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Posted and updated by: Chuck Miller September 3, 2018

Johnny Hickman and David Lowery performed as the Cracker Acoustic Duo at the Ivywild School in Colorado Springs on Sunday, August 12. The show started around 8 PM in the gymnasium with Jon Snodgrass (solo) of Armchair Martian, Drag the River, and Scorpios opening.

Unfortunately, the crowd was so chatty it was nearly impossible to hear most of what Snodgrass played. The PA volume was loud enough for the room, but people were talking excessively.

Cracker took the stage a little after 8:45 PM with Johnny Hickman graciously addressing his fellow Coloradans. This helped bring the audience attention to the stage for the first few songs.

The duo started their set with a reflective reading of "Dr. Bernice" from their 1992 debut album Cracker. The setlist included a good mix of old and new songs. I always enjoy hearing Cracker's unique rendition of Jerry Garcia's "Loser" from their best selling album Kerosene Hat. "Almond Grove" from Cracker's most recent studio album Berkeley to Bakersfield was very good as well. David Lowery said, "That's largely a true story" after singing it. Next, as usual, "Euro-Trash Girl" got a warm reception from the audience. But, again the persistent din during and between songs was annoying. I kept thinking, "These people paid to hear this band play. Why aren't they listening?"

The highlights of the 98-minute long set came during two consecutive songs: First was the Johnny Hickman song "Another Song About the Rain." Their dynamic reading of this slow-burner got the crowd to pay attention, and the troubadours were rewarded with the most enthusiastic applause of the night as the song ended. Then, Lowery casually addressed the crowd: "Alright, I know you're going to talk through this song... anyway. That's a shame, but, you've had beer..." and then he regaled us with an inspired, subtle, & beautiful "Big Dipper" with Hickman playing some of his most poignant guitar licks of the night.

I've never heard a Cracker show where they didn't play their radio hit "Low" from 1993's Kerosene Hat. Though, in my opinion, that is rarely the best song the band plays at any given performance. It often closes one set shows, and it did this night. The semi-attentive audience loved it.

The two-song encore started with the fan favorite "Friends" and was followed by "Hey Brett (You Know What Time It Is)" which ended the night of acoustic music a little after 10:30 PM.

I recorded both sets and took a few pictures. The live recording of the Cracker Duo's set is up on the Live Music Archive. That recording and the photos can be heard, viewed and downloaded by following the links below. The Jon Snodgrass recording is also available on my Recordings page. Many thanks to my buddy and fellow concert taper James Freeman for mixing and mastering the Jon Snodgrass recording. James writes a blog That's The Thing About That where he writes reviews and shares some of his recordings. It's a great resource worth checking out.

  Cracker (Acoustic Duo) ~ 2018-08-12 Ivywild School, Colorado Springs, CO
  Jon Snodgrass ~ Ivywild School, Colorado Springs, CO

  Cracker (Acoustic Duo) ~ 2018-08-12 Ivywild School, Colorado Springs, CO
  Jon Snodgrass ~ 2018-08-12 Ivywild School, Colorado Springs, CO

Posted and updated by: Chuck Miller August 4, 2018

Two of my favorite '80's bands played at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities in Arvada, CO, on Friday, August 3.

This was my first time attending an event at the 1,500- people capacity venue, and I had a great experience there. I bought lawn tickets because that made recording easier, and I appreciated having room to roam and not being confined to a seat. There isn't a bad seat in the place, and the venue staff was pleasant and helpful.

Sean Kelly and The Samples started at 7:30 PM and played all the old original Samples favorites: "Little Silver Ring," "Did You Ever Look So Nice," "Weight Of the World," "Nature," and "Feel Us Shaking." The sound started out a little rough with too much build-up in the lower middle frequencies, but by the time they played the second song, "Streets In the Rain," the sound was improved and got better throughout the set. The Samples were a great support band for this event. The slightly less than sold out audience gave them a very warm reception. I haven't seen The Samples play a more focused show in years.

