Pathway To Paris, Masonic, S.F. 9/14/18

bob set

loose lucy(acoustic)

shenandoah(acoustic)

peggy-o(acoustic)

FOTD w/jack on bobs acoustic and some vocals, bob electric

other one bob on electric

touch bob on electric

don was on upright bass alex koford on drums on all songs

patti did peaceable kingdom, pissing in a river, because the night

all songs had flea on bass tommy shannon on piano

I went to this.

A typically rather poorly organized event with lots of talk about the same thing over & over, which was fine because I knew what it was about going in, but IMO still too much time wasted on the jabber, who was to do what & when, some nonsense with solar powered hand lights left under the seats that an "artist" tried to get all the people to swing around to create "interactive art" - "How does it feel to hold four hours of sunlight in your hand?" "Woooow man!" - yawn, and long speeches by people not experienced with public speaking.

The music was fine. There were a couple of performances by artists I didn't know, Flea did a fun little solo bit using loops with his bass and also accompanying himself with surprisingly good trumpet playing (and he had pants on!) and Eric Burdon did three blues songs with a band without a drummer and he still sounds great, but Patti Smith stole the show. The clean, spare sound of her singing with just a grand piano and the great Flea on bass was stunning and Patti was brilliant as always. Bob closed and got 30 minutes to her 20 and IMO that along with Bob closing the show & Patti preceding him should have been flipped.

Bob's set was mostly good. They really nailed Peggy-O, the FOTD was very good and the Other One was strange with that small group and setting but Bob didn't overdo it with his guitar and he killed no cats. The song crawled & roamed around the room quietly and with some edge and was pretty damn good, but then that's a song I'm always happy to hear Bob sing. He was in good voice and Was played very well throughout & was particularly good on the Other One.

The crowd was mostly what you would expect for a show in San Francisco supporting the protection of the environment. Everyone earnestly cheered along with every "WE MUST...!" and "WE WILL...!" and "WE CAN'T ALLOW...!" and while I pretty much totally agree with just about everything that was said it was all still a bit precious, but again, I knew what I was getting into and overall it was fun to be there.

But as always it was Patti Smith who left the lasting impression, and as I walked out I was again thinking of just how amazing she is, and I think she should tour with that trio. I would have been very happy with two+ hours of just that group.

BTW, before the show I was hanging in the upper lobby and a guy in tie-dye was going around leaving business cards on all the tables & ledges. I figured he was pushing some little event, but when I looked at one of the cards this is what it said...

Now THAT'S a cause I can support!

Agreed with the above account. Flea solo was really cool, yes he has trumpet skills. Bob set was fairly standard and predictable. Can we give his Loose Lucy a little rest already (or is it just me)? Don't understand why he doesn't play more of his gems in these sceanrios? Also I felt it was a huge miss not to have Flea come out for the Other One and see his interpretation of those basslines and potentially dropping a bomb. Perplexed how that opportunity was allowed to pass by both of them? Bob isn't shy about collaborating with all kinds of musicians so surprised that didn't happen. Aside from feeling a bit like I was on a college campus well worth the $15 I paid on StubHub per tix and brought whole family as was cheaper than a babysitter and it's a lazy way of doing a good deed while catching a show. Also never seen Patti Smith so that was a win. Aside from Billy Corgan never seen anyone spit on the stage after songs like that. This is my first post been lurking on here with no contributions for too long.

No dishwasher jokes ... peeps r slacking...

Dishboy goes without saying..I believe this was the debut of Weir and Was.

Here is HD video of Flea's performance:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Civ9sWm3NdI

right on eforce