Hot Tuna Review, Ridgefield Playhouse, November 29, 2009
by Lauren Traub Teton
What an awesome show! From the getgo, the three musicians were sitting onstage ready to go at 8:05 pm and played through til after 11, with one intermission. It seemed like they were chomping at the bit to play because they have such a darned good time! Barry Mitterhof was the third musician for this acoustic evening. He plays with Jorma a lot and has been touring with the Tuna, namely Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady since 2004. Did you know that Jorma and Jack have been playing together since they were teens (shout out to Charismatic Megafauna) And of course they both played with the Jefferson Airplane. That factoid is thrown in for my younger readers.
The music was heavenly, as if channeled to them by angels. I usually slip out of the Ridgefield Playhouse before the encore to beat the traffic (though there's never much of a wait at this wonderful intimate local venue.) Tonight I stayed through 'til the end, and even got a front row seat for the last song, a polka where Jorma says his (now ex) girlfriend called him "Old Santy Clause." Called "Just Because." Watching them communicate telepathically as one can do up close added a whole new dimension to the show. No video from me tonight, I am taking a night off. But you can see how much fun the shows are at the Ridgefield Playhouse by checking out my Dark Star Orchestra vid (meet some Twifties at the show!) and the Boz Scaggs Gala.
Jorma always keeps it fresh with some new material, but played the one song I HAD to hear - "Genesis." Also an extended jam on "Good Shepherd." I elect this band as Super Twifties! They look like they're really having fun when they play, and they've gotten better over time. They stand as an inspiring example to Twifties everywhere - the FUN people!!
1 comment:
Wow..I'm so jealous. Thanks for the write up! I would have loved to be there! Glad you had fun.
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