A Midsummer’s Concert Wrap: Lovett, moe. And King

By John Voket

Well, we are only through about three weeks of summer and already concert stages from one end of the state to the other have been bursting with some incredibly diverse and popular acts. And things don’t show any signs of slowing down.

While the all too brief season at Danbury’s Ives Concert Park is still promising one more show with Allman Brother’s guitarist Warren Haynes, headlining with his band Gov’t Mule on August 26, that venue has delivered a rich collage of shows under the leadership of Newtown’s own Phyllis Cortese.

The Ives has already hosted Melissa Etheridge, the Beach Boys, Lyle Lovett, folkie Ani DiFranco, and the popular jam band moe. That intriguing collection of performers was brought in through a unique partnership with the Ives team, Premier Concerts of Waterbury, along with Allison Stockell and her crew from the Ridgefield Playhouse.

While the shows at Ives are wrapping up, it’s going to be a long, cool ride for fans who are looking to check out their favorite acts in the intimate confines at the Ridgefield Playhouse. Multi Grammy winner and dobro hero Jerry Douglas glides in on Friday, July 18, supporting his soon-to-be-released Glide. Levon Helm of The Band is set to play on August 4; John Hiatt is hitting the stage on August 8, and Bruce Hornsby returns on August 13.

Look for an exclusive interview with Mr Hornsby coming to this page in a couple of weeks.

Lyle Lovett Lives Large

Apparently there’s no middle ground for Texan Lyle Lovett. In fact, during a monstrous three hour showcase with his Large Band at the Ives Concert Park on July 1, he talked about his first touring outfit that featured a cello, bongos and Lovett on guitar and vocals.

It’s been a long time since that trio headed out across Texas to introduce a growing throng of fans to the tasty and classy sounds of this big haired crooner, and every year since has sharpened the musical edges of Lovett’s performance.

He brought his aptly named Large Band to the stage at the Ives Park, providing more than two dozen numbers, from the humorous ditty “Penguins” to the schmaltzy “Long Tall Texan.”

Lovett and his 13-piece band — complimented on several numbers by a dozen gospel singers imported all the way from Bridgeport — remained true to the promises in his advance. They brought swinging Texas big band one minute; sweaty-turn-on-a-dime R&B the next; an uptown jazz orchestra the one after that; even a righteous, Sunday-go-to-meetin’ outfit, all flowing seamlessly as players went on and off the stage as needed.   

On a couple of numbers Lovett trimmed down to just mandolin, fiddle and string bass, serving up some old-time radio style on the likes of “Keep It In Your Pantry.”

Many of the Large Band members have been with Lovett for years, and it certainly showed as they moved through the seemingly bottomless set. Aforementioned cellist John Hagan and percussionist James Gilmer have been backing Lovett from the beginning, back in the early ‘70s. Legendary drummer Russ Kunkel and vocalists Harry Bowens and Sweet Pea Atkinson joined the Large Band in 1991, and bassist Viktor Krauss followed in ‘94.

The 2008 tour markes the return of vocalist Willie Greene, Jr., while keyboardist Jim Cox, guitarist Ray Herndon fiddler Gene Elders, guitarist Mitch Watkins, steel guitar player Buck Reid and singer/ multi-instrumentalist Keith Sewell also reprised their roles.

Although everyone on hand for the Lyle Lovett show at the Ives knew once the lights went down they would be returning to their Connecticut homes, for a few hours the crowd was transported to a steamy Texas dance hall, courtesy of this wonderful and eclectic performer.

Moe. Jams The Park

Featuring three of its founding members, and boasting a repertoire drawing from nearly 20 recording projects including a brand new studio album, moe. did what moe. does best on the evening of July 6. The two sets kept a loyal fan base bobbing, spinning and dancing for several hours with extended jams and short quirky melodies that were easy to listen to.

While this is among a select few shows I’ve ever seen where I arrived with only a passing familiarity of the band’s material, everything I saw coming off the stage was top flight.

The musicianship and interplay among bassist and singer Rob Derhak, guitarist/vocalists Chuck Garvey and Al Schnier, drummer Jim Loughlin and percussionist Vinnie Amico was infectious as they wove together musical patterns at one moment anchored by funky rhythms and at the next by one of Garvey’s intricate, lightning quick leads.

Opening with “Seat of My Pants,” the band was off and running combining their musical gymnastics with one of the most ambitious light shows I’ve seen at this venue. The band slipped right into new material following up with “All Roads Lead to Hime,” from their latest release Sticks and Stones.

The second set – actually an almost 90 minute continuum, brought hardcore fans back nearly to the beginning with “Mexico” from moe’s 1996 indie release Headseed starting and closing the set. In between the envelope of sound spilled out numbers including “Nebraska,” “George,” “Lazarus,” and the title track from their new release.

Having seen this band in several personnel configurations over the past 12 years, it was great to reacquaint with the stylings of moe. While the rumors of a Phish reunion stir the pot among jam band lovers, this show certainly brought some sustenance to folks who like their tunes spacey as well as spicy!

Carole King & Friends

It’s impossible to pin down which tune singer/songwriter Carole King is most famous for, because she has written or contributed to so many since her infancy in the music business back in the early 1960s. And while she could barely scratch the surface of her catalog during an all too abbreviated headline set at the new MGM Grand theater at Foxwoods on July 12, she certainly pushed plenty of buttons.

Anyone who has sampled her latest project – the Living Room Tour CDs or DVD – knows that King mixes a few of her own popular recordings with full-length versions of tunes she’s written, and to roll up even more magic into her well worn carpet, a lengthy medley incorporating a bunch more of her hits.

Well, the MGM Grand show was no different in that department. The one thing that was disappointing, however, was her need to bow to the three backing musicians who accompanied her on this swing of the tour.

While each one — daughter Louise Goffin, along with Rudy Guess and Gary Burr — all deserved a few minutes in the spotlight, the need to showcase so much Goffin and Burr material certainly came at the expense King’s fans who were likely unprepared for 20 minutes of someone else’s material.

But the trio, or some configuration of the three also lent some great depth and support to King’s many popular renditions including “So Far Away,” “Smackwater Jack,” “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” and of course, “You’ve Got a Friend.” The show opened with a rendition of the title track from Carole King Music, during which King defiantly sang the adjusted lyric: “…She’s 66, and she can still play all the licks..”

The aforementioned medley was truly a trip down memory lane, with King paying appropriate tribute to her first husband and songwriting collaborator Gerry Goffin, who she said, “…is still writing some of the best music of our times.”

That collection of samples included “Take Good Care of my Baby,” “Go Away Little Girl,” the soulful “Hey Girl,” and “One Fine Day.”

King also pulled out the stops, serenading the capacity MGM crowd with full takes of “Up On The Roof,” “(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman,” “Pleasant Valley Sunday” and “The Locomotion.”