Melvin Seals and JGB @ Mexicali Live, October 15

Words: Tyler D. Curtis
Photos: Vernon Webb

I headed out to Teaneck, NJ this past Friday for a new musical experience. Being a huge fan of the Grateful Dead, and more importantly of Jerry Garcia’s career as a whole, I was immensely eager to see Melvin Seals and the current lineup of JGB channel the second side of Garcia’s musical endeavors. The room where the show took place, Mexicali Live, is most likely the only Grateful Dead themed venues in New Jersey. And by that, I mean the name – derived from a Grateful Dead classic – and in combination with a picture of Jerry Garcia in the middle of the back wall up in the balcony, makes you feel like his spirit surrounds the place constantly.

[All photos by Vernon Webb]

I arrived to a gathering of fans chattering and exploring the small amount of vending that took place in the bitter Teaneck, NJ night air. As I stepped inside, I noticed the venue was filling up rather fast, and the opening act was closing out their performance. The Desolation Angels were an appropriate opener for the crowd that Seals and his mates attracted, as they brought a bluesy-jam sound to the atmosphere, almost warming up the stage for the Jerry Garcia Band tribute band. I was rather astonished at the younger vibe of the crowd and was surprised to find that a handful of people were on tour with the group. This gave me some reassurance that this band must live up the hype.

As 10:15 rolled around, the band walked on the rather small stage, sat down at their instruments, and wasted little time getting started. Stu Allen (guitar) started off the introduction to Ain’t No Bread In The Breadbox while a moment later, Melvin Seals let out a screech from his keys, initiating the iconic song from the Jerry Garcia Band repertoire. As the chorus was sung, the one-woman gospel section brought us to church in a groovy manner.

READ ON for more on last Friday’s performance…

All throughout the first set I was amused by the tightness in the vocals and instrumentation, and at times felt like Stu Allen was embracing Jerry Garcia’s spirit in the perfect way for this medium of the legend’s career. A person next to me had mentioned how the bassist was dancing with his headless bass, holding it like you would another person. Maybe this was the key to his success as I could not help but adore his spot-on performance all throughout the night. To continue the theme of deep blues, Valerie was a great example of how talented Melvin Seals is on the keys. He was the icing on the cake as he helped transition the jams back into the verses and choruses so gracefully.

As there are very few original Jerry Garcia songs and more covers in the JGB repertoire, a great version of Bob Dylan’s Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door rippled throughout the 500-person capacity room with deep dripping emotion, almost as if the band was playing in tribute to Jerry. The infamous reggae breakdown was injected, allowing everyone to groove along as they sang along during the 14-minute take on the tune.

The mood picked up later in the set with a song Elvis made famous, Mystery Train, which featured Allen ripping up the jam portion with his impressive guitar noodling. As the first set came to a close, it was clear that the band needed a rest, and at 12:15 they emerged from the tiny backstage hallway, tuning up while a majority of the crowd came back in from the front outdoor area.

The second set contained a decent amount of standards from the Jerry Garcia Band catalogue. My favorite was a rock-reggae interpretation of Jimmy Cliff’s The Harder They Come  for which I found Stu Allen to be the closest musician I’ve seen to Jerry Garcia in terms of vocals and instrumentation. The backup vocals and Seals’ organ sound blended in an enchanting harmony bringing a smile to Melvin’s face.

My highlight of the whole night – especially the second set – was a tremendous version of Don’t Let Go. Right away I had a feeling this would be a stellar portion of the show, and I was assured of this as the medium-paced tune escalated into a psychedelic monstrosity. The light show stepped up, and the playing got more trippy than I’ve ever heard from a band performing JGB’s repertoire, most of which focused on the heavy wailing of Allen and Seals.

Overall, I was entertained all throughout the evening. The atmosphere was perfect making for a memorable night of music. If you ever have the chance to see Melvin Seals perform, be sure to check him out, I’m glad I did.

HT Staff

Hidden Track was started in October of 2006 and features a team of dedicated contributors from across the country. This article was written by one of the newest members of our team or was a collaboration by more than one contributor. Want to contribute to Hidden Track? Send us a pitch to scott at glidemagazine dot com.

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