Review: Old School Percy Hill Returns

Powered by Nate Wilson’s prodigious Hammond skills, Ferrell’s subtle guitar work, Powley’s singing and lyrics, and a strong rhythm section, that version of Percy Hill toured heavily across New England and beyond between 1993-1996 and was mentioned along with moe., Ominous Seapods, and Strangefolk as one the nascent jam-scene’s surging second tier of up-and-coming bands. In 1998, Percy Hill underwent a huge lineup change, became a four-piece with only Farrell and Nate Wilson remaining, and adopted a starkly new sound, and with it, a new repertoire which jettisoned many of the band’s longtime popular songs. While the last version of Percy Hill would go on to achieve more acclaim and success than any predecessor, the concept shift and new repertoire alienated some old-time fans, me among them. I stopped seeing the band regularly in 1999 – well before the four piece Percy Hill’s final show more than four years later.

As the early ’90’s six-piece I had once so loved took the stage to play a reunion show of early-day repertoire, I suddenly became a bit nervous. “Is this a mistake?” I thought to myself. “Will yesterday’s memory be better than today’s reality? Is this like going to a 10-year high school reunion to find that the prom queen had become a saggy mother of five or the captain of the football team a felon? Will they make it through the composed sections of their early repertoire? Can they hit those harmonies? Will there be that energy?”

Ironically, the group opened with Million Years, a song which had actually debuted shortly after Hill had left the band in 1996. When the tight and funky intro groove of Sooner or Later came next, and a nailing of the song’s tight vocal harmonies was followed by a blistering Nate Wilson Hammond solo with Isn’t She Lovely teases and a solid representing of the Allman-esque guitar harmony outro, I felt myself relax. These guys were still doing it.

How were they doing it? While musical skill, muscle memory, and pure guile may have all played a part, hours of recent practice certainly did not. In fact, the band had met at the venue for their only practice for their first public show in more than twelve years only that morning. They had all even been together only once since Hill left the band in 1996 – last summer, when they played a private party in Stowe, VT.

In July, Jeremy Hill’s friend was turning 30, and a band was needed for her birthday party. Hill thought of the most unlikely of solutions: reuniting the 1993 – 1996 lineup of Percy Hill. “I thought it wouldn’t work, but I made a few calls, and the guys were into it,” explained Hill. They all reunited for one day of rehearsal and the next day played a well received performance to a “kinda shocked” Stowe crowd mostly unfamiliar with their material. The show went so well, they opted to try a public performance later in the year. Stone Church, an old stomping ground only a few miles from Percy Hill’s birthplace at the University of New Hampshire, was a perfect choice for a venue. The few hundred tickets sold out online quickly, especially to local fans eager to relive the magic of early Percy Hill, and the scene for the night was set.

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The first set continued with fan favorite Golden Bottle and a screamer of a guitar solo from Farrell on the outro to the darker Jasper. Set one closed with the catchy Lifetime and the high energy room rocker Othello, in which front man Powley nailed the chorus’ highest notes and the band’s rhythm section pulled off a short but tasteful “drums.” While watching Zack Wilson subtly compliment Halacy as he landed a few nasty tom rolls, I was reminded of the strength of Percy Hill’s drummers. Among the band members in the best playing shape, Halacy is only one of two members still working as a professional musician, most recently for the touring live performance of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

The second set started strong with debut album favorite Prison Sentence. Fallen followed – one of the only songs from the original catalogue to be played into the 2000’s by the four-piece version, and Nate Wilson displayed his solid falsetto range and skills as a flautist. Next came the night’s only reminder that this was a reunion show: Powley thanked the crowd and promised “this wouldn’t be the last show” by this version of the band. In fact, they are considering another show at Stone Church in April. So I guess they are on tour – a slow, stationary tour, but a tour nonetheless.

The band later settled into a pillar of their old live sets, Been So Long, grounded by Hill’s always solid bass playing, Zack Wilson’s tasteful percussion, and the song’s tight and funky stops and twists. Again, Farrell shredded and Nate Wilson, fresh from his solo band’s opening act performance, rocked a hopping room with his Hammond. The room later exploded after a reprised trick from the old days: Nate passed his driving solo at the end of Rush Hour Traffic to Farrell who brought the number home by firing off his own blistering licks over the outro. The band would later close the second set with the popular Setting the Boat Adrift, highlighted by the best of the evening’s several great solos from Farrell, a singing, anthemic, ripper.

The encore was a treat for the room’s real old-time fans – original 1993 drummer Tim Leavy was strong as he took over for Halacy on Way Back Home, which was among the band’s first songs. Like it sometimes did in the ‘90s, the song started with a tasty Hill bass solo. And much like the rest of the night, the band basically made it through each change as if they had just played the song the night before. Not to gloss over an occasional wart – the night wasn’t perfect. But in the context of a band 12 years away from the stage, it was nothing but – Percy Hill played close to three hours of music without missed changes, forgotten words, sour harmonies, or painful flubs. On one day of practice. Like some kind of jam-band instant noodle (another early ‘90’s favorite of mine), Stone Church added a little water and a little heat, and a Percy Hill popped out. No real preparation needed, but it still somehow tastes pretty damned good.

And then much as it started, the night ended in a way very unlike your average reunion show. “Thank you! We love you all so much for coming out. We’ll see you all soon!”

Of course they will. After all, they are a band on tour.

