Phil & Friends @ TXR - 5/13/13

[John A]

Setlist:

 

Alabama Getaway

Cumberland Blues

Big Boss Man (AO)

Tennessee Jed

Who Do You Love (AO)

Eyes Of The World->

Down By The River (AO)

Bertha

Voila Lee Blues (1st verse)->

Caution (AO)->

Viola Lee Blues (2nd verse)->

Black Peter->

Viols Lee Blues (3rd verse)

Sugaree (AO)

 

I got a call last night that a friend wasn’t able to make it to the “Spring Fling House Party” at Terrapin Crossroads and I could use the ticket if I could get up there ASAP.  This was a restaurant show, which included a buffet dinner and sets by both the Terrapin Family Band (which includes Phil’s two sons) and Phil & Friends.  The Friends consisted of Furthur, minus the backup singers and with Anders Osborne in place of Bobby.

 

I missed dinner (word had it that the buffet was none too special) and the Family Band set, arriving about 15 minutes before the main act with a bottle of 2010 Carlisle Bedrock Vineyard Zinfandel in tow.  The wine was a bundle of brooding anger upon opening, but in short order it magically emerged as a velvet driven berry explosion.  By the second half of the bottle it was drinking amazingly well.

 

The band was set up in the bottom section of the restaurant adjacent to the wall that opens up to the patio/canal.  This configuration was much better suited to sound and visuals than the standard bottom of the stairs arrangement.  It was essentially a proper, albeit cramped, stage.  We had a table on the riser just above the bottom level and just behind the mixer position.  Sightlines were challenged, but the sound was surprisingly clean and delineated. 

 

They played one long, 2 hour+ set.  The jams were often hot, sometimes disjointed, but always energetic.  Phil’s guitar developed a problem in Cumberland Blues with some nasty breakup/static, stopping short what would likely have been an off the rail jam (for whatever reason that is one song Phil picked to regularly send into orbit).  After a quick equipment swap the sound was back on track.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t grove on Anders Osborne’s version of Big Boss Man.  Blame it on the 12/21/69 Lovelight from the new Dave’s Picks that I was playing in my car that morning.  Nor did his rendition of Who Do You Love do anything for me.  But the show kicked into gear with Eyes (Phil did not sing a lick of lead vocal all night), then Osborne began to fare much better with a snappy version of the Neil Young classic Down By The River.  I was surprised the jam didn’t take off more than it did (another guitarist was on stage for this number; I’m told it was the lead for the Family Band).

 

After Bertha confirmed that we were in for one long set, the Viola segment provided the night’s big payoff.  Caution was appropriately incendiary, Osborne again impressing with his read on it.  And of course it’s always nice to get JK actually singing Black Peter while he’s onstage playing it!  But inexplicably Peter crawled into a half speed 3^rd verse of Viola with no climax.  Wow.  Apparently they were saving themselves for Sugaree, a teeth baring, rollicking affair that Osborne also handled well. 

 

While Osborne takes some jams away from John, he has a complimentary tone, good chops, and he also serves to keep the tempo up – which can drag with Weir in the mix.  What the jams lacked in cohesion they made up for with raw sprightliness.  It would have been nice to get a slow melodic number as an encore, but the band broke things down as the dust from Sugaree was still settling.  The room was a bit warm, but the air off the water by the canal was ideal short sleeve weather on the way out.  Hard to complain about that.

[gnuisance]

Awesome analysis. For a noob it's neat to see someone break it down like that. Is this the same group that i will see at the Sullivan hall show next month in NYC? How are Phil's sons?