Review straight from former The Band road mgr & Levon Helm friend Butch Dener who rarely ever misses a Midnight Ramble:
Last night, Levon's laryngitis, which he 1st picked up after a cold night @ Red Rocks,, & he couldnt sing a note in Arkansas,, although Terry Cagle ( L.H.'s nephew ) & The Cate Brothers augmented Larry, & Brian & the wimmins' singing,,,was still aproblem, in Woodstock.Levon's stellar band stepped up like the professionals they are & with Brian Mitchell doing triple duty on vocals,, & Larry, Teresa & Amy also just nailing every tune in sight,, Mine & Barrie's highlights were an incredible, amazing, incredible ATTICS OF MY LIFE !!!,, words fail @ the celestial beauty of this tune in Larry's capable hands, with Amy & Teresa soaring over & over again.Also, Teresa & Amy did It makes No Difference like i've never heard it before. Larry in the third harmony part in such a Danko-ish way,, i was crying from it's beauty ! WOWOWOW!!!!! seriously folks,, there was some serious love, respect & tribute paid last night to The Band's legacy of harmonies.Jim Weider & Erik Lawrence did the sax/guitar intertwinning with Brian's accordian sooooo THERE !!! Breathless was the entire Barn.Chris O' Leary ( BarnBurners ) & his tight band of Sicilian Frankie Ingrao on bass, the true Ayatollah Rock&Roller bluescat,, & the always amazing Chris Vitarello on scorching blues gitar & Bruce Katz on Organ & blues piano fantastically, Chris had two sax players also, brilliant additions & he did all those BarnBurner tunes i loved,,, Water's Rising,, Heyyyyyyyy Mr Porter, some Muddy tunes, Mystery Train, his USMC tribute Dress Blues ( Chris was a SGT in the USMC during Desert Shield ),,BIG FUN for me & the other Barnburner fans, there,,but,the amazing Levon Helm Band's performance, after all those weeks out on the road,, was the HARMONY-FILLED Healer i knew it would be,,,Many amazing moments,, Jim Weider & Larry on Remedy with LH slamming the skins behind 'em & in front of 'em,,,Chest Fever's guitar duel,,, Tele to Tele,,, toe to toe,,,Deep Elum with those HORNZHORNZHORNZ !Every note AMY sang,,, Every Note Teresa sang,, & all of Brian's amazing prowess,, even on a Bobby Charles classic tune, too,,Caaaan't wait for next week's July 4th gig,, with the return of Jimmy Vivino,,, yeeeehaaaa,,
bd
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