12/1/17 #crblive Live Review, Set One: Sweet Thang and Cisco opener.
Neal don't need no warming up! He's tearing into his first solo right away.
I've reviewing
this show via an AUD also, but it's way clearer than the Portland tape
was. I suspect it's because the Hi-Fi Lounge is like ten feet across.
Mellow vibe continues with Roan County Banjo.
I read an article
the other day that criticized a recent CRB show for having "too many
mid-tempo numbers," and I was like "You know that's literally what they
do, right?" It's like going to see a rap artist and then being like
"Yeah, there were too many beats."
Chauffeur's Daughter next.
Nice little
freeform jam coming out of the tune proper. Adam driving, with Neal
adding the occasional chord. Like where this is going.
> Clear Blue Sky. Nice transition.
These days I almost prefer Clear Blue Skies to go into the country rock jam instead of into The Good Doctor.
Some great interplay between Neal and Adam there during that jam. Now fading a bit after a peak. Tony adding some great accents.
When Adam does
the piano-only intro to Sweet Lullaby, it always makes it abundantly
clear that it's the same chords as Blue Christmas.
High Is Not the Top is followed by a personal favorite, Jump the Turnstile.
Nice, brief outro jam for Jump the Turnstile. Adam going nuts.
Looks like Hello LA is going to close out the first set.
As CRB first sets
go, that was reasonably tame, except for the brief jams in Chauffeur's
Daughter and Clear Blue Sky. I definitely remember this show being a bit
more jammy than this. Maybe all that secondhand smoke "clouded" my
memory...
12/1/17 #crblive Live Review, Set Two: Second set kicks off in jaunty fashion with Love's Made a Fool of You.
A solid outro jam
develops into something murkier and a little jazzy. Eleven-minute take
opens the set with some serious improvisation.
Good To Know next.
Standard little outro jam on Good To Know, not the extended jazz jam like on 12/2. Hark the Herald Hermit Speaks is next.
Adam solo piano intro to Train Robbers.
Train Robbers is pretty darn evocative on its own, but it's getting a huge outro solo from Neal this time around.
Solo fades out and into a low-tempo take on Behold the Seer.
Hot take on Behold the Seer, despite the slow tempo. Fades into If You Had A Heart To Break.
That song always starts out slow and ends up rocking. Band carrying the momentum into Tuff Mama.
Adam leading Tuff Mama into jamland.
Adam killing his solo here. So good.
If 12/2 was a majorly Neal-centric show. I feel like 12/2 is all Adam's.
Neal adding some really good textural playing now. This is great.
Almost a droning jam now.
This sounds more like CATS than CRB.
Great -> I Ain't Hiding
Excellent playing from Adam leading into the Hiding jam. He stays out in front now where Neal would usually take a solo.
Fantastic version of I Ain't Hiding to end the second set.
Band's back out to encore with Goodbye Wheeling.
Overall, that
show was a little less even than most CRB shows I've seen, but the high
points definitely made up for the lower, sometimes slower points.
The Chauffeur's
Daughter/Clear Blue Sky pair was spacey and great, Jump the Turnstile
was extended a bit, and the long take on Love's Made a Fool of You was a
great surprise. Tuff Mama -> I Ain't Hiding was definitely the
highlight. The rest of the second set was pretty standard.
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