AUDIO from Suggesting Rhythm at Strangeways Brewing (Richmond) from this past weekend is available at - https://www.suggestingrhythm.com/music
Strangeways Richmond - Saturday, April 17, 2021
With everyone's favorite leisure holiday only days away Suggesting Rhythm closes the Spring Strangeways tour with two smoking shows at the brewery’s Dabney Road location. This time, the band had a nice stage brought in that unfolded like a transformer and it gave the guys much more space to work with.
The sun was fighting the clouds and the outdoor venue was packed shortly after 5pm when the band came out. Dave, wearing the brown fedora this week, kicked us off with a “Let the Good Times Roll”. The background vocals were on point and the band wand ready to go. A quick tuning check sent us then into short “New Minglewood Blues”. Almost immediately afterwards the band swung into a semi-long twisting intro that turned into one of the Dead’s most played songs “Me and My Uncle”. You can hear Adam tease Little Feat’s “Skin It Back” before the vocals come in. The first verse led to a Steve piano solo before along jam fed to dynamic solo from Adam. Finishing up the final verse the jam transitioned into “Big River” as the accelerando of the first set continued. People started creeping closer to the dance floor now and the tempo was moving faster. After the second verse we got another long jam that saw the tempo pick up again before Dave really nailed the final verse.
The mood settled down some as an emotional Dave told us about Geordie Beddoe who passed the day after seeing Suggesting play in Fredericksburg.
There was a brief silence and then Jeff counted off to start In the “Midnight Hour”, the 1965 Wilson Pickett cover. The guys were really warmed up now and got to work. We had maybe our best jam of the night here with some amazing guitar work including a small teasing sample of “Norwegian Wood” if you listen close. The tempo waxed and wained and the band was having a great time as they resolved back into the final verse. There was a lot of fun being had on stage and after a long tuning break we slowed down some again with an introspective version of “When I Paint My Masterpiece”. The early 80’s Hunter\Garcia song “Loser” kept the tempo slow and mellow next.
Dave stopped here to give the customary introductions of the band and they were right back to it. Splitting up the verses some Dave and Steve shared time on the classic calypso tune “Man Smart, Woman Smarter” first recorded back in 1936. Closing out the first set and keeping the emotions high was Dylan's “Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues”.
At set break we got the announcement of a May 8th show at Lickinghole Creek Brewery which I hope to see everyone at but tickets will sell out quickly.
Just a couple minutes passed 7pm the band reemerged to start off the second set. After some tuning we took off into a long spacey “Playing in the Band”. The dance floor was packed to start the second set and everyone was smiling. Dave gave a us talk when the song ended about how lucky we are and then they set off on “Scarlett Begonias”. The energy all over the venue was super high as we finished the first jam and headed into the last verse.
Immediately after the last “Scarlet Begonias” lyric the guitar effects switched to the iconic “Fire on the Mountain” envelope filter and they set off on a long winding jam to complete the transition. With jams between each verse the FOTM is one of their best in recent memory. Another short pause led us to one of my personal favorite Grateful Dead’s songs, the legendary “Mr. Charlie.” In true Suggesting Rhythm fashion the second verse line "I can hear the drums" kicked off the nights “Drums and Space” set. In the last show “Space” was a highlight, this time it was “Drums”. Slow and groovy feeling, the dance floor seemed to swell with newcomers hypnotized by the beats.
The sun was setting and the purple stage lights glowed bright as Adam’s PRS “Autumn” found its way through space to find the opening notes of “Wharf Rat”. Sadness dripped from the stage at the bands musical description of a poor man down on his luck. A smooth transition picked up the tempo for “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad”. A song almost 100 years old now, first recorded in 1924 as The Lonesome Road Blues by Henry Whitter. This ended in the soft instrumental of “We Bid You Goodnight” finishing a long continuous set of music.
Dave introduced the next song and Steve took the reigns for the always on point “Hey Pocky Way”. We got another sweet jam here at the end that eventually transitioned back into “Mr Charlie’s” final verse cap the set at 830pm.
Back to answer the encore cheers of a still packed house the boys rustled up a blazing “US Blues” to send us home sweating and already craving night two.
In a show that built on pace from the beginning. The “Midnight Hour” solos, “Masterpiece”, and “Pocky Way” jams were highlights.
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Strangeways Richmond - Sunday, April 18, 2021
The sun was slightly brighter on day two as the crowd started to arrive. Anticipation was high and the mood was light as Suggesting Rhythm took the stage.
