Grace Morrison Band ~ 2024 October 5 ~ Stone Path Malt, Wareham, MA
Personnel: Jon Evans (bass, vocals); Radoslav Lorkovic (keyboard, accordion, vocals); Michael Moore (drums); Lauren Hartley (vocals).
Scroll to below videos for a review of the show.
Videos ... if a problem with viewing, go to Youtube and search by performer and date; the Youtube account is in the name "nicepace"
Glass Of Wine
Gloria
Review
I saw Grace Morrison perform for the first time at the New Bedford Folk Festival in July of 2014. At the time she performed as part of a three-piece that she was calling the Really Small Orchestra, herself on guitar along with a fiddle player and a stand up bass. Since then I've seen her a dozen or so times. I've seen her solo accompanying herself on guitar and now and then on keyboards. I've seen her as a duo accompanied by a fiddle player, an electric guitar, and by an acoustic guitar. I've seen her as part of a trio with a fiddle and guitar.
But this is the first time I've seen this golden voiced folkie let down and be part of a rock 'n roll band -- electric bass, electric keyboards, rock 'n roll drum kit, and a backing vocalist.
The set list included a generous helping of familiar songs from recent shows, as well as a handful of songs from Grace's upcoming album, which as I write a few weeks later has been fully funded by Grace's online funding campaign. Some of the highlights included the opening song "Hey Little Sister," her autobiographical "Poor Man's Daughter," the gobsmacking "Gloria," her original "Massachusetts" (which should be the state song), and her cover of the '90s hit "Waterfalls," which she ended with. It was a real treat to hear Grace's songs presented in such an uptempo format. The lack of a lead guitar wasn't a detriment to the rock format at all, as Jon Evan's melodic bass playing and Radoslav Lorkovic's dynamic playing on the keyboards more than took the place of a lead guitar. Radoslav played accordion on a few songs, which was a delightful change of pace. Lauren Hartley, the young woman who sang backing vocals, is Grace's stepdaughter. I hope we get to see Grace perform with the full band again soon!
Stone Path Malt is a brewery, and as I don't drink beer that part of their business was of no interest to me, but hey, if they're going to host concerts by local talent, three cheers for SPM! Concert Going Partner and I actually mistook the time of the concert and got there an hour early; and we caught the tail end of Grace & Co.'s soundcheck. By showtime the two hundred or so seats in front of the stage were pretty much filled with an enthusiastic crowd, ready to cheer on Ms. Morrison, the favorite daughter of this town of Wareham. Sound was good, staff were friendly, and the merch table was stocked with Grace t-shirts and other goodies. Go see Grace if you can -- now that she does rock 'n roll, I think she might be on the way to broadening her fan base. You go, Gracie!