Having Loudon Wainwright III, Sam Llanas, and Greg Brown in a four-week span is more than I ever imagined! Now I guess with our new blog we will have to file a report from every show from now on.
Sorry I did not follow up on the Loudon Wainwright III show. For me, writing about music is like dancing about food. It is not easy. If there is anyone that might be interested in taking on this responsibility for our blog, please email me direct ray@uptowngrill.com and we can discuss the specifics and a few perks.
Sorry I did not follow up on the Loudon Wainwright III show. For me, writing about music is like dancing about food. It is not easy. If there is anyone that might be interested in taking on this responsibility for our blog, please email me direct ray@uptowngrill.com and we can discuss the specifics and a few perks.
Show Report:
Sam played to a packed house this past Friday. He played for 2 hours and 45 minutes without taking a break. Sam started with some solo material and then brought the band out after a few songs. For you BoDean fans, I cannot think of a big BoDeans hit he did not cover. His new stuff is great also. I highly recommend his new CD "4 AM".
Sam has not played with the BoDeans in a couple of years, and his new playmates are well suited to his style. They are a very tight ensemble. I was told we did not even get his regular bass player due to a family emergency and the violin player was a fill-in. We would have never guessed.
I always take the liberty of grabbing a few snippets from the very beginning of sound check. This is the only time I have enough light and can get an unobstructed shot - here is a link to "4 AM".
Sam played to a packed house this past Friday. He played for 2 hours and 45 minutes without taking a break. Sam started with some solo material and then brought the band out after a few songs. For you BoDean fans, I cannot think of a big BoDeans hit he did not cover. His new stuff is great also. I highly recommend his new CD "4 AM".
Sam has not played with the BoDeans in a couple of years, and his new playmates are well suited to his style. They are a very tight ensemble. I was told we did not even get his regular bass player due to a family emergency and the violin player was a fill-in. We would have never guessed.
I always take the liberty of grabbing a few snippets from the very beginning of sound check. This is the only time I have enough light and can get an unobstructed shot - here is a link to "4 AM".
Thanks Sam!
I have to say this was the best show yet! Being a huge BoDeans fan and being able to sit 5 feet away from Sam, literally brought tears to my eyes. Thanks for the terrific show.....'trust the venue' Nancy
ReplyDeleteAlthough Ray’s cautionary metaphor of “dancing for food” is still dancing in my mind, out of my abiding appreciation for the existence of the Playlist Theater, I’ll try my hand at contributing a comment. I share Ray’s wonderment that all of this first-class music is made available to us. As for Sam, the musical development of the night had a sneaky, dramatic ease to it. Sam started solo, and didn’t give much hint of what was to come. One of his songs began a bit more up-tempo, and his band-mates came onto the stage one by one during the song, adding their instrument as they did. The middle of the show really rocked. At the end, the loping, down-tempo version of “Still the Night,” in my view the quintessential BoDeans song, lingered beautifully. It was a marvelous show. Mike
ReplyDeleteI have been blessed to see 3 shows at the venue in the past several months...Chuck Prophet, Miles Nielsen, and, finally, Sam Llanas. All were great in their unique ways. I have been attending concerts since I was a teenager in big and small venues....have come to the conclusion that the Uptown is the best place to see live music. I was so close to the stage for Sam's show that I could literally touch the lead guitar player's foot pedals and monitor with my hand. I could hear the music through the monitor for him. Never had that experience before. I could even read the set list. Just a special night that I truly appreciated.
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