2006 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Opening Day 10/6/2006
This article courtesy of the San Jose Mercury News & Shay Quillen
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Day 1
Shay Quillen, 01:34 AM in Music, Shay Quillen
A rollicking show by Elvis Costello and his aptly named band, Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods, kicked off this year's edition of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in style.
Well, actually, the whole thing started off with a set by Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock (with guitarist Robbie Gjersoe). At least I think it was them; it was hard to hear because of a simultaneous performance overhead by the Navy's Blue Angels. What came through was fine, although the set relied a bit heavily on the Bush-bashing material from Hancock's latest, "War and Peace," for my taste. The a cappella "Give Them Water" perhaps showed the limitations of Hancock's voice a bit too clearly. It's always nice to hear Gilmore sing "Dallas," though, which he good-naturedly described as "a medley of my greatest hit." After the set, our host for the weekend, Warren Hellman, made a few remarks and got a warm ovation from the crowd. Elvis C. came out alone to open his show with some solo acoustic tunes, starting with the always welcome "Angels Want to Wear My Red Shoes." A medley of his own "Radio Sweetheart" and Van Morrison's "Jackie Wilson Says" got the crowd scatting along. After "God's Comic," Elvis brought out Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods, which it turns out is Pete Thomas and Davey Faragher from his Imposters, along with guitar great Bill Kirchen (former Commander Cody sideman) and pianist Austin DeLone. The quintet mixed Costello compositions like "Indoor Fireworks" and "Monkey to Man" with country classics like "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" and "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down," as well as a few oddballs -- the Grateful Dead's "Loser" (a highlight) and the Rolling Stones' "Take It or Leave It." This portion of the show closed out with a "Mystery Dance" that led into a rocking up-tempo version of Hank Williams' "Why Don't You Love Me." To no one's surprise, Costello called out Emmylou Harris to join him on slightly tentative but touching duets of "I Still Miss Someone" and "Love Hurts," with extra instrumental support from Fats Kaplin. Eventually, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings joined in the fun, climaxing in a joyous "Mystery Train" with all four singers working off of one mike. After an encore of "Peace, Love and Understanding" by the core band, all the guests came back out for "The Scarlet Tide," Costello's contribution to the "Cold Mountain" soundtrack (here clearly pointed at the Iraq war, not the Civil War), and Dylan's "When I Paint My Masterpiece." Many folks from the festival headed over to see T Bone Burnett later that evening at the Great American Music Hall, hoping that the impromptu collaborations would continue. What they saw instead was a solid set by Burnett and his killer band (Marc Ribot, Jim Keltner, Dennis Crouch and Keefus Ciancia), focused almost entirely on material from Burnett's latest, "The True False Identity." Costello watched the entire set from the side of the stage. He was finally called up for the encores, but oddly the two "Coward Brothers" didn't sing together. Instead, Costello took over the band for Chuck Berry's "Don't You Lie to Me" and a new song, apparently played live for the first time (and apparently not terribly familiar to the band, although they got through it fine). Burnett closed the night with Townes Van Zandt's "Nothin' " and his own "Over You," which reminded longtime fans of all the great old songs he didn't play. Luckily, we're guaranteed to get to hear a lot more of Burnett and Costello at the Coward Brothers' set on Sunday. I'll be yelling out requests for "The People's Limousine."
Read MoreHardly Strictly Bluegrass, Day 1
Shay Quillen, 01:34 AM in Music, Shay Quillen
A rollicking show by Elvis Costello and his aptly named band, Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods, kicked off this year's edition of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in style.
Well, actually, the whole thing started off with a set by Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock (with guitarist Robbie Gjersoe). At least I think it was them; it was hard to hear because of a simultaneous performance overhead by the Navy's Blue Angels. What came through was fine, although the set relied a bit heavily on the Bush-bashing material from Hancock's latest, "War and Peace," for my taste. The a cappella "Give Them Water" perhaps showed the limitations of Hancock's voice a bit too clearly. It's always nice to hear Gilmore sing "Dallas," though, which he good-naturedly described as "a medley of my greatest hit." After the set, our host for the weekend, Warren Hellman, made a few remarks and got a warm ovation from the crowd. Elvis C. came out alone to open his show with some solo acoustic tunes, starting with the always welcome "Angels Want to Wear My Red Shoes." A medley of his own "Radio Sweetheart" and Van Morrison's "Jackie Wilson Says" got the crowd scatting along. After "God's Comic," Elvis brought out Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods, which it turns out is Pete Thomas and Davey Faragher from his Imposters, along with guitar great Bill Kirchen (former Commander Cody sideman) and pianist Austin DeLone. The quintet mixed Costello compositions like "Indoor Fireworks" and "Monkey to Man" with country classics like "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" and "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down," as well as a few oddballs -- the Grateful Dead's "Loser" (a highlight) and the Rolling Stones' "Take It or Leave It." This portion of the show closed out with a "Mystery Dance" that led into a rocking up-tempo version of Hank Williams' "Why Don't You Love Me." To no one's surprise, Costello called out Emmylou Harris to join him on slightly tentative but touching duets of "I Still Miss Someone" and "Love Hurts," with extra instrumental support from Fats Kaplin. Eventually, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings joined in the fun, climaxing in a joyous "Mystery Train" with all four singers working off of one mike. After an encore of "Peace, Love and Understanding" by the core band, all the guests came back out for "The Scarlet Tide," Costello's contribution to the "Cold Mountain" soundtrack (here clearly pointed at the Iraq war, not the Civil War), and Dylan's "When I Paint My Masterpiece." Many folks from the festival headed over to see T Bone Burnett later that evening at the Great American Music Hall, hoping that the impromptu collaborations would continue. What they saw instead was a solid set by Burnett and his killer band (Marc Ribot, Jim Keltner, Dennis Crouch and Keefus Ciancia), focused almost entirely on material from Burnett's latest, "The True False Identity." Costello watched the entire set from the side of the stage. He was finally called up for the encores, but oddly the two "Coward Brothers" didn't sing together. Instead, Costello took over the band for Chuck Berry's "Don't You Lie to Me" and a new song, apparently played live for the first time (and apparently not terribly familiar to the band, although they got through it fine). Burnett closed the night with Townes Van Zandt's "Nothin' " and his own "Over You," which reminded longtime fans of all the great old songs he didn't play. Luckily, we're guaranteed to get to hear a lot more of Burnett and Costello at the Coward Brothers' set on Sunday. I'll be yelling out requests for "The People's Limousine."
