We had the pleasure of seeing Simo's last 3 shows of 2016. What an awesome way to end the year. He did a little run in Georgia leading up to New Year's Eve and the last show was number 215 of the year for the band. Now that's what you call "Always On the Road" lol. The first one of this run was in Atlanta at Smith's Olde Bar. Had a great time hanging with JD and the guys before the show. Phil had fun checking out "Red's" prototype. They put on an incredible performance. JD ended up breaking a string right on the first song. He is just fierce with "Red". And then he broke another one at the end of the show. These guys are definitely one of the best bands out there right now. They are so in tune (pardon the pun) with each other that when they play it's like they are reading each others thoughts. They do these jams within the songs where it feels like they take you on a journey. It's truly amazing. And even though the setlist was quite similar from show to show, the songs felt entirely different. One song could be 5 minutes one night and 9 minutes the next. It all depends on how they are feeling it and where they want to take it. At the second show in Macon they decided to go first (they were doing all these shows with Thomas Wynn and the Believers). Glad they took the opening slot because the bar was one people were still allowed to smoke at. We haven't dealt with that in quite a few years and man am I glad most places don't allow smoking any longer. We just reeked after the show. The guys, though, enjoyed it since they could smoke on stage. But they also admitted they were going back to take showers after the show, lol. At the Macon show they opened with a 20 minute "Long May You Sail" so we knew it was going to be quite a night. They ended it with a 12 minute "Evil" which they hadn't played live in quite a long time. It has this cool kind of twisted "How Many More Times" sound at the beginning and end. After the show JD grinned and said, "I guess we felt like jamming tonight" The last show was the NYE one in Columbus. What a crazy night it was. About 3 minutes into "Long May You Sail" the head on Elad's bass amp came tumbling to the floor. It was perfectly timed for when JD had to do the countdown to midnight. JD and Adam started right back up playing while a guy who works at the place tried to get the head back in place and was securing it with duct tape while Elad messed with the knobs to get the settings right. If people weren't paying attention, and most weren't since the place was full of drunks doing a number of foolish things, you never would have known anything happened. Elad finally got it straightened out and just joined right in and they then went on for another 12 minutes to complete the song which featured a really cool funky section right near the end. After a couple more songs, the head started dying, making all kinds of horrible noises. Elad started yanking tubes out the back of it to no avail. Another head was found to replace it and they finished out the rest of the show with it. Then JD broke two string within moments of each other on the next to last song. What I loved about it all though, was how calm and relaxed JD was about the whole thing. He always has such a positive attitude. I was more worried about it all than he was, lol. The 3 shows really were a blast and it was the perfect way to end the year.
Atlanta:
Temptation https://youtu.be/rOGKDt91Rs4
People Say https://youtu.be/MN7VDKHYJcs
Light The Candle https://youtu.be/Unt2g9gD0JI
Return https://youtu.be/z-iJnMcfGiw
Shine https://youtu.be/2_N7s46XW4w
I'd Rather Die In Vain https://youtu.be/MFFW7vyqsuE
What's On Your Mind https://youtu.be/8GGY70DQCvk
Right Now https://youtu.be/KE553t79Lno
Long May You Sail https://youtu.be/2WE0d-w3Zw4
Be With You https://youtu.be/Zvmmoo7KjaI
Macon
Long May You Sail https://youtu.be/rKfcU8BFHgk
People Say https://youtu.be/uppXwMPXMEI
Light the Candle https://youtu.be/FBgkqD-_2-U
Return https://youtu.be/Fo1nOzHDtNI
Shine https://youtu.be/ax4UShBpcSc
Temptation https://youtu.be/tQWEM7H4C2Q
Evil https://youtu.be/P6Za-NX-b2s
Columbus
Shine https://youtu.be/g4ec6XBLpwE
People Say https://youtu.be/o-WW3Xsfot4
Light The Candle https://youtu.be/KT4IKOOXD5c
Return https://youtu.be/WYkFVDcJ-bg
Long May You Sail https://youtu.be/Xz57pijlytI
What's On Your Mind https://youtu.be/mcBvFSeXWNA
Right Now https://youtu.be/6y-uTwOmLzY
Temptation https://youtu.be/RRC4MaSH9KA
Be With You https://youtu.be/tndcoJHNjTk
With A Little Help From My Friends https://youtu.be/Sb1c-HZrf08