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Friday night in Atlanta proved to be a wonder of an event at that strip mall tenant come southern rock Mecca called The Brandy House. Intense crowding (Spread-Heads galore) and shoulder to shoulder partying became the supporting character to the Col. Bruce Hampton & The Code Talkers show. Col. Bruce has got to be one of the most mind blowing performers of our time. His band, The Code Talkers, features Bobby Lee Rodgers' material interspersed with classic Col. Bruce standards. Bobby Lee on his Deering electric Banjo and the ever bouncy "Coconut" on bass proved to be first class musicians and make you realize the difference between your average bar band and the true pros. The Code Talker's South African drummer had the wonder and attention of the Colonel paid to him all night with mad cymbal work and driving rhythms, with this band, the Colonel wins again.
On Saturday night in Atlanta, there was a post-Panic party at the Variety Playhouse in Little Five Points. Blueground Undergrass and the Kudzu Kings were supposed to perform for the throngs of Widespread fans, yet by 1:00 it did not seem that there were more than 200 people in the rather large theatre which left BU to play for a seemingly empty house. I usually love the instrumentation of BU yet they did not seem to bring the magic (not due to a lack of effort). The Rev. Jeff Mossier is a tireless showman and his band
(traditional guitar, bass and drum plus banjo, fiddle, pedal steel) has been known to bring a rich southern jam sound and I am sure they will for a long time. However, it was a less than inspired night at the Playhouse (and you can't smoke in the theatre) so we left before the enigmatic :) Kudzu Kings could save the night.
Here we are on New Year's Eve. While our new friends in the Hotel and on the Streets were headed for the guaranteed-to-be-amazing second night of Widespread at Phillips Arena, we were headed for The Tabernacle for a guaranteed-to-be-amazing, Trouble No More New Year with Gregg Allman & Friends. The Tabernacle is a true theatre/nightclub with all the beauty of, well, an old tabernacle. If you've never been to the Tabernacle, the best comparison is the House of Blues "without the corporate sponsor bullshit" as one Widespread fan put it. As you enter the main lobby there is
the traditional grand lobby with colorful folk art that makes you think that the HOB definitely bit their style directly from this place. The main floor featured a large dance floor with bars on three sides and the main stage in which a granddaddy pipe organ structure that easily spans fifty feet skyward serves as a backdrop. There were two levels of balcony seating and many lounges tucked away with lots of little parties going on. While it was not clear that the Tabernacle was completely free of "bullshit corporate ponsorship"
they could use some of that corporate money as the place is falling into disrepair. It was an extremely brutally cold night in Atlanta and there were few places of refuge from the draft and cold that consumed the interior of that building. While many of the lounges were interestingly furnished, there were many empty rooms and many of the finer features of the place that looked abandoned.
As we took all this in and tried like most people to ignore the opening act (over-cheese, rock anguish loner guy) it came close to time for Mr. Allman and friends. Gregg came on stage to a sold-out house and he seemed genuinely pleased with the event and expressed his gratitude. His friends of course include Floyd Myles, Tommy Thompson, two lead guitars and more. They played the set to a fever pitch. I say the set because they only played one regular set and one long encore. This lasted from about 11:00 to about 12:45. If I ignore my disappointment at that, then the night was uproarious. Trouble No More and I'm No Angel and most of the Allman material you would expect along with two Blues standards from Mr. Myles made for an incredible set that had the whole place dancin', arms raised to the sky, jumping up and down. It was a riot. Also, we could not help but laugh at the difference between the build up to New Year's Eve at Big Cypress and this year. While Phish rode in on a flying hot-dog to fireworks and all the showmanship they earnestly put into the New Year, Gregg (along with most everybody else) missed the clock strike twelve and then calmly said into the microphone "its midnite." This led to everybody on stage and in the crowd to hug and celebrate in proper fashion yet it was a perfectly Allmanesque announcement.
As we hit the streets in front of the Tabernacle, we could look on to
Phillips Arena down the street at all the excitement and joy of the
Widespread New Year and feel all the excitement and joy of an Allman New Year. It was beautiful to know that Atlanta, in the year 2001, had crowned itself once again, as one of the greatest and most diverse cities for Rock n' Roll on this planet!!!
Amen,
Reverend Pepe Truman
JamBase Atlanta Correspondent
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