SR Turns 7! Feb. 19, 2022 at The Canal Club, RVA
A wise old man once said "...it ain't official until it's Facebook official." Well Suggesting Rhythm became official Feb. 2015. Lucky for us, that also meant that February 2022 would give rise to a 7th year celebration. And celebrate we most certainly did! The Canal Club played host to SR’s 5th birthday party and were more than gracious hosts for number seven.
The set opened by quickly acknowledging the bands continual aging with 'Touch of Grey'. There was a slight tuning pause before commencing into the loving Smokey Robinson cover of "Second That Emotion' in the ‘second spot’. Nice touch.
The jams were growing as the band warmed up and the crowd was getting more and more loose as we ventured into the 3rd spot of the set-list where SR threw in the first song debut of the night.
'Rhapsody in Red' from the "Cats Out Under the Stars" album took that spotlight and didn't disappoint. The solos and jam here really stood out as it seemed the band had been holding back in anticipation of this knock out break out.
'Crazy Fingers' came next. I believe only the second time played since debuting in February 2020 at the Camel. The build up to the transition was superb as it climbed effortlessly and dropped into the steady beat of 'Wang Dang Doodle'. The peppy jams in this classic are exactly Suggesting is known for and they played it out beautifully.
The second of two debuts, 'Walking the Dog' was now on stage and ready for the spotlight. The 1943 Rufus Thomas number was perfect for Oakley's wheelhouse. Not only did he crush it but he also shouted out the growing “grow” community when the lyrics asked "...how does your garden grow?"
One more short tuning session brought us to 'Playing in the Band,' a classic cover that Suggesting has performed since very early on. Along with 'Terrapin Station' the band has now played the two songs a combined 50+ times, getting exceptionally well at both. The transition melded the two songs seamlessly, displaying the precision the band has elevated to over the years.
Dave bit the word some in the 'Lady with a Fan’ beginning, but with Oakley, you can't tell if it was real or part of his act to deliver a realistic show. “I meant to do that!”
Nevertheless the duo of Grateful Dead favorites embodied the past 7 years of Suggesting Rhythm and finished with a cacophonous outro into a quick Playing in the Band reprise to close the set.
After a quick pause for the cause, the band was back on stage noodling and without much warning, jumped into 'Dancing in the Streets'.
Clearly the guys didn't cool off much in the break because they came out super hot with a mean jam that eventually pulled off a stellar reversal of Stevestock 2 and transitioned into 'Franklin's Tower'
Twenty minutes into the set it was so hot that Dave offered a first time introduction of Adam on the guitar mid-song after a particularly fiery solo and it's almost a half an hour into the set we get a chance to rest slightly.
The audience got the full round of introductions after the opening salvo of songs, Adam Drudge on guitar, Ed Bray on bass Noel Burton on drums and vocals, Jeff Rothman on drums and vocals, Steve Barnard on keyboards and vocals and Dave Oakley “singing his heart out and playing the guitar.”
Moving into the third spot was 'Catfish John'. The boys are starting to make this one their own now, and they definitely showed that the “third time's a charm.”
With zero hesitation we jumped right into more “John”. Instead of a river hobo though, this classic JGB cover is about the apostle and revelations author John the Apostle.
The entire band seemed to be in the groove now as a tremendous “John Jam” transitioned effortlessly into the Beatles 'Tomorrow Never Knows'. This song originally debuted on Feb 9 2019 at the 'Beatles' themed show at Steam Bell Brewery. It was played three times total in 2019, but only three times in the three years since, and not likely to surface again this year either. However, just like the last time they played it in 2021 it preceded Drums.
After Drums, in the Space segment we heard a cool trippy ‘Happy Birthday’ sung by the band before dissolving into the first 'He's Gone' of the year.
Dave thanked everybody for coming again and then the band broke into an 'Easy Wind' for the ages. The band got hotter with every song and by the end of this Robert Hunter penned Grateful Dead classic, Ed was slapping his white ‘Terrapin’ bass and dancing with the other two guitar players on stage, who looked to be having as much fun as the crowd they were entertaining.
Closing up the set, and a spot I don't know that I've ever seen before, was a sassy 'Samson and Delilah'
Steve Storer came up after to lead a formal Happy Birthday and say thank you to the venue and band before the encore.
Making the initial reversal complete the band came out for the encore with the Franklin preface of 'Help on the Way' into 'Slipknot' to end the 7 year birthday bash with a smoking bang!
Highlights were foremost the ‘Walking The Dog’ shout out to Token Rhyme, the ‘Rhapsody in Red’ debut and as always and ‘Terrapin’ for the ages.
Second set was for sure the ‘Dancing’ jam, the animation of the band dancing to ‘Easy Wind’ and the ‘Dancing, Frank, Help, Slip’ mix up jamboree
Up next is The Broadberry for a post St. Patrick's Day celebration on March 18th and I can't wait!
Listen to all SR shows HERE
