John Kadlecik & the Golden Gate Wingmen at Terrapin Crossroads, November 5, 2014

Terrapin Crossroads presents John Kadlecik & the Golden Gate Wingmen
2014-11-05
the Grate Room at Terrapin Crossroads
100 Yacht Club Drive, San Rafael, CA
8:00 PM, Wednesday, November 5, 2014

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[8:09 PM lights down, announcements]

1. [8:11 PM] Any Road
2. [8:15 PM] Seen Love
3. [8:19 PM] Run for the Roses
4. [8:23 PM] It's Alright
5. [8:29 PM] Good Friday Experiment
6. [8:33 PM] LSD (Lakeshore Drive)
7. [8:38 PM] Down to Eugene
8. [8:42 PM] Long Way to Go Home
9. [8:50 PM] American Spring
10. [8:56 PM] Sister Smiles
11. [9:00 PM] Yellow Moon
    [set ends 9:04 PM]

[9:24 PM lights down, band out]

1. [9:26 PM] (space intro) » When I Paint My Masterpiece
2. [9:36 PM] Desert Trance »
3. [9:51 PM] Dupree's Diamond Blues
4. [9:59 PM] Liquid Silver »
5. [10:10 PM] Riverrun
6. [10:18 PM] the Business
7. [10:24 PM] Walking in Your Footsteps »
8. [10:32 PM] Dweller on the Threshold
9. [10:44 PM] Dark Star Jam »
10. [10:52 PM] Page 32
11. [10:59 PM] Great Vehicle
    [set ends 11:06 PM]
     
    Encore
12. [11:09 PM] Ripple
    [show ends 11:14 PM]

• Jeff Chimenti: Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards;
• John Kadlecik: guitar, vox;
• Jay Lane: drums;
• Reed Mathis: bass.

Big thanks to Brian for posting pix and other info about this show at Deadheadland!

5:28 PM off BART at El Cerrito del Norte after a pause atop the platform for the tidal wave of folks exiting the train and funneling down the stairs, then outside to wait at the bus stop. Buncha folks just standing around. No driver. Oh well. Gotta wait. At least the weather's nice and mild tonight. Turns out the driver was simply snoozing in back; when he gets up and begins to prep for the run, I load my bike onto the carrier, then climb aboard.

A few minutes later we're out and rolling, and the next phase of the journey unfolds slowly, as nearly all bus trips do. We wrestle through light traffic for a few scattered stops in Richmond, heading in opposition to most of the traffic. Seems like we're making far more stops than are listed on the schedule, but they're all marked with the GG transit sign, so I assume that the schedule is just an outline in broad brush strokes. Off Cutting and onto 580, we start to make some good time on our journey west – no more stops that I know of – no, wait, less than a mile and we're exiting for Point Richmond. crap. Well. No point in worrying about the time, I should still get there before the doors open.

Shortly thereafter we're pulling off at San Quentin for the first San Rafael stop – no takers! – then down the frontage road and looping along towards the canal district. I'm a little too antsy and decide to hop off when another rider calls an early stop. This ought to save me some time, except I'm slightly discombobulated from the unfamiliar looping route, so I cycle off in the wrong direction. A quarter mile down, no, drat! Obviously wrong! I repeat this with every possible wrong choice before realizing where I am, and how to complete my journey. Way too spacey tonight. Must be all that pollen messing with me or something. Part of the problem can be blamed on the weird signage at the freeway, announcing the entrance (at the end of the 580) as being 101, which caused me to think I was about a half mile North of where I actually was. So anyways, problem solved, but I certainly wasted more time orienting myself than I might have saved over staying on the bus awhile longer and then riding over from the downtown transit center. Plus: no supper . Panic at being lost kept me from checking in at any of the many open shops for foodstuffs. Had a fine plan in theory, but I failed to execute it. So, uh, hungry-ish!

Happily, I get to TXR about 6:40 or so, lock up my bike and then drop in line with a bit of time to spare before the doors open. Mission accomplished! Or something like that! Fifteen or twenty minutes later and all is well – inside, holding down the fort in my favorite center off-rail spot. Now to wait until Ting arrives for the show. Funny to see Ross James out with a very tall ladder to mess with one of the chandeliers – shouldn't there be someone lower on the totem pole to deal with that kinda stuff? John K is walking around and chit-chatting a little with friends – Terrapin is such a casual place!

I was surprised to see JK walk out alone a few minutes later for the start out the show – I must have missed prior mention of a solo set – and I was even more surprised when he strapped on his gold electric guitar and began to play. Dang! Sure sounds like an acoustic! I guess guitar modelling technology has progressed to the point that instrument looks don't matter much any more. Watch out folks, he's pulling a reverse Lebo! After a couple tunes, John commented to us that this was the first show of his electro-acoustic tour, and talked a little more about the cognitive disruption of his current set up – just close your eyes if it bothers you was the gist of that bit. The set was good, and it was nice to be able to hear his singing clearly. Later in the set he called for requests, mentioning that he didn't have a setlist to follow, but despite the many shouts, it's not clear whether he actually acted on any of the suggestions!

After a brief setbreak (wherein I was happy to catch a few minutes of James Nash and TFB in the bar), Kadlecik came back with tonight's Wingmen for a fully electric set. In retrospect, it was surprisingly light on Dead covers, but that was probably the point – a chance for John to establish himself separately from his role as a Garcia imitator in a cover band. The set started out pretty strongly, but seemed to lose gas a bit as they progressed… maybe a little too much aimless jamming, and not enough familiarity on the part of the musicians with the new song structures? More than half the tunes were totally new to me, so perhaps it's more likely that the problem was mine, in failing to be open to the new sounds unfolding before me. Guess I'll have to hope for another listen at a future date to make a more informed decision.

I was feeling a bit worn down by the latter part of the set, and while I didn't leave early (like some of the other grey-hairs), I certainly considered it. Early-to-rise (7 AM martial arts practice) and a late evening show are starting to become too much for this old fart! I was buoyed a little when the band began Walking in Your Footsteps – a tongue in cheek reference to Kadlecik's musical path? – but around this time I began to be annoyed with the overuse of pedal effects on Reed's bass lines. Yeah, he's good, and his lead lines are cool, but there's a articular whiney tone he overuses that just really grates on me. Anyways, I was surprised when the band kicked into Dark Star because it was such an amped up, rocking rendition. No grace or subtlety, just ballin'. And no words, if I recall correctly.

The last two tunes of the set were another new pair (or new to me), presumably one or both are on John's new EP release. Neither struck me as particularly strong, but I was pretty tired by this point of the show, so I'd say my assessment is a little suspect, to say the least. Bows, then off for a minute or three, then back to cap off the night with a sing-a-long through Ripple. A few of the hardier folks around us were all fired up, hooting and hollering for more. Heck, even Jay was willing to play another one (though perhaps that's because it said “Hey Pockey Way” on the setlist, but John signalled the end, and so that's all they wrote.

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