MUSIC: The Columbus Theatre Celebrates Bob Dylan’s Birthday
Monday, May 27, 2013
Dylan Sevey & The Gentlemen joined a local all-star roster that paid tribute to Bob Dylan on his birthday this weekend.
Bryan Minto
The best harmonica player in Providence and the Master Of Ceremonies Bryan Minto sang Happy Birthday to Bob Dylan to kick off the night and then local musician and the one who curated the event in Dylan Sevey came up to thank everyone for coming out and encouraging everyone to buy one of the wonderful silkscreened posters made for the show to kick off the festivities. The first part of the extravaganza consisted on acoustic versions on Bob Dylan's songs played in the most heartfelt and genuine way possible.
Mackenzie Holway, Kate Jones, Kennedy
Mackenzie Holway started the music off right with a wonderful rendition of "You Ain't Going Nowhere" that soothed the mind and soul and right afterwards Kate Jones from The Sugar Honey Iced Tea performed the beautifully romantic "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight". Sean Kennedy's moniker Kennedy, which is pretty much his last name if you couldn't already tell, played "Lay Lady Lay" on an acoustic guitar and followed it up with "Just Like A Woman" on piano for a nice set of classics.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTDaniel Chase + Dan Blakeslee
One of the most memorable performances of the evening came from Daniel Chase with "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35", "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" and "House Of The Rising Sun" that had the 200 plus people in attendance singing along to every word. Boston musician Dan Blakeslee got the crowd going in similar fashion with "To Ramona", "She Belongs To Me" and "It Ain't Me Babe" that even had him shifting to his Halloween alter ego Dr. Gasp for a split second. Everything was kind of rapid fire from the start, but with the amount of immense talents on stage I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Dylan Sevey & The Gentlemen, Mighty Good Boys, Smith & Weeden
There was a little intermission where people indulged on the full bar, candy, hot dogs and popcorn while others went outside to strike up a conversation, get some fresh air and light up a cigarette for good measure. When everyone shuffled back into their seats, the second part of the show started with the owner of Lily Pads in Peacedale, RI, David Floyd, performing a spoken word poem that Bob Dylan wrote called "Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie" that was very moving. Then Dylan Sevey & The Gentlemen with Smith & Weeden's Ollie Williams on bass came up and performed "If You Gotta Go, Go Now", "Visions Of Johanna" and "Cold Irons Bound" to rev up the musical engine that made the evening ignite. Dylan Sevey then joined The Mighty Good Boys on drums and they played "Maggie's Farm", "Quinn The Eskimo" with Kate Jones alternating on vocals, "Make You Feel My Love" and "Isis" which had people going crazy and the energy was infectious. Smith & Weeden then joined the fray and performed "My Back Pages", "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You" an groovy version of "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" with Jesse Emmanuel Smith singing into a Megaphone and ending it with their own version of "You Ain't Going Nowhere". At this point I couldn't keep my jaw from dropping and I just wanted more, such a magnificent time was happening and I wanted it to never end.
Ian O'Neil + Joe Fletcher
After the final intermission, it was time for the grand finale. I didn't know what to expect but I was very excited to see what was going to happen next. Deer Tick's Ian O'Neil then came on stage with his trademark burnt orange electric guitar and belted out "He Was A Friend Of Mine", "Mississippi", his own rendition of "Happy Birthday" and "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" with Dylan Sevey helping him out on vocals. Ian was a late add on but he didn't show any rust, I always love seeing him play solo with so much feel. Minto then went up with the magnificent Joe Fletcher and started mimicking a dance Bob Dylan did before an encore the last time he played at the University of Rhode Island, he tried encouraging Joe to do the same but he wasn't having any of it. Fletcher then proceeded to strum his six string and sing "It Takes A Lot Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry", "Crash On The Levee (Down In Flood)" and "Tryin' To Get To Heaven" that showed shear excellence. If there is anyone that should do a tour with Bob Dylan, it's definitely Joe Fletcher (Let's hope Bob reads this sometime soon for Joe's sake). For the cherry on top to a show that will be etched into my memory like a star on a stone, Smith & Weeden, The Mighty Good Boys, Dylan Sevey & The Gentlemen, Ian O'Neil, Dan Blakeslee and Bryan Minto all went up on stage and everyone brought the crazy with "Like A Rolling Stone" and "I Shall Be Released" a la the style of The Rolling Thunder Revue that Bob Dylan put together in the mid-70s. Just when the audience was about to give a standing ovation, Dylan Sevey asked the crowd "You mind if Ollie and I perform one more?" The crowd obliged and Dylan & Ollie played "Buckets Of Rain" to end a show that will go down in history as the landmark event at The Columbus Theatre since its reopening during the Revival! weekend this past November. If you're reading this and missed out on the fun, my apologies. There is one thing you can do so you don't miss the next kickass show at The Columbus Theatre, log on www.columbustheatre.com and find out what's happening next at one of the most majestic venues in The Creative Capital.
Related Articles
- MUSIC: Brown Bird Celebrates Release Of Fits Of Reason At The Met
- MUSIC: The Feelies at RI Record Day, Les Sampou at Sandywoods
- MUSIC: The ‘Mericans Bring Glory To The Parlour
- MUSIC: RI Music Hall of Fame Inducts Geremia, Cowsills, The Nakeds
- MUSIC: He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister at Fete
- 5 Live Music Musts: Friday, May 24th
- MUSIC: Vudu Sister Releases Household Items at Columbus Theatre
- MUSIC: Bob Dylan and Dawes at the Ryan Center
- MUSIC: The Carnival Barker’s Ball Invades The Roots
