“I know we have to play other states, but I don’t want to,” said Dobro player Anders Beck to a roar at the Friday night. “Don’t tell the other states though.”
At the first of two sold out shows at the Ogden, Greensky Bluegrass threw down for close to three hours over two sets, weaving long instrumental passages into explorations of what acoustic music can actually become when practiced by people who don’t see limits because of their instruments.
The band started out with a relaxed groove on “Just Listening,” a track from their latest album, “If Sorrows Swim,” and followed with “Gumboots.” Mandolinist Paul Hoffman, guitarist Dave Bruzza, banjo player Michael Bont, and Beck all took tight solos on the bluegrass-oriented tracks, using the material as a way to get ready for the more complex musical interaction to follow.
The first real jamming of the evening took place on a fiery take on the David Grisman tune “EMD,” as bassist Mike Devol shook the Ogden by dropping bass bombs and Hoffman, Beck, Bruzza and Bont all took extended instrumental breaks. Beck used a distortion pedal on one point on his acoustic Dobro, getting fuzzy tones through the PA that built the jam to a fiery conclusion.
Greensky Bluegrass isn’t only about instrumental prowess however, as the harmonies between Bruzza and Hoffman excelled on both “Working on a Building” and a cover of the Talking Heads’ “Road to Nowhere,” which started with the same instrument-less harmonies as the original.
The first set closed with a fierce “Kerosene,” with both Bruzza and Beck having fun with their effects pedals on a long jam.
Set two kicked off much like set one, with tighter, more traditional tunes before the fireworks. Beck’s Dobro fills greatly enhanced “Grow Bananas,” while Hoffman’s vocal performance on the introspective “In Control” had an achingemotional depth.
After that pause, the band took flight on a furiously paced “Can’t Stop Now,” teasing different melody lines and exploring different instrumental spaces before jamming into “That’s What Love Will Make You Do.” The bouncy reggae beat allowed Bruzza and Beck to move into more melodic, bluesy solos, while Bont’s rolling banjo line eventually propelled the groove back into “Can’t Stop Now.”
The jams continued as the band sandwiched a cover of Pink Floyd’s “One Slip” between the band’s original “Tarpology,” a song dominated initially by Bont’s banjo line and Hoffman’s percussive picking. On an extended jam, Beck turned on the distortion again, moving his Dobro playing into a fiery crescendo before dropping the song back into its final verse.
The encore showed a hint of what might come Saturday, as the long jam on “Ain’t No Bread in the Breadbox” found Beck playing around with the melody line for “Don’t Lie,” teasing it and exploring it at different tempos, and just when it seemed that the band might launch with that crowd favorite, they brought it back into “Ain’t No Bread in the Breadbox” to close the brilliant three-hour show.
Setlist
Set 1
Just Listening, Gumboots, Eat My Dusy, Working on a Building, Into the Rafters, All Four, Road to Nowhere, Long Gone, Kerosene
Set 2
Grow Bananas, In Control, Can’t Stop Now -> That’s What Love Will Make You Do -> Can’t Stop Now, Tarpology -> One Slip -> Tarpology, The Four, Tied Down -> Wings for Wheels-> Tied Down, Leap Year, E: Ain’t No Bread in the Breadbox
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is a Denver freelance writer/photographer and regular contributor to Reverb. When not writing and shooting, she plays guitar and violin in Denver band .
