7 Walkers/Moonalice: Saint Rocke, Hermosa Beach, CA 10/25/10

It was a late Monday night and all was quiet on the Pacific Coast Highway, which runs through the Hermosa Beach strip. All doors were closed for business along the main drag, except for Saint Rocke, the intimate music venue that was hosting a show by 7 Walkers, the new quartet featuring legendary Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kruetzmann, freak-out blues guitarist Papa Mali, the immortal New Orleans funk bassist George Porter Jr., and multi-instrumentalist and longtime Willie Nelson collaborator Matt Hubbard. While there wasn’t much going on outside, something big would soon be happening inside.

Opening for the supergroup was Moonalice, whose brand of cosmic country-rock impressed many of the early arrivals with covers of The Byrds, The Grateful Dead and a handful more. Friends catching up at the bar cut their conversations short as the band delivered a stunning “Stella Blue.” A short while later, the band’s take of “Mr. Spaceman” got some of the audience on the floor for a mini honky-tonk shakedown. What stood out the most about Moonalice were the flowing notes of guitarist Barry Sless and the galloping tempos of drummer John Molo that gave the music its beating heart. Craig Marshall, lead guitarist of Cubensis, SoCal’s premier Grateful Dead tribute band, had this to say of the band’s set: “We did a great run of shows with Moonalice just a couple months back, but somehow in the meantime this band has managed to noticeably congeal and regenerate into a powerhouse jam-rock outfit.”  The band wrapped up their set to a round of applause.

7 Walkers kicked off their show around 11:00 PM with the electric bite of Papa Mali’s “Early in the Morning” and a later on in the set, George Porter Jr. led the band through Mardi Gras-flavored “Junco Partner.” The rest of the show catered to the large Deadhead constituency in attendance, with the band rocking plenty of Grateful Dead classics and recently-penned material by Robert Hunter. These new pieces of music can be found on the outstanding self-titled debut by 7 Walkers, which might surely be the strongest studio output featuring a Grateful Dead member since the release of that very band’s In the Dark.
 
Song-wise, the band relied heavily on the universe that their drummer comes from, but music-wise, the three other players explored the Robert Hunter material through their own respective sounds. The individual contributions of these brilliant musicians cohesively amounted to a sound that was entirely their own. There was the bubbling Louisiana muck and alligator bellows of Papa Mali’s guitar playing, while George Porter Jr. laid down some heavy Bayou funk and slick R&B boogie. Both men, who are native to the Gulf coast region, mutually added their low country roots to the overall sound.  There was the mesmerizing splash of Bill Kruetzmann’s loose, rubber-wristed timekeeping, while Matt Hubbard seasoned the music with color and mood through his various talents, whether he played the keyboards, harmonica, or trumpet. The band has claimed their collective output to be “swampadelic” which proved to be a fitting description for the music they make.
 
The music sounded amazing, and seeing the band in such a small venue made it that much more intense. Papa Mali’s guitar distortion would ring out on “Wharf Rat” and bounce off the walls, causing drinks to vibrate in their glasses. You could only imagine how much funkier “Mr. Charlie” came off with Porter Jr. on bass, in a space of this size. Hearing Kruetzmann lay it down in a place that only holds 280 people was a big change for the Deadheads used to seeing him in an arena or amphitheatre.
 
Hearing the band’s new material in a live setting was absolutely inspiring. With Hunter’s lyrics and Kruetzmann’s drumming, that Grateful Dead spirit was felt in songs like “Sue From Bogalusa” and “King Cotton Blues.” At the same time, they also felt like something totally new, due to the combination of the other musicians’ influences. Papa Mali, who sung all of the songs on the new album, stamped Hunter’s songs with a cracked, bluesy rasp or passionate, nasally vocals that are somewhat reminiscent of Elvis Costello. Seeing Porter Jr. play these almost-Americana songs with his style of bass playing was like a seeing a new genre of music being made right before your eyes. It was perhaps Hubbard more than anyone else who really carried the music into a world of its own with his many instrumental capabilities.
 
7 Walkers closed out their set a little bit after 1:00 AM, with Porter Jr. taking up the vocals on one of the more moving renditions of “Sugaree” ever performed. The band’s chemistry was magical, both the old and new material came alive, and the intimate setting put the audience right in the middle of it. For Papa Mali, this band might be the greatest project he had been a part of. For Matt Hubbard, it’s a great opportunity to showcase the music scene his talents. For George Porter Jr., it’s a chance to explore a whole new sound. For Bill Kruetzmann, it has already proven that there is surely life after The Dead.
 
7 Walkers Set List:
Early in the Morning, Sue From Bogalusa, Bird Song, Junco Partner, King Cotton Blues, 7 Walkers, Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad, Wharf Rat, Mr. Charlie, New Orleans Crawl, Sugaree

Photos by Jim Brock

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