Spafford Debuts New Instrumental ‘Soggy Froggy’ With Jazz-Fusion Flair In Harrisburg

Last night, Spafford brought their summer tour to XL Live in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The quartet premiered a new original entitled “Soggy Froggy” towards the middle of their first set.

Spafford — guitarist Brian Moss, drummer Nick Tkachyk, keyboardist Cory Schechtman and bassist Shon Gordon — opened the Thursday night concert with crowd pleaser “Virtual Bean Dip.” Moss then led the Arizona-based band through an expansive “Double Time.” The +15-minute version saw the foursome explore livetronica, funky and hard-driving soundscapes.

Next, “Soggy Froggy” made a splash. The latest addition to the band’s repertoire featured a swampy melody played on synth by Schecthman, cutting guitar work from Moss and a deep-pocket groove courtesy of Gordon and Tkachyk. “Soggy Froggy” birthed an untz-laced jam that eventually bled into the bombastic “Runaway.”

Spafford’s final offering of the first set in Harrisburg was “Windmill.” The live staple began with a blissed-out excursion and included a strong, guitar-driven peak.

Chuck “Spafford” Johnson, the band’s namesake and family member, took the stage following a brief intermission to recite his new poem “Inside This Doll.” The quartet then served up their first cover of the night, “I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You,” to kick off the second set. Shon Gordon impressively handled lead vocals on the prog-rock classic originally released by The Alan Parsons Project on their 1977 album, I Robot.

Spafford devoted the next 35 minutes of the show to a version of the Schechtman-sung “Darkness Singularity” that featured “Down Under” within. Cory Schectman starred in the initial jam of the year-old song before a reggae groove was used to launch the take on Men At Work’s 1983 hit. More exciting improvisation came between verses and then Brian Moss unleashed a raging solo to end “Darkness Singularity.”

The quartet ended the closing stanza with the tried-and-true “Electric Taco Stand.” Spafford gave fans a parting gift of a house version of Herbie Hancock’s “Cantaloupe Island” for their lone encore.

Tonight, the band performs at Rochester’s Water Street Music Hall. Spafford will then wrap up their summer tour with an appearance on Saturday night at the Adirondack Independence Music Festival in Lake George, New York.

Watch the official livestream replay of Spafford’s concert in Harrisburg below:

Official Audio (via nugs.net)

Setlist (via SpaffNerds.com)

Set One: Virtual Bean Dip, Double Time, Soggy Froggy [1], Runaway, Windmill

Set Two: I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You, Darkness Singularity > Down Under > Darkness Singularity, Electric Taco Stand

Encore: Cantaloupe Island

[1] Debut

Note: Chuck Johnson recited his new poem “Inside This Doll” before the second set.