Jerry Knight's River Theater presents David Nelson Band; the Pistol Packin' Mamas open!
Jerry Knight's River Theater
16135 Main St, Guerneville, CA 95447 USA
8:00 PM, Saturday, December 31, 2022

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promo art

[8:14 PM] {performers out, introduction from Jerry, lights down}

1. [8:17 PM] Ashes of Love (RH)
2. [8:21 PM] Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail (RH)
3. [8:24 PM] Long Gone (m)
4. [8:27 PM] Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (RH)
5. [8:33 PM] Deep Elem Blues (m)
6. [8:37 PM] Pistol Packin' Mama (RH)
   {Banjo Signal skipped on account of last minute substitution of Sam Reeder}
7. [8:41 PM] Toy Heart (RH)
8. [8:45 PM] Leave Well Enough Alone (RH)
9. [8:49 PM] Too Wise Special
10. [8:53 PM] On Top of Old Smokey (RH)
11. [8:57 PM] Barefoot Nelly (SBe)
12. [9:01 PM] Don't You Hear Jerusalem Moan (RH)
13. [9:05 PM] Glendale Train (SBr)
    [9:09 PM] {set ends}
    [9:11 PM] {announcements from Jerry for a minute or so}

• Sam ?Benigni ?Bongini (help!): violin, lead & harmony vox;
• Scotty Brown: contrabass, lead & harmony vox;
• Bud Dillard: mandolin, lead & harmony vox;
• Riley Hill: acoustic guitar, lead & harmony vox;
• Sam ?Reeder: banjo;

event poster by Darren Nelson

[9:20 PM] {band onstage getting set up to play}
[9:33 PM] {announcements from Jerry: it's gonna be a few more minutes, so hang tight and be mellow}
[9:38 PM] {MS teasing us with If You're Happy and You Know It, the Hokey Pokey, etc.}
[9:40 PM] {more yack from Jerry: give us 5 more minutes}
[9:42 PM] {serious noodling while Barry tunes the pedal steel guitar}

1. [9:47 PM] Panama Red
   {BS swap from pedal steel to guitar}
2. [9:52 PM] Six of One
3. [9:59 PM] Down the Middle
   [10:05 PM] {pause to get things right
4. [10:07 PM] Dreadful Wind and Rain » [10:14 PM] bonus jam!
   [10:16 PM] {brief stop}
5. [10:17 PM] On a Night Like This (MS)
   [10:23 PM] {BS swap to pedal steel guitar}
   {initial take on Lazy River Road aborts when David starts singing the wrong tune on top of Pete dining the right one, Doh! Restart!}
6. [10:25 PM] Lazy River Road (PS)
   [10:32 PM] {BS checks that David is on the right tune this time}
7. [10:33 PM] Contract
   [10:38 PM] {stop, more pedal steel tuning from BS while the band space noodles along}
8. [10:39 PM] Dirty Business »
9. [10:54 PM] Just a Season » [11:00 PM] {BS swap from pedal steel to guitar} » jam »
10. [11:04 PM] Cut and Run »
11. [11:17 PM] Rocky Road Blues
    [11:23 PM] {set ends}

[11:42 PM] {Pete and Barry back out already; Pete with a phone book thick stack of sheet music; Barry working again on tuning up the pedal steel}
[11:44 PM] {Barry moves on to his guitars; Pete fiddling with his bass rig}
[11:45 PM] {MS & WI back onstage too. I guess they must be starting before midnight!}

1. [11:48 PM] Any Naked Eye
2. [11:55 PM] Ballad of Casey Jones
   [11:59 PM] {stop for the countdown - Steve jumps onstage to call out the final cadence; balloon release failure; carousing and happy pandemonium}
   [12:02 AM] {the band begins to noodle again}
3. [12:03 PM] Earl's Girl's Advice » [12:13 AM] NFA tease »
4. [12:15 AM] After Midnight (MS) » 12:18 transition jam »
5. [12:21 AM] All Things Must Pass (MS) »
6. [12:26 AM] Long Gone Sam » jam (Barry teasing I Can See Clearly Now) » incredible jam » (BS swap to pedal steel guitar after starting Stella Blue)
7. [12:42 AM] Stella Blue (PS)
   [12:53 AM] {BS back to guitar}
8. [12:55 AM] Kick in the Head » [1:06 AM] MS piano solo breakdown » back into the killer deep jam
   [1:14 AM] {set ends}
   
   Encore
   [1:16 AM] {back out: WI carrying a half full magnum of Cooks (but no glass!); DN starts teasing on the Dragnet theme while Barry messes (again!) with tuning the pedal steel guitar}
9. [1:19 AM] Box of Rain
   [1:25 AM] {show ends}

• Wally Ingram: drums, percussion;
• David Nelson: guitar, lead and harmony vox;
• Pete Sears: bass, lead and harmony vox;
• Mookie Siegel: keyboards, lead and harmony vox;
• Barry Sless: guitar, pedal steel guitar.

