12/02/2011 The United Palace – New York, NY
Set 1: Cedar Laurel > Sittin’ On Top Of World, Blue Bossa, Windy Mountain, Way That It Goes, Song In My Head, It Is What It Is
Set 2: Just One Story, Sirens > Daryl, Don’t It Make You Wanna Dance, Dirk, BollyMunster, ‘Round The Wheel
Encore: The Bridge, I Wish
12/03/2011 The United Palace – New York, NY
Set 1: This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) > Rhum ‘N Zouc, Miss Brown’s Teahouse > Chameleon > Miss Brown’s Teahouse, Wheel Hoss, Sometimes A River, Colorado Bluebird Sky > Rollover > Colorado Bluebird Sky
Set 2: Let’s Go Outside, Restless Wind > On The Road, Betray The Dark > Drums, Joyful Sound > National Anthem > Bumpin’ Reel > Can’t Stop Now
Encore: Way Back Home
I hopped on tour in NYC and witnessed two incredible shows at the beautiful United Palace Theatre this past weekend. Some highlights from the first night were: Blue Bossa, Windy Mountain, Daryl, Dirk, and Round the Wheel. It was probably the best version of Dirk I have ever heard. This show on Friday night was good, but I knew the band would throw down even harder on Saturday night. There’s nothing like cheese on Saturday night, they always step up their playing and song selection and it elevates the show immensely.
Saturday night’s first set was non stop amazing jams. They kicked it off with a beautiful rendition of Naive Melody, followed by a really bouncing Rhum ‘N Zouc which featured a back and forth drums jam which was conducted by kang and his fiddle. He would face one of the drummers and play some fiddle notes and then the drummer would play it back with percussion. Then Kang would address the other drummer and repeat. It was awesome to see this kind of musical communication. Then it was a funky Miss Brown’s with the classic Chameleon thrown in. Then a rockin Wheel Hoss, and Sometimes a River. The set closed out with Rollover, sandwiched between the new Billy tune, Colorado Bluebird Sky. This went over really well and the crowd loved it.
Second set began with the new Kyle tune, Let’s Go Outside. Followed by a rocking Restless Wind > On the Road, which really set the tone for the rest of the set. Then it was time for the classic cheese disco funk party. Betray the dark crept in with its electronic and dark tones, the lights went low, and the disco ball burst into life spinning one way then reversing and blanketing the room with points of light. This is one my favorite musical spaces that cheese creates. Then the band segued into one of the best Drums I have ever seen. Clearly the extensive touring with EOTO has bonded Michael Travis and Jason Hann into an explosive tag team. Then it was Joyful Sound, done a bit differently than it has been recently. They dropped the extensive electronic breakdown and put kang’s mandolin solo back in. Though it seemed the band was scrambling a bit on this one, it ended up being a great version of the song. Then they surprised everyone by playing Radiohead’s, National Anthem.
They closed the show with a great version of Bumpin Reel > Can’t Stop Now. All in all this was an incredible 2 nights. I feel the band is only getting tighter and more comfortable with each passing night. Boston review coming soon!
