17 December 1996
Back to the cozy confines of the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia. They're real nice folks at this club; they made sure everyone entering didn't put their car in a place where it might get towed. The show was billed as Jorma Kaukonen, but prominently featured Pete Sears and Michael Falzarano. You could call it an acoustic show, I guess, as Jorma finger picked his Gibson Chet Atkins on all but a few songs at the end of the first set, when he strapped on a cherry red ES to give his left hand some work. The sound in the hall was good, though not as good as last January's Acoustic Explorer show. It was a packed house, with a very appreciative and demonstrative audience.
Jorma was relaxed and loose, trading solos with Pete Sears all night, playing at his usual level of excellence throughout the performance. It was a pleasure to see his finger work up close (and hear the results!) on a lot of his classic repertoire. Two highlights from my abbreviated show (I left after "Water Song"), were "Ice Age" and "Trial by Fire". He wasn't as reticent between songs as I've seen him in that past, but I missed most of his patter, mainly because he wasn't speaking into the microphone. Michael had to gently chide him to promote Christmas and the Tuna Box (about which Jorma said "Too bad the pictures are all out of focus, but, hey, it was the sixties").
Pete Sears was generating simulated piano and organ all night with his synthesizer. His solos, while technically quite good (and certainly crowd pleasing), were mostly straightforward boogie-woogie blues runs; played to great effect on "San Francisco Bay Blues". A standout exception was a careening, tight-walking solo during "Dead Aim", when he played without a net, with devastatingly successful results. Jorma was pulling solos from Pete by leaning over his keyboard, and getting right into his face. Pete started off the second set by strapping on his squeeze box for the first two songs. On the second of the two, "True Religion", he played an extended, wonderfully trippy solo.
Michael Falzarano played a solid, unobtrusive acoustic rhythm all night, and chipped in with lead vocals on "Christmas Blues" and "Rainy Day Women". One of the show's highlights came during "Hesitation Blues" when the two guitarists stood toe to toe, with Jorma riding a nice solo over Michael's strident chording. Introducing "Downhill Sleigh Ride", Falzarano explained how to sell a recording to the record company - "Just add sleigh bells, and call it a Christmas record."