Lesher Center for the Arts presents Mike Marshall, Edgar Meyer, George Meyer and Bryan Sutton Hofmann Theatre
Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94596-4299 USA
7:30 PM, Sunday, January 22, 2023

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2023 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2023 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[7:31 PM] {lights down; Greetings from Nobel laureate David Julius; performers out}

1. [7:33 PM] Hang Hang
2. [7:39 PM] Big Sciota
   [7:43 PM] {brief pause for tuning}
3. [7:43 PM] Short Trip Home
   [7:47 PM] {EM introduces the band; back- and fore-announcement of the tune titles}
4. [7:48 PM] Junior Heywood
   [7:54 PM] {MM greetings and joke about how great it is to be back in “nice dry sunny California”; mis-introduction to next tune as East Tennessee Blues}
5. [7:55 PM] Tennessee Blues
   [7:58 PM] {more yack from BS & MM – BS correcting the prior title to Tennessee Blues; great news for setlist geeks like me!}
   [7:59 PM] {EM relates the origin of the next title}
6. [8:00 PM] If I Knew
7. [8:04 PM] (unidentified tune #1, given as Duet per prior setlists from this tour)
   [8:13 PM] {banter}
8. [8:14 PM] BT
   [8:19 PM] {set ends; break time!}

[8:35 PM] {lights down; band out without introduction}

1. [8:36 PM] (unidentified tune #3, BP per prior setlists from this tour)
   [8:40 PM] {MM introduction}
2. [8:41 PM] OK, All Right
   [8:45 PM] {MM & EM introduction for next tune}
3. [8:47 PM] Foster's Reel
   [8:52 PM] {MM introduction}
4. [8:53 PM] Desuairada (Deranged)
   [8:57 PM] {drop MM & BS for a father-son duet by the Meyers}
5. [8:58 PM] (unidentified tune #4, a George Meyer composition from 2013)
   [9:03 PM] {drop EM & GM; add MM & BS; intro yack about teaching bluegrass online}
6. [9:04 PM] Watson's Blues »
7. [9:06 PM] Jerusalem Ridge »
8. [9:09 PM] (unidentified tune #5, probably another Bill Monroe composition)
   [9:10 PM] {add EM & GM; EM banter}
9. [9:12 PM] In the Nick of Time »
10. [9:18 PM] Death By Triple Fiddle
    [9:22 PM] {set ends}
    
    Encore
11. [9:24 PM] (unidentified tune #6, possibly Green Slime)
    [9:32 PM] {show ends}

• Mike Marshall: mandolin, mandocello, guitar, violin;
• Edgar Meyer: contrabass, piano;
• George Meyer: violin;
• Bryan Sutton: acoustic guitar.

As originally organized, Sam Bush was supposed to perform tonight, but he bailed out a few months early (tour conflict?), and Bryan Sutton was drafted to take his place. Hard to complain about that unless you're a stone solid Bush-head! I love Sam, but having seen him twice last year compared to once for Bryan, I'm perfectly fine with the substitution: more variety!

Apparently tonight's gig is the start of a very belated 20th Anniversary tour for the 1999 release Short Trip Home, which featured Joshua Bell, Sam Bush, Mike Marshall, & Edgar Meyer. Well OK then! Let's have at it! While lacking the star-power of name recognition, George Meyer turns out to be a fine substitute for Joshua Bell; pappy Edgar must be very proud!

I'm a little disappointed to learn that tonight's set is more-or-less exactly the same as last night's tour opener from Bing Concert Hall, and even more so when I dig into the Internet to find intermittent reviews from 2020 through 2022 reporting the same: a proscribed setlist that focuses tightly on that one album. Where's the pleasure in playing the same things every night? Must be found by finding variation within the form of each song. Not having attended any of those earlier shows, I'm certainly griping about an imaginary problem: the show is fresh to me, so why am I whining? Good question! Time to stop it!!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2023 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2023 event list! ☸ On to the next event!