Jason Crosby at Sweetwater Music Hall, August 27, 2014

Sweetwater Music Hall presents Jason Crosby & Friends
2014-08-27
Sweetwater Music Hall
19 Corte Madera Ave, Mill Valley, CA
8:00 PM, Wednesday, August 27, 2014

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[8:m PM lights down, announcements; both Jason & Roger are playing acoustic guitar]

1. [8:12 PM] Two of Us (R+J)
2. [8:16 PM] One of Those Places (J)
3. [8:20 PM] Things We Said Today (R)
4. [8:25 PM] Willin' (R+J)
5. [8:30 PM] Mother Nature's Son (R)
6. [8:33 PM] Wrong Side of the Road (J)
7. [8:37 PM] Bell-bottom Blues (R)
8. [8:43 PM] I Dig a Pony (J)
   [add Lebo on $ lap steel]
9. [8:48 PM] Please Leave a Light On (J) $
   [Lebo to acoustic, Jason to ^ violin]
10. [8:51 PM] Couple of Puffs (R) ^
    [set ends 8:58 PM]

[9:10 PM lights down, Jason says “Let's get it on!”; JC: & acoustic guitar; RM: bass, h vox; CM: dr]

1. [9:10 PM] Doubters &
2. [9:14 PM] Don't Let It Go &
3. [9:17 PM] No Good Trying » Toll Takes Itself &
   [add Lebo, Jason moves to keys]
4. [9:25 PM] Running to You (L)
5. [9:32 PM] Blackbird Chain
   [RM rambles a bit]
6. [9:37 PM] If One of Us Should Fall (RM)
   [add Roger]
7. [9:46 PM] Stuck Inside of Mobile (With the Memphis Blues Again) (R)
   [JC to & acoustic, Lebo to $ lap steel guitar]
8. [9:53 PM] Fearless &$ »
9. [9:59 PM] Sorry &$
10. [10:04 PM] Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite
    [add Shana Morrison]
11. [10:08 PM] These Are the Days (SM)
12. [10:12 PM] Sweet Thing (SM) ^
    [SM out]
13. [10:19 PM] I Wanna Feel It (L)
14. [10:30 PM] Now That Your Dollar Bills Have Sprouted Wings &$
15. [10:35 PM] Friend of the Lithium &
    [set ends 10:39 PM]
     
    Encore
16. [10:43 PM] Wot's… Uh, the Deal? (JC alone) &
    [add Jerry Harrison: acoustic guitar; ? female: harmony vox]
17. [10:47 PM] She Cracked (JH) ^
    [JH and fem off]
18. [10:55 PM] Revolution #1 (R)
    [show ends 11:00 PM]

• Jason Crosby: keyboard, 6-string violin, acoustic guitar, lead and harmony vox;
• Dan "Lebo" Lebowitz: acoustic guitar, lap steel guitar, lead and harmony vox;
• Reed Mathis: bass, lead and harmony vox;
• Roger McNamee: acoustic guitar, guitar, lead and harmony vox;
• Cochrane McMillan: drums, percussion.

• Jerry Harrison: acoustic guitar, lead vox;
• Shana Morrison: lead vox;
• ?: harmony vox.

Lagging a bit too much after dinner at home, we arrive a few min late and walk in during the middle of the Doobie Decibel duo's first tune, a cover of the Beatles' classic Two of Us, appropriately enough. IIt seemed to me that Roger and Jason must have spent a bit of time rehearsing because their harmony and overall delivery was really sharp. Roger's new tune, Couple of Puffs, envisioning a Utopian, cannabis-celebrating society of the future was quite funny. Good stuff! I really enjoyed this opening set – full of choice covers, it was a nice, low key way to get the evening going.

By the time Jason returned to open the second set, the crowd had swelled quite a bit and the room was comfortably full, if not completely packed. After a couple of trio tunes featuring Jason on acoustic guitar, backed by Reed and Cochrane, Lebo joined in, abetted soon after by Roger, who instigated a marvelously bouncy romp through Memphis Blues, and setting off the fabulously fun-filled second half of the set. Every tune from here on out was a real winner!

Shana Morrison's two leads were super, and she paused somewhere in the to give a Birthday shout out to her pop, Van the man, who was hanging out at a table in the back behind dark shades and a hat!

Friend of the Lithium to close the set wasn't nearly as schizophrenic and dark as some of this year's earlier rendition, and Jason seemed to dropped most of the Lithium verses altogether, settling for a simple chorus or bridge substitution into FotD. I'd be interested in hearing whether that's just part of the evolution of the tune, a conscious effort to trim it in the face of a looming early curfew, or some other factor.

In any event, the band took bows and disappeared for an encore break – just long enough to learn how to play Jerry Harrison's tune! – and Jason reappeared to play a fine solo Pink Floyd cover to start off the encore. The surprise addition of Jerry Harrison and his pal (mumble mumble) was kinda neat, but absent Dr. Woo (xref earlier show), I wasn't all that interested in the one chord groove, especially when contrasted against the following closer, Revolution. Course just about everything pales when stacked up against the Beatles, and making a competition out of the song choices is just stupid, so excuse me for rambling on so foolishly.

Woot! I had a great time! Thanks guys!

And as a special treat, you can stream audio or video of the show from the Moonalice website thanks to Roger!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2014 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2014 event list! ☸ Back to the previous event! ☸