With very little time wasted they jumped right in to “Golden Road to Unlimited Devotion” to get the dance floor warm. Dave needed some sound adjustments after the first song but we were quickly underway with the foreshadowing theme of “Cold Rain and Snow”. You could begin to tell here with the guitar and keys solos that tonight was going to be fire. Dave stopped again here, this time to say “Hi” to the masses while Ed noodled around seemingly anxious to get going. The buzzing crowd sounded their excitement next when the band started on “Alligator”, a 60’s era Dead tune, third in the set lineup. The band's spirits were high and enthusiasm from sound energized the crowd. The energy stayed straight into the Bluesy Dylan song “Slow Train Coming.”
"What's better than a Dylan tune?" Dave asked, answering his own riddle classically, "another Dylan Tune." And with that somehow the bands energy vaulted as they dove in to a blazing “Maggie's Farm”! The dancing was so contagious even Adam and Ed were hopping in step together. After the second verse Steve had caught fire too and dealt us and amazing piano solo amongst the lively jamming here. Calming thing down a bit we got a slow tempo version of “Friends of the Devil” without the extra verse on the end. A little more tuning here to get everything exactly perfect and then we were hit with Steve delivering the Chuck Berry classic cover “Around and Around”. Moving to an incredible jam we danced feverishly hardly noticing Steve switch from piano to organ in an epic solo. This brought Dave back to the microphone surprising every with an unnoticed transition into the first song debut of the show. It was the 1972 Johnny Rivers hit “Rocking Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu”. Gasping for breath from dancing, set one was brought to a close shortly after 6:30pm.
The break didn't last long and soon time pushed the band backed to the stage. Adam started the ball rolling with the first notes of “Let's Spend The Night Together”, a song previously in the set one opening spot. No time was wasted starting “Get Out of My Life Woman” next again much to the delight of the attendees. Performed first by SR Oct. 26, 2019 at The Camel and then again on stage with John Kadlecik at The Broadberry, this is the type of rarely heard gem fans love. A song first recorded by Lee Dorsey and infrequently covered by the JGB, it was really done justice Sunday with a long wonderful jam and smoking guitar solo.
Dave stopped for introductions next and ironically to praise the weather that was about to give way. We got a medium length intro next to what many of us thought was going to be “Help on the Way” but changed course and landed on the second Suggesting Rhythm break out of the night, a BB King classic, “The Thrill is Gone” was originally preformed by Roy Hawkins in 1951 and covered by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman in 1991.
Looking back at the setlist you can see Adam threw some humor into the start of the second set. Starting with “Lets Spend The Night Together” followed by “GOOMLW” and “Thrill Is Gone” he painted a glorious “Prankster Picture”.
A long spacey intro followed and mixed emotions were felt when the “Dark Star” iconic intro rang out. Another Dead classic every fan loves though a lot of Suggesting fans had hoped they'd hear it at Stevestock. The band did it justice here though and psychedelic number led us into “Drums” and “Space” where Jeff played around with some really cool electronic sound effects. I discovered that on Saturday, Jeff and Adam walked around the crowd before the Saturday show asking “What does this music mean to you”. With that, Jeff took the audio samples and incorporated those comments into “Space”. The band’s motto is WE ARE ALL SUGGESTING RHYTHM and just like shows such as Egypt (and the crowd drum circle), SR was able to make the fans a part of the music in more than one way.
“Space” took on a lunar aspect this night as it opened up with “Standing on the Moon” off the 1989 'Built to Last' album. A slow emotion packed jam finished it out and they jumped straight into the Willie Dixon blues favorite “Wang Dang Doodle”. The tempo was kept high and they flew right into a fast “China Cat Sunflower” next. Some of the aforementioned cold rain started to fall during the seamless transition into presumed “I Know You Rider” which gave way to great cheers as Dave punched the "...cool Colorado rain" line. The second set ended to unending cheers, bringing the band back moments later. The rain got heavier as SR dialed in “Sugar Magnolia” for the final encore of the weekend. As they're known to do the band summoned extra energy for the final number and Dave, doing a bobby impersonation gave us some great screams finishing “Sunshine Daydream”.
It was a fantastic weekend full of dancing and great jams! Highlights were the “Cold Rain and Snow”, Ed and Adam dancing during “Maggie's Farm” which you can't hear, the “Rocking Pneumonia” break out and “Get Out of My Life Woman”.
