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I saw Goverment Mule last night at Metropol - and am I glad I went ! They ROCKED !!!!! LOUD, RAW, and UGLY should be the name of this band !
The bassist (Allen Woody) and Guitarist (Warren Haynes) are former members of ABB, but now play full tme with the Mule. Don't know who the drummer was, but he was great too. I expected straight-ahead blues-rock, but was pleasantly surprised when they played extended jams, in a similar vein as the ABBs. In fact, it seemed that each song just flowed into the next one, with little or no pauses in between! I didn't recognize any of their songs except their cover of Beatles "She said she said" which blew me away ! Haynes rough, bluesy vocals belting out at full volume. Oh yeah, it was VERY LOOOOOOOUUUUUDDDDDDD!!! I moved up to the front but the sound was unbearable, my inner ear was vibrating with the bass, so I moved to back of the room, but in the center where the sound was SWEET ! These guys are definitely not afraid to crank it up!
Allen Woody was probably the highlight of the show - his bass playing was very musical, and not as rhythm-oriented (i.e. phil lesh). It sounded as if he were playing lead guitar with his bass at times ! Very tight band, yet very jamming/exploratory - great combo of the two ! My only regret is not knowing any of their songs, but I'm def. going to buy their CD so I'll know more the next time around ! GO SEE THIS BAND ! YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY !
-gpk
p.s. Taping is allowed at their shows so I'm going to try to get some bootlegs...
p.p.s. The kuncert was dedicated to memory of B. Oakley, who died in a motorcycle accident 25 years ago yesterday !
Here's the setlist, compliments of Chris Wacker
Encore
I attended the YES concert on Saturday October 25 at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby. I've been a fan of this band since 1984 and have never missed a tour, including ABWH in 1989. I even saw them twice on the 1994 Talk Tour. Saturday's show was possibly the best Yes concert I have EVER seen !!!!!
> Tonite was Jon Anderson's 53rd birthday. A rep. from WMMR spoke before the concert that he would like us to sing "Happy Birthday" to Jon after Soon". Okay by me !
> I had 10th row seats, on extreme stage left (Sherwood's side). > I've only been to Tower Theater once before. The normal red-velvet chairs have been replaced with moveable plastic chairs ! Not as comfortable as the others, but no big deal.
> No opening act. (Not even Bugs Bunny!) This was actually a good thing since Yes played for 3 hours !!!
> No Beer sales ! :-(
> The show started around 8:05 and didn't end until 10:55 with NO intermission!! Unbeleivable ! I've seen 150 concerts and this may have been the longest ! (This includes many Grateful Dead concerts which can be pretty lengthy!)
Sound System: Great sound! However, I was only 10 rows away, so I don't know how it sounded in the back rows. Sherwood and Igor were not turned up very loud the mix. Squire's bass sounded as good as ever! During "All Good People" my jacket was literally vibrating from his bass !
Fashion Report: Every one was in black except for Jon who wore two different outfits. First was blue/white and second was white/white/ with a colorful vest. Squire has very short hair now, and Howe has a new "Emo Phillips" do. White and Anderson looked about the same.
Stage/Lighting: Nothing spectacular for a Yes concert. Just some cool lights and a large white backdrop (which enveloped ths band). They projected some images/patterns onto this.
Setlist: (DISCLAIMER: This is from memory, I didn't write it down. I would probably check the websites to verify the actual list !!)
Rhythm of Love (Big Generator)
Siberian Khatru (Close to the Edge)
America (Yesterdays)
Open Your Eyes (from new album of same name, to be in store Nov. 25)
Heart of Sunrise (Fragile)
And you and I (Close to the Edge)
Steve Howe acoustic solo:
-- Song from Union?
--Clap
--?Mood for a Day?
--?possibly one other?
Ancient excerpt Howe/Anderson only (Topographic Oceans)
?Igor solo?
Long Distance Runaround (Fragile)
Whitefish (9012 Live) - Squire/White Jam including excerpts from Tempus
Fugit and Sound Chaser (Drama/Relayer)
Soon (Final section of Gates of Delirium from Relayer)
[Happy B-Day Jon !]
Children of Light (KTA 2) Jon said he wrote this 15 years ago !
Owner of a Lonely Heart (90125)
Revealing Science of God (Topographic Oceans - played in it's enitirety
!!!!!)
All Good People (Yes Album)
Encores:
Roundabout (Fragile)
Starship Trooper (Yes Album)
Review:
This may have been the best Yes show I've ever seen ! Great sound
system, great playing, great setlist, and very long show - what else could you possibly ask for ?
The best part of the show was the interaction between Squire and White. These guys really impressed me. They've been the backbone (i.e. engine room) of Yes for 25 years now ! They were "locked" throughout the show! Squire has always been my favorite member of Yes, so maybe I'm biased - but this guy ROCKED ! His soloing during Whitefish was phenomenal - the guy is the master of the bass guitar ! He hasn't lost anything over the years. >p>Even if you are not a big Yes fan, I would go to the show just to see this guy play! His bass "blasts" during "All Good People" were amazing too. I've never seen White this close, but he was definitely "ON". You would never guess that these two guys are 48/49 years old ! It was a lot of fun watching them interact.
Anderson's voice has lost nothing - 'nuff said.
Sherwood was mostly inaudible, but his jamming with Howe during the Trooper finale was very exciting!
Igor was also relatively quiet, but he did rise to the occasion a few times, and he played Wakeman's parts very well! Not much "stage presence" from him though, maybe because he is still very new.
