Elvis Is King!
Along with about half a million other people I was at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Bluegrass festival in Golden Gate Park for parts of this previous weekend. Despite the obnoxious presence of the Blue Angels, I enjoyed seeing Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, Elvis Costello, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, The Coward Brothers, and Richard Thompson.
I wish that I could have seen others such as Earl Scruggs, Del McCoury, and The Drive-By Truckers, but schedules did not permit.
For me, the highlight was Elvis Costello and The Hammer of the Honky Tonk Gods on Friday. Although a pretty decent sized crowd showed up, it was more like the crowds that were at the festival in its early years. It felt more intimate, people didn't talk through the songs, and there weren't as many drunks. Elvis seemed pleasantly surprised by the size of the crowd ("A lot of you must have skipped out on work on a Friday afternoon!") and by the fact that they were singing along from the first number ("The Angels Want to Wear My Red Shoes"). E.C. did five or six songs solo then brought out his band, including longtime drummer Pete Thomas and the fantastic honky tonk guitarist Bill Kirchen (sp?). After a few tunes, Miss Emmylou Harris came out and they duetted on several numbers. I'm sure Elvis was thrilled to play Gram to Emmylou's Emmylou. They did a fine version of the Everly's "Love Hurts." Then, as if that weren't special enough, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings came out for a few songs. Everybody up on the stage jam sessions don't always work, but this one did. It seemed as if they may have even rehearsed together once or twice. A loose but not sloppy set, good vibes, good humor. I've been waiting twenty nine years to see Elvis and this couldn't have been a better experience.
Back in the park on Sunday with the Psychedelic Eskimo, we saw The Coward Brothers (Elvis and T-Bone Burnett) mostly disguised as a pine tree branch, but they sounded good. It's always nice to hear George Jones and Merle Haggard songs.
Following that, Richard Thompson, also disguised as a pine tree branch, did a fiery solo set. I know that my guitar solo homie Big Game James was probably at The Drive-By Truckers performance, but he missed some serious guitar slinging in our little pine grove.
I wish that I could have seen others such as Earl Scruggs, Del McCoury, and The Drive-By Truckers, but schedules did not permit.
For me, the highlight was Elvis Costello and The Hammer of the Honky Tonk Gods on Friday. Although a pretty decent sized crowd showed up, it was more like the crowds that were at the festival in its early years. It felt more intimate, people didn't talk through the songs, and there weren't as many drunks. Elvis seemed pleasantly surprised by the size of the crowd ("A lot of you must have skipped out on work on a Friday afternoon!") and by the fact that they were singing along from the first number ("The Angels Want to Wear My Red Shoes"). E.C. did five or six songs solo then brought out his band, including longtime drummer Pete Thomas and the fantastic honky tonk guitarist Bill Kirchen (sp?). After a few tunes, Miss Emmylou Harris came out and they duetted on several numbers. I'm sure Elvis was thrilled to play Gram to Emmylou's Emmylou. They did a fine version of the Everly's "Love Hurts." Then, as if that weren't special enough, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings came out for a few songs. Everybody up on the stage jam sessions don't always work, but this one did. It seemed as if they may have even rehearsed together once or twice. A loose but not sloppy set, good vibes, good humor. I've been waiting twenty nine years to see Elvis and this couldn't have been a better experience.
Back in the park on Sunday with the Psychedelic Eskimo, we saw The Coward Brothers (Elvis and T-Bone Burnett) mostly disguised as a pine tree branch, but they sounded good. It's always nice to hear George Jones and Merle Haggard songs.
Following that, Richard Thompson, also disguised as a pine tree branch, did a fiery solo set. I know that my guitar solo homie Big Game James was probably at The Drive-By Truckers performance, but he missed some serious guitar slinging in our little pine grove.
posted by ken at 1:39 PM
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