Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams ~ 2012 November 30 ~ Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center ~ Old Saybrook, CT
Band Personnel: Joziah Longo, lead vocals, guitar, mandolin, harmonica; Sharkey McEwen, lead guitar, mandolin, backing vocals; Eric Puente, drums; Tink Lloyd, accordion, ukulele, melodica, cello, tambourine, backing vocals; and the Old Saybrook High horns on two songs ... also known as The Grand Slambovians
Set List
Grand Slambovians - Picture - Very Happy Now - Very Unusual Head - Pushing Up Daisies [with Old Saybrook horns] - Everybody Needs a Change - Tink (I Know It's You) - Trans-Slambovian BiPolar Express ... intermission ... Suddenly It's Christmas - When Christmas Comes [with Old Saybrook horns] - Bike - Box of Everything - Slambovia (Christmas version) - Look Ma No Hands - Alice In Space ... encore ... Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah {Disney} - Folsom Prison Blues {Johnny Cash} - Big 8 Wheeler - Big Ted's Dead {The Incredible String Band} - The Invisible
Scroll down past the videos for review; photo gallery is to the right.
Videos
"Grand Slambovians":
"Very Unusual Head" (with the Old Saybrook high school band):
"Bike":
Review
One year ago, when Concert Going Partner and I drove to this picturesque seaside village in coastal Connecticut to see the Slambovians, they were in full Christmas mode -- holiday songs, festive costumes, seasonal light show. This time there was none of that, although the town of Old Saybrook's Christmas Stroll was that night. The slide show to the right starts with a picture of a horse-drawn carriage that was parading up and down the main street as part of the Stroll.
The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, or Kate for short, is a great venue. If you're early (and we're usually early) you can wait inside, looking around through the Katharine Hepburn Museum. The gift shop has every one of the actress's movies for sale on DVD. Posters of her movies, portraits of (and by) her, and bits of information on the time she spent in this city adorn the walls. A museum case displays some of her awards. Katharine Hepburn was a unique actress who starred in some of the greatest movies ever made, and it's entirely appropriate that the cultural center named in her honor should feature such a delightful variety of live music ... including my favorite band in the world, The Grand Slambovians.
The foyer, gift shop and museum are on the ground level. One takes one flight of stairs (or the elevator) to get upstairs to the performance space. There are about five rows of removable seats in front of the stage. Behind these rows the floor slopes upwards gradually, and the chairs change to a more cushioned, and permanent type. There is also a balcony with about two rows of seats. The stage is about three feet high and very roomy.
Although I'd just seen the Circus last week in Woodstock, NY, this was a very different show, and somehow you could tell it would be different from the moment the band came on stage and exchanged ritual fist bumps. First change was in the song "Very Happy Now," the music for which is borrowed from a song by Donovan called "Epistle To Dippy." Tonight Joziah included a verse of the Donovan song, sliding it in surreptitiously as if challenging the audience to notice.
When it was time for "Very Unusual Head," out came a group of young musicians, high school students from Old Saybrook High, who had practiced two songs with the Slambovians. There was a souzaphone, flute, trombones and trumpets. I did my best to get some pictures; check the photo gallery to the right. Joziah introduced the group of musicians and then gave a brief intro to the song, which is a new song that he wrote for a solo album (Joziah says it is unlikely to actually be released, unfortunately). Apparently Sharkey was paying no attention to what Joziah was saying, because he began playing an entirely different song. This led to a funny exchange between Joziah and Sharkey; Joziah saying it was the first time he'd ever seen Sharkey make a mistake like this. They fixed the problem and Joziah began the song, "Very Unusual Head."
After a particularly rousing performance of "Tink (I Know It's You)" (which is my favorite Slambovian song), the band ended the first set with "Trans-Slambovian BiPolar Express," which I was very happy to hear, since last week at Woodstock they did not play it.
At the beginning of the second set, Joziah began by saying he had hidden in the dressing room during intermission to avoid getting requests during the break for songs they weren't going to play. So, instead of requests from fans, he received requests from the band. The first request was from Tink, who thought they should start getting into the Christmas spirit, which they did by playing the beautiful "Suddenly It's Christmas." Tink also mentioned this song would be available soon for download on I-Tunes. And then, the next song was the Slambovian Pirate Christmas song (the name of which, I have recently learned, is actually "When Christmas Comes"), for which the Old Saybrook horns came back on stage to accompany the band. They lined up along the back of the stage, next to Eric and behind Tink. During the song, Tink and sometimes Joziah would turn and face the young musicians, lending them a bit of their energy and encouraging them. They really sounded great.
Next song was also a request, this time from the soundman, "Bike," a song they often play during their Christmas shows since it is a story about a bicycle that is intended as a Christmas present for a boy. Sharkey played a four string acoustic base. One song repeated from last week was the rave-up "Look Ma No Hands," which was followed by "Alice in Space," which ended the main set.
Back on stage for an encore, and this is where the show really went into the nuttiness zone. Joziah began with "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" (the Disney singalong), and then started in on "Folsom Prison Blues," during which he made a sincere effort to hit the low notes, just like Johnny Cash, laughing at himself when he just couldn't get that low. Next after that, staying in the same vein, they played one of their own songs that could've been written by the Man In Black, "Big 8 Wheeler." As if that wasn't crazy enough, when they were done with this (by the way, the other three band members were playing along with Joziah as if they had practiced all of these songs), they played a song that many people in the audience knew, judging from the singing along. It was a catchy song about a pig. I like to keep a set list, so I wrote: "unknown novelty song." Later I found out it was "Big Ted's Dead" by the Incredible String Band. (You could tell this was a folk audience, since they were familiar with this song.) Then Joziah took a deep breath and said "enough of that," and they played their real encore, the serene "The Invisible."
More Circus
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