The artists that formed The Stockholm Syndrome and released the CD Holy Happy Hour, Jerry Joseph and Dave Schools, finished their four-city Almost Acoustic mini-tour with a sold-out performance at Smith’s Olde Bar in Atlanta.
The first set began with one of Joseph’s new songs, the gospel-fueled, “Suppers Ready.” I had sat in amazement listening to Joseph play it solo just a few weeks after he wrote it, but the song sounded even more brilliant with Schools ripping it up on bass. “Pumpkin Time” preceded an epic version of “The Prince of Denmark,” as Schools and Joseph lit both songs on fire with captivating improvisational instrumental jams and vocal harmonies. The radiance of the musicians shone during the beautifully written “White Dirt” – a song Joseph and Schools penned together while they were in The Stockholm Syndrome – and an energetic version of “Bright Young Thing” led to the literature-inspired “Light is Like Water” to close out the first set.
The second set kicked off with the classic Jerry Joseph song “North,” which contained an intense “Nicaragua” interlude, and was a blitz of great lyrics, vocals, bass and guitar, filling every available cubic inch of air space in the room. The show cruised along at a steady clip with “Tight,” another tune from Holy Happy Hour, before the rich lyricism of “Oil” drew a huge response from the audience. Other highlights of the second set included an intricate treatment of “Henry” and the title track of the Dave Schools produced 2002 Jackmormon’s masterpiece “Conscious Contact” and an excursion into Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.”
Jerry Joseph and Dave Schools Almost Acoustic Tour only visited four cities and one can only hope that the two friends and musical collaborators will grace the world with another run. With an incredible mix of new songs, old songs, songs they wrote together and songs they wrote separately, the two provided the sold out Atlanta audience with a great night of music peppered with brilliant instrumental jams.
