Gandalf Murphy | 10.19.08 | Cleveland

By: Drew McLaughlin

Gandalf Murphy & the Slambovian Circus of Dreams :: 10.19.08 :: Beachland Ballroom Tavern :: Cleveland, OH

He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five.
—1 Kings 4:32

Gandalf Murphy & The Slambovian Circus of Dreams

What happens when you mix Pink Floyd with Basement Tapes-era Bob Dylan and The Band and vocals that sound like Neil Diamond? You get Gandalf Murphy & the Slambovian Circus of Dreams, the Hudson River Valley’s best kept secret.

Caught at Cleveland’s tiny Beachland Ballroom Tavern on a Sunday night, the band put on a performance that defined “intimate.” Despite apologizing repeatedly for being burnt out after playing a “Pirate’s Ball” in Ann Arbor the previous night and singer Joziah Longo asking forgiveness for his voice sounding like a “frog” (it didn’t, although it was maybe raspier than usual), the band nevertheless was full of energy.

The first song, “Sunday In The Rain,” was announced as a request, and that set the tone for a night where the band played as many requests as songs from their setlist. “Throw the setlist away!” someone called from the audience. “We already did that,” Longo replied in his folksy manner. “We fancied out last night.” The result was a friendly 90-minute set made up in equal parts of tunes from each of the band’s three albums, and one cover, Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” Each song was given a rambling introduction by Longo, a natural showman in a big bowler hat whose introductions were as funny and amusing as the songs were poignant and transcendent. Longo pointed out that multi-instrumentalist Tink Lloyd had picked tonight’s setlist, and as such it included songs that he didn’t remember anymore. “Do you really want to do this one?” he asked her before one tune. On another occasion, he asked guitarist Sharkey McEwen how a song started. It was hard to tell if this self-deprecation was real or staged, but the performances themselves were near perfect, even on the requests taken from the equally vocal audience.

Gandalf Murphy & The Slambovian Circus of Dreams By Richard Cowles

Longo’s lyrics are uplifting and full of positive spirituality, even on a protest song like “Clear Channel,” which he described as a “love song.” His words resonate with Quaker imagery, referencing things like “inner light” and “no church/ and I talk to God like he’s right here with me.” Yet, he avoids any hint of preachiness and doesn’t take himself too seriously. How can any band with a name like Gandalf Murphy & The Slambovian Circus of Dreams not be light and fun? Instead, Slambovian Circus music consists of love songs – mainly from Longo to his wife, Lloyd – and stories full of interesting characters.

Longo accompanies his vocals with acoustic guitar. Lloyd plays accordion and cello, adding rich color to the music and a blonde-covered smile to the band’s stage presence. McEwen, on electric guitar, provides the Pink Floyd vibe. Onstage, he is focused as he provides soaring solos and melody lines. Tony Zuzulo provides the beat on a minimalist drum kit, the centerpiece of which is an oversized marching band bass drum emblazoned with a Depression-era clown face. Steady but not flashy bass is provided by Tink and Joziah’s son, Chen Longo. There is no one named “Gandalf” in the band, although Joziah repeated called McEwen “Murph” on stage.

Gandalf Murphy and The Slambovian Circus of Dreams is known – to too few – for its high-energy live show, often on the festival circuit. There were moments of this Sunday night in Cleveland, like when the band tacked a bit of The Who’s “Pinball Wizard” onto the beginning of its own “I Wish.” But, mostly this show was something else – a relaxed good time by a band that seemed to cherish the intimacy of the venue as much as the audience did.

Opening act Amazing Rondini Brothers, locals from Cleveland, played a masterful 40-minutes of up-tempo music that seemed at times influenced by big band, ska, rockabilly and – no, really – show tunes. Somehow, the combination worked and they were a perfect quirky warm-up.

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