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| Concert Review |
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In the early 90's, college buddies Rob Mercurio (bassist), Jeff Raines (guitarist), Stanton Moore (drums) and Rich Vogel (keyboardist) began their career playing Meters' covers at local New Orleans dive, Benny's. It is here that they met Theryl "Houseman" DeCloudet, who became their "permanent special guest," writing songs and adding vocals to the bands instrumentals until late 2004. Around the same time, Moore's (drummer) former band mate, Ben Ellman, was added to the roster as their sax player. Today they are a jam band legend. Their Friday night performance opened with a display of flashing commercial art from the 20's and 30's. Ellman faded in, caressing the crowd with his jazzy sax solo. The other members followed: Raines with his deep guitar riffs, Mercurio setting the bass temp, and the uncanny Moore who beat on the drums with as much intensity as was on his face. During the next improvised song, Ellman switched from sax to harmonica, which really revved up the crowd. Trippy close-up shots of the band members flashed on the screen behind them as Vogel added an electronic harmony with his assorted keyboards and chords on the B-3. The best part of the show was after intermission, when Luther from the North Mississippi AllStars joined Galactic as their special guest. The North Mississippi AllStars, another jam band favorite with a big following, opened for Galactic that night. The two bands are known for touring together. Luther put out an awesome guitar solo, but did not upstage the other members; he blended in very well. After a parting solo from each band mate, their set came to a close. The audience waited five minutes in a dark silence until Ellman murmured, "Thanks for coming you guys." Dim blue lights turned up as Raines gave a final guitar encore. Overall the show was a huge success. Galactic's energy brought thousands of fans to The Culture Room, making it more packed than it's ever been. Just remember to never park across the street in the Coral parking lot... our car got towed along with thirty other jam band junkies' cars. |
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