Sunday, 18 April 2010

Wanee Festival Day One

6:23 While there'd be a body of opinion to suggest that I'm taking things a bit far I crank up Firefox, surf over to the Moogis website and log in to catch the first of two webcasts from the Wanee Festival. The sun is up (just), the sky is blue and having laid out $US25 for the Wanee extension to the Moogis service it's time to check out what I've bought into.

Now, as stated, there may be people who'd say I was taking things a bit far. Certainly, I've got no burning desire to see Bob Weir, Rob Wasserman, & Jay Lane Are Scaring the Children (love the name, though), but I've been carefully avoiding exposure to Stephen Stills (a long-term aversion) and having paid the money, it's time to use the service.

If the he's getting carried away factor's still there, I can counter it by pointing out that I could have been up much earlier to catch 7 Walkers Featuring Bill Kreutzmann and Papa Mali and The Wailers but that would've meant a 1:30 a.m. start and subsequent need to wander back to bed (or do something else) as a Stills-avoidance mechanism, which would be fine if I wasn't keen on catching Widespread Panic around 8:30. No, rise as usual, catch Weir & Co. and follow that with Widespread Panic and the Allman Brothers Band.

I could have the same issues tomorrow, when Dr John and The Word (featuring John Medeski, Robert Randolph and North Mississippi Allstars) are playing in the Wailers and Stills slots...

Diplomacy and maintenance of domestic harmony demands I do this in the office with the door shut and the volume well down, but with the Moogis mini-window showing blue skies and three blokes of a certain age seemingly in catchup mode in the foreground, yep, we've got a live feed folks.

6:28 Seems like a good time to duck outside to see if The Weekend Australian has arrived (it hadn't) and when I get back the point of view has changed and we're apparently looking out from the stage. Dylan's intoning when you're lost in the rain in Juarez and it's Easter time too... over various bangs and thumps.

6:30 Another change of view, side stage this time. Wasserman's acoustic bass is lying on its side. Momentary glitch and an upswell of crowd noise, a couple of tuning noises and we're live on stage. Vision freezes as the music stages a slinky sidle into Maggie's Farm, Weir playing acoustic slide, and making a pretty fair if basic fist of it. Vision continues to hang intermittently, but the music flows along just fine. Since I'm watching in full screen mode on the desktop I'm minus the handy time references I get on the TV (that's why they're temporarily absent, folks).

Weir takes a slide solo, and it looks like he may well have taken a leaf out of the Lowell George book and uses a wrench socket as a slide. Well that's what it looks like.
Seems like we're having some sound issues as Weir reminisces about a previous appearance at the venue, though he's not sure which band we were.

Me & My Uncle
Friend Of The Devil (vision and sound not quite in sync, but no big deal)
A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall
Loose Lucy
A Jerry track that I'm unfamiliar with. At this point I'm splitting my attention between the paper (arrived a few minutes ago during Lucy, which has never been a great favourite) and the screen, and pause to reflect that Weir's semi-solo act is better than I'd expected. Wasserman's a class act. Maybe that's the difference.

When I Paint My Masterpiece, then Weir switches from acoustic to electric.
Tomorrow Never Knows
Another one I'm not familiar with, hardly surprising since my knowledge of the later Dead studio albums is practically zero. Maybe if I was paying closer attention....

> a Bo Diddley beat, so presumably we're going to finish with Not Fade Away (we are). Pleasant enough, but Weir isn't the world's greatest guitarist and I find myself missing the joyous glistening guitar work I knew and loved from the Skull and Roses live album. Nice stuff, glad I logged in when I did...

As Weir & Co leave the stage I'm out the door (having run over time I think I'm safe in assuming there won't be an encore) on the way up to the butcher on the corner for a couple of sausages and a lump of rump for dinner tonight. Get back, log off in the office, log in on the laptop which is set up to feed into the main TV and hurl myself at the shower, planning on being back in the living room by 8:30.

8:31 Still setting up for Widespread Panic. Time to start on breakfast. Sausages under the grill, eggs into the poacher.

8:40 Looks like we're going to get Brekky out of the way before WSP. Screen/audio freeze prompts an out and back in manoeuvre, and at

8;42 We're still in setting up mode though movement on the distant stage suggests we might be getting closer. Voice over the PA.

8:51 Timing! No sooner is breakfast finished than we're off. Immediate glitches.

9:02 Ten or eleven minutes in, and I'm enjoying a Jimmy Herring solo, though unfamiliarity with WSP means I have absolutely no idea of track titles. Will be interesting to see how long it takes to get a set list off the net.

