subdudes; Jerry Hannan
2014-09-07
Rancho Nicasio
1 Old Rancheria Road, Nicasio, CA
4:00 PM, Sunday, September 7, 2014

|Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2014 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2014 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[3:50 PM announcements]

1. [3:52 PM] ?Not Tryin' to Get Lucky
2. [3:56 PM] ABC
   [add Michael Papenburg: guitar]
3. [3:59 PM] Truck
4. [4:03 PM] Smoke in Heaven
5. [4:07 PM] Society
6. [4:19 PM] Where Have All the Flowers Gone (sung by jerry's 90-yr old dad)
7. [4:23 PM] Everything's Gonna Be Alright
8. [4:29 PM] ?
9. [4:33 PM] ?
   [set ends 4:38 PM]

[5:01 PM announcements]

1. [5:03 PM] Couldn't Take Another Heartbreak Now
   [add Tim Cook, who yacks a bit]
2. [5:09 PM] One Time
3. [5:18 PM] Angel to Be
4. [5:27 PM] Why Can't I Forget About You
5. [5:31 PM] It's So Hard
6. [5:41 PM] He's Got You on His Mind
7. [5:47 PM] Poverty
8. [5:54 PM] Sarita
9. [6:03 PM] Carved in Stone
10. [6:09 PM] Papa Dukie and the Mud People
11. [6:20 PM] Sugar Pie
12. [6:26 PM] Late at Night
13. [6:32 PM] All the Time in the World
    [PA blows out a fuse mid-tune, at ~6:39 PM or so]
14. [6:41 PM] Light in Your Eyes
    [set ends 6:50-ish PM; pause while the 'dudes unplug, then head out into the crowd for a bit of purely acoustic music-making]
     
    Encore
15. [6:52 PM] the Rain
16. [6:58 PM] Known to Touch Me
    [show ends 7:05 PM after announcements from the owner]

subdudes

• Steve Amedée: drums, percussion, vox;
• Tim Cook: percussion, bass, vox;
• John Magnie: keyboards, accordion, harmonica, vox;
• Tommy Malone: guitar, slide guitar, acoustic guitar, acoustic slide guitar, vox.

• Jerry Hannan: acoustic guitar, harmonica, vox;
• Papa Hannan: vox (t06);
• Michael Papenburg: guitar;

When early word of this show popped up on the grapevine (thanks Penny!), I began watching the Rancho Nicasio calendar more carefully, so as not to get shut out on ticket sales. Situated way out towards Pt. Reyes in West Marin, Rancho Nicasio is a roadhouse bar that's survived to the present, largely unchanged from its rustic inception in the late 1800's (though the building itself dates to 1940 – being rebuilt on the spot of the original 1867 structure after it burned down). That might not seem too old compared with the span of western civilization, but around these parts that's positively ancient! And as I'd missed out on some other opportunities to see shows out there (David Grisman, Peter Rowan, Bonnie Hayes, etc), I was ready to jump when ticket sales went live for this event. subdudes outside on a Sunday afternoon? Oh yeah, sign me up!

So the day arrives and it's a typically perfect indian summer afternoon – sunny and warm, but cool in the shade or where the breezes blow. Perfect for an outdoor afternoon gig! We get to the venue about 30 minutes before showtime to find that it's already crowded with people, dang! So we park on the side of the road about a quarter mile from the entrance gate, then haul in with our chairs, hoping to find an open spot on the lawn to enjoy the show. Inside, the place is thickly packed already, though most of the reserved tables under the Redwoods are still empty, and there are yet a few unclaimed patches in the grass at the far corners of the space. Friends at a table in the grove wave us down and offer space on their benches, but it's clear to me that a seat there means no sightline to the stage, so we move on after shaking howdy with a promise to return for a longer visit after we'e settled down. Continuing counterclockwise around the back edge of the property, we pass by the soundboard and run into our pal Jon Hart lounging in a chair on the bark mulch. He invites us to pitch camp, and seeing that this offers us a much more centered view than the grass we'd been aiming for, we promptly toss down our crap and set up chairs in his company. Jon has arrived hours earlier in order to set up for a multitrack recording, and his impressive pile of gear is a constant draw for the curious among passersby walking to or fro on the rear pathway.

