Carroll's 55th Street
Carroll's 55th Street
01 Sugar Magnolia Scarlet Begoinias Fire On the Mountain.mp3
02 Beat It On Down the Line.mp3
09 Help on the Way Slipknot Franklins Tower.mp3
11 Uncle John's Band Me and Bobby McGee.mp3
A good sign for 2025 so far is that we got together on the first day we were able to do so. We missed a lot of weeks in 2024 for various reasons and the ability to maintain a consistent schedule always looms as it is always a struggle to get together and jam as we have done for over 24 years. We only mustered 37 jams last year which was a significant drop in jams compared to the recent past.
As a way to try to keep the vibe and momentum bright and strong I decided to open with a New Years type of opening since the end of 2024 for Deadstein seemed to be without a New Year's celebration. The 30-minute SugarMag Scarlet Fire was just the remedy for doubt cast in one's head. While it may be a struggle to get together and play, when we finally hit the starting line we have been playing really well. The giant opener was strong and creative. Rich wasn't able to play this week, so it was a rare jam where we didn't have any keyboards. This definitely left a lot more open space in which to play and fill.
I once again had my SG and I was beginning to feel nice and comfortable with it, Andy had his Ibanez, Kevin with a mono Rickenbacker and the drums we nestled close together. Unfortunately I screwed up on the recording and didn't capture the overhead on Drew's drum set. I compensated by adding a little of the mix picked up by the Zoom video camera directly behind the drummers. It adds a bit of reverb and delay as it drifted just a bit toward the end of the night but it was a better choice that what I heard without adding it into the mix. I need to remember to do mic checks before we get going.
I really thought the music was really good this week, the Scarlet jam was different and open. We played Mission in the Rain last week jam so the fact it was being repeated really helped us. Lee hit the beginning intro to propel us into the verse and the jams were all good. Built to Last was a bit of a struggle as we rarely play it but the often played Cassidy was played with gusto and really moved. I thought the Good Time Blues was very good, Andy's lead's were great and the two close Andy's night and the first set was the Help Slip Franklins which keeps getting better and better. I think this was our best to date.
The second set was basically a power trio without Andy and/or keys but we kept moving forward confidently. I recently purchased the Vinyl of 3/9/81 and told Drew about it and he was listening to the Stranger on headphone during the break and we decided to start the second set with a Stranger. We play the song a lot but it be tough to hold down singing and all other stuff, but we try and do our best. It still all comes out pretty good. Certainly worth the time to pursue the music. Uncle John's was big with a big let down with the Bobby McGee to close out of it. That was a mistake, not that it was bad, it was a momentum killer. Drew want the Stephen so we sandwiched it between a Not Fade Away and it was pretty good, we made it through nicely. It was a goal at the beginning of 2024 to play more of the older stuff and jam on it so maybe this was a good omen, though we played it more in a mid-70's feel. Drew also called for the Corina to be played. We gave it a quick listen and then pulled off our best version of that. I thought we had the feel and sound of the Aiko coming out of that jam and I thought I could slip it into the band without missing a beat, but that was not the case. e missed a beat which was unfortunate. It was there for the taking and no need to miss a beat. We have to learn to trust the beat in 2025 and not so much the song. Box of Rain to close the night was nice, Phil's passing is still in the rearview mirror so this one was for him and everyone else we continue to work to help out in the never relenting time-space continuum.
Freak Out in 2025!