Will it never end? Let’s hope not.
The Egg just keeps rolling along, clogging up our concert calendar with new additions every time we turn around. And, of course, we couldn’t be happier about that…
Here are five more new shows to check out:
AMOS LEE: Thursday, November 4, 7:30pm, $28, Hart Theatre
Taking inspiration from folk and soul music, the sublime singer-songwriter directs his music with a spirit and presence rooted in American tradition.
Richard Dreyfuss
Dreyfuss – who is also a strong advocate for strengthening history education in our schools – will be at The Egg for a discussion about his life, work and passion for history with noted Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer. Dreyfuss will also be honored with the 2010 Empire State Archives and History Award. Tix are $10.
The New York State Archives Partnership Trust, which is sponsoring the event, will also hold a reception to honor Dreyfuss at The Egg prior to the program, from 5:30-7:30pm. Tix for the reception (which also include admission to the discussion) are $50 for members of the Trust; $75 for non-members. NOTE: You can also become a member of the Trust and receive a ticket to the reception and discussion for $65.
“This is from one of my more obscure albums – and believe me, there are plenty of them out there,” British blues legend John Mayall admitted by way of introducing “Dream About the Blues.”
Indeed. Mayall led his new band into The Egg on Wednesday to launch a short east coast tour in support of “Tough,” his 57th album – not counting various compilations and re-packagings.
57 albums? That’s a whole lotta blues.
George Thorogood
In the middle of a rousing version of “Get a Job,” George Thorogood grinned out at the audience and yelled, “How does it feel to be 17 years old again?!”
That statement nails it. While some of the crowd was 17 when Thorogood and the Destroyers first landed on the scene like an anvil on a coyote, Lonesome George’s 30-year-old catalog of blues/rockabilly blasters shoots right to the heart of the adolescent in all of us. It’ that same buzz some people get from muscle cars and Kung Fu movies: There’s nothing intellectual or sophisticated about it, and that’s exactly the point.
Doc Watson is 87 years old, which means two things:
a) He doesn’t pick with the surety and crispness that he once did
b) That really doesn’t matter, ’cause we’re not likely going to get too many more chances to see him play at all
He played the first of his two 50-minute sets at The Egg accompanied by David Holt (banjo/guitar) and electric bassist T. Michael Coleman. After the opening uptempo volley of “Way Downtown,” Holt remarked that Watson had taken his solo to an unfamiliar place – “a kind of Dick Dale solo there.” Now I didn’t hear any particularly surf-like licks, but then again, I haven’t heard Watson play nearly as many times as Holt has, so maybe his ear is a bit more acute in these matters.
Jorma Kaukonen
More than a few folks in the crowd at The Egg on Friday night were wearing a look of surprise when Hot Tuna took the stage with an extra guitarist – G.E. Smith. As if Jorma just wasn’t enough.
But the truth of the matter was that Smith – who’s been playing with the band for about a month now – seemed to settle right into the Hot Tuna scheme of things quite nicely without much disruption at all.
“No, I really don’t remember the first album. I do remember some early 78s that I bought. One especially I remember because I accidentally broke it before I got home with it, and so I had to go back and get another one the next Saturday.
It was a 78 of Roy Hall and the Blue Ridge Entertainers. One side of it was a fiddle tune, ‘Natural Bridge Blues,’ and the other side was ‘Don’t Let Your Sweet Love Die.’
I had heard it on the radio – the DJs would play it … and I had to have me one of those.”
The legendary guitarist Doc Watson steps into the spotlight at The Egg in Albany at 7:30pm on Sunday. He’ll be joined by guitarist Richard Watson, banjo player David Holt and bassist T. Michael Coleman. Tix are $34.50.
Looking around the audience past the spotlight’s glare, Joan Armatrading asked with playful curiosity in her lovely British accent, “Where are the rest of you?”
Indeed.
But it made no difference to the West Indies native that The Egg’s larger Hart Theater was around 300 people short of a full house. Armatrading was there to perform for those who came.
Ringo Starr celebrated his 70th birthday a couple of weeks ago, but he’s still too young to join this band.
Young@Heart is a chorus of two dozen seniors between the ages of 73-89. Under the direction of Bob Cilman, the chorus is backed by a versatile six-piece rock band. And they wail through an unexpected repertoire of classic rock gems (Jefferson Airplane, the Beatles, the Stones) and some even more unexpected cult-rock nuggets (Brave Combo, Morphine, Fugazi).
No point in dancing around it. Or piling on the superlatives. This was my favorite concert of the year so far. Hands down.
Annie Haslam and Michael Dunford
Anyone who has ever heard Renaissance will marvel at the stunning, five-octave vocal lines of Annie Haslam that weave throughout and often soar above the music of this often-tagged “’70s-progressive” musical outfit.
In truth, the veteran band draws more from the Celtic and classical music traditions. Weaving both styles into the fabric of rock music one note at a time, they have always stood head-and-shoulders above their contemporaries because of it.
Seeing Renaissance at The Egg was both a nostalgic nod to the past and a contemporary salute to the present because Haslam and company are truly timeless.
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