Toad the Wet Sprocket opened their set with "The Moment" from the album New Constellation. As with most Toad shows I've seen recently, they played lots of songs from Dulcinea.  The second song was one of my all-time favorites "Crowing" from that album. "Fly from Heaven," "Something's Always Wrong," and the set closer "Fall Down," all from Dulcinea, were also played to perfection during the night. I thought it was a really good Toad show. Good energy, a responsive crowd, and good weather all contributed to making it a goosebump-inducing set. They surprised me and much of the audience when they played part of Pink Floyd's "Breathe" as the coda to "Don't Fade" from the 1997 album Coil in the first part of the hour and forty-minute long performance.

Founding band member Randy Guss wasn't behind the drum kit last night. I was surprised that this wasn't acknowledged by the band during the show. The fill-in drummer did a great job, but I missed Guss's unique drumming presence. While writing this review I found an interview with the guitarist/singer Todd Nichols which explains Guss's absence is due to an injury. Get well soon Randy!

I can't conclude my remarks about this show without acknowledging Hanna Ackerman who does event management and artist advising for Syncopated Production Group out of Denver, CO. I've been documenting live musical events since the mid 1980's, and I honestly haven't had a better first experience recording at a venue. Ackerman greeted me at the audience entrance and made sure I didn't have any problems recording the event. She also helped me find an ideal spot for my recording equipment that didn't interfere with the audience sight lines. Thanks, Hanna. You rock!

It threatened to rain between bands, and the wind and clouds picked up considerably while Toad played, but no rain fell. I recorded both bands, and I only took one cell phone picture. The wind affected my Toad recording, but it's still pretty good. You can listen to the recordings by following the links below.

  Toad the Wet Sprocket ~ 2018-08-03 Arvada Center, Arvada, CO
  The Samples ~ 2018-08-03 Arvada Center, Arvada, CO

Wendy Woo Band free concert at the Antlers Hotel Plaza in Colorado Springs...

Posted and updated by: Chuck Miller July 28, 2018

If you have read many of my blog entries, you'll know I'm an unabashed Wendy Woo fan. Woo and her music are a guilty pleasure for me. I first saw her band play on July 10, 2009, at a free concert held at the Antlers Hilton Plaza in Colorado Springs.

The Cushman and Wakefield Summer Concerts are played from 11:30 AM to 1 PM every other Friday in the small amphitheatre in front of the Antlers Hotel during the summer in downtown Colorado Springs. I had heard that Woo was OK with fans making audience recordings, so I packed up my gear and recorded my first Wendy Woo Band show that Friday in 2009. Since then, I've recorded almost twenty of her shows in Denver and Colorado Springs. I appreciate her energetic, well crafted songs with thoughtful and liberating lyrics.

This show started on time on Friday, July 27. The audience was small at this show. Rain was threatening early in the day, which may have kept some people from coming, but the people who were there were very appreciative and enthusiastic. There were even some dancers. It ended up being a typical Colorado Springs day and didn't rain during her set.

Woo started the set solo with an acoustic guitar playing "Blackbird' from The Beatles double album The Beatles. She adapts the number of band members she performs with to the situation. I've seen her play solo and with as many as 6 musicians in her band. This time she performed with three others, Mitch Dezwarte on keyboards and electric guitar, Steve Cox on bass and Chris Maestas on drums. After "Blackbird" the full band launched into the original "Hey Bartender" from Woo's most recent album Tipping Point. She has such a great catalog of originals to draw from, I wonder why she plays any covers, but the covers are always played well and appreciated by the audience.

The 90-minute long set included her originals "Walking the Skyline," "Knowledge," "Mile High Blues," "Gonna Wear Red," and many more including the cover songs "What I Got" by Sublime the traditional "Iko Iko" and Fleetwood Mac's hit "Landslide." The highlight for me was the set-closing original "Surprise Me," which always starts with an intro that shows off Woo's beautifully aggressive slapping style acoustic guitar playing.