As the sun moves west, we are soon enveloped with the cool shade of the redwood towering behind us, and I immediately regret my optimism in wearing summer shorts. Thankfully, boy scout training and years of experience with bay area weather has taught me to prepare well for a variety of climatic surprises; once I pull on my grubby jeans and some wool socks, I'm good to go for the next hour or two.

Soon enough, it's showtime, and today's opener is the mad Hannan himself. Jerry starts off with a fine, funny pair of solo tunes (ABC's is particularly good! And you can check it out the “official video” on youtube…), and is then joined by guitarist Michael Papenburg, who adds tasty lead lines throughout the rest of the set. About a half hour in, we decide to make a run for BBQ, hoping that the line won't be too onerous at this point. We luck out with placing an order – one of the three checkers waves us right up, but then spend about 10 minutes working our way up the queue to the actual Q's in order to get our grub. In the meantime, Jerry has brought his 90-year old father onstage for a song or two, interspersed with wry banter with the audience. Doin' good! We head back to eat at a picnic table in the back with friends, so I pay less attention to this part of the show than I should. Sometimes multitasking is NOT the order of the day! We finish up our meal just as Jerry is wrapping up his set, so we take advantage of the break to continue socializing. It's always fun to visit someplace out of the way and find that a gaggle of friends have decided to visit too!

Twenty minutes later and the subdudes are up. Yeah, the main event! They perform the first few songs as a trio in honor of Johnny Ray Allen, who passed away unexpectedly about two weeks ago. It's great to hear the band, but understandably, the vibe is a little sad. Tommy announces, “Here we are,” with a poster size photo of Johnny onstage, together with one of his bass guitars set in a stand as if Johnny was about to walk onstage and play. Let us dance and make merry, for tomorrow we may die! We keep moving on. And we dance, carrying those who have joined the ancestors along in our hearts and memories, so that they may join in today's communion of the spirits. When Tim Cook joins in, he pauses to add his own remarks about Johnny before settling into his role on bass.

As the set unfolds, the tunes cover a lot of ground, drawing from most of the band's eight studio releases. I'm happy, but Jon grumbles that it's exactly the same list as last night. Shoot, I hate that! I dunno why that approach is so prevalent in the industry – it strikes me as lazy and condescending to the audience. Late in the set, a fuse blows and knocks out the PA, interrupting the performance of the penultimate tune. Must be Johnny playing a practical joke on us, huh? Can't possibly have anything to do with old wiring or a system pushed past capacity.

Jon warns me at this point that the encore is going to be entirely acoustic, with the band playing out in the crowd, so Ting and I move down to the front, then follow the quartet up the aisle for a hand's distance experience. As they begin to play the Rain, Ting shushes the crowd, and Tommy, standing next to her, stops playing and responds with a teasing comment before resuming. What a joker! That one concluded, the band pauses a moment before striking out for a new spot. We try to follow closely, but by this point folks are wise to what's happening, so sticking with the band is a little tougher than before. “Make way for Amedeé!” John Magnie has also fallen behind to shake hands or hug a pal, and now has to pick his way past unruly fans determined to be up close for the final tune. “Coming through!” The crowd relents, and the boys grace us with one more, the hymn-like Known to Touch Me.

By this point, the high fog has blown in and it's starting to get dark. The temp is cool but stable since the winds have died, and we pack our gear up as most of the crowd thins out. I'd hoped to have a few minutes to visit with the band members, but apparently, this is a popular notion, so I'm limited to a few words of greeting and thanks with John, and then offering Steve some unsolicited advice about transporting botanical extracts past TSA at SFO. Less than 2 fluid ounces? You're good to go man!

|Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2014 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2014 event list! ☸ On to the next event!