9:05 As the set's third song starts I'm still clueless as to titles, but it’s good stuff. Won't have me frantically searching the net for CDs and more than likely won't be looking for downloads either, but it's quality playing with internal dynamics to balance the boogie groove. Solo from Herring rips out ringing notes in little swarms that remind me of the wasps nest we got rid of the other day.

9:20 As one number finishes I'm still no wiser about titles. Used to dislike all that here's a little number called... routine, but there are times when it comes in handy.

9:35 This time and observation caper isn't working too well. Switch it off and enjoy what's on offer.

9:44 We'd like to thank, from the bottom of our hearts, Jorma and Jack for giving us permission to play this tonight. Right. So it's something from the Hot Tuna repertoire. I suppose that, since they're on the other stage as soon as this finishes, you'd be polite and check. Still no idea about a title, though.

10:44 Announce one more.

10:56 Finish. Nice set. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Will be looking forward to another one tomorrow. A later investigation reveals the following set list:

Give
Tall Boy
Chilly Water
Pleas
Chilly Water
Blue Indian
Party At Your Mama's House
Ribs and Whiskey
Bowlegged Woman
Holden Oversoul
Stop-Go
Diner
You Should Be Glad
Protein Drink/Sewing Machine

11:36 ABB logo.

11:38 Figures moving into place. Roll of tympani. Are they starting with Mountain Jam?

11:39 And here we go.

11:40 Yep, Mountain Jam. Next question, will that be a full half-hour rendition, sir, or would you prefer a Mountain Jamwich with a return to the theme at the end of the evening's entertainment.

11:51 As it turns out, neither. Music pauses and then sets off again slinking into a groove that gradually resolves itself into Don't Keep Me Wonderin'.

11:58 Trouble No More. Feed's running smoothly, nearly as smooth as the playing.

12:02 Spotlight on Oteil and then lights up across the front as we set off into another instrumental groove that sounds familiar, but you're not exactly sure where it's heading. Ends up going into Rocking Horse. Great stuff.

12:10 > the quiet instrumental break they were using at United Palace to lead into Derek's solo. Warren changes guitars as Derek eases his way into the solo, which gathers intensity as it builds. He does this so well. A minute or two back we were all subdued and more or less without noticing the gradual ascent here we are in full shred mode. Wonderful.

12:15 > Rocking Horse.

12:17 Ah, there's that riff. Blind Willie McTell, and there's the man larger than life on the screen behind the band. Don't know whether to be glad to be hearing this new favourite, because it probably means we won't get it again tomorrow.

12:25 Please welcome Dave Schools to the stage over here.

12:26 You Don't Love Me (no Oteil).

12:34 Every Hungry Woman

12:36 Major pixellation glitch that resolves itself quickly enough. Phew.

12:44 All My Friends

12:50 Spotlight on percussion section. There's the percussion dude from WSP (Sonny Ortiz) and singer John Bell's there too. So what'll we get? Walk On Gilded Splinters, perhaps? Yep. Comes as no surprise as Bell did it with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band on Medicated Magic.

12:58 Guest coming in on keys. Riff to The Same Thing, I think. Please welcome Luther Dickinson. Danny Louis on the piano.

1:04 Nice slide from Mr Dickinson. Interesting finger technique.

1:12 Guitar swap for Derek. Statesboro Blues.

1:18 Jimmy Herring joining us on the guitar. That's What Love Can Do For You. Interesting Derek/Jimmy Herring interplay. Herring's having a ball, a significant departure from the way he seemed on stage with WSP. Almost sombre then, but then he was the sole lead, here there are three leads and some old mates to have a little fun with. Interesting.

1:31 Jaimoe obviously slipped away for a bit. Jamie van de Bogert on the drums. Black Hearted Woman.

1:43 Thank you. Y'all been great. Thanks so much. Exit everyone except Jaimoe.

1:47 Sound of an acoustic guitar. Melissa?

1:48 Yep, Melissa. No Derek.

1:55 Derek's back. One Way Out.

2:01 Thank y'all so much. We'll be back tomorrow night. And so will I.

2:02 Little Martha

The full set list:
Mountain Jam
Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’
Trouble No More
Rockin’ Horse
Blind Willie McTell
You Don’t Love Me (Dave Schools, bass)
Every Hungry Woman
All My Friends
I Walk On Gilded Splinters (John Bell, guitar & vocals; Sonny Ortiz, percussion)
The Same Thing (Luther Dickinson, guitar; Danny Louis, piano)
Statesboro Blues (Danny Louis, B3; Luther Dickinson, guitar)
That’s What Love Will Make You Do (Jimmy Herring, guitar; JoJo Hermann, keys; James van de Bogert, drums)
Black Hearted Woman

Encore:
Melissa
One Way Out