On Sunday night, Mike Gordon continued his March 2019 solo tour with a St. Patrick’s Day performance at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, NJ.
After getting started with “Whirlwind”, Gordon and his band—comprised of guitarist Scott Murawski, keyboardist/organist Robert Walter, drummer John Kimock, and percussionist Craig Myers—moved into “Steps”, off of Gordon’s 2017 OGOGO release. Gordon and company moved forward with covers of Fiona Apple‘s “Sleep To Dream” and Jon Cleary‘s “Got To Be More Careful” before moving into “Tropical Rocket”, a new tune recently debuted at Gordon’s Rocky Mount, VA show earlier in the week. Myers picked up his ngoni to lead his bandmates through “Angatta” which was followed up by Tower of Power’s “You Strike My Main Nerve” and an exploratory set-closing rendition of “Crazy Sometimes”.
Mike Gordon – “Angatta”
[Video: Jordan Hoffman]
Following a brief setbreak, Mike Gordon and his bandmates returned to open their second set with “Tiny Little World”, off of Gordon’s 2014 Overstep release. Gordon and company moved forward with the groovy “Stealing Jamaica” before transitioning into the recently debuted Murawski-led “Put Down The Phone”, played for the third time this tour. Gordon tipped his hat to Leo Kottke next, as the quintet worked through a cover of his instrumental “Noon To Noon”. Last year, Gordon revealed that he’s working with Kottke on a new album, the duo’s long-awaited follow up to the now 13-year-old Sixty Six Steps.
An interesting and unique cover of “When Your Mind’s Made Up” followed, a tune from the 2007 film and 2011 musical, Once. Mike Gordon and his bandmates kept the energy high for the remainder of the set with the recently debuted “My Favorite Mistake”, a cover of Max Creek’s “Jones”, and a set-closing rendition of Aerosmith‘s “Sweet Emotion”.
Mike Gordon – “Put Down The Phone”
[Video: jshep111]
Mike Gordon – “Sweet Emotion”
[Video: gr8fuljon]
As reported by JamBase, when the band reemerged for their encore, “Gordon explained that he had been drawing inspiration from musical theater lately.” In the theme of theater and acting, Gordon invited up actress Elizabeth Nestlerode to assist with vocals on “If You Want Me”, the second Once tune of the evening. Nestlerode is currently performing in The Other Josh Cohen on Broadway and has played the Girl role in Once many times. In November, Gordon and his Phish bandmate Trey Anastasio were spotted hanging out with the Spin Doctors’ Chris Barron at the Broadway premiere for The Other Josh Cohen. Gordon and company settled back into their five-piece format to bring the electric St. Patrick’s Day show to a close with the recently debuted “I Am Random”.
Enjoy a beautiful gallery of photos below from Sunday night’s show courtesy of photographer Chris Capaci.
Mike Gordon’s solo tour continues on Tuesday, March 19th, with a performance at Buffalo, NY’s Town Ballroom. For a full list of Mike Gordon’s upcoming tour dates, head here.
Setlist: Mike Gordon | White Eagle Hall | Jersey City, NJ | 3/17/2019
Set One: Whirlwind, Steps, Sleep To Dream, Got To Be More Careful, Tropical Rocket, Angatta, You Strike My Main Nerve, Crazy Sometimes
Set Two: Tiny Little World, Stealing Jamaica, Put Down The Phone, Noon to Noon, When Your Mind’s Made Up, My Favorite Mistake, Jones, Sweet Emotion
Encore: If You Want Me, I Am Random
The post Mike Gordon Welcomes Elizabeth Nestlerode At Broadway-Inspired Jersey City Show [Photo/Video] appeared first on L4LM.
