Grateful Dead tribute supergroup Voodoo Dead played the second show of a three-night run through Japan on Tuesday, February 12 at the Bay Hall in Yokohama. The band — consisting of guitarist Steve Kimock, keyboardist Jeff Chimenti, drummer John Kimock and legendary New Orleans funk bassist George Porter Jr. — welcomed Japanese trumpet player Issei Igarashi for large portions of the first and second sets. JamBase takes a look at the performance for this edition of Full Show Friday.
To get things started, Chimenti eased the band into an instrumental “Scarlet Begonias” on his Fender Rhodes which saw Steve Kimock and Chimenti throwing melodies and solos back and forth at each other until the band dived into a jazzy jam section. “Scarlet” stretched to over 18 minutes, then, instead of heading into the obligatory “Fire On The Mountain,” things got swampy as Voodoo Dead dropped into The Meters classic “Fire On The Bayou” sung by none other than Meter Man George Porter Jr. himself.
The band then welcomed Issei Igarashi on trumpet for Curtis Mayfield’s “Here But I’m Gone.” Igarashi heralded the song with bluesy, plaintive trumpet musings that sounded straight out of a classic film noir flick before Geroge Porter Jr. stepped to the mic. Igarashi would stay on for the rest of the set which included a funky, laid back “After Midnight” which headed into a jazzy, instrumental “Eleanor Rigby” with some great interplay between Kimock and Igarashi before returning to “After Midnight.” Voodoo Dead closed out the set with The Meters-esque Steve Kimock staple “You’re The One,” stretching to over 16 minutes.
The quartet kicked things off with an instrumental “Help On The Way” before heading into “Slipknot!” But instead of completing the classic trifecta with “Franklin’s Tower,” the band slid into a “Dark Star” that naturally got spacey and exploratory for about 20 minutes and saw Igarashi adding some manic horn runs before teasing the song’s main melody, getting weird, and finally dropping into a gorgeous instrumental verse. After the smoke cleared, the trumpet player would stay on for another jam vehicle, “Eyes Of The World” before taking a break as the band played Jimmy Cliff’s “Many Rivers To Cross.” Igarashi returned for “Not Fade Away” and stayed on for Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing” which led into “Terrapin Station” to close out the evening.
Listen to the full show taped by oira below:
Setlist (via oira)
Set One: Scarlet Begonias, Fire on the Bayou, Here But I’m Gone*, After Midnight* > Eleanor Rigby* > After Midnight*, You’re The One*
Set Two: Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Dark Star > Slipknot!*, Eyes of the World*, Many Rivers to Cross, Not Fade Away*, Little Wing* >Terrapin Station*
Notes:
* with guest player Issei Igarashi on trumpet
