Mutual Admiration Society

Portland, OR   -   Roseland Theatre   -   7/28/04

    Let me set the scene for you.  The Roseland Theatre is a small venue.  It probably only holds 1000 people.  The crowd  was small.  I would say 600 people at most.  As we filed into the place, I could see that the fans were a mixed bag.  A lot of Nickel Creek fans, some who were Toad/Glen Phillips fans, and a handful of John Paul Jones fans.  The crowd was mellow and definitely a mixed bag.  

    It seemed as though no one knew what to expect from this newly formed group of talent.  Personally, I had gotten a rough taste of what the music was going to sound like from bootlegs or snippets off of Amazon.com.   The general feeling was that everyone knew it was going to be good, but were not sure if it would live up to their potential.  Just as we were getting comfortable, the lights went out and the show started.

    One of my first thoughts was how surreal the whole thing was.  Lined up at the front of the stage, from left to right, was Sara, Glen, Chris, and Sean.  Behind them on backup was John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) and Pete Thomas (Elvis Costello & The Attractions).  It was funny to see rock veterans running backup for a New Grass/Intellipop combo half their age.  As the show progressed, it became evident there was no void between the talent of all the musicians.

    It started off rocky.  The first thing Glen said to the crowd was "Welcome to our second show".  The previous night they had played in Seattle and it was evident from the get-go  there were bugs that still needed to be worked out.  Nothing catastrophic, but they did get a few laughs when one of them would start out playing a song out of order of the set list, or have the wrong instrument on before they started.  Everything started to fall into place as they progressed into the set.

    The set initially started out with a couple songs off of the new MAS album, they were slow, they were decent, nothing to write home about.  It sounded like classic Toad with all the talents of Nickel Creek carefully woven in, so all were impressed, yet still not awestruck.  The set then moved into a showcase of individual talents that blew me away.

    It wasn't so much a concert as it was an incredible jam session between some of the most talented and creative musicians to grace the stage of the Roseland.  They did classics.  Glen fronted on "Windmills" and "All I Want".  I was super stoked since I never got to see Toad in concert when they were together.  Nickel Creek fronted as they jammed on "The Smoothie Song" and "Subterranean Homesick Blues".  But it didn't stop there, oh no.  They went in different direction when John Paul Jones picked up the mandolin and did an instrumental version of "Going to California" with Sean Watkins on guitar.  Sara went with a solo instrumental on ukulele with beautifully backed vocals by Chris, Glen and John.  At some point all John, Glen, Chris, Sean had their individual moments to do a song or two which showcased all individually very well and left the crowd screaming.

    I can't go without mentioning the antics on stage.  The camaraderie between the young and older guys was priceless.  Glen thanked the crowd for missing the Eric Clapton show at the Rose Garden to come see them tonight.  Sara then told a story about how she accidentally walked into Claptons tour bus last night in Seattle.  "Crazy things that happen on tour" Glen said "but I guess it's no sharks in the bathtub, right John?" he shot back at John Paul Jones.  that drew some laughs.  

    The part I found most captivating about the show was that it never once lost my attention.  It changed genre so often it kept us on our toes.  It went from blues to bluegrass, jazz to rock, covers, originals from Toad, Glen, Nickel Creek, Zeppelin, Chris, etc., etc., etc. What had started off slow became amazing as the night progressed, totally blowing up with the encore.

They ended with "Gallows Pole", a Zeppelin song that I never cared for until tonight.  The way the vocals and instrumentals were performed  built so much energy in that theatre that you could literally feel it.  The second encore was Nickel Creek's "You don't have to move that mountain"  which mellowed everybody out for the ride home. 

The show, over all, was unrefined, off the cuff, and tied together with a fucking unbelievable performance.  It really seemed as though they were having a great time playing together and the crowd, though mellow at first, was very intense by the end.  It was an opportunity that will probably never come around again, so I felt privileged to have seen it. I mean when else are you ever going to see a member of Led Zeppelin do a Zeppelin song to a crowd of 600 people? It was sweet.  To anyone who is reading this and has an opportunity to go to a Mutual Admiration Society show, get tickets!  They will cost you $25 and will be the best show you will see all year, if not all decade.