I took some photos and made an audience and soundboard matrix recording. I've found it difficult to make good recordings at this venue due to the cement structure and because the band faces the hotel, which creates a strong slap-back from the audience perspective. Be that as it may, the recording and photos can be accessed by following the links below.

  Wendy Woo Band ~ The Antlers Wyndham Hotel (Plaza), Colorado Springs, CO

  Wendy Woo Band - 2018-07-27

Posted and updated by: Chuck Miller July 14, 2018

Upstate New York jam band heroes moe. gave it their all at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado on Thursday night. It looked like just short of a sold out crowd to me, but that gave us who were there more room to enjoy the music and dance.

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong opened the evening of music promptly at the scheduled start time of 6 PM with a great set that had the crowd smiling and dancing non-stop. Their music is upbeat and infectious. They had me on me feet movin' and goovin' like back in my disco days. It was obvious they enjoyed playing at Red Rocks for the first time.

This was the first time I'd seen moe. since vocalist Rob Durhak had been treated for nasopharyngeal cancer. Though Durhak was given a clean bill of health and reported back to fans in November of 2017 that he was cancer free, it was still a frightening time for the bassist, the band and fans of the band, like me.

The quintet took the stage at 7:45 PM and delivered two sets of intense jamming to eager moe.rons who wondered if Derhak's voice was OK after the treatment. Yes, moe. and Derhak sounded great!

They started with an oldie "Seat Of My Pants" from their 1996 live album Loaf. Next was a new song "Who You Calling Scared" which seemed to me to reference Derhak's recent brush with cancer. Fan favorite "Buster" about a flying pig was next, followed by the new instrumental "Pastorus," which is a short song by moe. standards, around 3 1/2 minutes, but I liked it. They started "Silver Sun" but didn't finish it, which I hoped they would finish in the second set. The set ended with "Puebla," which isn't my favorite moe. song, so I headed for the bathroom to beat the rush before the band exited the stage.

The second set started around 9:35 PM with one of my favorite moe. songs "Plane Crash." It was very odd to me to hear them segue into "Buster" after playing only the intro to "Plane Crash." Listening back to the recording afterward gave me goose bumps because I realized how cool that transition was. The segment of "Buster" they didn't finish in the first set sounded very natural in context. The longest song of the night "Four," a slow burner featuring Chuck Garvey on vocals, anchored the set and was a musical highlight of the night for me.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the Grateful Dead song teases, like "Golden Road" and "St. Stephen" during the recently revived song "ATL" and "Dark Star" during "Four" which is why I liked this rendition so much.

Of course, they finished "Silver Sun" and then launched into the bliss-stirring finish of "Plane Crash." I would have been happy if they had ended the night with that, but they finished the set with "Letter Home" and a nice version of "Wind It Up."

I have to admit, I knew what was coming next because I was in line early enough to hear the sound check. After Al Schnier made his obligatory announcements, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong guitarist Jeremy Schon and vocalist Greg Ormont joined moe. for a lively rendition of David Bowie's hit song "Fame." Derhak came to the microphone after the music was over and told everyone, "Keep the dream alive everybody. Take care." Wow, what a night of great music!

Below you will find links to photos I took during the night and my recordings of both band's sets.

  moe. ~ 2018-07-12 Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO
  Pigeons Playing Ping Pong ~ 2018-07-12 Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO

 moe. - 2018-07-12
  Pigeons Playing Ping Pong - 2018-07-12

Posted and updated by: Chuck Miller July 3, 2018

Local favorites The Davenport Band played their annual show at Hillside Gardens & Event Center in Colorado Springs Wednesday evening. The event was well attended with lots of colorfully dressed fans dancing and singing along while the band played soft rock and country cover songs.

