The band (in alphabetical order): Antonio Alcorn (guitar, banjo, electric bass, ukulele bass, mandolin, vocals); Chris Freeman (vocals, banjo, pump organ, guitar, electric bass); Erik Hischmann (drums, percussion, percussive bells, vocals); Max Shakun (vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, pump organ, handheld piano, sound effects). This band plays a lot of instruments and I don't know what they're all called.

Across Your Mind

Footsteps In My Ear

Weeds or Wildflowers

Kick Out the Windows

Anita (Your Lovin')

I hadn't seen Parsonsfield since the show at the Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun Casino back in February of this year. As hard as it seems to believe, they have improved since then. Part of the improvement is an increased comfort level with the bass. The former bass player, Harrison "Whale" Goodale, left the band earlier in the year to get married and move to the Rocky Mountains, and in February the remaining musicians were still a little unsure about how to replace him, but now Antonio, Chris, and Max take turns with the bass and it seems to have been seamlessly incorporated into their sound. Antonio even played an unusual bass instrument called a "ukulele bass" on one song. I think Erik also played this instrument, along with drumming, on one song, so everyone in this band has become the bass player.

The other improvement is all about the band leader, Chris Freeman. He was dressed more stylishly than I'd ever seen, with a jaunty cap and colorful stage clothes that were very flattering. He also seems to be gaining in stage confidence and really growing as a front man. For a couple of songs, including "Kick Out the Windows," a song that is becoming a theme song for this band, he put down his instrument and did the rock star, singing the song without the comfort of an instrument in his hands. He pranced around the stage, jumped up on Erik's bass drum a couple of times, sat at the front of the high stage with his feet dangling to intimately engage the audience. Then toward the end of the main set he introduced the band, which is always a mark of professionalism in a band leader; I hadn't heard him do that before.

The set list was just spectacular. They played twenty-two songs altogether. I didn't keep a set list as I usually do because they played nine new songs. There is a new album coming out in the spring with these songs to be called "Happy Hour on the Floor." The new songs were all terrific and a couple of them really had pop hit potential. The audience enjoyed all of the new songs a lot. The rest of the show consisted of familiar Parsonsfield classics, several of which I filmed (see video links above). The main set ended with "Weeds or Wildflowers" and "Kick Out the Windows"; the encore set was a fun performance of "Anita" in which the four musicians played at the front of the stage, followed by "Tear Down the Stage," which is simply the most perfect song to end a concert with in existence.

The Spire is a great place to see this band. The sound in this venue is exceptionally good. I have taken pictures at this venue several times now, and it can be a little challenging to get decent color, but that's okay because the reason for this is the festive and dynamic light show the venue provides. Another good thing about this show was that there was no opening act, giving the main band more time to entertain. The audience was very enthusiastic, singing and clapping along as is always the case at a Parsonsfield show, and I'm pretty sure that the hall was close to sold out. Hopefully Parsonsfield will play this fantastic room again in the near future.

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