Great Bela Fleck show tonight

[Palms]

Great Bela Fleck show tonight in Hamilton. Quality performance, good times. Nice cops. Word to briguy for a quality show in the Hammer!

[nellie]

all i can do is agree on the incredible Béla Fleck show tonight... i had such an incredible time , great show...

was signed on the skin and paper by Wooten and got a kiss from him and béla... hopefully ill make it to sleep tonight...

nellie

[kung]

For once I'm at a loss for words. I genuinely had to tune out a lot of the intensity just to cope tonight, I was really enjoying everyone's company but the overall heaviness of the vibe was weighing on me. I need a bit of time to process, at least only one fucker had a problem wit the fan, don't worry I told the fucker not to cry about it. You know oxygen is a worthwhile cause.

[secondtube]

"I need a bit of time to process, at least only one fucker had a problem wit the fan, don't worry I told the fucker not to cry about it."

You are truely something else kung!

I wonder what bela thought of the fanning during his final solo....

i SO wanted to get a pic of you fanning bela, but there were too many damn people....

(ps, i've never wanted a beer soo badly, but didn't want to loose my spot...then out of the blue, without any communication, ('cept heady vibes lol) kung brought me a cool, fresh bubbly pop!

For this, i owe him my first born child. (or at the least, name him Kung!)

[MarcO]

I'm glad you two found each other. You're both nuts, and a heart needs a home, so spread the love boys.

Seriously though, what a night of world-class musicianship right here in the Hammer! Victor Wooten is jaw-droppingly amazing, a real talent. The band played for about 2hrs 45min, one long set + encore, which was fine with me - not everything has to be two sets. The bar was packed, real chatty at times, inappopriately so during some of the feature soloist sections I found but what can you expect from a Hamilton bar? It seemed the crowd was pre-disposed to "party-time" (I wonder why?!?) rather than politely applauding through a show, no problems on my end. And I was home by 1am! Honestly, mid-week shows should always end earlier than the weekenders, it feels great to have gone out last night and not be wiped today!

Lots of Sanctuarian representation last night, but I wanted to especially shout out to MuleMomma (hello Karen, always a treat to see your smiling face!), Sheikyerbouti (twice in a week, wow!) and of course Mike and Sharon, I love when you come to Hamilton. Now please get back here to play sometime, that would be great!

A fantastic night. Nice job, Brian Carson, I hope all went smoothly and Earth Day Hamilton appreciates all your efforts to put some real fun into fundraising! ::

[nellie]

well kung i obviously didnt know who you were at the time but thanks for the fanning during bélas solo.... enjoyed it for the brief period of time i had it...too bad you didnt get a pic

nellie

[meggo]

awesome time. i have to comment too on the very impressive musicianship displayed... it is a real treat to see artists, especially those with such honed skills, just letting their creativity flow.

got to meet ms hux & mike for the first time, a pleasure!

tonin it was great to have a chance to chat with you, it's been ages! and it's been great to be able to see so many from the board with more frequency, always fun.

all in all... a very satisfying evening! thanks briguy for bringing this act to town. ::

[Booche]

Fanning Bela?

Is this similar to The Hawk fanning Robbie Roberston in The Last Waltz?

[kung]

Just rolled into work at 1:15 scraping the mucous off my brain. What a great night of music and friends. From the first notes though I think I just found it too much in terms of the level of craftsmanship, I was really having trouble just totally focusing on the music. The venue was good and the crowd (which was surprisingly diverse) were obviously all music lovers but a little uptight. There was alot of that 'excuse me we can't see business'. You know what deal with it gramps. Everyone was in good spirits, the one kungesque pseudo controversy was when I suddenly thought it would be a good idea to squeeze into the front of the stage crouch down and give Bela a little fan action (Ray was digging it earlier and even signed my ticket to 'Samurai Fan Man' sweeeet!) didn't seem like such a bad idea. So this guy who I squeezed in next to I guess I was bugging him or his girl so he's basically like 'knock off the fanning it's pissing me off' but he was being a dick about it. Now I think I've finally realized that I outweigh most of these limp dick vegans by a good fifty pounds so I literally told him 'don't cry about it' and cleared out. There's always gotta be one dick eh? It's just so laughable it's like being anti-bubbles or anti-puppies or some shit.

Can't really speak to the music too much. Was really enjoying everyone's company, I was cracking myself up at least (seem to recall a mullet and fan related episode with Tonin where I was playing fashion photog 'now Platinum now Blonde now Trooper good good now Rik Emmett with a K excellent'). It really is such a special thing we have here. And when you're drunk and high it's even better.

