Del & Dawg

This is awesome.

I wrote a letter last week to David Grissman & pointed out that he hasn't played Long Island in 30 years.

That looks like a great concert setting.

Lots of mutual respect in those two.

That is indeed my backside Voodoo, though fresh from the gym and not the hospital.  They handed me the band on the way in so I put it on.

Personally, I was underwhelmed by the show.  I was hoping that Del would have the full band and IMO the two of them alone lacked energy.  Del's fantastic rhythm can only cover so much space, Grisman seemed to be playing pretty rote licks, and his harmonies were off at times.  The jokes all seemed canned, in a lot of ways I thought that they were phoning it in last night.  I left early to beat the crowd.

My highlight of the evening was talking to the ever lovely Jean on the way out.

"That looks like a great concert setting."

Beautiful gardens, an amazing place to spend a day.  Old duPont esate that has been turned into a major horticultural institution.  A bit humid and buggy last night but still a great place to be.

You guys crack me up. So the mental patient was actually Thom?

Who was heading to some better seats.

I heard that Del and Dawg started playing together back in the 1960s.   Saw them once at NWSS and they probably told the same jokes and stories, which is not surprising, especially with David.   I have seen him many times and have heard some jokes and stories told at about each show, including when he did a multi-night run at Jazz Alley in Seattle with his quintet about 10 years ago.  He did two shows a night and we saw each show of the run and he made the very same "off the cuff" quips during each of them.

Longwood Gardens is cool and would love to see a show there, although that crowd does look a little stiff.   It was freeking hot and humid last time I was there.

Looks like a good time Voodoo. Thanks for sharing. 

97% humidity? How do you folks live in that?  If I could handle humidity I would probably still live in south Louisianna.

I'll be your MOFO all day Voodoo

Dawg first saw Del at the first gig Del played as a Bluegrass Boy in 1963 when David was 18. They got to know each other and three years later in 1966 David hired Del for a gig that was recorded and later released as "Early Dawg"

Great disc to have and what I listened to last night on the drive up.  Bill Keith and Winnie Winston on banjo, Jerry McCoury on bass, Frank Wakefield on one cut (it's not all from the gig with Del).   It's mostly bluegrass standards but also has a few of Davids early compositions that ended up on the first Quintet album (Opus 57 and Opus 38), amazing to hear very early versions of what became his signature sound and with Bill Keith's incredible banjo work as well.

Sorry I missed you Voodoo, and the Gimps as well.  Was Grandma in the house?

As far as the humidity, last night was one of the few bad nights all summer. It's been pretty decent for the most part.

"although that crowd does look a little stiff."

Very, which didn't help.  I actually thought that they were playing down to the audience.

Thanks for the reviews & photos.

I observe that Thom is carrying a spare Sweater-Vest in case the humidity recedes.  You can see the Haze in the fotos !!

Hope everyone got to tour all the Plants & Botanica.

I wrote a letter last week to David Grissman & pointed out that he hasn't played Long Island in 30 years.<<

Even Dawg says, "F crossing two bridges."

Saw them this past winter at the CT Ridgefield Playhouse. Unfortunately they both had horrific head colds. The playing was great. You could tell they both would have preferred to reschedule, have stayed in bed and rested. I need to see them when they're healthy. 

i loved it. Who could complain? great mushroom soup at the cafe too. Local Kennett shrooms

"I observe that Thom is carrying a spare Sweater-Vest in case the humidity recedes."

Actually, a flannel shirt that I brought along to sit on in case the seats were wet, it had been raining most of the day.

Sorry to hear about Grandma Gimp. It was great meeting her, that woman had a lot of spunk.

That would be Grandma Jimp. 

"great mushroom soup at the cafe too. Local Kennett shrooms"

Eh, I hate mushrooms as well.  For food anyway. 

A good friend explained how the PA mushroom biz got started -- they had an excess of Horse Manure in the area and had to figure out what to do with it.

I can't guarantee the veracity of all that,  but they are still the Agaricus Capitol of the Eastern Seaboard.

And you can smell it for miles!

Bump

Sorry we didn't meet up with Tom at the show.   Even little Jimpette enjoyed the show.   It was great to see Voodoo Chile.   We were able to get out of the park and heading south on Route 1 without any difficulty.   Tom's observations about the concert being rote and canned are correct.  I bought the CD of an earlier performance and it was almost identical in the song selection and much of the dialogue was pretty much verbatim what we heard.   I saw them play two years ago at the Keswick.   It was the last concert I attended with my mom.  She passed away at the end of last September, but her last year was a rough one.  It wasn't all that long ago she was over in Newark, enjoying the Dylan show.  I think my only concert trip to Pennsylvania on my schedule is King Crimson in Allentown.  Hope to see some of you folks up there.