The Barrymore Theatre Madison WI: October 5, 2002
The first acoustic Visions, Bullhead City with Elliott Peck on vocals, and a “Shitty Limo” Brendan and Jake debut of Cat Stevens’ Father and Son (the only performance EVER!), as well as the debut of their early mashup, Peter Gunn/Every Breath You Take.
Also, this third performance of Wappy Sprayberry is still just a jam around the initial bass line – no written parts yet.
Notable:
3 sets; BB: “we’re going to take our time tonight.”
They start the show with an almost 10-minute intro jam.
Kabump, with an 8-minute JO-labeled improv section, is a nice jammy classic, a little faster-paced than they play it today.
Walletsworth, solid.
This 15-minute Wappy Sprayberry is still just an improv jam around the bass line, no written instrumental chord changes yet. The track is labeled Jimmy Stewart in the archive. So, can Wappy really be said to have been debuted yet? I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with it in the upcoming versions, and when they add the other sections.
Wappy’s jam with a tease from the musical Fiddler on the Roof, Traditions, ends with a segue into Phil’s Farm.
Sociable Jimmy with Mike on steel drums is a very cool part of the jam, also has a Dear Lord tease.
Out of Order > Hajimameshite > Dr. Feelgood > Peter Gunn/Every Breath You Take is a really good segment. It’s an early mashup, and credits Sopranos season 3 episode 1 for the idea.
Bass solo has Blackbird and Hanging Chads teases, before the acoustic guitars come in to play Bullhead City.
For its 5th performance (out of a total of only 16 times, this Bullhead City is a beautiful version with Brendan and Jake on acoustics and Elliott Peck on vocals. Jake and Brendan have played it solo acoustic 5 additional times.
This great Visions of Parin has Brendan and Jake on acoustics too, something Jake would play acoustic with Joel the next night at Martyr’s in Chicago while opening for Joshua Redman.
Even Ringo has Jake still on acoustic. The jam has Jake soloing on the acoustic guitar.
To begin the third set they extend the intro segment of All in Time and they go directly into the guitar harmonies of the song. This is more like they play the song now, without the off-beat rhythm of the previous written beginning.
Mikey says “this next one’s called JaJunk…JaJunk in the trunk.”
JaJunk has a two minute improv jam coming out of it, into a short, powerful Hurt Bird Bath.
Then it’s a long 17-minute Big Heart, the jazz number by The Lounge Lizards. This fourth performance is quite exploratory, and it’s only been played 32 times, mostly in the early 2000’s.
The Big Heart main riff doesn’t even come in until 8 minutes into the song.
The encore starts with an acoustic Brendan and Jake (now called Shitty Limo) performance of Father and Son by Cat Stevens. Jake: “We’re gonna try something real low, right now. The key of “G” low.” It’s the ONLY performance of that song ever.
Then they sing a complete version of Pay the Snucka. At this point, it’s got the original lyrics, different than we hear in today’s versions. Mike is the one who “pays the snucka,” Stasik still needs to take a shower, Andy’s favorite burger joint (Sparky’s) is still standing.
Setlist from allthings.umphreys.com
Set 1:
Intro[1] > Kabump[2] > Walletsworth, Syncopated Strangers, Wappy Sprayberry[3]-> Phil’s Farm
Set 2:
Sociable Jimmy[4] > Out Of Order, Hajimemashite[5] > Peter Gunn / Every Breath You Take[6]-> Get In The Van, Bass solo > Bullhead City[7], Visions[8], Ringo[9]
Set 3:
All In Time[10], JaJunk > Hurt Bird Bath[11] > Big Heart
Encore:
Father and Son[12], Pay the Snucka[13]
Footnotes:
[1] with Der Bluten Kat teases
[2] with Anchor Drops teases
[3] with Tradition (from Fiddler On the Roof) (Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick) teases and quotes
[4] with Mike on steel drums, Jake on drums, and Brendan on percussion; ended with Gulam Sabri (Garaj Mahal) jam
[5] ended with Dr. Feelgood (Mötley Crüe) jam
[6] debut, Henry Mancini/The Police; a la first episode Sopranos, season three
[7] with Brendan and Jake on acoustic; with Elliott Peck
[8] with Brendan and Jake on acoustic
[9] with Jake on acoustic
[10] with different intro section; includes Close Encounters of the Third Kind theme (John Williams) and Merrily We Roll Along (Tobias, Mencher, and Cantor) teases
[11] with Thunderstruck (AC/DC) and Jumpin’ Jack Flash (The Rolling Stones) teases
[12] debut, Cat Stevens; just Jake and Brendan on stage on acoustics
[13] with Tradition quote from Brendan
Links to Audio and Apps
The Live Music Archive app (iOS) and the Taper’s Section app (Android) is a great way to find and listen to these shows. You can stream, download for offline listening, save favorites, and mark shows as already listened to. The app pulls all data directly from the public repository of live music recordings posted at archive.org.
Thanks for the image: David Michael Miller, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
