Saturday, 20 March 2010
Allman Brothers Band United Palace Theatre New York 19 March 2010
10:03 Another day, another log in, another 'shroom backdrop, another buzz of audience noise, but more prominent this time. Audience noise up front with the PA well and truly in the background, as a result you can just make out Johnnie Taylor (at least I think it's Johnnie Taylor's) Who's Making Love?
Two nights to go, and the question is whether I'm going to be able to get both of them live. Given my preference for the glass half full point of view, I'm fairly upbeat about the prospect that Cyclone Ului will have done the right thing by me and gone past by show time tomorrow. Not that that'd guarantee access to the feed, of course, but it seems less likely that it'll come right over the top of Bowen when it crosses the coast.
Not to suggest that I'm wishing it on anyone else. Having experienced the direct power of Althea in Townsville in late '71 (when Live at Fillmore East was still a recent release) and with a number of close shaves over the intervening years I'm all too aware of what these things can do. But if it keeps edging towards the south and, just as important, if it continues to gather speed, there's an increasing possibility that I might just manage to watch a live feed rather than an archived replay.
10:15 Much higher audience noise as we wait brings a substantially different vibe to the waiting period. Not enough to convince you that you're there, of course. A glance at the Cyclone Tracking Map on the table in front of me or the hibiscus in the courtyard outside would be enough to disabuse any but the most ardent imagination.
10:20 Lengthy cut. Go out and come back in? Might be best to do so as the on-screen clock passes
10:21 Problem fixed.
10:27 Upsurge in ambient crowd noise, momentarily cut. Something's happening, and whereas before you could make out snatches of conversation, now there's an overall blur of ambient buzz. The usual bangs, thumps, tuning noises and at
10:29 Shadowy figures moving around on stage.
10:31 Hot 'Lanta and an almost immediate visual freeze. When the vision's back on screen I get the distinct impression Oteil's particularly animated tonight.
10:36 How you doin'? from Warren. Walk On Gilded Splinters. Madam having returned from Tai Chi and showered informs that the riff on this is a particularly powerful ear worm, a statement I fully endorse.
10:42 Trouble No More
10:46 Oteil's out the front again and his bass intro leads into little slide licks from Warren which in turn develops into guitar interplay and finally resolves itself into the riff for Rockin' Horse. Having missed both previous renditions (opening night due to the server issues and Monday due to daylight saving) I'm not sure whether they've been starting it this way every time, but it's a nicely subtle reworking of the versions I've heard before with a lighter, almost jazzy feel. But by
10:53 we're into more familiar territory, dropping back for Derek's solo around
10:55 I think this is where I tuned in on Tuesday morning, unaware that daylight saving had kicked in.
11:00 No detectable Little Martha this time around (having cheated and checked my set list print out) as we're back to the Warren vocal.
11:02 Once again note that Oteil's bass is right up front and centre as we head into Wasted Words.
11:10 Warren: Danny Louis will join us on the keyboards.
11:11 Please Call Home? Not sure.
11:12 Shivers up and down the spine that weren't due to the breeze. Wrong call on Please Call Home, it turns out to be Soulshine.
11:20 Schoolgirl? Warren: That was Jamie van de Bogert back there on the drums. Didn't even notice Jaimoe was absent, but as previously noted he doesn't seem to get a lot of camera action.
11:22 Nice keyboards from Mr Louis.
11:33 Warren: Danny Louis on the piano. Marc Quinones on the drums. Presume Jaimoe still MIA, but haven't really noticed. Oteil up front again. Looks like he's the designated high profile dude for the evening. Is this Kind Of Bird? Could well be, based on the rotation of the first set instrumental theory posited in the previous entry. And it is. Will be interesting to see which of Egypt and Bag End gets the guernsey for the final night.
11:36 No Gregg. Danny Louis holding down both sets of keys.
11:49 Thank you so much. Intermission? Should be just about due, but doesn't look like it. Gregg's back. Midnight Rider.
11:53 Derek solo. They don't seem to be in a hurry to finish the set.
11:57 Gregg: Thank you very much. We're gonna take a short intermission. Be right back with you.
