Saturday, February 27, 2010
This was the night of Moonalice's inaugural show in Berkeley CA, which is somewhat surprising given that the Bay Area is pretty much home for the band, but as Chubby noted during the show, "every time we tried to book a show in Berkeley we seemed to run into a Phil or a Furthur show". This time Furthur (with Phil of course) was out on tour on the East Coast so no such conflict.
The venue for the show was the Ashkenaz, a venerable community treasure in Berkeley and as noted on it's website, "Berkeley's home for world music and dance since 1973". Ashkenaz is well known to Bay Area deadheads and jamband fans having hosted many shows from this genre.
I had arranged to meet my brother Paul who lives in Oakland for dinner and after driving in from home in West Marin, met at Cafe Rouge on 4th Street for a lovely dinner. We then made the short drive to the venue arriving about a half hour before the show. This was our first time at the venue and were delighted by the easy parking and very mellow scene at the door. We got inside and were able to sit down at a table near Earl's merchandise area and relax a bit before the show. Pete and John were in the hall chatting with some friends and the whole vibe was friendly and relaxed. I got to say hi to Chubby right before the show started as well.
Soon after, the band got settled and Big Steve entertained the crowd with his Presidential candidacy rap which was a big hit. Absolutely love seeing Steve looking so good and clearly having a great time, the tribe is lucky to have such a fantastic "Medicine Man" on the bus.
The music kicked off with a rousing rendition of Down the Road a Piece and the place was jumping. I have to note here that I was not sure how this tune could stay in the rotation without GE since it had been such a signature song. Well, no worries there, Pete has taken on the vocal duties beautifully and the whole band really got the boogie woogie beat going perfectly with Chubby driving the bass line, Molo rocking the beat and Barry kicking ass on guitar. It was a great opener and set the stage for a great night of music.
The rest of the first set was excellent as well with a few new tunes and many favorites. Ann looked and sounded great as always. When Pete is on the keys, Chubby is holding down the bass duties and doing it beautifully. When Pete moves to bass, Chubby takes up his electric guitar. This is a change for the band and a good one in my opinion. The highlight of the first set was a tremendous Stella Blue. Pete on bass and vocals was terrific, but this is Barry's song on which to shine. The first section of the song, Barry is on guitar and switches to pedal steel for the iconic solo that Jerry made us all love so much. There was a minor technical glitch for Barrys switch to pedal steel, but he is such a consummate professional it didn't phase him in the least. The song soared into cosmic territory as Barry unleashed some gorgeous playing building to a high energy conclusion that had the crowd roaring approval. Simply breathtaking. As Darren (DarkStar94519) later tweeted, he became a full fledged tribe member after that performance.
The first set took us to around 11pm, and after dancing the whole set, I was happy to sit down for a much needed rest.
The second set kicked off right where the first left off. Unfortunately my memory of exactly what was played and in what order is a lacking but thankfully we'll all see and hear the full list soon. The highlight of the second set for me was when Roger began to speak about how important their fans are and noted that they've been handing out Gold Passes to the fans that help spread the word about the band. He said that he was giving one out tonight to someone that didn't know it was coming and surprise, surprise, it turned out to be me. I was just floored to be so honored and it really made my night. Got a high five from my brother. Chubby then went on to thank someone many of us know and love, Gail Barnes, and dedicated Gwendolyn to her. The song was simply beautiful a real highlight of the second set.
Things didn't stop there and the music went on until 1am concluding with with a fantastic Tell me it's OK. The band came back for an encore that included a guest appearance by a wonderful harp player whose name I missed. He jammed with the band as they finished up the evening with a rousing version of I Aint' ever Satisfied.
I need to note that a local Berkeley couple who had decided to just stop in and check out the show sat next to my brother and I and before the show started asked us if we knew much about the band. We gave them the full lowdown and watched happily as they totally got into the music and danced all night. Two new tribe members no doubt.
Very happy the band is off to such a fine start in 2010. Ann, Roger, Pete, John and Barry all looked relaxed and happy to be making the music we all love.
Everyone has a lot to look forward to as the rest of the year unfolds.
Thank you Moonalice
David Salinger (@dsalinger) on twitter
