Smokestack Toledo 5/13/2006

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> Hey Y'All,
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> Another long day at work from 10:00 until about 9:30 up at my account on the lake in Michigan. I decided to head down to Mickey Finn's Pub to catch Smokestack. Got there about 10:10. I was surprised as they had an opener already on stage. The opener was the Ragbirds, out of Ypsilanti, Michigan. I set up in my usual spot expeditiously, and was recording as they started their second tune. I enjoyed their set as this was my first time seeing them. The Ragbirds use many traditional folk instruments including violin, acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo, accordion, acoustic guitar, piano and harmonica. But this folky root is firmly embedded in the soil of rhythm, ancient and new, incorporating African poly-rhythms and Afro-Cuban tumbaos, over sometimes rock, hip-hop or reggae style drum-kit. Their sound makes you want to move to the beat. Erin plays a very nice violin and accordian. As described, they have a great deal of percussion in their music. The part of the set I saw lasted just short of one hour. I will check these guys out again as they play in the Southern Michigan area often.
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> Pat, the house sound engineer, assisted with the breakdown and changeover of the stage. In 26 minutes, Smokestack was on and ready to roll. The opener was Already Know. This stretched out to 15 minutes and was every bit as good as the last one I saw in here. They played a very jazzy The Chicken. Jazz would be the theme for the 2nd set. They played a short Slayer Tease that segued into Bakersville. My favorite part of the set was the next two songs that closed it out. The guys invited Erin up with her violin. What ensued was a kick-ass version of The Way It Is. James had the keyboards cooking in this great Hornsby ballad. You would have thought that Erin has always played this song with the guys! She definately got things stirred up in the entire room. This segued very smoothly into the very energetic Why Did You Do Me Wrong. If this song doesn't get you dancing, you are either dead, or passed out.
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> After some fresh air and a brief 16 minute break, it was back to work. Due to the time, we were only going to get an hour at best. They opened up with the calypso sounding Leg and a Foot. Next up was a fat sandwich of Sexy Blues>Too High>The Fez>Too High. As I mentioned, this set was very jazzy. After the End of Beginning, the rowdy crowd summoned them up for Meatless Patty. The show was over and I said goodnight to the guys. It was good to finally see Murph at a show! Alex, Phil, Stredy and Jade, Sehadi, Tim and Crystal, and Nate, were fun to hang with. Buddy kicked ass on the lightws as usual! If you go to Hookahville next weekend, stop by and say hey to him as he will be in charge of the lights. You know he's got talent as he is following in the footsteps of the great Chris K! One more pitstop at the Waffle House for a Chicken Melt Plate, double scattered and smothered!
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> Here is how it went down:
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> The Ragbirds
> Mickey Finn's Pub
> Toledo, Ohio
> 5/13/2006
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> 10:15
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> RELIGION 6:20
> TIPI BAYA 6:50
> HARVEST SONG 5:09
> DOOR> 10:07
> GONYAME
> BRAVE NEW BEAT 5:05
> NARCISSICK 4:47
> ENEMY 7:02
> BETTER/BAND INTRODUCTIONS 7:18
> DUNUNBA 5:50
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> 11:13
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> Schoeps MK4'S>KC5>CMC6>Sound Devices 722 24-96
> FOB DFC KFC ZFC 20' FROM STAGE!
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> Smokestack
> Mickey Finn's Pub
> Toledo, Ohio
> 5/13/2006
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> 11:39
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> ALREADY KNOW 15:00
> BROKEN FILE 7:45
> THE CHICKEN 11:30
> SLAYER TEASE 1:07
> BAKERSVILLE 14:00
> *THE WAY IT IS> 8:59
> *WHY DID YOU DO ME WRONG 7:58
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> 12:46
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> 1:02
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> LEG AND A FOOT 14:15
> SEXY BLUES> 8:28
> TOO HIGH> 6:12
> THE FEZ> 9:15
> TOO HIGH 2:29
> END OF THE BEGINNING 12:35
> MEATLESS PATTY 6:52
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> 2:02
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> *With Erin Zandle
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> Schoeps MK4'S>KC5>CMC6>Sound Devices 722 24-96
> FOB DFC KFC ZFC 20' FROM ST