Joe P Posted February 16, 2011 Posted February 16, 2011 Valentines present from my devoted wife. Good show at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ. He has a good keyboard player with him (Brian Mitchell) who played Hammond through a Leslie and also played an RD700. Sadly, Levon cant really sing anymore, what with battling throat cancer and everything. Even heavily amplified his voice just didnt make it. He sang Ophelia and bits of The Weight and I Shall Be Released (the latter two being the first and second encores). He played for 2-1/2 hours, his drumming was great. They opened with a high-powered version of The Shape I'm In which was awesome, sang by Mr. Mitchell. The band included 2 guitarists, a 5 piece horn section, 2 female vocalists (one of which was his daughter Amy), a stand up bassist, and a second keyboard player. Im forgetting somebody, but there were 14 people on stage usually. They also played Tennessee Jed. This is a band led by Levon not fronted by him, which was a little disappointing to me, but understandable given the circumstances of his voice. Opener was Hayes Carll, a country guy fronting a quartet. Interestingly, before the show started I was up front looking at the equipment and couldnt identify the keyboard used by Hayes guitar player it looked old/retro. When he played it I said to my wife ah its a Wurlitzer electric piano. But during the frantic breakdown after their set he pulled out an NE2 from the enclosure. Busted! But I can understand why he did that. Anyway, good show, mostly R&B and Gospel, lotta blues, some New Orleans-type stuff and a little bit of Band. Oh, and there were three tuba solos. I never thought I would see ONE tuba solo in my life but there were three (played by a fellow named Howard Johnson). Also, two trombone solos. Despite a massive high tech board, the sound man missed at least 4 cues. Nontheless, recommended. Regards,Joe
Eric Iverson Posted February 16, 2011 Posted February 16, 2011 I would loved to have been there - I always loved the Band, in part because of Levon's voice and drumming.I'm sorry to hear about his throat cancer. All the best to him and kudos for performing anyway - considering people who fail to show up because of a stubbed toe or something...
Joe Muscara Posted February 16, 2011 Posted February 16, 2011 Joe - what did you think of Hayes? He's from around here, and he has a few good tunes, such as this one. [video:youtube] "I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck "The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI
Joe P Posted February 16, 2011 Author Posted February 16, 2011 Eric - maybe you can catch one of Levon's Midnight Rambles. You're right about his performing grit, but like my wife Kim remarked, the smile never left his face the whole time except to make rock star, groove-related facial contortions. Joe, Hayes was good. I like his sense of humor. He started real mellow and ended real mellow which I thought was a curious choice for an opener. He didn't play the Jesus song (too bad!), but he played the Afghanistan vet turned outer space guy song. He was very engaging and open. He thanked everyone for coming out and supporting live music and for letting him do that for a living. He was well-received and rightly so. A good singer and songwriter, and a humble man. Regards, Joe
Joe P Posted February 16, 2011 Author Posted February 16, 2011 What??? No Garth Hudson? Heh - yeah, and no Lowrey either!
Mark Zeger Posted February 17, 2011 Posted February 17, 2011 I never thought I would see ONE tuba solo in my life but there were three (played by a fellow named Howard Johnson). That's not any tuba player. I recently picked up the first Howard Johnson's Gravity CD for my tuba playing daughter and I really dig hearing half a dozen tubas playing a great "Stolen Moments". Worth checking out. [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnwLPrRObPA
MAJUSCULE Posted February 17, 2011 Posted February 17, 2011 I saw him this summer with a slightly stripped-down band. Brian Mitchell was the only keyboardist. It may have been a eight-piece? It was still a damn good show. It was a shame to hear the shape Levon's voice is in, but at the same time, a blessing to hear it at all! I believe they kicked off the saturday night mainstage for the Edmonton Folk Fest. They were a huge hit and understandably so! Eric Website Gear page
Dave Ferris Posted February 17, 2011 Posted February 17, 2011 I never thought I would see ONE tuba solo in my life but there were three (played by a fellow named Howard Johnson). That's not any tuba player. I recently picked up the first Howard Johnson's Gravity CD for my tuba playing daughter and I really dig hearing half a dozen tubas playing a great "Stolen Moments". Worth checking out. [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnwLPrRObPA If memory serves me, HJ was one of the horn section guys on the Band's "Rock of Ages". Needless to say, he's been around the block a few times. https://soundcloud.com/dave-ferris https://www.youtube.com/@daveferris2709 2005 NY Steinway D Yamaha AvantGrand N3X, CP88, P515
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