Concerts 1999-2003
Joe Sample, the great pianist and founding member of the Jazz Crusaders, had recently released an excellent album with singer Lalah Hathaway, called “The Song Lives on .“ The theater is an intimate venue in downtown Philadelphia. Joe is an all-time favorite of mine, his great work with the Crusaders as well as much fine music thereafter.
I made my first visit to the Mann Center, a beautiful outdoor venue inside the city limits of Philadelphia. I was a big fan of Natalie’s Tiger Lilly album, on the strength of the songwriting, vocals and variety of classic-sounding keyboards.
This show was supposed to take place on 2/24/99 but was cancelled - we didn't know the show was being rescheduled until we got to the Beacon and saw the notice posted on the door.
When the rescheduled show took place four months later everything went off like it should. It really seemed like a complete triumph for Brian, as a lot of wonderful positive energy pervaded the Beacon theatre that night. His “Imagination” album had been released earlier and the show included some of the songs from that fine album in addition to various classics.
I had moved to the Philadelphia area only a few weeks before this show and quickly discovered that Philadelphia is a great place for concerts, with venues like the Tower and Electric Factory already familiar to me. I remembered how the Dead played at the Tower right around the time I first saw them at the Beacon in 1976, and was really excited to see my first show there.
At this "Elvis sighting", for the final song of the night, Elvis asked that all of the stage lights and the sound system be turned OFF completely. The Tower is a pretty large theatre, and Elvis invited everyone to come up close to the stage. Steve played an unamplified acoustic piano and Elvis leaned over at the edge of the stage and sang a touching song directly to the audience gathered below him, without a microphone.
It was cool to see Bruce and the old band at the Spectrum. Got a very good view of everyone on stage and the crowd was really into it of course.
After seeing Elvis and Steve at the Tower I grabbed at the chance to see them again, this time in Camden. I had excellent seats for this. Its a much bigger place than the others that Elvis might play; in any event on this night they only sold seats in the middle section of the Orchestra.
By this time I am happy to see Steve Nieve play keyboards with Elvis at any opportunity. I believe this was my first time at this venue, the name of which has changed over the years several times. It later became a favorite summer venue for me, with a trip there for Phish and many weekend excursions for DMB shows.
Its been so many years now since Pete Sears and Michael Falzarano were part of Hot Tuna, and I’ve missed them a lot, especially keyboard player extraordinaire, Mr. Sears. Its great to see them on this playbill for the first Thanksgiving show I saw at the Keswick.
I went to a bunch of great shows at the Keswick Theatre when I lived in the Philadelphia area for two years, starting with this Thanksgiving-time show by Hot Tuna. These holiday shows by Hot Tuna became a tradition down there as well as at the Beacon in NYC. The Keswick is simply a wonderful venue, modern and comfortable inside, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
I have a longstanding appreciation for both of these artists, big time. Their work together, like the “One on One” album, is pretty classic.
David Gray’s debut album was kind of a blockbuster that year. Another great show I saw at the storied venue where the Dead and others had played in the 1960s. On this night Mr. Gray wore a "Nudie" cowboy suit. (See my REM entry about Mike Mills wearing one.)
This show took place on a Friday night at the end of a week when the stock market plunge had really picked up steam in the wake of the "dot-com bust" that Spring. I remember thinking that Phil's selection of the Wheel in the setlist that night was a reference to that carnage ("if the thunder dont get you then the lightning will...."), but who knows, maybe it was just on my mind.
This was another great show by Brian and his band; "Imagination" was a great album, a milestone and wonderful achievement for Brian.
Burt’s music has been with me (and on my piano) since growing up with it in the 60s.
Before this show I had recorded the "One Special Night" TV broadcast that included a wide range of artists as well as Burt himself. This was a fun show, Burt told a lot of stories and kept the crowd amused.
Fans of Elvis Costello knew that Elvis had a strong affinity for Bacharach songs for a long time and had covered a few. I was happy to learn that Elvis and Burt were working together before "Painted by Memory" came out (and their appearance together in the first Austin Powers movie). That album is among the darkest and moodiest of all those that I like a lot, but its one I listened to quite a lot.
I got a chance to see Paul Kantner again, and Marty for the third time, when I saw the acoustic explorer version of Jefferson Starship at the Tin Angel, a very small place in downtown Philadelphia.
What a treat to see all four of these incredible musicians play together at the Keswick Theatre. There was no way to know it at the time, but this would be the first time of at least sixty times (and still going…) that I would see Jeff Coffin play.
Another Thanksgiving show by Hot Tuna at the Keswick.
Below: Cover, 2001 schedule for Jorma’s Fur Peace camp.
I have a recollection of a nice Weather Report / Let it Grow, always great to hear again. Very much enjoyed the Ratdog shows throughout this era.
An eclectic and very fine performance by Joe Jackson and his band as configured at the time. I think the only other band that used a Cello in a rock concert I’ve seen was Psychedlic Furs. I had purchased the double CD compilation of his music and was digging deeper into some of the stuff I wasn't already familiar with. Many years later I found myself standing next to Joe while trying to order a drink at the bar of the Beacon Theatre during a Steely Dan show.
The year after I moved to the Philadelphia area, Mark Knoffler put out an album called "Sailing to Philadelphia," which seemed to be a huge coincidence. I mean, why would a British rock star be writing about Philadelphia, anyway? I learned only later that it was a reference to a novel about Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, the English surveyors who established the border that became known as the Mason-Dixon line, one separating the southern and northern portions of the United States.
