VooDoo Dead - Hamilton DC

Voodoo Dead 2-8-2017

The vibe last night at the Hamilton in DC sorta reminded me of Phil and Friends show without Phil.  Mostly casual, all familiar, with some musical peaks. Lots of smiles on and off stage.

The core band was Kimock, Chementi, Greene, Ingram (I don’t know if Wally ever played with Phil) and Burbridge.  Or maybe more accurate -- another version of Kimock and Friends without Vega -- doing the Garcia stuff with Zero-ish undertones.

All jamband pros, each with a repertoire beyond the Grateful Dead songbook.  Thrown together for a few dates, probably with little or no rehearsal. (Last night was the first date of a little East coast tour.)  

So it was a little choppy at first and they used a long Zero tune to acclimate (Ha, with Kimock “singing” – his newfound courage to croon cracks me up). But this crew is exceedingly familiar with this type of situation and the band gradually and smoothly coalesced. Kimock and Chementi seem to get along really well musically. Same with Kimock and Ingram.  

Oteil seemed to be really enjoying himself covering the material – he worked in Phil’s deep loose melodic registers rather than his more structured Allman Bros “Southern blues” ones. And stayed a little more in the free range jazzier style he seems to like, even more so than in DeadCo. I think the most interesting thing to watch for in this band will be the interplay between Kimock and Oteil.

Jackie Greene, the plug in vocalist, seemed odd man out in a sense…he kept the rock star thing in check, as he definitely wasn’t the center of attention the whole night. (Oteil was in fact front and center, with a vocal mike. Come to think of it, there may have been 3 or 4 possible backup vocalists at any one time.) Greene seemed confident playing with Kimock, but unsure just where to fit in between the noodles. He was ok.

When Papa Mali came out – he was billed as guest -- Greene actually seemed superfluous and at times traded the guitar for keyboards and played alongside Chementi for a tune or two.

 I wish they would decide who to keep – Papa Mali or Jackie Greene – each has a distinct style, and I think there is too much contrast between the swampy Southern blues and the poppy Sacramento blues. (The discombobulation was especially apparent during I Know You Rider). Also, the three guitar thing can get messy on occasion, especially if the players are "too polite," and play less-than-intense in an attempt not to hog the spotlight. Personally, I want to hear Kimock get more intense when he covers Dead – I can better appreciate his musical subtleties at other Kimock shows. Philly and New York crowds later in the tour will probably keep him excited.

All in all a kick-ass band on paper and they seem to be having fun playing together, so good things will probably result. These guys wil sound great at a late night show with a head full of other stuff.

Sun Sun Sun

Big Railroad

Bertha

That's What Love Will Make You Do

New Speedway

? instrumental

I Know You Rider

Encore ? (we had to leave to catch Metro)

NYLifer taped, so there should be a recording out there