Parsonsfield ~ 2019 February 23 ~ Wolf Den, Mohegan Sun Casino ~ Uncasville, CT
Band Personnel (in alphabetical order): Antonio Alcorn (backing vocals, mandolin, banjo, acoustic and electric bass, electric guitar, sound effects); Chris Freeman (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo, pump organ, bass, harmonica); Erik Hischmann (backing vocals, full rock drum kit, xylophone, percussion, acoustic bass); Max Shakun (lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric and acoustic bass guitar, pump organ, accordion, sound effects) ... this band plays so many instruments, forgive me if I missed any
Set List
Stronger - Barbed Wire - Weeds or Wildflowers - Across Your Mind - Everyone Dies - Kick Out the Windows - Ghosts Next Door - Water Through a Mill - Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me {Mississippi John Hurt} - Ties That Bind Us - Knowing Morning {new song} - Til I Die {new song} - Footsteps In My Ear - Hurry All Around - Light of the City - Go Find Yourself - Blooming Through the Black - Anita, Your Lovin' - Punching the Air ... encore ... Tear Down the Stage
Setlist also available at setlist.fm
Scroll to below videos for review of the show.
Videos
Stronger
Kick Out the Windows
Blooming Through the Black
Review
Parsonsfield adapted to their new format as a four-piece by passing around the bass guitars among all four of them. A bit of mandolin went missing in the search for the perfect rhythm section, but as a rock fan I would rather lose the folkie instrument than the bass guitar. There was still plenty of mandolin and banjo in the show (no saw, however). I won't say the departure of Harrison "Whale" Goodale was unnoticed, but all four of the remaining musicians seemed to be eager to help out with their new role as bassist. Even Erik (the drummer) had a turn or two with the acoustic bass, and Antonio, who is more associated with acoustic instruments than either Chris or Max, really had a party with both electric and acoustic bass. I think "To" has the natural ability to be able to pick up just about anything with strings and take to it like a scoop of ice cream to a sugar cone.
The band started off with a few familiar numbers from recent and not-so-recent albums. The show started a bit slowly, but as the tempo of the songs picked up, so did the excitement from the crowd. One stylish couple got the dancing started, and before you knew it the ample dance floor in front of the stage was populated by happy concert goers. It gave me the excuse to take my camera all over the place, in front and even behind the stage, so do take a look through the photo gallery to the right -- I got some good ones!
The eclectic and crowd-pleasing set included two new songs, both of which were melodic with interesting lyrics, and, especially in the case of "Til I Die," a jaunty beat. The show wrapped up with four beloved and energetic numbers, leaving the audience with giant smiles on their faces.
Gotta say a few words about the venue. This was not the asparagus festival! This Wolf Den venue is inside Mohegan Sun Casino, a mammoth, grotesque apology by the guilt-ridden government of Connecticut to make up for the near-genocide of the local Native tribes in past centuries. I've never been to a casino except to see concerts. Once you've found a parking space inside the huge garage and gotten into the casino, then you need to ferret out where the music space is in that overwhelming, noisy, smoky (yes! smoky) interior city. You meander without any clue about direction past rows and rows of clanging, clinking, blinking, whirring mechanical monsters with glazed-eyes patrons glued to them, if you're lucky you find a place to eat that's neither $30 for a buffet nor has a three hour wait -- and then you find the venue, and it's actually a pretty good place to see a show!
The Wolf Den is a circular space (which is reasonably authentic, as the circular space was a common motif in Woodland cultures) nestled inside the noise and chatter of the casino. The doors opened an hour before showtime, and a polite, friendly door attendant asked each party where they'd like to sit, and we were escorted to a perfect location in the front row. The concert space itself was non-smoking. Once the show started, the sound was exceptionally good, and it was fun to be able to watch the performers on the big screen above the stage. The stage had plenty of room for all the instruments and was high up off the floor. Did I mention admission was free? Chris Freeman made good use of the fact that they were in a casino in his audience banter, wondering how many of us had won at the slots, and even twisted a couple of lyrics in "Anita" to say that he had bought the girl some poker chips instead of flowers. All in all it was a great place to see a show, even if getting in and out was more intimidating than one would like.
More Parsonsfield
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