The one really impressive thing was that after pretty much everyone had cleared out the whole band just came out to the floor and made themselves available for a good 45 minutes to whoever. At one point Jeff Coffin was basically giving a music workshop to a throng of people, Ray and Victor were holding court and Bela was sharing whatever he could. He was a very impressive human being, in person I mean, very much like his stage demeanour humble to a tee. Not too much to share in terms of dirt, Ray said he has a new instrument he's going to pull out and I've forgotten the name. Victor was just being a sweetheart, overheard Bela recount the story of how he and Victor were introduced which was sweet. Right before Bela left I quickly got to talk to him about the Toronto based player Jayme Stone whom he had taught at one point, Jayme's group Tricycle has a new album out Emerge and See which he sent to Bela. I was just impressed that he was in the loop and so obviously gracious to the audience and city. Heaploads of respect to Brian on this whole affair.

[secondtube]

Now I think I've finally realized that I outweigh most of these limp dick vegans by a good fifty pounds so I literally told him 'don't cry about it' and cleared out.

bwahahahahaha...i saw the whole thing happen. the chick looked annoyed, then her little boyfriend chimes in, i see you raise your arms up, and walk along the front of the stage lip, faning the whole way across...

Futureman shook his head in amazement/dismay? as you walked by. Notice him take a step back just as you were crossing him? Coffin cracked a smile. Nice score on the autograph.

[kung]

Sorry what did he shake his head in amazement/dismay about? Did he take a step back cause I was scaring him? Hope not like I said it's just a fucking fan people have been using them for milennia.

[secondtube]

i think you may have, well, not necessarily scared him, i'm just saying he stepped back with a, i dont know, surprised look on his face, and coffin kinda smirked...

some of the looks on the audience on the other hand...they were priceless.

[kung]

Ray was cool though. A guy that eccentric has got to be down with some off shit.

[paisley]

anything that made the motionless stiffs standing staring at the front of the stage come out of their coma is all good with me... graduates from the school of mall cool, I got here first, don't hold much water for me... overall I found the crowd pretty good though, would've liked to have seen a little more movement as a feedback gauge for the band but there were places you could groove freely on the perimeter... (the fan of Kung rocks, welcome breeze at any sweaty show)

aside from that... wow... how sweet was that show?

kudos to security and cops for relaxing and letting people get loose and have a good time on 420

happy anniversary Bouche and Ms. Hux, thanks greatly for the hospitality \/\/illy and Leeann... and great show briguy, excellent stuff my friend

great to see so many music lovers out

[kung]

I think my assessment of the crowd was that there was more of a Ja Rule vibe upfront and a Jay Z vibe in the back. You're right about the stiffs though Paisley hope I didn't scare too many of those fuckers.

[secondtube]

"anything that made the motionless stiffs standing staring at the front of the stage come out of their coma is all good with me..."

Not all bands need to turn the room into a dance party. I think Bela Fleck and the 'Tones, for the most part, are a "stare in disbelief at what is unfolding infront of you", especially with those people in the first three or so 'rows'.

I was eight or so people back, and trust me, even if i wanted to, there wasn't any room to groove. Sometimes you have to sacrifice groove for what I got to see and hear, from that close to the stage.

I've seen seven or so Flecktones shows, and none had anymore peole grooving than last night...if anything, it was nice to see people standing and moving, rather than sitting truely motionless all night, like at most of the sitdown shows...

[MK]

Awesome show! More notes than I've ever heard in a single performance...I kinda thought they should be called the Wootones after seeing Victor contort that bass with previously unheard pretzel logic. A sit-down solo acoustic banjo performance would probably be a tough sell on nearly any packed club...too bad for Papa Fleck but Vic was the show for me - and what a show!

I made a last minute decision to head down and it was a perfect night of hockey, Pepper Jack's, musical virtuosity and some great people I've been dying to see and to meet.

Tonin, Tooly, Jamie (paisley I think), Mark Wilson, Kung, Sharon Huxtable (never got to see Mike Huxtable - phooey!), Shain, and sheikyerbouti - thanks for the great times in Hamilton. THanks for making it all happen Briguy!

[MarcO]

I would have taken a stiff over the drunken yahoo in front of me. Please, if you're drunk, fat and obnoxious (and your name isn't Marc Olszewski) and don't seem to get out much, please don't jump and down, turn around in circles, knock into pretty girls, crowd other people's space while simultaneously yelling at your idiot friends about how "fucking smashed" you are, occasionally noticing there's a band onstage so you can yell "well, don't just stand there - SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!".

Anymore of that and I would have had to have Laurie beat him up for me. ::

[kung]

I'm sure that's the effect I had on some people.

[Large Marge]

What's with all the audience trash-talking? Why is everyone seemingly so concerned with how cool or uptight the crowd was? Anyone that's devoted to great music enough to skip game 7 and pay $40 bucks for a club in Hamilton deserves a little bit of respect, no?

