Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers – World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA 8/29/15 (SHOW REVIEW)

On August 29th, Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers graced the stage of World Cafe Live in Philadelphia and were supported by Nashville Americana group, Andrew Combs. Mr. Combs, on acoustic guitar & vocals, along with his backing band, warmed up the crowd with an upbeat opening set, that included a number of tunes from their latest release, “All These Dreams”. To close, the Nashville natives, all wearing cowboy hats, performed “Emily”, one of the songs that has been getting airplay throughout the country.

As the audience filtered back into the historic, World Cafe Live, the lights dimmed, and out strolled San Francisco’s rock ‘n rollers, Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers. Wearing a long white flowing dress, Bluhm belted out the lyrics to the set opener, “Heart Gets Tough”, off her new LP Loved Wild Lost. Acoustic guitarist, Dave Mulligan and bassist, Steve Adams, did a sending their backing harmonies to numbers, “Hey Stranger” and “Deep Water”.

With the absence of husband Tim Bluhm, who was touring with his mainstay bandThe Mother Hips, guitarists Deren Ney & Dave Mulligan stepped up to the plate. Ney, was showcased on the electric guitar and Mulligan complemented Bluhm with backing vocals and acoustic guitar work. Ney, wearing his Merle Haggard trucker hat, shredded away on guitar and drummer Mike Curry kept the tempo going as the band segue perfectly from “Waiting In Love” into the Jefferson Airplane classic, “Somebody To Love”. Bluhm shined on this number, channeling Grace Slick perfectly.

Each band member mid-way through the set, Nicki addressed the crowd and describe how a few years back the band was scrunched into a small van touring throughout the country. She remembered how a friend of hers believed so much in their music that he was willing to be their tour manager for the price of food and drinks. (She didn’t realize how much he could eat.)

The San Francisco based musicians, came to the forefront of the stage, gathering around one condenser microphone for stripped down versions of The Grateful Dead’s, “Deal” followed by an energetic version of Gram Parsons “Ohhhh Las Vegas”, which featured Bluhm & The Gramblers being joined onstage by Andrew Combs Band. The set concluded with the song that first got the quintet noticed in the scene, “Little Too Late”. As the band returned to the stage for the encore, Bluhm noticed a fan left a note and the band was more than happy to perform the fan’s request with a stellar version of, “Jetplane”.

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