Another week, another new contributor. Please welcome Kevin Smallwood to the team. Kevin will cover the Washington D.C. area for us.

The tie-dye shirts over the merchandise table dated most fans rolling into the State Theater in Falls Church, Virginia on Monday night. Over the course of their 21 year history, Blues Traveler has remained uniquely relevant yet sometimes an abstemious participant in a music scene it helped cultivate.

As the driving force behind the H.O.R.D.E. Tour, Blues Traveler helped carve out a niche for all the bands that followed the fan-based model of the Grateful Dead. The tour bridged a gap for a community birthing its second generation and ultimately allowed for the early exposure and success of scene powerhouses: Phish, Widespread Panic, Gov’t Mule and others.

Through mainstream success, a tragedy and random touring hiatuses Blues Traveler has its fair share of battle scars. But like a well worn warrior or perhaps even a fine wine, the years of experience have made them a formidable force. READ ON for more from Traveler in Falls Church…

To open the show, “The Devil Went Down to Falls Church” and established an absolute tear via an eleven song segue. Mostly barn-burning classics, the first half of the show included Crash Burn > Optimistic Thought > Mullin’ It Over as well as a John Popper cigarette break, a stellar rendition of No Woman No Cry and the forever touching Regarding Stephen.

Enjoying the smoking liberties Virginia concedes, Popper put his back to the audience and had a few cigarettes through the course of the show while the rest of the band took over. Bassist Tad Kinchla popped and plowed through the traditional bass solo segment of the show to the delight of the entire audience. Drummer Brendan Hill, had a serious smashing of the skins while the rest of the band watched in awe, Popper even bent his oversized microphone down to the drum kit for some extra flair.

Run Around ended the main set after an Ivory tickle by keyboard player Ben Wilson. The show finished with two encores: The Cheap Trick cover of I Want You To Want Me and radio fan favorite, Hook.

Overall the show was a top notch blues explosion. John Popper steals the show as he always has…the man is the Beethoven of the Harmonica. Blues Traveler is a perfect mix of Poppers prodigy and band charisma. His harmonics wouldn’t be nearly as robust without the quality of Chan Kinchla’s guitar solo’s and vice versa. The only disappointment is that there aren’t more fans around to honor their talent these days.

Blues Traveler continues their monstrous Fall Tour in support of their new album North Hollywood Shootout through November, with dates already scheduled for June 2009.

Kevin Smallwood