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Mickey Hart Band 4/17 / Cats Cradle > Carrboro, NC


Tea

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Finally got a chance to see Mickey and his band last night. I knew it was going to be a different sound and was very interested in what they had to offer.

A very diverse crowd (18-60) that was RARIN to go. A little surprised but happy to see the place fairly (but not too) packed for the 8:30 start. Mickey came out to thunderous applause and I think was a bit taken back by the energy in the room. He patted his heart and said. Wow! This is GREAT! Sometimes there are good nites and sometimes there are bad nites, tonite is going to be a GOOD nite!" With that the band launched into a spiritied NFA much to the delight of the crowd. Very unique take on this standard with some excellent twists and turns before bouncing into a thunderous finish. The place went nuts as it concluded and the band was all smiles given the wonderful ovation.

There were quite a few songs I had never heard before but were well played. To sum up these tunes I would say they had a very inspirational and spiritual sound to them. A few of them started with a bed of sounds and rythyms that had a decidedly Pink Floyd-esque theme before taking a more unique shape. African, morrocan, and Latin sounds seemed to dominate which would then move into an almost gospel sometimes bluesy feel. Most of the band had 2 microphones. One mic seemed to deliver a basic sound while the other created more distorted, reverb tones. They would sing a passgae through the regular mic, build up the song and then finish the end of a verse using the second mic. The sound would cresendo and then trail off with a decidedly psychedelic effect.

A good dose of slide-work by the lead guitarist complemented by very deliberate but steady rythyms by Mickey. Very dancable, Very inspirational. We got an excellent Scarlett > ??? > Fire (with alt lyrics) which what I thought would finish the 1st set. The lead guitar took center stage on this final combo and was in a word: Incendiary. I am used to a 'slow boil' with these tunes but they went right for the throat save for a short bridge in Scarlet. The joint was jumpin!

The setbreak never came despite the pleas from my knees. More diverse tunes followed with some very distinct passages that harkened to the tones and cadence of Eyes, Samson, and Throwin Stones. A destructive Other One broke out with 2 separate climax bombs before beginning in earnest. This was the tune of the night for Mickey! An almost hypnotic pace would give way to hard-charging, urgent rhythms before exploding in time with the rest of the band. Smiles and Cheers were everywhere! The nite ended with a fabulous Bertha. It had a very bouncey tempo that seemed to quicken from stanza to stanza. The lead guitar found his groove and did not let up.....whew.

Bummed not to get an encore but I was plesantly surprised with the quality of the show. The pain-o-meter in my knees is justification that the band brought the heat this nite. If you get a chance to see Mickey, do it! Jubalee will be a great time and it is great to know that Mickey's band will be a part of it!

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Great descriptive review! I missed a chance to see them here and won't let that happen again. It is good to hear that the audience was so into it, and so hopefully he will stay busy what sounds like a good lineup.

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