Bill Kreutzmann Hall of Fame Series and 7 Walkers @ The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame celebrated the legacy of Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia by hosting a Grateful Dead Weekend at the Rock Hall in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. On Friday night the organization held a members only Hall of Fame Series interview with drummer and Hall of Fame inductee Bill Kreutzmann just prior to a public performance from Kreutzmann with his current band, 7 Walkers, on The Rock Hall’s main stage. The events were held along with others across the country honoring Garcia during the days between the legendary guitarist 70th birthday and the 17th anniversary of his passing. In his interview with Jason Hanley Ph.D. Kreutzmann spoke fondly of Jerry, praising him for having a “big heart” and for always “looking out for the underdog.”
[All Photos by Michael Stein]
The Hall of Fame Series interview took place for nearly an hour and covered topics from the founding days of the Grateful Dead in the infamous Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco to the experiences of recording versus playing live to the difficulties of running a full-fledged independent music organization during the later years of the Grateful Dead. Kreutzmann recounted the day when Jerry called him on the phone asking him to play in a new band, then called the Warlocks, and his feeling that “This is definitely going to be a thing, and it isn’t going to be redundant!” During the early years, Kreutzmann was living in the Haight with the other band members and recalled how free they were to hold live music events by setting up stages on flatbed trucks in the middle of the street or tossing electrical cables over highways to provide power to a patch of grass where they’d decided to play.
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Zappa Plays Zappa @ House of Blues – Cleveland: July 18
Words: Zach Bloom
Photos: Michael Stein
Dweezil Zappa has formed his band at last. The Frank Zappa progeny blew the roof off of Cleveland’s House of Blues last Wednesday evening with a single set marathon performance. This show had a noticeably high entertainment value that so much resembled the energy of his father’s performances. “Sounds like Frank!” one fan shouted early on, prompting Dweezil to smile and respond with gratitude extolling “that’s our goal… to play the songs like they sound on the record.”
[All Photos by Michael Stein]
Supported by several new inductees to the ongoing ZPZ project, Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa delivered impeccable renditions of many of Frank’s greatest rock and roll compositions and ballads. The show was highlighted by instrumental works and extended jamming featuring lightning speed guitar solos by Dweezil that signify his recent re-dedication to studying the fundamentals of his father’s guitar playing. This metamorphosis was exemplified during a three-song jaunt early in the set that played out from Oh No to the epic Montana, which segued into Let’s Make The Water Turn Black.
Adding a light-hearted approach to his performance, Dweezil engaged the crowd throughout the show by bantering and re-telling the humorous backstories for many of the iconic aspects of individual pieces of music. Singer/Trumpeter Ben Thomas did a tremendous job tackling the vocal arrangements originally sung by Ike Willis, Napoleon Murphy Brock and Frank Zappa while adding his own humorous commentary and stage antics to show that he’s having fun with the music.
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Black Taxi and The Modern Electric @ Beachland Tavern – July 12
There’s no doubt about it, Cleveland, Ohio is drawing the attention of independent rock and roll acts from the coasts. Thursday night brought the culmination of one such musical tryst when Brooklyn’s hottest act, Black Taxi, laid down their raucous, harmony-laden, dance-punk explosion at Cleveland’s Beachland Tavern. This gig was a culmination of a NYC to CLE collaboration that featured this Brooklyn based four-piece in a dual-bill with local Pop phenoms The Modern Electric.
With the crowd fired up, Black Taxi opened their set with the dance-pop single Friend, a track recently featured in a radbadical “live from” music video filmed at the awesome performance space at Bad Racket Recording Studio in Cleveland’s youthful Ohio City district. With a commanding presence, vocalist Ezra Huleatt dominated the performance from the very first note by unleashing a continuous flow of high energy stage antics and dance moves that could barely be contained by the small Tavern stage.
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Phish @ Riverbend Music Center – June 22
Words: Zach Bloom
Photos: Michael Stein
Phish entered this three-night run through the Midwest ready to turn back the dials with a wealth of unexpected bust outs and exploratory jamming. They used the amped up vibe of the sun soaked Cincinnati crowd appropriately to introduce the recycle period for many of their go to songs while complementing them well with some wild and memorable moments. The band brought their charismatic stage presence from the Portsmouth run to a first set that could have been plucked from another era and in the second set they changed the game entirely with Kill Devil Falls > Twist and a show-stopping Fluffhead encore.
[All Photos by Michael Stein]
As the circus rolled in from the lush riverside amusement park attractions of Riverbend, Phish showed no reservations about dropping directly into Wolfman’s to deliver a funky flavoring of Manteca teases and staccato funk. As a followup, Peaches en Regalia would foreshadow the bust out of the long lost relic of Phish’s dog cannon, Shaggy Dog. This unprecedented turn of chance had many heads looking around in shock because Shaggy Dog last appeared on stage with Phish over a decade ago on October 29, 1995 at Louisville Gardens in nearby Kentucky. As part of the humor, Trey lead the band into Runaway Jim to solidify the opening phase of the show as a throwback for the veteran crowd.
The remainder of the first set stacked up well with Traffic’s Light up or Leave Me Alone allowing keyboardist Page McConnell to tickle the keys on the baby grand while singing to the setting sun on the hillside. Alaska had a very enjoyable jam whereas Stash brought the remainder of the heat that was still barreling off that song from back in Atlantic City a week ago. Finally, after an impromptu version of I Saw it Again, our favorite lighting designer, Chris Kuroda, got his “official favorite song” out of Trey to close the set with a fiery David Bowie.
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The Infamous Stringdusters @ Beachland Ballroom, May 30
Words: Zach Bloom
Photos: Michael Stein
The Bluegrass Revolution laid siege to Cleveland on Wednesday when The Infamous Stringdusters held their anti-formulaic, groove friendly pickin’ session at the Beachland Ballroom. “You know you’ve been here before when you see your own graffiti on the wall,” fiddle player Jeremy Garrett remarked to the enthusiastic crowd of Stringdusters fans and local grass-aholics who came out to see this… infamous band from Nashville who have been blowing up as of late.
[All Photos by Michael Stein]
The band played a fast-paced show that was laden with covers of great rock and bluegrass songs, each a pleasant complement to their repertoire of original arrangements that set them apart from other young bluegrass acts. Their humorous banter and interactions with the crowd yield a fun and engaging show, despite their failing to hold back the urge to yell the phrase “Hello, Cleveland” just to say they did, though they debated its cliche value openly.
There were many highlights during the show including two heart felt homages to the late great guitar player, Doc Watson who’d passed away just one day earlier. Guitarist Andy Falco remarked on the influence that Doc Watson had on his decision to buy an acoustic guitar and begin learning bluegrass shortly after attending a workshop where the legendary guitarist was featured.
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