Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real at Great American Music Hall, May 10, 2016

Slim's presents Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real and Insects vs. Robots
2016-05-10
Great American Music Hall
859 O'Farrell Street, San Francisco, CA 94109-7005 USA
8:00 PM, Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[8:00 PM lights down, band out]

1. [8:01 PM] ? # »
2. [8:08 PM] ? #
   [MN swaps to guitar]
3. [8:13 PM] They'll Kill Ya
4. [8:20 PM] So Far Gone #&
5. [8:32 PM] Become a Crow (NS) %
6. [8:39 PM] Infection (Time Grows Thin) *
7. [8:45 PM] ? “this is all just in our heads”
8. [8:49 PM; add Tato Melgar: percussion] ? (unidentified instrumental)
9. [8:56 PM; -TM] _?_ “tiny grain of sand” / “hourglass of man” (NS)
   [set ends 9:m PM]

Insects vs. Robots

• Milo Gonzalez: guitar, slide guitar, harmony vox;
• Micah Nelson: # electric charango, & harmonica, % keyboards, * guitar, percussion, lead and harmony vox;
• Tony Peluso: drums;
• Jeff Smith: bass;
• Nikita Sorokin: violin, % banjo, lead (t05, t09) and harmony vox.

[9:30 PM lights down, Lukas alone, acoustic]

1. [9:31 PM] All the Pretty Horses
2. [9:36 PM] Mystery
3. [9:39 PM] Outside of Austin
   [Lukas is joined by the band]
4. [9:44 PM] ? (new song) “life was unkind” / “reason for living” / “ain't gonna die alone”
5. [9:48 PM] Running Shine
6. [9:52 PM] Just Breathe
7. [9:57 PM] ? “feel like goin back where there's nowhere to stay”
   [Lukas swaps his acoustic to electric]
8. [10:03 PM] ?
9. [10:09 PM] Ugly Color
10. [10:17 PM] Something Real
11. [10:21 PM] I'll Make Love to You Anytime
12. [10:26 PM] Set Me Down on a Cloud » [10:30 PM] Blackbird (tease)
13. [10:31 PM] Sweet Dreams Baby (tease) » [10:33 PM note: id is late] Four Letter Word (with an embedded tease of the Beatles' classic I Want You)
14. [10:42 PM] ? “don't take back” / “sittin' and listening baby take me home”
15. [10:52 PM] Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes
16. [11:01 PM] Georgia (Forget About)
17. [11:06 PM] ? “the love that I deserve” (maybe Don't Want to Fly)
18. [11:13 PM] ? “never get too far til you start to go”
    [set ends 11:20 PM]
     
    Encore
19. [11:22 PM] San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)
    [add Insects vs. Robots]
20. [11:27 PM] Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town (Pearl jam tease) » [11:28 PM] Like an Inca (M)
21. [11:39 PM] L.A. Woman (L)
    [show ends 11:52 PM]

Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real

• Anthony LoGerfo: drums;
• Corey McCormick: bass, harmony vox;
• Tato Melgar: percussion;
• Lukas Nelson: guitar, acoustic guitar, vox.

What a killer show!!! I'm really glad we rallied for a Tuesday night at the Great American – it was light years more fun than spending an evening home working on chores! The turnout was pretty light when Insects vs. Robots began their opening set, but folks gradually trickled in so that the house was pretty full by the time they wrapped things up. I liked their set, mostly on the strength of the fine jamming, and I look forward to hearing them develop their repertoire over the coming years.

At set break I rustled up to the bar to buy a pint of Heretic porter (yum!), and found myself surrounded by friends from past shows. Yay! And it turned out that one of them was here to celebrate her Birthday – quite the party if you ask my opinion.

After a half hour or so, the lights were turned back down, and Lukas sauntered out with an acoustic guitar to open the show with a three-song mini-set, serenading us with the same easy-going charm that characterizes his pop Willie's style. Although I was there to rock out, the acoustic tunes were a nice treat, and given the opportunity, I'd definitely like to hear a full solo show from Lukas at some future date.

Next the band joined in, bringing the energy up bit by bit over the next few songs. Lukas introduced only two of these tunes, Running Shine and Just Breathe, so until the new lyrics show up on the net, the set list above will stay incomplete. About a half hour in, Lukas traded his acoustic for an electric, and with that, the band really blasted off, taking us on a 90 minute blues rock journey. After dropping a couple teases into other tunes, they finally treated us to a solid (and unexpected!) cover of Paul Simon's majestic Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes. What a classic! I hardly noticed the absence of Ladysmith Black Mambazo!

As you might expect, the crowd went crazy for the San Francisco encore, and while it might be a trifle dated at this point (when was the last time you saw any people wearing flowers in their hair?), it was fun to hear nonetheless. Lukas then teased us with a snatch of Pearl Jam's XXX as he called Micah and the others back onstage. With Insects vs. Robots joining Promise of the Real, the next tune was a jamfest reminiscent of any number of classic Neil Young shredders, though I believe the tune is actually one of Micah's originals. Closing the gig with L.A. Woman might not have been the most PC choice for a San Francisco gig, but the band definitely killed it, and that crackling cosmic energy

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!