Seminal jam quintet God Street Wine brought a celebration of their 30th anniversary to its conclusion with a marathon concert at The Gramercy Theater in New York City on Saturday night. The band pulled from various eras of their career during the three-set show in front of Winos from throughout the country.
Guitarists Lo Faber and Aaron Maxwell, keyboardist Jon Bevo, drummer Tom “Tomo” Osander and bassist Dan Pifer opened with the oldie “Whatcha Gonna Do About It,” which they segued into a well-jammed “Goodnight Gretchen.” The quintet then pulled “Which Way Will She Go?” off 1996’s Red and “Wall” from their self-titled 1997 LP. GSW ended the first of the three sets with a batch of classics including “Into The Sea,” “Epiphany” and “Driving West.” Maxwell led the group on a rare cover of Frank Zappa’s “Trouble Every Day” between “Into The Sea” and “Epiphany.”
Saturday’s second set began with the gorgeous “Souvenir.” Next came “Change Your Mind” ahead of a pairing of “Nothing Left To Lose” and “Water.” An emotional high point came with a stellar “Waiting For The Tide.” From there, Faber jokingly introduced “Stupid Hat” as one of the band’s radio hits. Fan favorites “Borderline,” “Ballroom” and “Imogene” closed out the frame.
There was still over 100 minutes of music to go when GSW returned for the third set. GSW jammed “Fortress Of Solitude” into “The Other Shore” and then dusted off “This Fine Town.” The seamless start to the closing stanza continued with “Upside Down & Inside Out” and a “Bring Back The News” that gave way to the traditional “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.” The five-piece then worked “Electrocute” into the beloved “Nightingale” before finishing the third set with an emotional “Home Again” and rousing “Get On The Train.”
God Street Wine said farewell with a three-song encore. Up first was the tender “5 Tunnels.” The quintet then tore through a cover of The Beatles’ “Come Together” before ending the night with a lengthy “Hellfire.” Listen to a soundboard matrix recording taped by Scott Bernstein (no relation):
Setlist
Set One: Whatcha Gonna Do About It > Goodnight Gretchen, Which Way Will She Go?, Wall > Into The Sea > Trouble Every Day > Epiphany > Driving West
Set Two: Souvenir, Change Your Mind, Nothing Left To Lose > Water, Waiting For The Tide, Stupid Hat > Borderline > Ballroom > Imogene
Set Three: Fortress Of Solitude > The Other Shore > This Fine Town > Upside Down & Inside Out > Bring Back The News > Will The Circle Be Unbroken > Electrocute > Nightingale > Home Again, Get On The Train
Encore: 5 Tunnels, Come Together > Hellfire
