Thanks to reader Moonshadow for passing along the news…
So here’s the thing: He’s an artist and he has every right to do his thing to make his art. But my heart still feels like it’s breaking.
Who are these…strangers? Are we expected to love them?
It’s like when mom and dad get divorced and then one of them introduces you to their new love interest. Blech. I hate them, and for no other reason than they are the new people. Sorry new people. I don’t know you, but I have to hate you. At least for now.
The John Butler Trio will be changing its line up in the upcoming months. Drummer Michael Barker and bass player Shannon Birchall will play their last shows with The John Butler Trio in April.
John has thoroughly enjoyed the experience of the last 6 years touring and recording with Michael and Shannon and for purely artistic reasons, feels that it is necessary to change the line up.
Historically the John Butler Trio have had a changing line up over the last 10 years through their stage performances and studio recordings of ‘Three’, ‘Sunrise Over Sea’ and ‘Grand National’.
John Butler said today,
“Michael and Shannon have been by far the best line up I have performed with in The John Butler Trio to date. They have been a pleasure to live, love, learn, record and tour with. Their professionalism, musicianship, and commitment have been unwavering and for that and a whole lot more I am truly thankful.”
John Butler would like to publicly acknowledge the amazing contribution that Michael and Shannon have made over these last years, and wishes them well in their future musical and personal endeavours.
So yesterday I went to the Slow Food Rocks festival at Fort Mason, San Francisco. Now this was my kind of festival. ONE stage (so tandjam won’t get confused), all the sets lasted over an hour (not just the headliner), a crowd of reasonable proportions, and the kicker: perfect weather.
Could there have been a more beautiful day in San Francisco? I don’t think so.
Here is a short video clip of John Butler performing ‘Ocean’…such a beautiful day, and beautiful guitar…
A short clip of the scene during the Phil Lesh and Friends set (it was great):
John Butler, Solo and Acoustic
The Fillmore, San Francisco, California
April 22, 2008
source: SP-CMC-20>SP-SPSB-9>Edirol R-09
location: floor, ¾ of the way back from the stage, center, mics clipped to glasses
conversion: R09>CD Wave>FLAC Frontend
taper: T&Jam (tandjam@hotmail.com)
Disc 1
1. Intro
2. High For a Living
3. -banter- (proposing to Daniella)
4. Daniella
5. Treat Yo Mamma (w/ Brother Michael)
6. Thank You
7. Good As Gone
8. Better Than
9. -banter- (why John learned Danny Boy)
10. Danny Boy
11. Spring
Disc 2
1. Ocean
2. Mellow Mood (w/ Mama Kin)
3. -banter-
4. Gov Did Nothin’ (w/ Brother Michael)
5. Pickapart
6. Zebra
7. Fire in the Sky
encore
8. Losing You (w/ Mama Kin)
9. Funky Tonight
Mp3’s (yes, I know I said I didn’t believe in mp3’s before, but I changed my mind, ok?): MP3s Download Here
(ETA: Sorry that the mp3s are labled tracks 1-20…I included them as an afterthought and didn’t realize that they would be so popular…)
All audio from John Butler (sans trio) performance April 22, 2008, San Francisco, The Fillmore.
Well, first I missed the opener, Mama Kin, because I’m always, always late. But that’s another story.
I did make it in time to see John come out and say hello, pay respect to the Native Americans and start the show with:
High For a Living
Then, John talked about asking his wife to marry him and told a little story about his father-in-law and then he sang:
Daniella
Next, John introduced “Brother Michael” who came on stage with him for:
Treat Yo’ Momma
“Treat Yo’ Momma” went on for a long time and built really beautifully to a special treat. I thought it was great… I love the long, meandering guitar that sounds kind of Middle Eastern or something. The really cool quiet part..I loved it. The people TALKING really pissed me off and kinda killed my buzz for a while that night, but listening back I can enjoy the performance more…
Check it out:
Next song:
Thank You
And the crowd was really bad. I’m sorry, they were. I’ve seen reports from other fans who were there who said the crowd was very respectful. Um, no. At least not at this point. They were quite rude, actually. The good news is that the crowd did get much better later.
Next:
Good As Gone
Better Than
He chatted about why he learned Danny Boy (for his grandma)…
Danny Boy
And then came the surprise:
Spring
And “Spring” absolutely melted into:
Ocean
Ocean had something like a 2 minute musical intro. And Ocean was, of course, fantastic. The feeling…the feeling of being in the crowd and just, I don’t know, being there in the music with so many other people…it’s just great. 14 minutes of joy.
*sigh* no recording can ever capture it just right…but do stay for the whole thing if you can…
There is nothing like the roar of that crowd after that song ends…the overall live experience is something not to be missed…
Now he brings our Mama Kin to sing with him:
Mellow Mood
Beau-t-ee-ous. Ya, mon.
Goodbye Mama Kin, hello again Brother Michael and here comes the coolest version of:
Gov Did Nothin
Loved the piano…
The crowd was feelin’ good by now and the room was loving it.
This is a good time being had by many, many people:
Pick a Part
Zebra
Call and response fun!
Fire in the Sky
We need to heal all this pain so we can live again…
AMEN.
encores:
Losing You
A duet with Mama Kin. I love this song. That is all.
Funky Tonight
…and another great John Butler show comes to an end…
Part 3 will be along in a bit with a flac download of my recording if anyone should want it…please be patient!
But the crowd was really pissing me off for the first 4 or 5 songs. Grrrrr. John Butler even said (something like) “It seems to me if you go to a gig and you want to talk and get loud you should just fuck off to the bar!”
Even peace loving hippies can be pushed just so far, damn it!!
Damn, people. SHUT UP already.
Ok, I just had to get that out of my system. More on the show later. I’m too tired today because I got about 4 hours of sleep last night and I am way too old for that sort of craziness. I’ll just say that I loved, loved, loved it.
Ya, mon.
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