Percy Hill
December 11, 2009
Stone Church
Newmarket, NH

Set 1: Million Days, Sooner or Later, Golden Bottle, Sunrise, Car towing announcement > Jasper, Lifetime, Casa De Vino > Othello

Set 2: Prison Sentence, Fallen, Been So Long, Seems Like the Time, Rush Hour Traffic, Setting the Boat Adrift
Encore: Way Back Home

Old School Percy Hill @ Stone Church Stream

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19 Responses

  1. How is there no mention of Aaron Katz in the historic synopsis of the band? He helped reshape the sound and in my opinion, brought much better vocals to the table. He helped bring PH from a garden variety, Allmansesque jamband to a more glossy, funky, Steely Dan influenced vibe that set PH apart from everyone else. I mean, when comparing the earlier “Double Live” to the later “Percy Hill: Live” (w/ horns), the maturity and professionalism is incomparable..and more enjoyable. My $0.02.

  2. Great review. I hope there is more to come from this band.

    A few minor quibbles – the 4-piece actually performed a pretty fair amount of the “old school” band’s material over the years…Sunrise, Way Back Home, Been So Long, Jasper, Casa de Vino…just to name a few in addition to Fallen.

    As far as comparing the Aaron Katz years – they’re really almost 2 different bands…different strokes and all that. I think Double Feature exhibits a tremendous amount of professionalism for a rather young band. The horns shows in 2002 were fun, but a lot of the additional musicians didn’t make the songs better, IMO. However, I was a huge fan of the Katz days…Color In Bloom is a sublime album. But those days have definitely passed and I’ll take any version of PH I can get, new or old.

  3. Why is there no mention of Nate Wilson Group?! Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge Percy Hill fan — they exceeded all my expectations musically after years of not playing together but NWG blew my mind!!!!!!!!!

    They blew the place apart and they’re lucky the electricity still worked after their set. Actually, when they first started Nate’s mic malfunctioned so half of the song is instrumental. I guess the equipment couldn’t handle it 😉

    I’m a jammy jam lover by nature but Floyd, Zeppelin, Cream… it runs through my blood and Nate Wilson Group encompasses all of it. It rocked me to my core – I had to sit down and take a breather after Sound Overkill. I mean, their drummer Tom Arey is the best damn drummer out there right now. He makes it look so easy with his complex beats and… *sigh* it’s just so powerful. Adam Terrell on guitar; It’s like taking a trip down classic rock lane with his transcendent psychedelic jams. And the bass player, Tom Lada, whom they call Steve Dave, has the greatest energy on that stage. Dude looks like he just came home from Nam and wants to tear shit up – which he does with his riffs. And last but not least, Nate Wilson. The mastermind behind The Group (which I believe to be true of Percy Hill as well). I like him as band leader. His voice is intoxicating and when he plays I am instantly hypnotized. Where did this come from? I hope when Percy Hill tours again NWG opens up for them. It makes sense. Mesh the Old School with the new. This world rock my jammy world!

  4. I would just like to 2nd everything White Chocolate said, as well as be so bold as to add the following:

    When (not if) Old School Percy Hill and NWG do this double-bill again (and again after that), most will eventually realize just how incredibly powerful and awesome “the new” really is. And by that I mean none other than the Nate Wilson Group… watch out for these guys as they rise to prominence.

  5. I have to put in my plug for the Old School lineup. The Aaron Katz lineup gets some props here which is OK, but that lineup was like pop music/smooth jazz Percy Hill, they produced a few somewhat sappy love ballads and catchy pop tunes, but as many jam music fans said, they were too soft and squishy to really get into and follow.
    If you want to see the real essence of Percy Hill you want to see this “old school” lineup. They rock, they jam, and they are muy, muy macho. These guys can really play and jam with the best of the bands out there. Shed no tears that Aaron Katz isn’t present now, with this line-up you’ll never miss him. Nate, Tom, Joe, Jeremy, Zack, & Dylan are Percy Hill.

  6. There is a reason why the Aaron Katz era Percy Hill toured the entire country,won the highest award possible in the Jam band community and is to this day considered one of the greatest bands ever by fans,critics and musicians.Go read the review by Richard Gehr(author of The Phish book) at myspace.com/percyhill. Throw on an Old school Percy album next to Color In Bloom, Afterall or Percy Live and it is without question that the Color in Bloom era makes old school percy look like a bunch of college kids noodling away on weekends(btw Old Percy never even toured on a national level). There is a reason why Nate and Joe brought Aaron Katz in to take the band to the next level. There is also a reason why Old school Percy Hill ended and nobody seemed to care for years including Nate Wilson and Joe. No disrespect to Old school Percy but come on people this is nothing but backwards motion.

  7. @Phishen-
    “No disrespect to Old School Percy Hill but…” Tis after you just shredded them for a paragraph. Dude, relax. All versions of PH are defunct. Plenty of folks sure did care when Old School split up, and the “core four” version toured around but that hardly makes them a huge national act. Sure, Katz brought some serious talent to the band, but I have also heard that had a lot to do with why they finally split. In any case, that version built on an already established and hard-won fan base that the Old School lineup attracted. From your post, I’m guessing yer either related to the guy or carrying his baby. Sorry if I’m being harsh, but you make it sound like Katz alone took PH from some ragtag bunch of college kids and made them famous. If so, then why is the NWG melting faces while he is… Oh, wait, what is he doing anyway?

  8. I am a huge Nate Wilson and Aaron Katz supporter. Color In Bloom changed my life. For the fan wondering what Aaron has been doing just go to thedejas.com to see one of his many projects since his album Simplest Warrior. Aaron also owns his own production company(he produced the 2005 Percy Album Afterall),runs a music program at a group home for abandoned children and recenlty finished a new Dejas album with the engineer who ran Elliott Smith’s studio.Lots of talent comes from Percy Hill considering AOD is also the bomb. I vote to bring Yahuba back.

  9. Yahuba is the bomb, baby! Would love to see that dude play with this lineup, though I guess it wouldn’t be very “Old School”. I’ve seen Zack and Yahuba together and it was pretty sweet. Those two seem to really dig playing together, maybe they can get him to sit in if hey play again.

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