Made a last minute decision to see he Hypochondriacs play the Harvest Opener at 6pm. Well played Roger. They are a very talented local country rock band (well, maybe mostly "old" country, in the tradition of Hank Sr.) fronted by Fredericton's own Josh Bravener. Josh professes to hate pop country . . . gotta love him for that! He is an accomplished musician and skilled showman. Vocals are shared by Josh and the very presentable Justine Koroscil. She is an awesome singer! Josh has been on the stage in various capacities with his dad for fifteen years or more, and it shows. Keep an ear out for The Hypochondriacs. They are going places! Ross Neilsen opened the main event at 8:30pm. Ross is sooo talented, and he always manages to pull it together in a good way. I think he refers to this rendition as "The Big F'n Band", a seven piece ensemble complete with tandem drummers AND his good friend Steve Marriner on guitar, Hammond organ, and keys . . . yes . . . Steve Marriner!! Great show, as expected. The main event was Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real. Lukas is very talented and he was well received by the full house. He did his own tunes, as well as covers, most notably one by JJ Cale that I can't remember the name of. For me, there was maybe a bit too much of "showing off his artistry", and too little of the the solid guitar based rhythms that fire my neurons, but that's just me. I found his stuff hard to get into. Another way to say it might be that he needs more beef in his stew. Anyway, the crowd liked him, and I guess I did too. Nelson got his redemption from me when he came back for the encore and did my all time favorite Stones tune, Sympathy For The Devil. I love that song!
Harvest 2016 - Thursday evening:
Lovely cool September night. Kicked off in the Blues Tent with Matt Anderson & Bona Fide. I like Matt best when he plays with supporting musicians. Bona Fide is a tight cast of professionals. I am probably the last to realize that Chris Kirby plays guitar, keys, and Hammond B3 in Bona Fide . . . should have picked up on that earlier . . . oh well, live and learn. An enjoyable set by both Matt and his band. Next was Amy Helm & The Midnight Ramblers. A great bunch of musicians . . . ten in all. Lots of old The Band stuff. The Band relished in the sloooowwww ballad, and so did this band . . . nod city at times, and then they'd pick it up. It became evident that we weren't going to hear The Weight until . . . well . . . we had waited . . . possibly 'til the end of the show. Towards the end of the performance, Colin Linden was invited on stage to guest in a couple of songs, as was Erin Costello and Matt Anderson. This was a nice way to round out the set, and then . . . for the last song . . . the Ramblers were joined by all three for a heartfelt rendition of The Weight. It took me right back to the Harvest moment on the same stage six years ago when we were blessed to have Levon sing "his song" a couple of months before he passed. Chalk this one up as a good night. ps: Amy Helms band played for 2 1/2 hours which could be the longest set in the 26 years of Harvest.
Harvest 2016 - Friday evening:
WOW! What a great night of music! The best thing about Harvest is that it is a different experience for everyone. What fires my neurons may do nothing for someone else, and vice versa. Hopefully we each find a piece of music that connects our dots. Got an early start at 5:30 with The Earthbound Trio in the Barracks tent. This is a young quartet (go figure . . . trio . . . quartet . . . whatever) full of life and flush with music. This was billed as The Ultimate Pass party for those of us who spent the wad. Had to leave after twenty minutes for the Sheepdogs in the Blues tent, and The Sheepdogs blew me away. Canadian lads from Saskatchewan they are. Steady drivin' solid rockin blues, one song after the other, with bang-on four way vocal harmonies. Two front line guitars sharing the duties, one of which was Jimmy Bowskill, whose name seems to come up often lately. Man he can play! These guys had the jamb packed Blues tent in the palm of their hand. A big two thumbs up for The Sheepdogs! Next down to the Mojo for Laurent Couturier & The Rusty Mikes. This was a four piece band fronted by a very fine lady singer who I gather must be Laurent Couturier. I only caught the last quarter of her set, and liked what I heard. Next up was Mike Zito & The Wheel. Mike was here a few years ago with The Royal Southern Brotherhood. This time around he wasn't playing second fiddle to Devon Allman, he was fronting his own band, and he blew me away. Steady, steady guitar work . . . solid, steady, and no dallying around. Like The Sheepdogs, hard drivin', guitar fronted rhythm and blues. I bought his cd, shook his hand, and saw heartfelt warmth and appreciation from him to be back in Freddy. We haven't seen the last of Mike Zito!! And then came Blackie & The Rodeo Kings. Colin Linden, no stranger to Harvest, Stephen Feering, and Tom Wilson. Although the sound in the Mojo was crappy, they still made their mark. Their three guitars in the front line filled the sound spectrum. Colin played slide most of the time . . . such talent! Back to my original thought about how Harvest means something different to everyone, tonight for me, it was all about the guitar. Steady consistent bluesy rock guitar with no prolonged dalliances in experimentation to demonstrate capabilities. I loved it! At midnight, true to 26 years of tradition, just as sure as a Dippy Dog at the NBEX, it was The Downtown Blues Band in the Cox & Palmer Blues Court tent. I enjoyed them for twenty minutes before I bolted for the road. A very enjoyable night indeed!
Harvest 2016 - Saturday evening:
Big night . . . Queen St. was full . . . the tents were full . . . the weather was perfect . . . the feet are aching . . . the back is sore. Started off at 5:30pm with Robert Cray in the Blues tent. A traditional blues band fronted by the extraordinary guitar of Mr. Cray and the clarity of his vocals. A consummate professional. He came to Harvest, did his thing, and promptly left. Everyone should see Robert Cray at least once . . . kind of a key link in understanding the blues. Then down to the Mojo for a half hour of the Melltones. A fun band with lots of brass and guitar. Then back to the Blues tent for Brandon Niederauer, who goes by Taz (thank heaven). Well . . .Taz is a 13 year old guitar phenom, yep, 13 years old. He handles the front line nicely for his supporting band. Stayed half an hour then back to the Mojo for MarchFourth!. I'm not sure how to explain MarchFourth! so I'll just relay what I saw. Fifteen people on stage dressed like what reminded me of a cross between The Village People and Sargent Pepper's Lonely Harts Club Band, divided among seven horns, six percussionists (although none had a full kit), one Fender P Bass player, and a guy walking among them on big high stilts. It looked like a weird hallucinogenic dream or maybe a 70's Saturday night. Anyway, the brassy, percussive band made for nice music and interesting conversation. Back to the Blues tent for The Drive By Truckers. These guys are good! They are known for their socially conscious lyrics, which would be easy to digest at home or in the car and difficult to decipher given the sound quality impediments of a huge tent. Anyway, I pieced together a lot of their message. An enjoyable band and I'm glad they came. Closed the night at the Blues Court tent with brother Doug to hear a bit of local boy dun good, Keith Hallett.
Well, that's Harvest 2016 . . . been there, done that. I would have to say the musician, band, whatever that I had the best connection with was Mike Zito and the Wheel. That is not to slight any of the other bands, because everything I saw was top shelf stuff, but I just seemed to connect to Zito's music. Time to go to bed.
