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August 12, 2007
Gathering of the Vibes - Saturday night
I caught the second half of Keller William’s set at the Gathering of the Vibes late Saturday afternoon and, while he has a sizeable following, I don’t quite get him. It’s obvious he’s a good guitarist, but it’s all just a bit too goofy for me.
Williams’ performance did end on a high note, but that was mainly because he was joined by Bob Weir of Grateful Dead and Ratdog fame. Williams is presently on tour with Weir and Ratdog, so the collaboration was no surprise. Still, the two did an excellent version of The Dead’s “Scarlet Begonias” that was one of Saturday’s highlights.
Next up was Les Claypool, of Primus, Oysterhead and several other projects, and I really took to his offbeat show.
At first.
After a while, it just started to seem monotonous. He’s one of the most interesting bass players I have ever seen and he’s got an out-there personality – he wore a pig mask for most of his time on stage – but I just lost interest after about 30 minutes.
It was nice that he talked about his returning to Bridgeport – he was here for Vibes 2000 – and joked about how special sixth anniversaries were and he managed to make a connection with the huge crowd. His demeanor changed about an hour into his show when he apparently was hit with some sort of debris and, while remaining calm, said that whoever threw it should have instead stuck it . . . well, let’s just say put it elsewhere and leave it at that.
Claypool’s set also ended strongly and, once again, it was thanks to members of Ratdog, who joined him for the last three or four songs. For Claypool’s last tune, a whacked-out cover of The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows,” Weir himself joined in after being introduced by Claypool as “Mr. Edward Van Halen.”
Then it was finally time for Ratdog, which seemed to be the band most of the thousands at Seaside Park were there to see. Vibes master of ceremonies Wavy Gravy led the crowd in sending out some good thoughts to Ratdog’s missing guitarist, Mark Karan, who is sitting out this summer tour as he battles throat cancer, before Weir and Co. took the stage.
After a bit of a warm-up jam, Weir offered the first of his Grateful Dead songs, “Shakedown Street,” on which he was joined by former Dead singer Donna Jean Godchaux, who seems to have sat in with just about every band during the festival’s first three days.
Though I’m sure I don’t qualify as a Deadhead – I only went to one show – I am a fan of The Dead’s music and enjoyed Weir and Ratdog. But as midnight neared, I’d seen and heard enough and started to work my way to the exit.
I would have liked to have made it to the end of Ratdog’s performance, but I had a ratty old dog at home that needed to be tended to after too many hours on her own.
Posted by Sean on August 12, 2007 5:17 AM
Comments
Love your work, Man.
Posted by: Maggie at August 12, 2007 9:08 AM
