I’ve heard yet…
I attended the benefit for Alejandro Escovedo at Iota Club and Cafe in Arlington, VA yesterday afternoon… a wonderful event for a good cause, and great fun hanging out at Iota in the afternoon. Alejandro, after a show in Phoenix on April 26, 2003, collapsed, and was hospitalized due to complications from Hepatitis C. A trust, the Alejandro Fund was established to handle donations on his behalf, and venues around the country have hosted benefit concerts.
A really great line-up of performers was on hand, including Bill Kirchen, Last Train Home, Karl Straub, Jumpin’ Jupiter, Little Pink, Brandon Butler of Canyon, Lee Wilhoit, June Star, Scott McKnight & Naughty Pine and a reunion of the Graverobbers. I walked in just after (former band mate) Lee Wilhoit performed, apparently with a stellar combo which included Rob LeBourdais on drums, Phoebus Spiliotopoulos, Tim Bracken… damn! Would have loved to have seen that. Apparently they opened with a T. Rex cover…
Last Train Home’s Eric Brace was emcee for the afternoon, seemed like he was having a blast. I saw excellent three and four song sets by Karl Straub, Little Pink, and Naughty Pine. Eric invited me up to play two songs (and lent me his beautiful Gibson acoustic)… I did Tim Finn’s Good Together and Love Comes Down from This Time… and thank you Tom Kane for the guitar pick…
More great sets by Last Train Home, Bill Kirchen, the Graverobbers… and some one-of-a-kind jam sessions with some unlikely stage mates… I think I saw Eric at one point involved in a raucous Iggy Pop cover. A special day.