The guys kicked off their set around 6 o'clock with a cover of the Grateful Dead's "Loser." The set list included a "Franklin's Tower > "Stir It Up" > "Franklin's Tower" sandwich, some Tom Petty covers, songs by The Eagles, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Jim Croce, and of course a healthy mix of good ole country standards. You can view the set list here. They finished with a mostly acapella version of Steve Young's "Seven Bridges Road" which most people know from The Eagles' album Eagles Live. Since the band was only scheduled to play until 8:30, the venue staff began moving chairs and tables into storage as the band played on until 9:15 PM. It was a great night full of good music, socializing, dancing and people watching. I'm already looking forward to next year's show.

The Hillside Gardens venue is a beautiful oasis hidden away on Institute Street in Colorado Springs. Their musical events are usually very well attended and I've noticed the crowds growing larger every year they host the outdoor concerts.

I took some photos and made a recording. The photos and recording can be found by following the links below. I posted about half of the songs they played.

  The Davenport Band ~ 2018-06-27 Hillside Gardens Event Center, Colorado Springs, CO

  The Davenport Band - 2018-06-27

Posted and updated by: Chuck Miller June 17, 2018

The annual Pikes Peak Celtic Festival was held Friday, June 15 through Sunday, June 17, at Memorial Park in Colorado Springs. I went to see headliners The Young Dubliners play two 90-minute long sets on Saturday.

The five piece band led by charismatic vocalist Keith Roberts started around 4:30 PM in the Celtic Rock tent. The weather was great, and the festival was well attended. Kilts, swords, vending booths, food trucks and tents, live performance stages, Jameson Irish Whiskey and Guinness beer tents were all there in abundance.

My first impression of seeing The Young Dubliners' live brings to mind the band The Clash. The Dubliners are not a punk rock band, but there is a swagger and confidence, especially from Roberts and bass player Brendan Holmes, that references for me that '80's punk rock vibe. For what it's worth, the band's official website http://www.youngdubliners.com/ addresses the band's musical style: "Although the Young Dubliners sound is most commonly called 'Celtic Rock', that label, as labels can be, is misleading. The Irish influence is there, certainly, but it's not the only influence that rears its head on their albums or live shows." I agree with that assessment and will add, "Whatever label is applied, I like the music the band plays."

The band grabbed the attention of the large, enthusiastic audience quickly, and they delivered a strong, involving performance that held the fans for the whole set. The first set contained songs focusing on the With All Due Respect: The Irish Sessions and 9 albums. One of my favorites was "I'll Tell Me Ma" from With All Due Respect: The Irish Sessions.

Between The Young Dubliners' sets, the band Seven Nations performed a 90-minute long set that motivated me to find a Scottish sausage on a bun and a Guinness stout. When I got back to the music tent, it was mostly cleared out. So, the group I was with claimed great front row seats for the New Dub's second set.

A second set highlight, strangely, was a violin solo by Chaz Waltz. The solo featured an inspired rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" that had the audience singing along. At the end of the night, instead of walking off stage to be called back for an encore, singer Roberts just told the crowd they'd get an encore without the pretense.

I didn't make a recording as I mistakenly believed the event was going to be more of a social event than a sit down and listen concert. As it turned out, there was some chatter while the band played, but there were plenty of us listening intently to every note.

I did take some photos with my cell phone to document the performance. Those photos can be accessed by following the link below.

  The Young Dubliners - 2018-06-16

Originally posted by: Chuck Miller May 21, 2018 and updated May 26, 2018

Nederland, Colorado folk ensemble Elephant Revival played what may be their last show together at Red Rocks Amphitheatre Sunday night. Hopefully it will only be a "hiatus" as they worded it on the band web site, http://www.elephantrevival.com/. Fiddle player/vocalist Bridget Law and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Sage Cook who had both left the group came back to join them for the poignant reunion set.

It rained throughout the opening sets by Hiss Golden Messenger and Blind Pilot. But, thankfully the rain stopped and didn't return for Elephant Revival's triumphant, crowd pleasing performance.

