Click here to see the photos.

The Bridge played the Abbey Bar inside of the Appalachian Brewing Company on 05-14-2010 in Harrisburg, PA as part of ABC’s Anniversary bash.  Previous years brought in the likes of Mike Doughty and Cracker but this year ABC had a special double-headliner bill of Hoots And Hellmouth and The Bridge.  Four hours of fun organic music mixed with $3 craft brew beers made this a successful night for ABC.

The Bridge are a Baltimore based jam/bluegrass/blues group that is hard to define categorically.  They have been a band for some years now and have mastered several different styles of music.   The mandolin player does a great “beatbox” for example.  The highlight for me was when the guitarist sung and played lapsteel for a cool cover of the blues classic “Come On In My Kitchen” by Robert Johnson and the mandolin player beatboxed a modern rhythm over top….. Definitely something I am going to have to go back and listen to on the live recording (see link below).   They have a loyal regional fan base due to hard work, mixing up the setlists each night, and constant touring.

I am grateful that ABC has done so well over the years and provides their patrons with great music week after week.  From the inner plannings of the people behind www.greenbelts.com of these shows to the hops, barley and malts that are lovingly brewed on site, you know that Appalachian Brewing Company care about their business and their customers.

The show was recorded and posted so you can download or stream the show here.  Thanks to the tapers who get these shows out for everyone to hear!

The seltlist for the night was as follows:
Station Blues
Honey Bee
Brother Don’t
In Dreams
Texas Flyer ~
Colorado Motel
Chavez
Dream in Blue @ ->
Bad Locomotive
Rosie
Come On In My Kitchen #
Devil on Me
Geraldine
Good Rhythm
Stranger $
Cleaning Windows %
Dirtball Blues

Notes:
~ Freddie King cover
@ Los Lobos cover
# Robert Johnson cover
$ Live debut
% Van Morrison cover

Click here to see the photos.

Hoots And Hellmouth played the Abbey Bar inside of the Appalachian Brewing Company on 05-14-2010 in Harrisburg, PA as part of ABC’s Anniversary bash.  Previous years brought in the likes of Mike Doughty and Cracker but this year ABC had a special double-headliner bill of Hoots And Hellmouth and The Bridge.  Four hours of fun organic music mixed with $3 craft brew beers made this a successful night for ABC.

Hoots And Hellmouth are a Philadelphia based roots/bluegrass/folk group that is hard to define.  They have had regional success with the help of WXPN playing many of their songs over the years including “What Good Are Plowshares If We Use Them Like Swords?”, “Want on Nothing”, and most recently “You and All of Us”. The band promotes organic farming and supporting local businesses.  The organic beliefs have spilled into their music as well.  They are hard workers, always reward the local area with plentiful and energetic shows, and also help support other regional acts.

Hoots And Hellmouth area:
Sean Hoots – guitar, vocals
Andrew “Hellmouth” Gray – guitar, vocals
Rob Berliner – mandolin, vocals
John Branigan – bass  (They had a different bass player every time I have seen them though)

I have seen H&HM several times now and they never fail to get an audience started or get people moving.  Not only were they in the opening slot of the show but they also had to compete with the TVs in the back of the bar which had Game 7 of the Stanley Cup semi finals in which their hometown team, Philadelphia Flyers, won their 4th consecutive win to overtake the series 4-3. Why bring this up?  Not only is Harrisburg area full of Flyers fans but this was one of the biggest games of the season and Hoots & Hellmouth were able to steal the crowd’s attention and captivate them all at once.

Their new album, “The Holy Open Secret”, picks up right where the self-titled album left off but a little more refined.  I still love the classic staples and I am also glad they played my favorite from their first album, “The Good I Know You know”.  I had to request that song the last few times I saw them so it was great to see it on the setlist.

I am grateful that ABC has done so well over the years and provides their patrons with great music week after week.  From the inner plannings of the people behind www.greenbelts.com of these shows to the hops, barley and malts that are lovingly brewed on site, you know that Appalachian Brewing Company care about their business and their customers.

The show was recorded and posted so you can download or stream the show here.  Thanks to the tapers who get these shows out for everyone to hear!

The setlist for the night was as follows:
Dishpan hands
Forks and Knives
Antebellum Tree
You and All of Us
The Family Band
Watch Your Mouth
Rattle These Bones
Asleep on the Couch
Abattoir Altar Boy and Girl
Root of the Industry
If You Want It I Don’t Mind
Home For Supper
West of Where the Sun Goes Down
Three Penny Charm
The Good I Know You Know
This Hand is a Mighty Hand
What Good Are Plowshares If We Use Them Like Swords?
Roll, Brandywine, Roll
Encore Break
Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie

Click here to see the photos.

The Felice Brothers brought their traveling RV roadshow to central PA once again as they played the Abbey Bar inside of Appalachian Brewing Company on 05-06-2010 in Harrisburg, PA.  They sold out a show in York, PA a year ago and the fans came out in numbers again for their show in Harrisburg.

The Felice Brothers put on a good show with some traditional picking as well as some modern picking.  They rocked, boogied, and picked on bluegrass fusioned tunes throughout the night and the crowd ate it up all night long.  “Run Chicken Run”, which is played very frequently on WXPN in Philadelphia was the biggest song of the night but was closely by “Whiskey In My Whiskey”.  “Whiskey In My Whiskey” included arm raising (and hence beer spill) sing along with a cowboy saloon feel. 

The crowd showed up in numbers and they all had a great time….. They always do when The Felice Brothers come in to town!

The setlist for the night was (roughly):
Opening Jam
Greatest show On Earth
Love Me Tenderly
Murder By Mistletoe
Katie Dear
Step Dad is so Bad
Jordan-F*ck the News
Frankie’s Gun!
Goddamn Jim
Whiskey In My Whiskey
Honda Civic
White Limo
Run Chicken Run
Endless Night
Take This Bread
Let me Come Home

Encore:
Saint Stephen’s End
Dance Hall
Helen Fry

Click here to see the photos.

Joe Bonamassa played a SOLD OUT show at the Sunoco Performance Theater inside the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg, PA on a very wet 04-25-2010 evening. Joe Bonamassa had no opening band for this show so the audience was treated to a nice long show by Joe and his band.

Joe Bonamassa started the show off with his double necked baritone guitar on “The Ballad of John Henry”.  This song also utilized the theremin in a more musical way than Jimmy Page used one.  Surprisingly the theremin filled the space of the music pretty well in a textural way more so than a gimmicky way.

I have seen Joe Bonamassa play several times, but this to me was one of the best shows I have seen him play.  Everything about the night was perfect.  It was in a small theater setting, the band had a new stage set up, the band used great on stage lights, and they covered some tasty cover songs as always.  Joe Bonamassa plays tribute to a lot of his guitar heroes on stage often quoting guitar passages of: ZZ Top, Gov’t Mule, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray, Jimmy page, etc throughout the entire concert. Fans of the blues, guitar rock, or just plain good instrumentation would love to see Joe Bonamassa and his band, go out and enjoy them live!

 This is a rough listing of songs played this night, might not be in the right order though:
The Ballad of John Henry
Last Kiss
So Many Roads
So It’s Like That
If Heartaches Were Nickels
Further On Up The Road
Sloe Gin
Lonesome Road Blues
Steal Your Heart Away
Happier Times
Blue And Evil
Three Times A Fool
Blues Deluxe
Young Mans Blues
Woke Up Dreaming
Django/Mountain Time

     Encore
Bird On A Wire
Just Got Paid