Last Call Honors the Atlanta Knights at Coldbrews

Had spoken briefly with David and the gang in Last Call about trying to play some shows this summer.  It was up in the air with respect to everybody's schedules and vacation plans.  Somehow or another, it materialized into a couple of events of sizable proportions.  Friday the 14th morphed into a celebration of the Atlanta Junior Knights, our local area hockey organization.  David is very involved with these guys, perhaps through his past involvement with his own sons.  We rehearsed only once prior to the show.  It was relaxing and wide open; a lot of new song suggestions and few tunes we hadn't played much before that were already on the list.  David knew some of the folks who were going to be there - some big Springsteen fans.  We worked up that live version of Jimmy Cliff's Trapped that I've heard on the radio since the eighties.  Worked up a few others as well, but I think that in the quick time that this gig came about, we stuck to a tried and true running order that didn't allow for much deviation from earlier performances.  No worries.  The night belonged to the Knights!  We had some good energy and that is what this band requires.  I think the last time here I was run down.  Much better to deliver the goods.  I suppose I've lived with these tunes a bit more now, so they are just in my head a bit more.  Perhaps a good thing to do for us would be to simply reverse the set lists - play the 3rd set first!  It could be a simple method of varying up the pace.  The crowd is big at the beginning of the night, and the faithful partiers will hang through and enjoy the songs intended for earlier at any rate.

Karl stepped up quite a bit and played on more than half of the tunes.  I think our first gig together he was featured on 7 songs.  He really sounded good too.  Interesting how a violin can be such icing on the cake without overwhelming the audio with patches and clusters.  It really fits in so well in this guitar driven context.  I switched to my Jazz bass for the 2nd set and David was loving the beefier tone from it.  The NS/Stick has a hi-fi tone that can be great in many instances, but perhaps not snotty enough for others.  I think I have issues with it as far as fine tuning the action for tapping vs. plucking.  It needs to be low for tapping, yet not too low that it incurs excessive fret buzz.  Fret buzz is a tone thief!  Plucking needs to be done close to the bridge, which gives a Jaco-esque midrange sound.  I compensate by adding some lows, which then can thin out the fundamental signal.  Hard to explain.  People identify with a Fender bass, since it has a rich midrange sound that lets the ear discern the note.  Must work on it more.  Ira was rock solid.  Again, we are getting better at playing together.  The tempos were so steady, it's like we were playing to a click.  He sang The Wallflowers' One Headlight and it was a highlight!  Very cool laid back groove, with a loping bass rhythm that can be elusive - reminds me of Sly's Everyday People, with the long vs. short notes alternating.  All of the vocals were good and clear as well.  It would not be a complete review here if I didn't mention David's contributions on his Rickenbacker 12-string.  John Lennon would be proud!  It fills out the sound so nicely on so many of the tunes we play.  He commands the extra tonality without hesitation.  Accentuate the jangle, I say!  It's a fun little party band that plays music that no other band tries to.  Nice to hear some alternative pop and classic rock from a different angle these days.