Howe, was , well..... Howe. What else can you say about a guy that has won "Guitar Player" guitarist of the year for 5 years ? Not only did he play electric and acoustic - but he brought his pedal steel along ! This was quite a treat - especially during "And you and I" and "Soon". He seems to have slowed down (just a tad), but he defintely still has what it takes!
Song Reviews :
Rhythm of Love - great, solid version with some extended jamming in the middle featuring the two guitarists.
Siberian Khatru - PERFECT ! I've never seen them play this one before.
America - I had never seen this one before either - great !
Open your Eyes- New, uptempo song. I've only heard it a few times so I don't have a fully formed opinion on it yet.
H O T Sunrise - Anderson can still hit those high notes at 53 !!! Squire very audible !
And you and I - this was a major highlight. Played perfectly! Much better that the Rabin-ized versions. Included Howe's acoustic opening, and pedal steel.
Howe soloing - the guy is fantastic, and sounding great
Ancient (Excerpt) - This one caught me by surprise, it sounded very familiar but I couldnt quite place it at the time. Rare classic nugget.
Long Distance Runaround - great to hear this one again - it's been a while since I've seen this
Whitefish - ABSOLUTELY GREAT ! Squire is the nucleus of this band , no question. This was very similar to Whitefish from 9012 Live. Great improvisation.
Soon - This version sent shivers up my spine. Howe's beautiful pedal steel and Anderson's sweet vocals. I never thought I would hear this in concert....
Children of Light - okay, nothing special
Owner - good version, not as tight as the Rabin versions - it was strange watching Howe play Rabin's leads !
Revealing Science - We were not cheated during this version ! Played in its enitirety - all 20 minutes !! I never thought I would ever hear Owner of a Lonely Heart and something from Topographic in the same show!
All Good People - Classic YES , including Jam fest at the end - Squire was on fire !
Roundabout: No surprises here, but included Steve's acoustic intro !! Much better than the ultra-high-speed Rabin versions
STARSHIP TROOPER - When I first saw Yes in 1984, they closed out with a
phenomenal Starship Trooper. In fact, it was this song alone that really
sparked my interest in this band ! Unfortunately, I've only seen this
ONE other time since then (ABWH 1989)! So, I was extremely psyched when
I heard the opening !! The crowd rose to the occasion! Again, Steve's
acoustic sections were very well played , much like the original
versions! When they finally played "Wurm", the band went nuts ! The
final crescendo/jamming between Squire/Howe/Sherwood was unbeleivable.
Just when you thought they would end it - one of guitarists would take
another solo !! This went on and on... Finally, Howe took one final
solo and then Squire and White brought things to a close ! They had so
much momentum during this, I thought they were going to blow the roof
off the joint !
I looked at my watch and it was 10:55 , almost 3 hours after Rhythm of
Love started !!! WOW!!!
In summary, all I can say is GO SEE THEM!!!!! Even if you are only a mild Yes fan, you will not be disappointed ! This is Classic Yes at its best...
P.S. The Philly crowd was VERY into the show too, almost every song received a standing ovation ! Great crowd...
- Glenn P. Kernan
Good morning folks !
I attended the Donna Jean Godchaux McKay kuncert at Wilbert's Bar and Grill in Cleveland on Friday. I'm glad I went !!!
First, this place was VERY small. It wasn't even a "showcase pub", it was just a regular bar. I arrived around 945 and then bellied up to the bar. I was really expecting a huge crowd, especially since it was a Friday night, Halloween, Donna hasn't performed live in 18 years, etc... Only three draft selections were available, including Guinness. I opted for the Guinness and watched TV until around 1015 when the band took the stage. First number was an instrumental "warm-up" - don't know the name of it. There was a bassist (Donna's hubby), a guitarist, drummer, keyboard player .
They had a great sound - sort of a southern,rock, cajun type sound. (They are from Alabama so I guess that explains it). Anyway, the mix was good and all instruments were audible.
As they played the first number, I looked down to the end of the bar, and there she was - Donna Jean ! She looked great ! Well dressed, shorter hair, looking very relaxed with ?cocktail? in hand. Actually, she looked as if she had just left work from an accounting job !
I dont remember the setlist exactly, and I dont know the names of the songs from the new album, but they played selections from JGB, GDdead, Keith/Donna band, and of course the new album. 2 sets were performed - show didn't end until 115 or so. (i.e. 5 Guinni later)
Here are some tunes you may recognize:
There were a few others but I can't recall right now...
My personal fave was the GDTRFB to close the first set. Donna was totally into it ! Her singing was just as good , even better than 20 years ago ! Amazing given that she's 49 now ! No off-key notes, no off-time squeals, etc. - just great straight forward singing !
I also really enjoyed "Dancin" to open the second set ! On the drive up, I heard the original on the radio - Martha and Vandellas ? It occurred to me then that this might be a good selection for her to sing - and then she played it ! Wow ! (PW- did you receive any late-nite phone calls on All Hallow's Eve ??)
One tune I really enjoyed was called "No Mercy" - I dont know if this is new or old K&D Band but it rocked ! They squeezed a NFA in the middle, too !
Crowd was typical deadhead crowd mixed with locals who just happened to be there drinking/eating, etc. I was surprised there were only a few older heads (i.e. ones who were around in the 70's).
Overall I was very happy with the show and would go to see them again!
Glenn
P.S. I got her autograph after the show - can you guess what she signed ? (Hint: Tape case from what show ???)