Once There Was a Way to Get Back Homeward

The regular foursome last night augmented their sound with the Disco Biscuits’ Aron Magner on keys, fresh from the four-day Caribbean Holidaze excursion in Jamaica with Umphrey’s McGee, Keller Williams, The Duo and others. And the now-five broke out a special holiday-inspired treat for the, well, intimate, crowd.

On top of an hour-long set that featured all the band’s well-written, well-executed hits, only now with a touch of keys, the American Babies saved the last 15 or so minutes for what Tom Hamilton called his musical association with the holiday season: The Beatles. Ten seconds later they started tuning up for You Never Give Me Your Money, and the coveted Abbey Road medley we all know and love seemed imminent. Sun King followed soon thereafter, and when Mean Mr. Mustard dropped minutes later, there wasn’t anything left to do but smile and head-bob.

The band expectedly did it justice, nailing the complete medley almost perfectly and adding a bit of rock-jam shenanigans during The End, like the album, only nastier. The Hamilton Brothers sang the vocals perfectly, Russo held down Ringo’s only drum solo in the Beatles’ history and more, and the interplay between Metzger and Tom throughout the medley was downright goosebumping. It was one of the finer examples of playing a cover note for note and giving it a fresh spin at the same time. I fluff this band plenty, perhaps to a fault, but on this night, they deserve all the high praise in my arsenal of high praise.

And since nobody was there to record it or videotape it, at this point the only thing we can do is go back to the original…inspired by Tom’s own divine inspiration, maybe the holiday season was meant for the original Fab Four. Let’s do it.

Part I:

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Part II:

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Last night made for a fine holiday gift — a new venue to keep an eye on and one of my favorite bands stuffing my stocking with greatness. Lovely.