John Mayall at Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, December 15, 2021

Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse presents John Mayall; with co-headliner, Walter Trout
Littlefield Room, Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse
2020 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA 94704-1104 USA
8:00 PM, Wednesday, December 15, 2021

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[8:06 PM] {lights down; house announcements from Andrea Hirsig; performers out}

1. [8:11 PM] The Sum of Something
   [8:17 PM] {John introduces the band}
2. [8:18 PM] Movin' Groovin' Blues
3. [8:24 PM] It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry (CW)
   [8:30 PM] {John introduces the band}
4. [8:30 PM] Parchman Farm
   [8:35 PM] Mother-In-Law Blues (false start – John is playing in the wrong key)
5. [8:36 PM] Mother-In-Law Blues
   [8:45 PM] {John says The Sum of Something is next; Greg says let's have Carolyn sing another one}
6. [8:44 PM] The Laws Must Change (CW)
7. [8:52 PM] Mail Order Mystics » [8:58 PM] {GR bass solo teases My Favorite Things} » [9:00 PM] {GR bass solo teases Gershwin's Summertime} » {JD drum solo} » Mail Order Mystics finale
   [9:06 PM] {John introduces the band again}
8. [9:07 PM] Room to Move
   [9:13 PM] {John introduces the band again}
   [9:15 PM] {lights up; John asks us to go buy his merch!}

• Jay Davenport: drums;
• John Mayall: keyboards, harmonica, vox;
• Greg Rzab: bass;
• Carolyn Wonderland: guitar, vox.

[9:56 PM] {lights down; house announcements; performers out; Andrea Hirsig introduces the band}

1. [9:58 PM] I Can Tell >
2. [10:07 PM] Walkin' in the Rain >
   {add Walter's tour manager, Anthony Grisham: guitar}
3. [10:15 PM] Wanna Dance
   {drop AG; Walter talks about writing the next song}
4. [10:22 PM] All Out of Tears
5. [10:29 PM] Got a Broken Heart
   [10:37 PM] {Liver disease/transplant story}
6. [10:39 PM] Almost Gone
7. [10:45 PM] Ordinary Madness
   [10:54 PM] {add Anthony Grisham: guitar; more stories from Walter}
8. [10:55 PM] We're All In This Together (WT+AG)
   {drop AG; Walter introduces the last song}
9. [11:04 PM] Red Sun
   [11:12 PM] {show ends; no Encore}

• Teddy Zig Zag Andreadis: keyboards, harmonica;
• Johnny Griparic: bass;
• Anthony Grisham: guitar, vox;
• Michael Leasure: drums, harmony vox;
• Walter Trout: guitar, vox.

I was really glad to see John Mayall one more time: when I first saw the latest set of tour dates nothing seemed to work for our schedule (or within my preferred travel range). And then tonight's gig got added at the Freight. Perfect!

Carolyn Wonderland is a nice addition to the band, and I wouldn't have minded if she sang another tune or two. I know Mayall is the main draw, but his voice isn't as strong as it used to be and the show would be stronger with Caroline belting it out instead of Mayall's gravelly mumble.

At 88, Mayall seems to be physically strong: I think the problems I noticed with his playing derive more from failing hearing (what key am I playing in?) or memory lapses (losing track of what tune they're playing when it comes time for the ending. Still, I'll cut him a lot of slack: if he wants to keep touring, heck! Stay on the road!

Mayall definitely did better with the right brain portion of the show than the self-monitoring left-brain: I think he introduced the band (or started to…) a half dozen times, and he announced the next tune as The Sum of Something three or four times. It was kinda funny: he had a notebook in front of him – one tune per page? – and he'd flip the page, peer down, then say something like “Now we're gonna play The Sum of Something”. Greg Rzab and Caroline Wonderland tried their best to stay serious and redirect things as planned, sometimes making an alternate suggestion, other times reminding Mayall that they'd opened the show with that tune (and that it was great!). Having witnessed the decline of several relatives, I could relate to their struggle to keep Mayall on track! Fortunately, Mayall was quite agreeable most of the time: I'd say only one instance of his reactions seemed argumentative, and the simple result that time was to let him skip forward another page in the notebook to the tune that he wanted: problem solved, conflict resolved, let's play!

Considering that Mayall recently recorded a new album (not yet released, but being fluffed already in the popular media), it's curious to ponder why Mayall would get stuck on one from 2009.

Walter Trout's set was darn good. I would definitely go see him again!

Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2021 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2021 event list! ☸ On to the next event!