Watch Spafford Play Rare Primitive Radio Gods Cover At Soundcheck Studios

Spafford launched a three-night run at Soundcheck Studios in Pembroke, Massachusetts on Thursday. The two-set concert featured a rarely played Primitive Radio Gods cover within the evening’s second half.

As previously noted, Soundcheck Studios has a strong history with Spafford’s keyboardist Cory Schechtman, who joined the band at the beginning of the year, and played the space located less than 30 miles south of Boston many times over the years as a member of The New Motif. When Spafford made their Soundcheck Studios debut in January, guitarist Brian Moss presented Schechtman with flowers during the show.

The vibey instrumental “Dream Jam” opened Thursday’s first set. The opener segued into the Jerry Garcia-popularized “Catfish John” with bassist Jordan Fairless singing lead. Spafford was then on to another instrumental “Red’s Jam,” which they paired with “Double Time.” The rest of the first set was filled in with “Radio” and a closing cover of Violent Femmes’ “Blister In The Sun.”

A four-song second set began with just the second “Levilan Shores” played this year. Moss and Fairless then shared lead vocals on the Primitive Radio Gods’ “Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand,” which was then performed for just the third time in since 2019 and only its 16th time overall. The original 1996 recording of the song sampled B.B. King’s song “How Blue Can You Get” and appeared on The Cable Guy soundtrack.

The cover transitioned into “Virtual Bean Dip.” Fairless then led his cohorts through a set closing “Leave The Light On.” Spafford’s aptly named original “Funkadelic” landed as the encore and brought an end to the show.

Spafford’s show tonight (Friday, July 14) at Soundcheck Studios will feature three sets. Watch pro-shot video of last night’s Spafford show below:

Setlist (via Spaffnerds)

Set One: Dream Jam > Catfish John, Red’s Jam > Double Time, Radio, Blister In The Sun

Set Two: Levilan Shores, Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand > Virtual Bean Dip, Leave The Light On

Encore: Funkadelic