Spafford continued their winter run on Friday pulling into Philadelphia for a gig at Union Transfer. The Arizona-based act dug in on a John Hiatt cover to open the night and offered a handful of newer tunes throughout their two-set show including the debut of a brand new original called “Comfortable.”
The four-piece band got things going in the City of Brotherly Love with an expansive take on Hiatt’s “Memphis In The Meantime.” The nearly twenty-minute version of the track from the singer-songwriter’s 1987 release Bring The Family eventually worked its way into “People.” The rising jam-act then offered up “Fuel” delivering the For Amusement Only cut for the first time in 2019. “In The Eyes Of Thieves” gave them another opportunity to show off their improvisational chops as they stretched tune from their 2012 self-titled debut out past the 15-minute mark. The third ever take on the recently debuted “Settled In” brought the first set to a close.
Spafford looked to “The Reprise” to get their second frame of the night off the ground dedicating nearly a half-hour to the song. The quartet worked in another new original next as the “Hard Way” got its second-ever rendering. Don Henley’s “Dirty Laundry,” which was debuted on New Year’s Eve followed. The back half of the set found the foursome unleash jam-heavy takes on “Leave The Light On,” “Hollywood” and “Ain’t That Wrong.” Spafford brought their evening to end with a one-song encore with the debut of “Comfortable.”
Listen to full show audio taped by Chris Imburgia below:
Setlist (via Spaffnerds)
Set I: Memphis In The Meantime > People, Fuel, In The Eyes Of Thieves, Settled In
Set II: The Reprise, Hard Way, Dirty Laundry, Leave The Light On, Hollywood, Ain’t That Wrong
Encore: Comfortable*
* First Time Played
