the New Orleans Radiators
2016-01-14
Tipitina's
501 Napoleon Ave, New Orleans, LA .
10:00 PM, Thursday, January 14, 2016

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

As of 2016, January 14th is Officially 'Allen Toussaint Day' in New Orleans!

Doors for this show will open at 9 PM
And, of course, in keeping with The Radiators' tradition they will be scheduled to start at 11:11PM.

[10:00 PM lights down, Alex says hello]

1. [10:00 PM] So Uptown
2. [10:05 PM] All My Rivers
3. [10:09 PM] The Get Go
4. [10:13 PM] Young Man's Game
5. [10:16 PM] The Man Who Shot the Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
6. [10:21 PM] ? The Day After Mardi Gras Day ? “she was queen for a day”
7. [10:25 PM] Ham and Eggs
8. [10:28 PM] the Woman I Love
9. [10:34 PM] Ace of Spades »
10. [10:37 PM] The Ballad of Cap'n Sandy
    [set ends 10:40 PM]

[11:07 PM we have a quorum! Kenny makes a few announcements]

1. [11:09 PM] You Ain't Going Nowhere
2. [11:14 PM] Wrong Road
3. [11:20 PM] Jigsaw
4. [11:25 PM] [Edlib: You Got to Move] » Bottle of Red Wine
5. [11:32 PM] Little Paradise »
6. [11:37 PM] Join the Circus
   [Swap in George Porter, Jr. for Reggie]
7. [11:43 PM] Papaya
8. [11:51 PM] Raindancer
   [Swap Reggie back in]
9. [11:58 AM] Soul on Fire »
10. [12:04 AM] Red Dress »
11. [12:09 AM] Hot Lube » Love Trouble »
12. [12:14 AM] Where Was You At?
    [set ends 12:22 AM]

[12:36 AM lights down, 12:47 AM Ed out waiting first; 12:53 AM band back and ready, announcements from Kenny]

1. [12:54 AM] [Edlib: ?] » the Cuckoo_ »
2. [12:59 AM] All Along the Watchtower
3. [1:09 AM] Barnburner
4. [1:14 AM] [Edlib: Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out] » Never Let Your Fire Go Out
5. [1:20 AM] Doubled Up in a Knot »
6. [1:23 AM] Love Is a Tangle » [1:28 AM] Mountain Jam » [1:29 AM] Jessica »
7. [1:30 AM] Chevy 39
8. [1:34 AM] Lila
9. [1:41 AM] [Edlib: Honkytonk Woman] » Let It Bleed
10. [1:47 AM] Nail Your Heart
    [set ends 1:51 AM, all off]
     
    Encore
11. [1:52 AM] My Gal »
12. [1:57 AM] Murder in My Heart for the Judge
    [show ends 2:03 AM]

the New Orleans Radiators

• Camile Baudoin: guitar, acoustic guitar, slide guitar, lead and harmony vox;
• Frank Bua, Jr.: drums;
• Dave Malone: guitar, acoustic guitar, percussion, lead and harmony vox;
• Reggie Scanlan: bass, contrabass;
• Ed Volker: piano, keyboards, percussion, vox
  with special guest
• George Porter, Jr: bass.
   
  and opener:
• Alex McMurray: guitar, vox.

Wow, what a night! The reunion really kicked off with gusto tonight. Alex McMurray delivered a nice forty minute solo set of mostly original tunes; unhappily, by half-way in, the din of the crowd had grown so much as to make it hard to hear him play. Heathens!

After a short break it was time for the main event. With the early appearance of the band, I was expecting an Emcee to appear and crow about today's Lifetime Achievement Award from Offbeat, or the city of New Orleans' Proclamation of today as Allen Toussaint Day, but strangely, all we got was Dave mugging for the crowd. Coming out a bit ahead of the nominal 11:11 PM start time, the guys seemed eager to go, and so they did, commencing the party with a rocking announcement, You Ain't Going Nowhere. Everybody got settled into that deep, wide Mississippi groove, and the band let their magic flow. I was especially happy to hear Little Paradise pop up midway through the set – it's such a bouncy tune full of love and light – (“Some people like the quiet life; Whoa baby that ain't me; They say turn that music down; It'll ruin my serenity; Whenever I see you dancing my way I say; Let that music play; Sweet music everywhere; It's good to know you're there.”) – just one example why Ed Volker ought to be held in higher regard as a songwriter by the unknowing public.

A few minutes later, Dave invited George Porter, Jr. up onstage to give Reggie a break for a few tunes. Apparently Reg has been fighting some tough health issues lately, and he spent the entire night playing from a bar stool rather than standing like the other guys. I didn't hear anything amiss in Reggie's playing, but he certainly seemed happy and relieved to have George sub in for a few songs – “take three!” said Reggie after Papaya ended, and George looked over to see whether it was going to be 'one and done' for him. Reggie returned for Soul on Fire – the sole remnant of the mid 90's Ancient Furnace suite still in the band's active repertoire, and the band blazed on through a greasy run of tunes, ending up with an epic rendition of the Dave's lament, Where Was You At?. Whew! What a way to start the run. Firing strong on all cylinders!

The house emptied out for set break, and surprisingly, it seemed to me that the whole front-side crowd turned over except for the hardest core rail rats. Unhappily, the net result for me was a significantly more sardine-like experience during the second set, but not having much say in whether or not that was gonna happen, I took my squishing like a good fish, and simply wriggled and squirmed along with the rest of 'em. Oh, and what writhing and gyreing there was! Up through the first half, my favorite was the deeply funky Never Let Your Fire Go Out – another upbeat 'message' tune from the sagely St. Zeke – which is not to disparage any moment of the preceding songs. I'm just emphasizing my favorites.

Dave and Camile did a great job emulating the twin guitar attack of the Allman Brothers as they teased both Mountain Jam and Jessica on the way out of Love is a Tangle, with Dave expertly steering the band into his hard-partying tune, Chevy 39. Yowza! The rest of the gig was hugely fun, and while it might have been a bit shorter than shows of yore, I have to admit that they wore me out good, and I have no complaints about the band wrapping things up at 2 AM. Senior citizens gotta take things a little easier than the young bucks, and with two nights to go, I want EVERYBODY rested and ready to rock hard again tomorrow!

Plenty of pics posted by Offbeat!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!