[4:45 PM] Pre-show dinner party at Pete & Dawn's with a healthy assortment of DNB maniacs. Lots of good cheer, a bit of story talk, and plenty of yummy food: sounds just about perfect, eh?

[6:40 PM] Checked in at Casa Secoya before they closed up for the night, taking care of one very important task! Now waiting while Ting makes last minute adjustments to her outfit before we head over to the show.

[7:04 PM] Arrive at the door to find that the early birds have already been received. Must not have been too many today. Our entrance is then delayed by lack of tickets. Not on the list? WTF? Apparently neither Ting not I purchased them in advance. Oops! Good thing there's just enough cell service to get out transaction pushed through the internet to Eventbrite.

[8:03 PM] After an hour of chit chat, I'm starting to feel antsy for the show. Time to get up and dance, y'know? It's a bit chilly inside, and I'm glad to be wearing two long sleeve layers right now. Not that it's too bad… Maybe low 60's up front by the rail. But definitely to cold for short sleeves IMHO! Low 50's outside, and kinda misty around the trees, but not actually raining any more… Just dripping here and there.

[8:10 PM] busted for sitting on chairs in the middle of the floor! First the door guy, then Martha. I'm not sure we were causing any sort of problem: it's not like it's even crowded yet. I think the staff were just being antsy about things (like chairs taking up prime dancing space). I say, if you're gonna take away my seat then it's time to get this show on the road! Vámanos!

1st set DNB takes a little while to get cooking, but by the time the band gets to Dirty Business they're running at full speed. Holy shit folks, strap 'em down, they've opened up the throttle and we're heading for the hole. Yowza!

Break is a little short, but tonight we have time constraints to pay attention to! Jam-wise, the band is right back in the zone from the get go: gotta love that! Studying the setlist a bit more, I'm going to hazard a guess that the countdown was originally conceived as coming one song later in the set. Maybe set one started late or ran bit a overtime? A nice question of trivial detail to pose to folks in the know!

As we break for the midnight countdown, it seems for a moment as if there's no emcee, but then Steve jumps up onstage from his rail spot to lead us: works for me! At the stroke of midnight, the balloon bag release is pulled, and instead of opening, the far side attachment to the ceiling gives way, and then that side of the entire giant bag of balloons falls slowly until the bag is hanging vertically from the other attachment. Doh! I guess they didn't test the release mechanism carefully enough. We turn back to greeting friends and strangers as the balloon wranglers struggle to fix things, first pulling the loose end of the bag up into the side balcony window, then cutting it open and finally dumping out the balloons on the reveling crowd. I take care to stomp on one balloon (my traditional quota), then ignore the rest. Ting carries the load for many of us and obliterates as many as come within stomping distance, often dancing so as to time the 'pop' to the beat of the music.

The rest of the set is truly excellent: I'll have to see about tracking down a copy so I can re-listen again in the future. During the encore break, Craig (roadie for the band) pops down onto the floor to shake howdy, exchange New Year's greetings, and pass me copies of the setlist from stage. Cool! Always nice to have some way of fixing my errors and bad guesses! Box of Rain offers a nice sentiment of remembrance for the evening: 2022 is just a memory now! Eventually our celebration time ends, and without music, the house empties out little by little. Ting and I take time to visit with other folks hanging out, exchanging hugs and greetings with other friendly peeps who aren't quite ready to leave yet. Twenty or thirty minutes later we're headed for the door again (third time's the charm?) when we run into yet a few more pals not seen earlier in the night. Photos before we part! And then it's a short walk to the car and a short drive west along the river to our room in Monte Rio. Whew! Super fun! Let's do it again next year!!

Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2022 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2022 event list! ☸ On to the next event!