GOTV ’08: Inside Out

The trio of Bill Kreutzmann, Scott Murawski and Oteil Burbridge is a heady
thing—a lot fuller and far-reaching a sound than you might expect, but then chide yourself for not expecting given the talent level of the people involved.

An opening Eyes of the World, for example, offered three distinct solos from Murawski—one lilting, one funky and one breezy—and each had a moment of lock-in with both Burbridge and Kreutzmann that suggested this band is especially interested in how to get the most mileage out of a single song’s architecture—there’s no hurry to get to the next one so long as there are stones unturned and choices to make. Every cut they’ve played so far—including Franklin’s Tower, Help On the Way (the latter one later) and a taut Rhymes that featured Jen Durkin on vocals—has been given time to marinate and switch gears a few times, letting Murawski dig deep, Burbridge make some tricky curves, and Kreutzmann hold it down in a number of different tempos and dynamics.

The New Riders came earlier, and deftly navigated a mix of classics (Panama Red), new songs (watch out for the galloping Ghost Train Blues debuted in April 2008 and featuring Robert Hunter lyrics) and Dead-borrowing (Deep Elem Blues). Donna Jean, resplendent as usual, joined in for a few numbers, and David Nelson, Buddy Cage and the rest of the band were milling about afterward cool to talk politics and mirth (not necessarily in that order) with anyone who was available.

The New Riders are a comfy sort of cool—that bright and airy country rock thing with Cage’s skywriting pedal steel at its core, unwavering in focus and uncompromised in style. They’re a quintessential Vibes band, even if their mix was occasionally unkind on a suddenly sun-dappled afternoon.

The Mike Gordon Band is up next, and rumors of a Kreutzmann sit-in–among other possibilities–are reaching critical mass. Gonna try to visit the Solar Stage, where David Gans is due up shortly, in the meantime.