# Ry Cooder at Great American Music Hall, July 20, 2018

[Slim's](http://www.slimspresents.com/event/ry-cooder-gamh-w-joachim-cooder/) presents [Ry Cooder](http://www.nonesuch.com/artists/ry-cooder) featuring [the Hamiltones NC](https://www.facebook.com/thehamiltonesnc/); and opener [Robert Francis](https://www.robertfrancismusic.com/)  
[Great American Music Hall](http://www.gamh.com/)  
[859 O'Farrell Street, San Francisco, CA 94109-7005 USA](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=859+O'Farrell+Street,+San+Francisco,+CA+94109-7005+USA&hl=en)  
8:00 PM, Friday, July 20, 2018

[[2018-07-19|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2018|Up to the 2018 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2018#July_events|Up to the 2018 event list!]] ☸ [[2018-07-21|On to the next event!]]

## Set One: Robert Francis

[7:59 PM lights down, announcements, RF out alone]

01. [8:00 PM] _Dark Windows_
02. [8:06 PM] _the Other Side of Heaven_
03. [8:11 PM] _Modoc County_
04. [8:20 PM] _I've Been Meaning to Call_  
[set ends 8:26 PM]

### Performers

* [Robert Francis](https://www.robertfrancismusic.com/): acoustic guitar, harmonica, vox.

## Set Two: Ry Cooder & the Hamiltones

[8:45 PM lights down, SG out alone, playing a Saxello, a ?Conn-o-sax, or a Stritch (straight alto saxophone), joined by Ry on a Gibson hollow body guitar + glass slide after about 30 seconds]

01. [8:45 PM] _Nobody's Fault But Mine_  
[Add band; Ry swaps to black Fender Stratocaster + glass slide; SG swaps to bass saxophone]
02. [8:52 PM] _Everybody Ought to Treat a Stranger Right_  
[Ry swaps to blue Fender, SG swaps to alto saxophone]
03. [8:58 PM] _Straight Street_  
[Ry swaps back to the black fender + glass slide]
04. [9:04 PM] _Alimony_  
[Ry puts away the slide; SG switches from alto to bass saxophone part way through the next tune]
05. [9:11 PM] _The Very Thing That Makes You Rich_  
[Ry off for brief respite; Lelo on guitar]
06. [9:18 PM] _Highway 74_ (Hamiltones)  
[Ry back, playing a black Gibson]
07. [9:23 PM] _Gotta Be Loving Me_ (Hamiltones)  
[All off but Ry, who swaps back to the Gibson hollow body guitar + slide]  
[Ry takes awhile to tell the Concern app story]
08. [9:30 PM] _Vigilante Man_  
[Ry swaps to an acoustic guitar, tells Heaven story; add GP: piano]
09. [9:40 PM] _Jesus and Woody_  
[Band back, Ry swaps to ?cittern; SG: alto sax; GP: harmonium]
10. [9:47 PM] _You Must Unload_ >
11. [9:54 PM] _Jesus on the Mainline_  
[Ry swaps back to the black Stratocaster]
12. [10:00 PM] _How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?_  
[Ry introduces the band]
13. [10:10 PM] _The Prodigal Son_  
[Ry swaps back to the black Gibson; Lelo picks up guitar too, takes the first solo]
14. [10:18 PM] _Little Sister_  
[set ends 10:22 PM; all off in a minute or so]  
   
**Encore**  
[Back in a minute; Ry on blue Fender guitar]
15. [10:24 PM] _Go Home Girl_
16. [10:31 PM] _I Can't Win_ (Hamiltones)  
[show ends 10:36 PM; off in a minute, lights up]

## Performers

* [Ry Cooder](http://www.nonesuch.com/artists/ry-cooder): guitar, slide guitar, acoustic guitar, electric cittern or mandola, vox;
* [Joachim Cooder](http://joachimcooder.com/): drums, percussion;
* [Robert Francis](https://www.robertfrancismusic.com/): bass;
* [Sam Gendel](https://samgendel.com/): alto saxophone, bass saxophone, unidentified saxophone, effects;
* [Glenn Patscha](http://glennpatscha.com/): piano, keyboards, harmonium.

### the Hamiltones NC

[the Hamiltones NC](https://www.facebook.com/thehamiltonesnc/)

* 2E: lead & harmony vox;
* Tony Lelo: guitar (t07, t14), lead & harmony vox;
* J. Vito: lead & harmony vox.

## Notes

* We arrived at GAMH about 7:10 PM after a tough slog across the bay bridge to find at least 100 folks ahead of us in line. Drat!
* Couldn't get a seat on the floor (many of the tables were reserved, and the rest of the seats went to the folks ahead of us in line). Managed to wedge into a spot at the front of the SRO crowd, in line with the inside of the PA hanging from Stage Left.
* Standing around for about an hour before the show? Torture!
* Ry was standing around watching the crowd from the stage monitor area hard at stage left; I spotted Henry Kaiser there too for a moment or two. Joachim came out into the crowd and greeted a few folks.
* Folks were remarkably respectful of Robert Francis during his opening set. I thought his tunes were OK, though not necessarily the sort of stuff I'll seek out.
* Break was mercifully short. Did I mention that it was torture standing in place in the crush of peons behind the floor tables?
* Ry's set started off with Sam Gendel laying down some breathy, atmospheric wind tones from a large, mostly straight saxophone run through a battery of effects. I'm guessing it was a stritch -- a straight alto -- but it could have been something stranger. Couldn't find anything about it on the web. Wish I'd taken a picture, since that would help with the ID!
* Overall, I was really pleased with the set, which struck a good balance between sharing new tunes (and covers) off Ry's recent (May) release, _Prodigal Son_ and stone classics from his earlier discography.
* With the passing of the great Terry Evans earlier this year, the Hamiltones NC were the wild-card replacement, offering deep Gospel groove and soulful 
harmonies to many of the tunes tonight.
* Ry seemed darn chatty tonight, telling us a couple stories, and sort-of-ranting about the sad state of affairs in America today.
* Outside after the show, I overheard one or two folks commenting that they were glad to have attended, even though the sets were largely (?exactly) the same. One woman mentioned that she thought the crowd was more passionate last night, whatever that means.
* Looks like I should try and sell my Sunday Napa tix: I liked the show plenty, but I don't really need to hear the same thing again so soon.

## Photos

Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!

{{gallery>:2018:2018-07?20180720-*.jpg}}

{{:wip.png?nolink}}  **Whoa!**  This section is incomplete for now, sorry! {{:wip.png?nolink}}

{{tag>music Ry_Cooder Great_American_Music_Hall Joachim_Cooder Robert_Francis Sam_Gendel Glenn_Patscha the Hamiltones_NC 2E Tony_Lelo J._Vito}}

[[2018-07-19|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2018|Up to the 2018 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2018#July_events|Up to the 2018 event list!]] ☸ [[2018-07-21|On to the next event!]]