Which means, of course, that I'm off to the office to check the latest cyclone advisory, which in turn reveals that Ului has sped up (good) and at ten was within 35 km of 19.6S 153.3E 978 hPa in the centre, wind gusts to 140 kph. Much better than the 225 being mentioned when it was a Category Five. Currently Category Two and unlikely to drop to One.
They now have it probably crossing the coast south of Proserpine, maybe around four tomorrow morning. That's not far enough south to put us out of the destructive wind zone, but they do have it well inland by tomorrow's start time, which is much better than having it running right over the top of us about then...
So it'll be interesting to see what tomorrow morning's power situation is. There are other factors that might impinge on the live feed as well, of course. For one, there's the small matter (and, hopefully it'll be a very small factor) of any clean up that needs to be done, and I suspect there might be significant overload on the telecommunications front.
12:24 Emerge from office to find the American Folk Blues Festival segment on screen featuring a harp duet. Could be Little Walter and (I think) Big Mama Thornton, but can't check as I loaned the three DVDs to Christian last Saturday.
ABB logo. Looks like we're close to a resumption.
12:25 Shadowy figures on stage, but we're not in a huge hurry.
12:31 Warren: How you doin'? Please welcome to the stage Justin Stanley on drums and my friend Doyle Bramhall on guitar.
12:32 Meet Me At The Bottom, Doyle Bramhall vocal. Actually I have to admit that while Mr Bramhall's pretty good, I don't find him all that exciting. Wasn't that excited when we saw him and Derek with Clapton in Brisbane, and today hasn't done much to make me revise that view.
12:44 Dreams. Much of it, predictably devoted to Derek's solo, which is equally predictably one of those that starts off soft low and slow and gradually takes you along for the ride till you're there in the middle of the sonic maelstrom as the floodgates open.
12:55 Visual freeze and sound drops out as solo peaks.
If that sonic maelstrom comment seems over the top, it's probably got something to do with certain weather events on the horizon.
12:58 Oteil on vocals for Anyday. You could ask why Oteil doesn't sing more, because while he isn't the greatest you've ever heard he's a long way from the other end of the spectrum. The answer, of course, is that when you've got already got voices like Gregg and Warren in the one band it's going to be hard for another vocalist to get a look in.
1:08 Derek and Warren confer momentarily as Anyday comes to an end.
1:09 Stormy Monday.
1:10 Madam: Stormy Sunday tomorrow. Thanks for the reminder. At the moment I'm trying not to think about those things...
1:12 Who's that on guitar? No Derek, and there's a large African American gentleman in his spot.
1:17 Warren: Junior Mack on guitar.
1:18 Jessica
1:21 Some dude on sax over stage left.
1:24 Call and response routine between sax and guitar.
1:32 > Oteil, almost meditative into Little Martha, actually not all the way into, more a case of working around the theme, dancing on the edge of it with occasional deeper immersion.
1:35 > Scat
1:36 > drum switcheroo
1:42 Switch back
1:48 As we're finishing Jessica it seems that Derek's calling the shots on stage. Thought that was Warren's department.
Gregg: Thank you so much.
Warren: Chris Jensen on the saxophone. Thank you.
Encore break
1:52 Warren: Doyle Bramhall's gonna play another one with us.
One Way Out.
1:58 Thank y'all so much. We'll be back tomorrow night.
1:59 Little Martha.
The set list:
Set I
Hot 'Lanta
I Walk On Gilded Splinters
Trouble No More
Rocking Horse > Wasted Words
Soulshine (Danny Louis, keyboards, James Van De Bogert, drums)
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl (Danny Louis, keyboards)
Kind Of Bird (Danny Louis, keyboards)
Midnight Rider
Set 2:
Meet Me In The Bottom (Doyle Bramhall. guitar, Justin Stanley, drums)
Dreams
Anyday
Stormy Monday (Junior Mack, guitar)
Jessica (Kris Jensen, saxophone) > JaBuMaOt > Jessica
Encore:
One Way Out (Doyle Bramhall. guitar)