Kung - that was you with the fan? Thanks for the air... and thanks for that major bowl-switching session in the upper lounge. What an unbelievable show; I absolutely loved the side stage action - did anyone else notice that beautiful private show I got from Futureman? I can't wait to see them back at Jazzfest. Thanks to Mr. Slippery for driving, and to Shain for arranging Tix. Cheers!

[paisley]

yeah, I agree its not a full out dance show Bela puts on by any means but any funky improvised music gives me the urge to move... one difference between last nights show and most I've seen on video was that there were no seats to inhibit the potential of dance

guess I'm just jaded from One Step Beyond shows and Warsawpack shows where before they were popular there'd be a fun healthy crowd dancing up front (before the standing/starers, with their hostile possessive glares, took over and made you have to dance at the back)... gives something for the band to feel how they're coming across and creates that circular communication, gives them someone to groove off themselves... you'd figure why most clubs put the seats behind the dance floor and not vice-versa

just my personal peeve and not isolated to last nights show by any means... you're innocent when you dream

killer show again, still awed and taking it in

[Alexis]

God damn what a good night! Thank you jambands.ca for the free tickets. Thank you Pete for taping, I definitely want a copy. Bela's got a brand new fan. I never thought I could enjoy a banjo so much. It was great to see everyone, that was definitely the start to my summer.

I understand what everyone's saying re: the crowd. i think I was standing next to the "I'm SO FUCKING DRUNK" guy for a significant amount of time. Kung, keep flappin that fan, there were a few times when i saw your hand pop up with it, and I thought "damn that's a good idea". Sometimes when you're dancing and the bar is crowded it's just sooo fucking hot. All in all it was good to see the place packed. It was amazing how quickly the place emptied out though. I'm pissed off that I didn't stick around to talk to the band.

So after the show, we went back to the PJC, then kidnapped the sloth and came back home to party hard. Was up till 8am (or so I've been told, the end of the night is a blank for me), called in sick, and am still shaking from it all. In fact I think it's naptime now. Thank you's to everyone for contributing to my great night and a lot of respect goes out to briguy for planning such a great event.

[jay sanislo]

that sweet...someone taped it. I would like to know how to get a copy,no rush or anything, just would like to know when the taper has finished transfering (if so)!

Anyways my review is in the picture post, but forgot got to say MOST THANKS to briguy for putting on yet another unbelievable show. I know we ALL appreciate it. and also thanks to kung how i didnt know was you at the time but do now thanks for the breeze.

[guigsy]

alright, alright.. i've finally got a minute here to catch my breath and post my thoughts...

currently at work running on a 3 hour nap after the show, PJC's, and Willy's, and then the drive back home, in which i failed in my duty riding shotgun to stay awake for the entire drive... i think i was out for half of it... sorry meggo... but thanks for keeping us alive through the horrible fuckin storm...

man.. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones... heard some songs in the past, but nothing that i would have recognized, or anything even to give me an incling as to what i was in for. a fucking treat, thats what it was. i heard rumblings that it was one of the smaller venues on the tour.. not that im surprised, i just feel very lucky, and i bet there are a lot more who do as well.

Bela was great, but it was definately Victor Wooten who blew my fucking mind. seriously. blew my fucking mind to bits and pieces. im still pickin 'em up. i keep re-living that super extra-layered bass solo he did, and then later on the 2 hand slapping into the ring-around-the-rosey lets see if this works (holy shit it did!) spin around the neck right into a super slick groove without missing a beat... my ears arent sensitive enough, but christ, he probably threw in a couple extra beats there... craziness... the man is a super-genius. thats right. Victor Wooten: A Super Genius.

Future Man was fantastic with that "thing" he was playing. and honestly, anytime there's a Pirate on stage, i think you're doing ok.

i dont know the saxamophone players name, but one of the highlights of the show for me was him blasting his lungs out with 2 fucking saxes in his mouth! crazy. playing them both (very well) one handed each... just an absolute treat.

and then there was Bela... ohhh, Bela... Bela was Bela, and we all know Bela... well, i do now...

last but not least, as seems to be the norm lately with shows i've been at, a rather large scantuarian contigency was present... great to see everyone again last nite, it always makes the experience that much better... MK, cant believe it took us this long to meet... i got your message dude, beers for sure..

oh man... we're on the home stretch now... an hour of work left, then im a gonna sleep like a rock! what a whirlwin few days this has been...

thanks briguy for bringin the show to hammertown!

[FairySari]

I saw that little private show, and I think it was the best part of the night. We were standing by the side of the stage, and futureman turned to face us, and rocked out. It was awesome. I was totally blown away by the entire evening. And, yes, thank you mister slippery for the drive out there.