Marlizinha, Finnegan, and I zipped down through the District and across the Potomac to the Birchmere, in Alexandria VA. A bit of rush hour traffic merging onto the 14th St. Bridge slowed us down, but it was still just 40 minutes door to door. Doors had opened at 6:00, and we arrived around 6:20. All of the seats in the front were already taken, so there must have been plenty of folks waiting when the doors opened. We still found great seats, pretty much dead center, out in front of the soundboard.
We had a couple of drinks and dinner while waiting for the show. Service was great, as usual. The food is a little pricey, but very good -- real high-class pub food. Marlizinha ordered a piece of bread pudding for dessert, with a tasty, high-octane bourbon sauce. When I had seen it listed in the menu, I thought Bourbon, as in Louis Quatorze. But no, it was authentic 80 proof Kentucky.
Lori B. opened with a short set. She told us she was born during Hurricane Hazel, so I guess that makes her a 45-year-old teenager. "Ask me questions why I'm tuning", she said, prompting a "Why is the sky blue?" from the audience. "Well that's too complicated", she said, but I'll bet she's never heard of Mie scattering. "What's the B. stand for?" brought a little indignant sniffing that may or may not have included some muttering about paternalism. I remember one funny little song, with lyrics along the lines of, "Just because I smile at you, it doesn't mean I want to blow you." She was playing a gorgeous, 100 year old Martin parlor guitar. Audience participation was encouraged on a couple of songs, one of which she played on a toy piano.
So, I realize this seems a little silly, a little lightweight. Except -- the toy piano song was presented as an antidote for the one that preceded it. "Please don't clap at the end of this song," she asked, and sang a harrowing story of a hitch-hiking friend naively out looking for a "City of Gold", but raped and left for dead hardly before she had left home. A stark, piercing, horrifying account -- but truly riveting, and truly affecting.
After a short break, Harvey Coleman came out and introduced Hot Tuna (not Hot "Fucking" Tuna!) Jorma started out with that pseudo-acoustic Chet Atkins (with a cherry sunburst finish); he later switched to a red Epiphone. Michael was playing some kind of Telecaster with a dark sunburst finish, and Jack was playing his Epiphone signature bass, also with a dark sunburst finish.
The set was a bit shorter than I expected, considering that the last time I had seen the Trio at the Birchmere, the show lasted more than three hours. Many songs featured fresh, sometimes radically different arrangements. Some of these arrangements of the Jorma repetoire, as played in the thundering electric Hot Tuna format were ... interesting. "Water Song" had a jarring, bombastic finish. On the other hand, the electric version of "Embryonic Journey" had a stirring, high volume finale. The Birchmere is a medium sized club, and the volume level was not particularly high. Unfortunately, until the switch to "Full Electric" towards the end of the show, the drums often overwhelmed what was being played up on the stage.
Jorma was even more reticent than usual. No patter between songs, and you could probably count on one hand the number of words he uttered all night. By the end of the evening he was playing with his back to the audience. But he communicated just fine with his expressive singing and his exceptional playing. There was nothing rote in his performance, and his solos were fresh and unpredictable -- the usual casual virtuosity. Lots of highlights; from trading off licks with Jack on "I Know You Rider", to a three part gallop on "Walking Blues" with Mike and Pete, and an excellent, exploratory chorded solo on "Man for All Seasons". He didn't display much instrumental flash on "Genesis", but it was a breathtaking version nonetheless. My favorite moment of the evening was an inspired journey up and down the fretboard on "Death Don't Have No Mercy."
Jack rolled out some great solos, but unfortunately he was lost in the mix for much of the first half of the show (either that, or my low-end hearing is shot.) Nevertheless, he rocked down the house on "Good Shepherd" and "99 Year Blues." By the time of the latter he had finally been turned up in the mix.
Pete Sears filled the usual spaces, and as usual the audience went wild. Listening to recent live recordings, I'm coming to a better appreciation of his playing. This night he played some different, interesting parts. His weird, eastern influenced solo turn on "Just My Way" was even more manic than usual, moving Jorma to stop playing and shake his head in amused admiration.
Michael Falzarano's role is bit different in Hot Tuna, since the rhythm guitar doesn't play the crucial role it does in the Trio format. He stepped up front and set up an extended jam on "Just My Way", and his soulful vocals illuminated his wonderful song "Gypsy Fire."
Okay, lastly, the drummer. My main memory of Harvey Sorgen was his inspired playing on the night's killer version of "I Know You Rider", which he started by punching on a tambourine, gradually ramping up on his full kit to a crashing Big Beat finale.
The setlist follows -- I've filled the blanks with help from 2400Fulton.