Smoke on the Water: a houseparty featuring Mark Karan and Dave Malone
2013-10-06
Novato, CA 94949
4:30 PM, Sunday, October 6, 2013
[6:00 PM noodling; Jason Crosby up there from the get go]
[7:12 PM getting ready to go again…]
Lead singer for each tune indicated by first initial.
With a fabulous salmon dinner catered by the amazing Chef Jeff, tonight's affair was another terrifically fun event. The weather was absolutely perfect for visiting with friends and lounging about in the late afternoon sun, and we were treated to an incredible sunset as the evening wore on. Brendan supplied two tasty minikegs from his Marin Brewing Company Moylan’s Brewery – and idiot that I am, I neglected to note the exact names; thanks to Jon Hart for filling me in! – and I can relate that both were excellent. I started on the Celts Golden Ale, but swapped over to the hoppier Tipperary Pale Ale after tasting both.
As might be expected, the gig was pretty relaxed, and it was fun to hear the guys working out what to do inbetween songs. Pete Soper set up a great sound mix for us, and as Jon Hart was pulling multiple tracks into his recorders, and only a few days later, here it is, up for grabs from the Live Music Archive! I was sorry that Stacey only sat in on harmony vox for one tune, but things weren't really set up for a third vocalist onstage, so I can understand why she laid out after her brief visit. I was psyched to see Jason Crosby and Shana Morrison walk in towards the end of the first set, and his contributions on violin throughout the later part of the show were consistently tasty. Shana laid low until Mark called her up midway through the third set, but wow, she really put it out there for her two covers.
My notes didn't explicitly say “no encore”, but given that I'd been sipping the Tipperary for a few hours, it's not surprising that my attention could have been a little hazy at that point. I'm gonna go with “no encore” until I hear/see otherwise because I remember Dave making a comment about being hungry for dinner and rushing off stage towards the kitchen. Must have been tough watching us eat while stuck up there onstage…