Almost Famous Wine Company presents Dustbowl Revival; Spirit Hustler opens
Almost Famous Wine Lounge
2271 S. Vasco Suite D, Livermore, CA 94550 USA
5:30 PM, Saturday, December 16, 2023

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[5:34 PM] {lights down; house introduction}

1. [5:34 PM] White Out
   [5:39 PM] {greetings; intro for next tune; guitar swap; pause for tuning}
2. [5:41 PM] November
   [5:45 PM] {Jimmy invites Jules Leyhe up onstage}
3. [5:46 PM] Circlin' the Sun »
4. [5:54 PM] Angels of Summertime
   [6:00 PM] {add Allison Irvine; drop JL; pause for more tuning; Yosemite story}
5. [6:01 PM] Honey Moon
6. [6:05 PM] Hard-Fought Magic
   [6:10 PM] {Jimmy says it's time for a wine break} ## Set Two: Spirit Hustler

[6:23 PM] {All three band members back onstage and getting ready to play}
[6:25 PM] {PA faded out; more noodling}

1. [6:25 PM] StarBearer
2. [6:30 PM] Mine is a Gypsy Soul
   [6:36 PM] {thx; quick merch pitch; tune ID}
3. [6:37 PM] Rhythm of the Rain
   [6:43 PM] {false start: no capo! Quick intro for the next tune}
4. [6:43 PM] California Hustle
   [6:50 PM] {thx; intro for the next tune}
5. [6:51 PM] Cost of California
   [6:58 PM] {final words from JL; house announcements}
   [6:59 PM] {set ends}

Spirit Hustler

• Allison Irvine: violin, harmony vox;
• Jimmy Leslie: acoustic guitar, guitar, vox;
• Jules Leyhe: guitar, slide guitar.

[7:30 PM] {lights down; band out}
[7:31 PM] {house announcements; band introduction}

1. [7:32 PM] Runaway
2. [7:37 PM] Nobody Knows (Is It You)
3. [7:41 PM] Busted
   [7:46 PM] {ZL introduces LH; banter about his kid}
4. [7:47 PM] Get Right
   [7:52 PM] {ZL introduction & banter about Bill Withers}
5. [7:52 PM] Beside You
6. [7:59 PM] Feels Good
   [8:06 PM] {drop the horns for the next tune; merch pitch; long introduction for the next tune}
7. [8:08 PM] Mr. Steady
   [8:13 PM] {horns back onstage; ZL: red flag story … we recorded this with Keb' Mo'}
8. [8:14 PM] Honey I Love You
   [8:19 PM] {time for a wine break!}

[8:44 PM] {looks like they're ready for set 2…}
[8:47 PM] {banter from ZL: thank you for not leaving!}

1. [8:47 PM] Lonely
2. [8:52 PM] Ghost
   [8:57 PM] {ZL: Is everyone having a good time?}
3. [8:57 PM] Sonic Boom
   [9:02 PM] {ZL repeats his merch pitch – we gotta pay for our coming European tour! – razzing the fan for his faded t-shirt – joke introduction about writing the next tune with some English street musicians}
4. [9:03 PM] Oh! Darling
   [9:07 PM] {ZL yacking about fans who didn't get the joke; intro next tune}
5. [9:08 PM] Best Day
   [9:13 PM] {drop the horns for the next tune; we recorded the next tune at a cabin in the woods…}
6. [9:14 PM] Get Out (Change Your Mind)
   [9:20 PM] {drop drums & bass; ZL, LH & trpt as h vox: acoustic & unamplified right in front of our table}
   [9:21 PM] {ZL banter about life choices to set up the tune}
7. [9:22 PM] Tall Tales
   [9:25 PM] {all back; joking about what it means when the guys sit out; ZL set-up: the next tune is for when you're having those difficult conversations with your mother-in-law}
8. [9:27 PM] Enemy
   [9:31 PM] {ZL thanks; promo for January shows}
9. [9:31 PM] the Story
   [9:37 PM] {ZL: We love you, thank you so much….; all off; house encouragment…}
   
   Encore
   [9:38 PM] {begin unamplified encore}
10. [9:38 PM] You Are Not Alone
    [9:43 PM] {final applause; house announcements}
    [9:43 PM] {show ends}

Dustbowl Revival

• Ulf Bjorlin: trombone;
• Lashon Halley: vox;
• Josh Heffernan: drums, percussion;
• Zach Lupetin: acoustic guitar, vox;
• Max O'Leary: trumpet, harmony vox;
• Nick Phakpiseth: bass;
• Chad Richard: guitar.

We arrived at the Almost Famous Wine Lounge about ten minutes before the nominal start time for tonight's show to find that the performance space wasn't even open yet. Right then! We'll just hang out near the bar for awhile with our friends. Only a few other positions were present when the house opened, and my guess is that Spirit Hustler opened their set to less than 20 of us. 5:30 is damn early for a show! Jimmy was psyched nonetheless, and put a lot of energy into playing his songs and keeping us entertained. I was glad to hear him, and even happier when Jules and Allison were up there adding their own instrumental contributions to the mix.

Jimmy's announcement of a wine break caught me by surprise – as far as I can recall, this is the first time ever that I've heard two sets (short as they may be!) from an opening band. Hey, if it helps sell more wine, it don't bother me all that much! Salud! With all three of the Hustlers playing throughout the second set, the tunes were full of interesting parts to listen to. Makes me wish they'd lined up a drummer and/or bass player too. Guess I gotta chase them down on a headlining night!

For an incarnation so new that the current band members aren't even depicted or mentioned on the official Dustbowl Revival website, the main act was extremely tight. They must have played a lot of gigs together in the past few months! I'd prepped for the show by listening to ALL of their previous albums, but even with that, I was bowled over by how good they sounded in person. Cowabunga!

I think my favorite tune of the night was a brand new one, tentatively titled Get Out (Change Your Mind). The way is started out with unison singing from Zach and Lashon, then gradually shifted to wider harmonic intervals struck me as incredibly fresh and creative. “Do it again!,” I wanted to yell once it was done, but Zach had other ideas, and instead, he dismissed most of the players, then came down from the stage to stand right in front of our table and sing the next tune unamplified from the middle of the floor. A very bold move, but it worked perfectly in that venue, and the crowd was really attentive.

They pulled the same trick for the encore, but this time, the whole band came down to sing and clap with the audience. Hot damn, that was fun! I gotta see these folks again!

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!