God Street Wine began a celebration of their 30th anniversary by embarking on a five-show tour this past summer that ran between July 29 – August 4. The 30th Anniversary Tour ended with a hometown show at City Winery in New York City on August 4. Videographer LazyLightning55 paired stunning 4K footage of GSW’s acoustic and electric sets with taper Scott Bernstein’s crispy soundboard matrix recording to create the video that can be viewed below as this week’s Sunday Cinema selection.
Guitarists Lo Faber and Aaron Maxwell, bassist Dan Pifer, drummer Tom “Tomo” Osander and keyboardist Jon Bevo formed in New York City in 1988. GSW went on to record five studio albums, toured relentlessly and survived a few lineup changes before calling it quits in 1999. The original members helped say farewell to the legendary NYC nightclub Wetlands Preserve in 2001 and then reunited in 2009 to play a private show in honor of an old friend who died. In 2010, the five-piece band returned to the stage for a series of four concerts and have performed sporadically since.
The August 4th, 2018 gig found God Street Wine at the top of their game. Each show on the run consisted of an acoustic first set and electric second set. GSW’s opening stanza at City Winery NYC began with a particularly swampy “Wendy” and featured a mix of material from their heyday as well as a gorgeous cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “America.” Included within were rarities “Call It Love,” “Miss Leonardo” and “When The Melody Plays” along with staples “Who’s Driving,” “Upside Down & Inside Out” and “Nightingale.” The quintet also fit in “Goodbye Oklahoma” from their self-titled 1997 studio album and “When The White Sun Turns Red” off 1996’s Red.
God Street Wine, who ends their 30th anniversary year with a three-set show at NYC’s Gramercy Theater on December 22, kicked off the electric set on August 4th with Red’s “Girl On Fire” and obscurities “Vanity Street” and “Slinky.” The quintet then dug into one classic fan favorite after another starting with “Mile By Mile” and including such gems as “Borderline,” “Epilog,” “Goodnight Gretchen,” “Epiphany” and “Bring Back The News.” Fittingly, GSW used “Home Again” to close the set. While the evening’s encore was marred by an idiot who stage dove, the concert was a fine representation of why the band still matters.
God Street Wine 8/4/18 Acoustic Set
God Street Wine 8/4/18 Electric Set
Setlist
Set One: Wendy, Call It Love, Miss Leonardo, Who’s Driving, When The Melody Plays, Upside Down and Inside Out, Goodbye Oklahoma, America, When The White Sun Turns To Red, Nightingale
Set Two: Girl On Fire, Vanity Street, Slinky, Mile By Mile, Stupid Hat, Borderline, Epilog, Goodnight Gretchen, Epiphany, Feel The Pressure, Bring Back The News, Home Again
Encore (Not Included In Video): Five Tunnels, On The Shores Of Silver Lake > Brick House, Into The Sea
