Mike Gordon Band @ Brooklyn Bowl, March 23

On a spring evening that saw hail, freezing rain, thunder and lightning envelop New York City, the Mike Gordon Band played their second of two sold-out shows at Brooklyn Bowl. The Phish bassist’s current five-piece “solo” band first started performing together in 2008 and the payoff of having five lengthy tours under their belts is paying major dividends in terms of tightness and the size of the repertoire. The MGB’s second Brooklyn Bowl show, while not mind-blowing, displayed a high level of engagement, creativity and the willingness to take risks that Phish fans love.

[All photos by Jeremy Gordon]

With such a deep song list after multiple years together and three Mike Gordon albums to pull from, the band did a nice job of mixing tunes most in the audience were familiar with alongside gems from the catalog that those who don’t own the albums may not have known. Variety was a keyword during the first set as the band moved fluidly from the groove of Andelman’s Yard and Sound to the more sinister I’m Deranged to the ’70s fusion of River Niger. Gordon gave band mates Scott Murawski and Tom Cleary a chance to lead on Max Creek’s Willow Tree and the Cleary-written MGB original Be Good and You’ll Be Lonely respectively. Cleary impressed throughout the night with his spastic style on keys and country-tinged vocals, while Murawski provided moments of glory among a number of unmemorable solos.

Set 1: Andelmans’ Yard, Sound, I’m Deranged > Willow Tree, River Niger, Balloon, Be Good and You’ll Be Lonely, You’re No Good^[1], Mound

Set 2: Traveled Too Far, Flashback > Funky Bitch, Pretend, What Things Seem, Hand in My Pocket, Couch Lady

Encore: Takin’ It to the Streets

[1] Mike Gordon debut; Dude of Life on vocals.

Notes: The Mike Gordon debut of “You’re No Good” featured the Dude of Life on vocals.

[via Phish.net]

The first set ended with a pair of treats – longtime Phish collaborator Steve “Dude of Life” Pollak singing Linda Ronstadt’s You’re No Good with the MGB and an extended take on the Rift chestnut Mound. As Gordon mentioned, what better place to “bring out the Dude” than a bowling alley? The Dude’s awkward dance moves scored points with most of the audience and he quickly left the stage to let the band get down to business after delivering the vocals, only to return for the outro.

READ ON for more of Scotty’s thoughts and Jeremy’s photos…

Mound, a Gordon-penned tune Phish debuted in 1992, had new life breathed into it by the MGB’s “extended” arrangement. Though the audience appeared unfamiliar with many of the first set songs, once the Mound closer kicked in the crowd enthusiastically responded and a full on dance party ensued ending the set on a high note.

Wednesday night’s second set had more of a focus on improvisation with a Traveled Too Far which contained a dark, dissonant jam that led into a reprise of the You’re No Good chorus before the quintet delivered their “phishiest” improv of the evening. Murawski was on fire as he peaked the pretty, major-key jam over and over again to huge applause from the crowd. By far, this version of Traveled Too Far was the exploratory highlight of the concert and showed how connected this band has become. Next, Mike dedicated the Moss track Flashback to his creative partner Jared Slomoff. The MGB segued Flashback into a raucous version of Funky Bitch featuring a potent solo from Cleary that found the keyboardist jumping up and down for extra effect.

A funky take on What Things Seem led into a cover of Alanis Morrisette’s Hand In My Pocket that was met by smirks, laughter and applause. A group sing-along took hold with many of the ladies in the crowd singing the words to their boyfriends as Murawski filled the vocals with the venom found in the original. As they did with all of the covers on this night, the MGB made Morrisette’s song their own. For the second set closer, Gordon treated the audience to the only song of the night off his first solo album, Inside In, a fiery Couch Lady before sending the masses on their way home with a fun cover of Takin’ It To The Streets by The Doobie Brothers.

All in all, the Mike Gordon Band didn’t pander to the crowd too much and gave fans a taste of material from each of Gordon’s albums along with the occasional cover and song from Phish’s repertoire. The five-piece has a sound that fits firmly into the jamband genre, something you don’t see from many up and coming acts these days, yet they still break new ground such as on the masterful Traveled Too Far jams. While it didn’t appear as if many in the audience were looking to jump on Mike Tour, the MGB provided a fun experience and a chance to see Gordon in his element with no one to answer to but himself.

Scott Bernstein

Scott Bernstein co-founded Hidden Track in October 2006 and was managing editor until taking over as EiC in January 2008. Scotty also writes for Relix Magazine and curates YEMblog.com.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me: