On Wednesday night, Robert Walter’s 20th Congress and Barika made their way to Burlington, VT’s Higher Ground. While the two bands play very different styles of music, members of the two groups are quite familiar with playing together. Members of both Barika (percussionist Craig Myers) and the current iteration of Robert Walter’s 20th Congress (keyboardist Robert Walter, drummer John Kimock) tour the country with Phish bassist Mike Gordon as part of his solo band, so who better to show up and lend a musical hand than Mike Gordon himself?
Barika—comprised of Craig Myers, Dopapod’s Rob Compa, Caleb Bronz, Giovanni “Johnny” Rovetto, Chris Hawthorn, and Matt Davide—kicked off the evening’s festivities with their unique blend of “funky, dubbed out, psychedelic West African” sounds. The first guest of the night came early in the set when Daby Touré joined in on vocals. Midway through their set, Barika was joined by Mike Gordon, Robert Walter, and John Kimock for a collaborative rendition of original number “Angatta”, which the collected musicians have frequently performed together at Mike Gordon Band shows.
As Craig Myers notes to Live For Live Music, “It was so great to share the stage with my bandmates from MGB in the context of my other project, Barika. It was like one big musical family.”
Rob Compa also shared his thoughts and excitement about being a part of this Barika/Mike Gordon’s sit-in. As the guitarist tells Live For Live Music,
There’s kind of a neat backstory to me playing with Barika. When Dopapod stopped touring last year, I didn’t really know what to do or where to go. I was playing a gig in Burlington and Craig [Myers] was at the show, and he told me he was looking for a roommate and that Barika needed a new guitar player. Burlington has always been one of my favorite cities, so within a day or so I told him “count me in,” and I moved there a month later.
I’m also a big Phish fan, and I had seen Craig with Mike Gordon Band a bunch of times. I had filled in as a sub guitar player for some Rubblebucket shows years ago when he was touring with them, and I think that was where we first met.
Fast forward to tonight, which was just a super cool moment for me. For “Angatta”, the song that Mike, John, and Robert sat in on, my job is to really just play a written part and be a team player. I appreciated that because it allowed me to look around and appreciate how great of a moment it was, rather than be looking down and in my little guitar world the whole time.
Mike took a pretty monstrous bass solo that gave me an all-new appreciation for what an amazing player he is. At one point, he really laid into a note that altered the entire context and mood of the tune, which was really cool. That’s a sort of ability that great bass players have access to that other instruments don’t, and it was cool to see someone who’s such a great improvisor do that with just one note.
You can watch a full video of Barika’s Higher Ground set featuring Mike Gordon, Robert Walter, and John Kimock below:
Barika w/s/g Mike Gordon, Robert Walter, John Kimock – 1/30/19 – Full Video
Following Barika’s opening performance, Robert Walter’s 20th Congress hit the stage for their headlining set with a core lineup featuring Walter, Kimock, guitarist Scott Metzger (Joe Russo’s Almost Dead), and bassist Marc Friedman. In addition to working through a number of selections from 20th Congress’ 2018 album, Spacesuit, they welcomed Mike Gordon to join in on “Don’t Chin The Dog” from 2013’s Get Thy Bearings—another song this group has played together frequently at Mike Gordon shows. You can watch a video of Gordon’s sit-in with Robert Walter’s 20th Congress below:
Robert Walter’s 20th Congress w/ Mike Gordon – “Don’t Chin The Dog”
[Video: Robert Walter]
Next up for Robert Walter’s 20th Congress is a three-night run supporting Umphrey’s McGee in the northeast. For a full list of Walter’s upcoming tour dates, head here.
Next on the docket for Barika is a pair of late-March shows in Nashua, NH and Stowe, VT, respectively. For more information, head here.
Mike Gordon is also set to head out on a 13-date March solo tour (along with Myers, Kimock, Walter, and guitarist Scott Murawski) beginning on March 8th at Atlanta, GA’s Variey Playhouse. For a full list of upcoming Mike Gordon Band shows, head here.
The post Mike Gordon Joins Both Barika & Robert Walter’s 20th Congress For “Big Musical Family” Affair In Burlington [Videos] appeared first on L4LM.
