Stewing in our juices

The inaugural road trip for Park took place this past weekend, starting Friday and venturing from Jersey (once the GPS would allow it) to New Hampshire and Massachusetts for Derek Trucks/Susan Tedeschi's Soul Stew Revival shows and back to Jersey before my shift started Sunday.

Here are some of the highlights:

--For those who know of the Derek Trucks Band, drummer Yonrico Scott is known for making artwork for each night's setlist. Like this: http://www.dtbsetlists.com/stagelists/20071005.jpg I've actually saved images of the various setlists over the years and made a screensaver of them at Webshots. And as I missed out on getting the setlist because the guitar tech got distracted by someone who said "Hey!" I was anxious to get one on this trip. Well, the good news is I got one of each! The bad news ... Yonrico didn't do his famous artwork. Oh well, they're setlists, right??
Here's the first show's: http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/ii234/devsjunkie/Music/08-08-01%20Hampton%20Beach%20Casino/?action=view&current=0800801dtbnh.jpg
--As you can see on the setlist, a few Derek and the Dominos' tracks sprinkled in there. I think they really REALLY kicked on Anyday both nights.
--Backtracking to tell you about the little bit of luck involved in getting our tickets. Both shows were long sold out by the time we decided to go, and not in that we-will-put-tickets-on-sale-on-the-morning-of-the-show kinda way. So I wound up scoring New Hampshire from a guy on Craig's List from Boston. And was feeling kinda discouraged about the chance of getting the Cape Cod tix. But last day before we left, someone at the Allman Brothers board put up a post and I was able to put in for them.
--So the only dampening of the trip enthusiasm was the massive traffic we happened upon in Connecticut and because of the delays we wound up in rush hour in New Hampshire. We still got to the venue in time for the show though, even though I missed meeting up with ABB girl, Sue. More on her later, again...
--Mark gave a description of the feel of Soul Stew that I agree with. So I'll paraphrase here... It really is a very enjoyable show, there are no real lulls and even the slow songs motor right on. It's almost over before you realize it. Obviously the musicians really enjoy each other's company and you can see that. More on this right now...
--So Derek's younger brother Duane (age 19) was playing drums with Yonrico Scott! (This family does a good job of naming their boys!) He totally looks like Derek too, just with brown hair instead of blond. With the lights down, people mistook him for Derek we think.
--As usual Derek head-on-a-stick was a hit. (Thanks Steve!) It's really night and day with that thing, ain't it? People either think it's the coolest thing ever or look at you like you're an escaped lunatic. (Everyone watch your step here...)
--After being unable to reach Sue after the show, we took off for Cape Cod to avoid the traffic. That turned out to be a very good decision and gave us time to do other things before the show too. We went to a huge flea market out on the island and found a myriad of fabulous things, including Biofreeze (which I mentioned needing because my neck hurt), a rockin' floppy hat for $2, a gorgeous ring I keep misplacing and the piece de resistance, a mini harmonica on a chain for $3!
--So anyway we feared we couldn't get into the show but then I got a voicemail from Sue. She hadn't sold my tickets to someone else after all! We were back in the game. Good thing too, because it's a rather small venue and I didn't see one person selling outside.
--It's a great little venue. The stage is in the center under a big tent and it rotates slooooowly one way for two or three songs, then the other way. Everyone gets a great view at some point. Which reminds me... Doyle SOOOO needs to book at this venue. ;)
--The first show seemed more powerful and the second show was more laid-back, I think. They were both great in their own way though. And it's good to have the complementary experience.
--It was really nice to be able to watch band dynamics with the revolving stage. Like Derek is rather emphatic about taking songs where they need to go, giving nods and that sort of thing. And the drummers were just communicating by eye contact all night. Until Derek said it was Duane's 18th birthday (which it wasn't! he'll be 20 in december) and Yonrico came over and squeezed the stuffing out of him. And seeing our favorite stage couple relate was also pretty cool. Susan is from the area so she had a TON of friends and family. And oh, when they came back out for the encore, someone put their arm on Susan and Derek like pushed the person away and led his wife to safety. Awwwww.
--Again I thought Anyday was a real highlight. There were a lot of them in this show though. I hope Mark will pass along the second setlist and some of the great pix I know he took.
--Lest everyone think that Mark managed not to get hurt ... he walked into a glass door at my building and suffered a pretty gushy nosebleed. In true Mark fashion, he was cracking up for two or three minutes before he could manage to tell me what he did. Silly rabbit.

Next up: Virginia-bound for some righteous seats for B.B. King! And some much-needed organizational work on M's collection.