Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams ~ 2011 September 30 ~ Me & Thee Coffeehouse, Marblehead, MA
Band personnel: Joziah Longo (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, mandolin); Sharkey McEwen (backing vocals, guitar, mandolin); Tony Zuzulo (drums); Tink Lloyd (backing vocals, accordion, cello, melodica, ukulele, piccolo) ... also known as the Grand Slambovians
Set List
Grand Slambovians - Windmills - Song For Woody {Dylan} - Subterranean Homesick Blues {Dylan} - Northern Sea - Already Broken - Tink (I Know It's You) - Trans-slambovian BiPolar Express ... intermission ... Sunday in the Rain - Everybody Needs a Change - Pushing Up Daisies - Talking to the Buddha - Alice in Space ... encore ... Happy Days Are Here Again {short bit - old-time standard} - The Invisible
Scroll down past the videos for review; photo gallery to the right.
Videos
"Trans-slambovian BiPolar Express"
"Already Broken"
Review
The Me & Thee is a folk club in a Unitarian Church in the lovely, but off-the-beaten-track town of Marblehead, Mass. I have been there before, and have gotten miserably stuck in traffic getting there and desperately lost leaving, so this time I did a really, really smart thing and took the bus.
The stage at the Me & Thee is a little small for this band. Tony was off to the side of the stage, since where the drummer usually goes there was a podium. It made for a sort of lopsided, rhomboid feel. And Sharkey had a cold, which also put a slight damper on the energy from the band. In addition, in my personal opinion, Dylan covers are not the best use of the band's time -- they only have one of the world's greatest songwriters in the person of Joziah Longo. But they still put on a marvelous show, and the two friends I brought with me to the show loved it, so that tells you something. Even a "B" show from the Circus is better than most everybody's "A" show.
During "Northern Sea" when Tink usually sings a few bars, she pulled out a piccolo instead and played her vocal part instead of singing it. Is there an instrument that woman can't play?
Click for 2011 Concert Page with links to all 2011 concerts ... Click for Main Concert Page with links to all years