Greg Brown - May 22, 1999

12 Corners Coffeehouse, Rochester, New York

[Bo and Greg performing]
Bo Ramsey and Greg (photo by Greg Lyons)

Commentary:

Date: Sun, 23 May 1999 12:07:48 -0700
From: Greg Lyons <lyonsgs@frontiernet.net>
Subject: 12 Corners Coffeehouse - Rochester, NY 5/22/99

Since this was quite a big event for our local coffeehouse, the show was moved to a larger venue. This turned out to be quite awkward for the sound crew and staff. They were supposed to be allowed into the church at 3pm. At 3:30 when I was there, services were in full swing and there was no sign of a folk show. I gave up and went home for some dinner. I returned around 6pm to find the sound crew in a panic to get set up. I helped for about an hour and the stress level was rising quickly.

I retreated from the set-up crew for a bit to find Mr. Brown in a back room carefully looking over a little satchel of fishing flies and discussing their use with Mr. Ramsey. Lets just say that I walked in on a *very* interesting conversation between two grown men. We talked for a few minutes and I passed on greetings from several of you. I tried to give him several things including the new Tom Waits CD but he was getting distracted just a *waitin'* for the sound check to get going;-)

The Campbell Brothers Band opened the show with a short but spirited set of their best material and the croud seemed to really enjoy them. The croud brought them back for an encore and gave them a huge ovation after their set.

We took a short break and then onto the Greg part of the show. Greg and Bo opened with a song that I'm not familiar with and then told us a little about his trains/planes/automobiles type of day. He said that he thought that the sun and the moon were in conflicting positions or something and it sounded like he and Bo had quite an experience finding the church.

Needless to say the croud was very appreciative and Greg and company responded warmly! GREAT show.

Fashion report: Greg had his usual floppy hat on with a blue sleeve-less shirt and black leather pants and rather new looking boots of some type. Bo had on his usual hat with a grey shirt, black blazer, jeans and cowboy boots

I said my thank you's to Greg and company and said good-bye to my friends.

It was still relatively early in the evening (11:30) so I decided to check out the annual event that I would have attended if not for the Greg show. A local favorite of mine, The Colorblind James Experience do an show every year that is called "Bob Dylan's Birthday Party". They invite Bob every year but he has yet to show up;-( The show consists of all Bob Dylan songs that are performed by Colorblind as the backing band with various guests throughout the evening. These guests are typically from local bands and they are hanging out in the croud for most of the evening until their particular song. Lots of fun. I got there at the end of the first set. They were in full swing and the place was rockin'. At the end of the set, I headed to the restroom and as I was exiting who did I see but a funny hat and Greg Brown! Apparently he was familiar with Colorblind (Colorblind is on Red House Records) but had never seen them. I then got the thrill of my life. I got to introduce one of my local favorites (Chuck Cuminelli of Colorblind) to Greg Brown. Chuck was pretty wowed and Greg headed back to his table. I bought them all a round later on and thanked Greg for coming to Rochester. They were all very appreciative but I didn't want to seem like a lurker. I went back to watching my friends perform Bob Dylan songs and at 2:15 as I headed out the door, Greg, Karen and Pete were deep in conversation and enjoying themselves.

Greg.

Song List:

[Greg and Pete Heitzman performing]

Greg and Pete Heitzman (photo by Greg Lyons)

Here's the set-list with a few comments:

  1. ?Real Good Friend?
  2. One Cool Remove (introduced as an old Shawn Colvin tune)
  3. I Wish I Was Married (Greg plays a beat on his guitar and Bo lays down a mean sounding riff)
  4. Dream City
  5. One Wrong Turn

    Greg invites Karen Savoca & Pete Heitzman to join them

  6. Lullaby (introduced as a lullaby for married couples)
  7. Sadness (man this tune rocks! Greg and Bo seem to love this one and so do I.)
  8. No Place Away (thanks Ramcey)
  9. Poor Backslider (with a kewl intro about growing up in a Church community and watching folks getting saved and then backsliding. He joked about joining the Campbell Brothers church in Rochester :-))

    Greg then introduces Karen & Pete and leaves the stage
    Karen reluctantly steps to the mic and says the Greg had to talk her into doing a couple of their own songs......I think I can safely say that we're all glad that he did! I've seen this duo a few times before but these 2 songs were as well done as any that I've ever seen them pull off. I think she definately wowed the croud and she's a regular at the coffeehouse. Sorry, I can't figure out the titles to these songs but they both were great.

    Greg and Bo come back on stage

  10. I'm Not High
  11. China (introduced as a song that was supposed to be about travelling and ended up being about relationships)

    Greg asks the Campbell Brothers to join them on stage

  12. Speaking in Tongues (long, with the Campbell Brothers jammin'!!!)
  13. Build a Little Village (the Campbell's really jammed on this one)

    encore:

  14. ?Wash All My Sins Away (begins with "There is a fountain filled with blood") Does anyone know the title of this one??