Review: Halloween Midnight Ramble

Located on a dark and windy country road there is barely more than a mailbox that announces you’ve arrived at The Barn.There are no signs or fanfare which indicates that music royalty hosts weekly concerts at this site except for those that have scored a sacred ticket for the night’s festivities. This night, as the cars pulled into the muddy grounds, a member of the staff dressed as Father Guido Sarducci checked concertgoers in and laid down the ground rules. He let us know that we were indeed entering Levon’s home and to make sure to treat it with respect.

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The homespun, easygoing vibe of the Ramble was evident right away as you entered the lower level of The Barn, which doubles as the merch area. A table was strewn with homemade foodstuffs which on this night featured Halloween cupcakes, cookies and candy, as well as everything from bagels to sandwiches – all generously brought by the people in attendance that night. Among those taking in all the pre-show action – that included a pumpkin carving contest and people imbibing their beverage of choice from ubiquitous red plastic cups – was the lead singers Will Sheff of Okkervil River and Carl Newman from The New Pornographers. The pair seemed to have gone relatively unnoticed among the diverse crowd of music lovers and Levon enthusiasts.

The evening’s festivities got underway shortly after 8 PM with a brief set from the 81-year-old, harmonica playing blues singer Little Sammy Davis. Davis, who has been a staple of the Rambles and is as authentic as they come, being one of the last of the old Delta bluesmen. Davis, accompanied by Fred Scribner on electric guitar, ran through a short five-song set of traditional blues music highlighted by a take on Sittin’ On Top Of The World. Davis’ grizzled, crackling voice sounded like that of an old dusty 78 record or as if you were  listening to something straight off the Anthology Of American Folk Music.

At Levons House

Elvis Perkins In Dearland occupied the middle slot of the night. Perkins & Co., while mainly unknown to the Ramble attendees, seemed like a natural selection bringing their brand of ramshackle folk-rock that’s equal parts marching band and introspective singer songwriter. Perkins began the set alone strumming the opening chords to the Ash Wednesday track While You Were Sleeping. As each verse passed, the members of his band trickled onto the stage that was strewn with instruments both familiar and offbeat.

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What followed was a tight, truncated set that cherry picked material from their two studio albums and almost all of their recently released Doomsday EP. The upbeat and freewheeling Hey got the audience clapping along, which was followed by two date-appropriate songs: the slow and spooky Gypsy Davy and Stay Zombie Stay – a tune that Perkins described as a tale of boy meets zombie, boy loses zombie. The Dylan-inspired Shampoo saw some impressive harmonica work, while the gospel-infused Weeping Mary showcased the band’s tight harmonies and Stop Drop Rock & Roll offered their take on a ’50s-style rock song.

That band closed things out with Chains, Chains, Chains and a rousing rendition of Doomsday that featured enthusiastic banging on a large bass drum and band members standing on up on ledges along the wall of the barn as they belted out a love song wrapped in apocalyptic lyrics bringing the audience to their feet and found many approaching the band afterwords offering words of praise.

Elvis Perkins In Dearland

While You Were Sleeping, Hey, Gypsy Davy, Stay Zombie Stay, Shampoo, Weeping Mary, Stop Drop Rock & Roll, Chains Chains Chains, Doomsday

The room was abuzz when the Levon Helm Band started to make their way to the performance area.  Introduced by someone dressed in medieval knight garb as Sir Levon of Helm-land, the 69 year-old drummer was sharply dressed in a gray button down shirt and black pants. Levon was all smiles as the crowd enthusiastically roared with approval. Helm, who is currently on vocal rest after a non-cancerous lesion on his vocal cord was removed this summer, was in high spirits all night and could even be seen hoarsely singing a handful of times.

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With Levon relegated to the drum kit and occasionally stepping out front to play mandolin, vocals duties were left up to members of his crack band that’s made up of multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire and defacto bandleader Larry Campbell, vocalists Teresa Williams and Amy Helm (who was experiencing vocal troubles of her own on this night and only appeared on a handful of songs), bass player Byron Issacs, guitarist Jim Weider, keys player Brian Mitchell and a full horn section anchored by Steven Bernstein and Howard Johnson.

Kicking things off with the familiar strains of The Band classic The Shape I’m In. The next two and a half hours were filled with a diverse selection of material showcasing the versatility and range of the musicians Levon has surrounded him with. The Brian Mitchell-led take on the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins blues classic I Put A Spell On You brought back in the Halloween vibe of the night complete with howling and a killer mandolin solo from Campbell.

Campbell and Williams’ time spent as members of Phil Lesh’s band showed its face as trio of Grateful Dead associated songs followed – Deep Elem Blues, Samson & Delilah and Tennessee Jed – the latter of which appears as the opening track on Helm’s latest record Electric Dirt. A spirited take on Dr. John’s Mardi Gras Day came complete with a Mardi Gras parade through the audience by the horn section.

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You could sense the crowd began to feel more at home in the intimate setting as members of the audience would shout out requests. One of the requests was for the country, love and murder ballad Long Black Veil – a song that was originally made famous by Johnny Cash, but also has strong ties to The Band as it appeared on their seminal debut Music from Big Pink. This tender and stirring version was sung by Williams, who flipped the perspective to a the female characters version of the events.

An unexpected cover of J.J. Cale’s Call Me The Breeze showcased Weider – who played in the last incarnation of The Band – on vocals and lead guitar and featured dueling jabs between Weider and Campbell. As they ripped through the classic tune, an exuberant Helm was literally popping out of his seat at his kit using what little voice he had to chime in during the chorus.

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The night closed the only way that it possibly could with Levon’s signature song – The Weight. Larry Campbell invited the members of Elvis Perkins In Dearland back out to join in. Perkins & Co. were beaming ear to ear as Elvis, Larry, Brian and Theresa swapped verses on this gigantic sing-a-long. When all was said and done the crowd begged for more, but there was really no other way that this, or any night at the Ramble, could end better than it did.

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6 Responses

  1. Found out Kris Kristoferson playing the ramble tomorrow night, bought a ticket today. 11 hour drive to make it by show time…follow at twitter.com/degenhart review to follow.

    BTW…great review! Love Larry and Teresa, just saw them down at Jormas place last month.

  2. Pingback: MOG Music Network

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