After impassioned speeches by Amy Ansari from Wildlands Restoration Volunteers and Jessica Goad from Denver Conservation, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper spoke about keeping public lands public, keeping Colorado air clean and preserving clean water before introducing the band.

I loved seeing Bridget Law walk out with the band with fiddle in hand to start the performance at 8:40 PM. She has such a graceful, composed presence on stage. For me, she was/is the heart of Elephant Revival. I can't imagine an Elephant Revival show without her extraordinary playing and singing. The musical highlights for me included hearing "Sea Monster" sung by Charlie Rose, the Pink Floyd cover "Have A Cigar," and the Elephant Revival original "Raven Song."

Though I heard rumors Sage Cook was going to join them it was still surprising and exciting to seeing him play and sing with the band again. I got chills hearing Cook and Bonnie Paine sing "Go On" together once more. Elephant Revival collaborator Enion Pelta-Tiller also played violin and provided backing vocals for much of the second half of the show.

Toward the end of the night the band and members of the audience sang "Happy Birthday To You" to lead vocalist Paine before launching into a spectacular version of "With A Little Help From My Friends" that included members of the opening bands and other special guests.

The band finished the show with a three song encore that concluded with "Rogue River."

I left feeling very good, but a bit sad as I worried whether I'd ever see them all perform together again.

I made a recording and took some photos. The photos and Elephant Revival recording can be accessed by following the links below. I have to say I'm quite pleased with the recording. I just love how spaced omni-directional microphones sound at Red Rocks.

  Elephant Revival ~ 2018-05-20 Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO

  Elephant Revival - 2018-05-20
  Hiss Golden Messenger - 2018-05-20

Posted and updated by: Chuck Miller February 26, 2018

John Parry Barlow (70), lyricist for the Grateful Dead and a founding member of the Electric Frontier Foundation and the Freedom of the Press Foundation died on February 7.

He wrote lyrics primarily with Bob Weir on some of the Grateful Dead's best songs, including "Cassidy," "Estimated Prophet" and "Throwing Stones."

I never met him, but the people I know who did all agree that he was a great, down to earth guy who was very easy and fun to speak with.

There are several great tributes to him online. They include:

5 Lessons that John Barlow Taught the World

A Tribute to John Barlow

Sean Ono Lennon's tribute to late Grateful Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow

We forgot about the time: Fare thee well, John Perry Barlow

If you have a good tribute link to add, please contact me and I'll include it here.

Posted and updated by: Chuck Miller January 4, 2018

The last time I saw Railroad Earth was at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in 2009. They opened for the Allman Brothers Band, and they played a great set. This time, they headlined at the Fox Theatre in Boulder for two sets, and they gave another great performance.

The band took the stage right at 9 PM. The first set started with "Mission Man" which got the sold out theatre full of RRE fans (hobos) involved early. "Saddle of the Sun" and "Old Man and the Land" were mid-set highlights along with the set closer "Seven Story Mountain," which is one of my favorites.

It always sounds so nice in the Fox Theatre. The 625 person capacity theatre has a great live music vibe. The first notes of "Bird in A House" to start the second set were so sweet. By then, the sound was dialed in, and the band delivered a crowd-pleasing second set.

I was a bit surprised to hear the band get fairly dissonant and spacey during "Warhead Boogie" the twelfth song in the second set. Not a bad thing -- some of my favorite bands take their music out to the edge, but it was my first time hearing that from RRE. Out of that controlled chaos came a beautiful version of Tom Petty's "Wildflowers" to close the set. The hobos and I loved it. The encore "Bringin' My Baby Back Home" perfectly capped a wonderful night of progressive bluegrass music on the hill in Boulder, CO.

I made an audience audio recording and took some photos. The photos and recording can be accessed by following the links below.

  Railroad Earth ~ 2017-12-29 - Fox Theatre, Boulder, CO

  Railroad Earth - 2017-12-29