The great shows are cathartic, they take us out of our everyday grind and lift us up, dust us off, and put us back in the game. The best shows, though, turn a Monday night into a Friday night we will never forget. That is what The Wood Brothers did this past Monday night, February 6, at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz, CA. It was a show that might not have happened, in fact, surely someone from the band, or the management, probably thought about canceling out of necessity. The scenario was rotten. The band’s bus had been stuck in State Line, Nevada after playing a show in Tahoe. Big snows over the weekend had played havoc on the roads, the bus could not drive through that snow and there it sat. Finally, late in the day on Monday, things got moving and the bus blazed toward the coast.
While the band careened toward town, fans began to assemble, and Santa Cruz showed UP! If it was not a sellout, it was damn close (remember, this was a Monday). The line outside the venue stretched for more than two blocks, fans worked hard to ward off the chill of the night as they patiently waited for delayed doors to open. Inside, and now understandably behind schedule, the band was still loading in. Road cases were unpacked with abandon and gear was feverishly and rapidly placed on the stage.
As the first fans entered the room, the crew was still working hard to get this whole thing to go off. Miraculously, only a half hour late, Taylor Ashton and his band took the stage. Ashton primed the crowd with his rootsy melange of Americana encompassing blues, rock, and acoustic ballads that displayed his depth and range. Taylor and his band played maybe six or seven songs and left the stage to an appreciative crowd that was thankful for the music given but anxious for the music yet to be delivered.
A rapid tear down and set up followed, the crew flying as they connected cables, tuned instruments and checked mics. Then the lights went down, the crowd roared out and The Wood Brothers appeared. Chris Wood (Bass) charged onto the stage jumping up and down, arms thrust into the air like Rocky besting steps on a cold Philadelphia training morning. Oliver Wood (guitars and vocals) stepped up to his mic, “Boy are we glad to see y’all!” With those few words, Jano Rix (drums, synth, shuitar, pretty much anything you can think of, AND vocals) hit the downbeat and we were off. The place erupted. The roof lifted. The release was palpable. This was immediately not an ordinary night. This was the reason live music is the experience it is. We go to shows hoping for nights like this, when the magic does not need a build-up, it is just there right from the get. These are the nights when we throw responsibility right out the effing window and be there – right there – dancing with strangers. This night 11-year-olds danced next to their parents briefly ignoring the fact they had school tomorrow and, unbeknownst to them teachers danced not five feet away. Everyone was in it and the smiles were testimony for the moment.
No, the setlist was not special. There were no exciting bust outs or even elusive songs pulled off the shelf and dusted off. It was not what they played nearly as much as it was how they played. From a bluesy “Alabaster” to contemplative “Postcards From Hell”, a ROCKING “Snake Eyes”, a most appropriate “River Takes The Town” in light of the devastating rains that hit the county not a month ago, and to a full-on singalong of “Luckiest Man”, the intensity and emotion were off the charts – consistently pegging in the red. The band was animated, at one point coalescing to the middle of the stage with Chris and Oliver kneeling down in front of Jano, all three railing on a jam that left the crowd breathless in shouts and exhortations. The Wood Brothers reminded us why they are way more than just a grammy nominated band. They reminded us why they are one of the very best bands out on the road today.
They did not mail in a performance after an excruciatingly long day of hurdles and travel, instead, they rolled up their sleeves, tightened the laces on their shoes, and danced right along with the crowd. The energy bounced from band to crowd and back and forth all night – everyone in lock-step. The crowd sang the ballads louder than Oliver could croon, and then the band slayed songs with Led Zeppelin-like riffs, heavy and pounding, sending vibrations through the very bones of the fans and the room itself.
This is one reason Santa Cruz will probably always be a stop on Wood Brothers’ tour. This is a band that can victoriously and deservedly play two nights at a huge theater like the Fox in Oakland and, by rights, they could just continue on to the next big stop. But they do not. Somehow they never forget about our little surf town and they come back time and again. Those nights end up being sleeper nights, the ones you hear about later and, if you missed, wish that you had been there, and for these gigs that is often the default. But this past Monday, well, that will be a gig that the band and those of us that were able to be there to see it will talk about for a very, very long time. It was the night a BUNCH of people beat the odds and pulled off something unforgettable. And that is the essence of the live music experience, to find the magic that cannot ever be replicated again, be present to accept it, and then start a chase for the next one.
