Freedom & Family: First Days Of The Fillmore – Part 4
I was now moving inside the vapors. The omni-dimensional manifestation of that very Roan County Revolution we previously mentioned. With its star-emblazoned, smiling head now fully reared and nodding in and out of time and space signatures, we could look in any direction and see love. Every face full of wonder and excitement usually reserved for those faded holiday photos of our youth. Neal is bending strings and notes in Tornado now and our smiles seem to follow strangely along. Our heads tilt and follow his guitar up and down the scales until Tony’s snare or Jeff, dodging a laser beam from Adam, snaps us back. In this now semi-lucid light, and admittedly with setlist in hand, Roll Old Jeremiah stood majestically ahead. With the remainder of the set now mapped out before me, the song became an ornate and slinky gateway. This was my specific journey and it’s only defined as so, but it was just as clear as the mix from our iconic and all-galaxy soundcrew, Betty, Sean and Raven. It was all spiraling toward the open seas and potential only found deep in the heart of the set. Then suddenly but softly, from the centrifugal center of the swirl comes CR, slowing things down with his shaman like, soulful vocal count into Do Right Woman. His voice and guitar both completely committed to accessing and conveying the emotion and pain of the song. Maybe the levity IS the momentary brevity of the heavy stuff during live shows. And it’s all behind us now, but a post show whisper or scribbled setlist note. About A Stranger bounces us along Jeff’s bassline, “trying to find some time between tomorrows, how much is gone???” The movement into Clear Blue Sky was one I witnessed from the far back of the hall. Somewhere above the sound booth and just south of our glittering purple and orange wizardly bear flag. I could swear at times the sparkles would rain down upon Sean’s head from the edges, with some assistance from Tony and Jeff of course. The transition jam is getting edgy and funky and CR is driving everyone. Facing off with Neal and encouraging Adam, who is attacking the keys like he’s playing this freak flag flying vessel down to its watery grave, with all of us dancing into the deep. The midway point of the run brought out the emancipation vaccinations and our anthem to the freedoms and love of wherever your California traffic may be, Sunday Sound. Both LOUD and CLEAR! LOVE IS HERE!! The decompression was setbreak. A beautiful blur of water, hugs, stickers, buttons and friends. It was a truly joyful journey back to the second set, where with Adam leading us into Let It Bleed, the party went into overdrive. Complete rock and roll synergetic surrender. Someday Past The Sunset arrives with a strut and quickly joins the music’s growl for a heavy, low end version for all the “Dreamers of the Dreams”. The night is moving along so quickly now that I remember almost forgetting where we were in not only the set but the entire run! Wheel Don’t Roll falls perfectly in flow, with our Wizard covering it with layers of special cosmic haze. One of the “moments” of the entire month of December for me was this transition between Blonde Light and Glow. Sophisticated and subtle, it slips by just as you catch it, like a dream you can’t quite remember. Tony taps it away with a roll and a ride. But I’m aware in this moment that the transition is but a nucleus of this junction. A meeting between these two songs. It’s wrapped on all sides by the warmth of Blonde Light and the Keane Eyed Keeper of Glow. CR is preaching from behind his guitar, pounding out the lines and sending the white birds to flight. Around this time I also clearly can see Jon Cornick moving passed me with his camera. Without a word he gives me the nod and the wink, he caught that too. The transition and magic wasn’t singular, the vibes were spreading and the set was approaching open boogie ground. The photographers took their stances and the freaks were giving everything they had right back to the band. The jam has morphed and mutated into various states of free form funk and improvisational groove theory. Opening the door for Ain’t It Hard and Shore Power to come in like a freight train of fun and close the set. Pure perpetual motion is contagious and we were all infected when that needle first hit Big Moon. These dirty diamond trips have brought all of us together and when they emerged from the curtains, CR was without the shield of his guitar. A leader open at the microphone with a band in full soulful flight behind him. “Happy happy songs, those good old happy songs!” The final Otis and number of the evening, I Can’t Turn You Loose, was the perfect selection on this soulful psychedelic jukebox. I keep coming back to the smiles. When they have to kick you out of the front of the venue because everyone can’t stop laughing and talking with friends, that’s a community you want around you. When not a single person wants to let go, even for the night. But we all did knowing the morning would find us all excited and together again. One freak nation, under a cosmic groove!
(Part 5 coming soon!)
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