Keller Williams ~ 6/10/99 @ Cicero's
Review by Rich Bob Vining
Set I: Instru., Stupid Question, Relaxation Station, Bird Song, Tribe,
Passapatanzy, Sir Duke, Blazeabago, Breathe, Thirsty in the Rain, Shapes
of Change, Soul Shakedown Party, 430- "loup", Tell My Feet, Brunette
Set II: Instru, Funky Town, Inhale to the Chief (revised version),
American Girl, Sally Sullivan, Dear Emily, Rockumal, Eleven, Dynamo Hum,
Vacate, Brunette Loup, In The Middle, Best Feelin'
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Last night, June 10, Keller Williams played his first solo gig in St. Louis.
Of course he had stopped in town before supporting both SCI and Galactic,
but this was special. This was one man, his guitars, and his ability to
make the darndest noises come out of his body that you ever did hear.
The setlist itself looks interesting, but it only tells part of the story.
The room was absolutely packed, and aside from the usual talkers in the back
(what the heck is up with that?) everyone was totally into it and maintained
focus on Keller for the duration of his time on stage.
Set I
The first set was, in my opinion, highlighted by a nice "Bird Song," the
Keller original "Tribe," Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke", Peter Rowan's "Thirsty
in the Rain", and the item labeled as "430- 'loup'". It's always
interesting for me to see how the crowd reacts to Dead covers like "Bird
Song," as I have a love/hate relationship with Dead covers. As beautiful as
the songs may inherently be, I see a lot of artists using them to relate to
the lowest common denominator among the crowd where an original or more
obscure cover may have been more interesting. Regardless, Keller played the
song well and the dude up front in the "Forever Jerry" shirt and dreadlocks
seemed to enjoy it immensely. I'll assume everyone is familiar with the
rest of the covers with the possible exception of the Rowan tune. Keller
mentioned playing with Rowan at the upcoming Telluride Bluegrass Festival
and hoping he'd play this particular song, which was quite upbeat and
pleasant even though the lyrics seemed to have intended to be a bit sad.
For me, the absolute highlight was the "430- loup" segment. *This* was cool
as hell. Keller would play a riff, sample it, and let it loop. Similar to
what Phish fans have seen and heard Trey Anastasio doing for a few years
now. So, as he would loop a riff or beat, he would then sample another and
layer them. If I recall correctly he eventually wound up with about four or
five layered beats/riffs cycling on top of one another, then would jam along
with himself on mouth flugel (aka air trombone) or on a hand drum. It was
very cool and I hope it translates well to tape for all those folks who
don't get a chance to see live Keller in the flesh.
Set II
Because of time restrictions at St. Louis clubs, the second set was kept
down to about 55 minutes if I'm not mistaken. Still, it managed to squeeze
in a number of really interesting segments. "Funky Town" was fun to hear
after not having seen him play it since the 4/5/98 show in Carbondale (with
String Cheese Incident and Day by the River). The version of "Inhale to the
Chief" which followed was better than the versions I've heard on tape...
always funny how I don't know the name until I hear Keller inhale at the end
before doing that little Indian call. "American Girl" was a very unexpected
cover... yes, it was the Tom Petty song.
The other highlights of the second set for me were the Frank Zappa song
"Dinah-Moe Humm," the "Brunette Loup" segment, and the closer, "Best
Feelin'." Where some folks live for Dead covers, I always like to hear a
well-done Zappa tune. A friend I was with pointed out to me that he has now
seen moe., Day by the River, and Phish each play FZ tunes as well as Keller.
Not bad company. Not to mention "Dinah-Moe Humm"
is a hilarious tune. The "Brunette Loup" was like the looping bit in the
first set and had a similar groove to it. Again, very cool. I actually
thought the show would end after this because of the 1am curfew, but Keller
just kept on playing with the house lights on. He finally ended with a
well-played cut of "Best Feelin'" at about 1:10 and I was sure the staff at
Cicero's was getting nervous that they were going to have to shut him down.
Bravo, Keller. Very good show, and we hope to have you back in the Show Me
State really soon. :-)
- Rich Bob Vining
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