Concerts 2004-2008

2004-10-26 Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers

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The Blue Note

 

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Above: My program from the Blue Note show.

Above: My program from the Blue Note show.

As soon as I laid my eyes on the full-page notice for this special run of Bruce Hornsby shows in the Village Voice (a copy of the page is above), I decided I was going to all three of these shows.

The Halcyon Days album was out and for me represented a wonderful musical milestone for Hornsby and his great band, the Noisemakers. I was already a big fan (given my piano background, love of the Grateful Dead, and my experiences seeing Bruce play before. I had seen him with his own band a couple of times, but had seen him many times in the Grateful Dead, Further Festival and Other Ones contexts. And I had been lucky to meet him briefly and shake hands, on the first Further tour.

On the first night I was able to get tickets for the early show, and he performed with (saxophonist) Bill Evans as a guest.

This and other parts of the run are documented on a great DVD that was released later, “Three Nights on the Town.”

I sat at a table at the far side of the stage at The Blue Note, just about touching JT Thomas as he sat at his keyboards. On other nights as well as this one, Bruce nicely tied together so many of my musical interests, including my own study of music. (My own piano teacher over many years studied with some of the same music teachers as Bruce at the U of Miami music school.)

2004-10-28 Bruce Hornsby (solo)

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Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall

 

 I was very excited to see Bruce's first performance at Carnegie Hall, and to have a truly perfect seat to watch Hornsby at the piano. At this point he had not yet made a practice of giving solo performances, so this was a rare and important event for him at the renown Carnegie Hall.

Members of the Noisemakers and members of Bruce’s family were on hand for this event, and many were sitting in the seats around me. Bruce's wife turned around and introduced herself to me to let me know who she was.

When I met JT Thomas that night I discussed the song "Tango King" with him and specifically mentioned that I liked the the caliope organ sound - and he told me that he had personally designed that organ patch.

 
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2006-10-18 Bonnie Raitt (John Hall for Congress Benefit)

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Tarrytown Music Hall

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Although I was a Tarrytown resident for some years I had missed a few shows that I really wanted to see there, like Levon Helm Band. I didn't want to miss this benefit concert. I managed to get second row center seats for it. The poster for this event, with Bonnie's signature, is still hung in the back of the theatre. This was a benefit concert to support John Hall's bid to replace a longtime Republican congressperson representing part of the lower Hudson Valley. John was a musician who had founded the band "Orleans" in the 1970s. One of their hits was the song "Still the One." When George W. Bush attempted to use that song for his reelection campaign in 2004, Orleans demanded that the use be discontinued.

Bonnie Raitt performed with her band at this show and John joined them on guitar for awhile.

A couple of weeks after this show, Stephen Colbert did a hilarious segment in which he interviewed John for one of his "Better Know a District" spots. Colbert's segment aired on 11-6-06 and can still be seen on Comedy Central's website. Colbert hilariously pretended to confuse John Hall with one of the members of Hall and Oats (one is named "John," but its the other, Darryl Hall, whose last name is "Hall"), he expressed bewilderment at why Bush would not "still be the one," and asked whether John had written a number of specific songs from the 70s which were obviously written by other artists. This was one of the funniest Colbert shows I have ever seen.

John Hall ended up winning the election. Below is a news photo clipping showing him being sworn in for Congress (and at the lower right of the frame is one of the Orleans albums on which he graced the cover).

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A poster for this event, signed by Bonnie, on display at Tarrytown Music Hall.

A poster for this event, signed by Bonnie, on display at Tarrytown Music Hall.

2007-03-23 Snoedown Festival (w/ Little Feat)

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Lake Placid Olympic Center

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Above: The guide and schedule for Snoedown 2007

The first of two Feat / moe multi-day concert collaborations that I attended, the second being the Jamaica excursion in 2016. This was a weekend festival in Lake Placid, a place where I have been going since before the 1980 Olympics and sporatically after that. As a skiier it made sense to go, do some skiing during the days and see the shows at night.

It was great to see Feat and moe at the Olympic Center (not that its a great music venue, just because of its storied history and my own recollections of the town over the years).

I was later able to get an audience recording of the show. "Feels Like Rain" still stands out as a favorite musical moment at the Little Feat show, beautifully sung by Shaun Murphy.