Smokestack Maumee 3/10/2006

Smokestack Maumee 3/10/2006
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> Hey Y'All,
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> Did not get out of town to see the Crowes in Myrtle Beach, Drew Emmitt Band in Atlanta, Lucinda in Cleveland, Commander Cody in Columbus, or Ten Years After in Cleveland. The truth is, after work I watched the Syracuse Orange take care of Georgetown to advance to the Big East final to defend last year's crown. Who would have guessed they would beat Cincy at the buzzer with a floating 3 ball, take #1 UCONN to overtime and beat them, and then beat G'Town in the last 20 seconds of the game. Lots of adrenaline and raw emotion for all us Orange fans!!!!
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> So, it's 10:00 p.m., what to do? Go to the Village Idiot in Maumee, a suburb of Toledo, and check out Smokestack. This is a young "jam band" from Ann Arbor that is gathering a pretty good following in Northwest Ohio and Southern Michigan. I had heard they are a Dead cover band. Not really, as they have lots of original material. The place was pretty packed and they were on stage just starting as I wandered in. I plunked down the mic stand DFC about 12' from stage and in about 3-4 minutes, I was rolling. I was all alone with the rig, feeling somewhat adventurous. The first set lasted about 1 1/2 hours. I did run into Phil who ran an AT single stereo mic on the front of stage. With the vocals overhead just past the stage, I ruled out that notion to go on stage and stick to what I had. By the end of the set, I was feeling very crowded. I enjoyed what I heard. The B-Mac's>Hippo stretched out to over 18 minutes. Their rendition of Meatless Patty sailed right into Already Know. That song was probably my favorite of the set. They closed with Phil's request for The Harder They Come. I've always loved to hear this Jimmy Cliff nugget!
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> After a break, set two began to unravel. Now, it was not only crowded, but the kids were getting drunk. Defending my space was more of a challenge. Lots of encouragement by a few fans around me though. The Wally Sparks>Jubilee was a very strong combo. Sugarloaf's Green-Eyed Lady cover was a nice surprise for me to hear. I am quite sure most of the fans on hand, were either in diapers or not born when that was a hit in the early 70's. The set was extremely long by today's standards, clocking in at over 2 hours by the time it closed with an interesting Shakedown Street. Lots of fans, both drunk and coherent thanked me for taping. Many also said to me, "I haven't seen you taping these guys before which lead me to believe that these are a buch of tight knit fans that see lots of Smokestack shows. Always good seeing Nikki and John, our venue owners! I thought I had Tim convinced to meet me at the show, but I let him get away. Other than Phil and Blaze, I did not really know anyone else, just a few familiar faces from ther local scene. Good hearing from David and Sam after they saw the Drew Emmitt show at Smith's in Atlanta. Sounded like a great setlist and very solid show!
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> Here is how it went down(The best I can):
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> Smokestack
> Village Idiot
> Maumee, Ohio
> 3/10/2006
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> 10:30
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> ? 8:45
> SEA GUTE 15:40
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEB 2:00
> B/MAC'S> :45
> HIPPO 17:20
> MEATLESS PATTY> 13:04
> ALREADY KNOW 14:38
> THE HARDER THEY COME 6:50
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> 11:47
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> 12:21
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> HIGHWAY 8:56
> ST. THOMAS 6:35
> WALLY SPARKS> 15:58
> JUBILEE 10:21
> GREEN-EYED LADY 9:04
> ? 16:55
> TILL THE MORNING LIGHT 13:00
> YOUR EYES 8:45
> LONG AS I TRY 17:36
> SHAKEDOWN STREET 17:15
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> 2:25
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> Schoeps MK4's>Sound Devices 722
> FOB/DFC/KFC/ZFC 12" FROM STAGE!
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