Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams ~ 2011 May 14 ~ Club Helsinki, Hudson, NY
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, sitar, tambourine) ... also known as the Grand Slambovians
Set List
Scroll down past the videos for review; photo gallery to the right.
Videos
Review
This show was the first of my two shows for the price of one weekend, since I was planning on Willie Nile the next day in Ossining, NY. First up were the Circus, playing this venue in an old mill building in the formerly elegant, now comfortably shabby town of Hudson, right on the banks of the Hudson River. Concert Going Partner and I wandered around the town for a while before showtime, and it was eerily deserted.
Club Helsinki is one of those venues that wants to come across as upscale. The food was good, but expensive. There were two brief opening sets, one each from two singer/songwriters who had apparently just won a local competition. There was a blonde guy who sang well and then a women who sat while playing her guitar but jumped around in her seat.
The vibe was a little strange, because it was extremely dark (apparently part of the attempt at upscale), and there was a space of several yards between the stage and the first few tables. Joziah commented that he couldn't actually see the audience, at all. The Circus are a band that feed off of energy from the crowd, and although they did their best, they never really broke through that wall of darkness to find the energy bouncing back at them. They made an attempt to liven things up with goofy covers -- "Motorcycle Song" and "Yellow Submarine" -- which worked to some extent. Another factor was the sheer immense size of the stage. A big stage is a good thing, since the Slambovians have a lot of equipment, but it may have been too big -- the musicians were a far distance from each other. But, it was still an excellent show, and "Look Ma No Hands" (a Sharkey favorite) as part of the encore was a tasty treat.
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