Feb 2002. Andy Miller decided he’d had
enough of playing in smoky bars, setting up and tearing down, and all the other
issues bands have to deal with when touring at the level Devolver was at. He quit Devolver before I signed a loan to
purchase a van. I jokingly told him he needs to form a band that played nothing
but Bob Dylan, circa 1965-’66. I didn’t say an all Dead band because that would
be hoping for way too much. Like having Devolver and Phish cover Monkeyman by
the Stones. It’s so pie in the sky it would never happen………….
April 19th, 2012. I was posting on
FB my appreciation for what Mr. Albert Hoffman did for the human race way back
in 1943. As I was killing time, someone messaged me and asked if Kclinger’s was
closing. After some sleuthing, I confirmed that Kclinger’s was in fact shutting
down. Needless to say, I was bumming. The only venue in town for music was
done. The Winner’s Circle has had
acoustic acts but not full on bands. The future looked bleak.
But then Josh
Perkins and Eyedeal Productions started booking bands at the Circle on a
regular basis. The Circle announced they were going ahead with the long
gestating plans to expand. And Andy Miller had been practicing with the Winter
House Band. Oh the times they are a changin’.
Last night, for
the first time in over three years, the Winter House Band played in public and absolutely
destroyed it. From start to end, they made the Dead’s catalog their own. With
Ben Hockensmith playing rhythm, Andy had the freedom to let the beast out of
the cage and ripped it up on his ax. Sean Wolfe’s bass held down the bottom
while Craig Walker and Travis Laurence kept the time right on time.
Winter House Band, 2/2/13, Winner’s Circle, Hanover, PA
Set 1
Bertha, Althea, Cold Rain and Snow, Jack A Roe, Railroad
Blues, Jack Straw, Row Jimmy, Tomorrow id Forever, Limbo, Shakedown St.
Set 2
Half Step, Tangled up in Blue, Loser, Cassidy, Dark Star>
GDTRFB
Encore: Eyes of the
World
NOTE: Watchtower was played, just not sure when.
Andy’s been
rehearsing with the WHB for well over a year. I did not attend any of the
practices because I wanted the finished, final product. That and the fact that I
really do not like band practices. I attended 1 Devolver practice and that was
enough.
It was totally an
old school night. I was able to walk to a show, harking back to my daze at Penn
State. T -roy was out and about (old school Hanover Head. He was forgetting
tixs for shows before you were out of high school. Even met Bear at a show).
Someone was even partying like it was 2001! I wrote the setlist down on paper,
something I haven’t done in probably close to ten years. More people smoking
cigs INSIDE than at a Marlboro Man look-alike contest. Jake being Johnny on the
spot in diagnosing what was wrong with Andy’s mission control board.
Oh yeah, and the
music. Andy seemed to be having the time of his life. It’s been way, way too
long since he’s been able to rip it up on an electric guitar. The Cold Rain and
Snow were perfect for the weather and Andy nailed down the challenging vocals.
They tweaked the arrangement of Jack Straw and
it was outstanding. As they started it, I wasn’t sure if it was Black Throated
Wind or maybe Looks Like Rain. But when they went into it, get out of the way!!
I was just talking last weekend about
how Jack Straw is one of my favorite Dead tunes. It has Jerry and Bobby
singing; it’s mid tempo and then rocks out; it is full of cowboy, train, and
wide open visuals that are the Americana that the boys know so well. But it easily could be about a deal going down
badly in some Lot today. It has all the elements that make the Dead what they
are. And then Shakedown Street to end the first set. Andy’s been playing that
tune for over 13 years between Devolver and now the WHB. And they killed it.
Set break arrives not a moment too soon.
Second set was all
killer, no filler. With apologizes to Bobby D, Andy owns Tangled up in Blue. Cassidy
had a great jam after the verses. Dark Star was the highlight of the second
set. They perform it in a structural style similar to Furthur. A killer jam
leading to the verses and then another killer jam. Check out this Dark Star for
an example.
http://archive.org/details/furthur2012-07-07.mk4v.taraszki.flac24
And these jams were ferocious. The interplay between the
band members was exceptional. The angry second jam led into that Woody Guthrie
classic, Going Down the Road Feeling Bad, or GDTRFB for those of you old enough
to have to write it down on J cards. The Eyes encore was the icing on the cake.
While they didn’t do the classic ’73 –’74 ending, I look to the wisdom of one
of my favorite British philosophers; ” You can’t always get what you want, but
if you try sometimes, you get what you need”. And Hanover got what they needed
BIG TIME last night. Support local live music. The Winner’s Circle has live
music every Sat night, with Husky Pants and the Rail next Sat night at 9pm.
Love live Rock!
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
Phd Rock and Roll
No comments:
Post a Comment