Setlist, Attendance, and Recordings for: 2019-05-04 - The Civic Theater - New Orleans, LA

After three weeks of Spaffnerds tearing each other apart, consoling one another, and having emotions and rumors flying around like crazy, The day was finally here. Would Nick be able to come back and keep Spafford at the level they had been performing, or would he come back and show his two years of rust? It was my first time at The Civic and I very much enjoyed the venue. New Orleans based Soul Rebels got the party going as the Nerds started flowing in. The venue was filled reasonably well allowing for optimum dancing space.

Take Your Mama started the show, which given the hype was not the song I wanted out of the gate. That being said it actually worked out in the best way because there were sound issues abound during this, so it allowed for everyone to readjust for what I'm going to say was the true opener, Electric Taco Stand. I was very pleased to hear it had not been taken down in tempo and for the most part got through the composed section nicely. Then the surprise of the night came as the jam transitioned into John Coltrane's Impressions. Here we all were expecting the return of the Untz Factor and on the opening jam they transition into a jazz standard. Looking back since it was jazz fest I should not have been so surprised but I was truly blown away. Everyone took a solo showing off their jazzy licks one-by-one finishing with Brian before transitioning back into Electric Taco Stand. As the peak of ETS came, smiles came onto everyone's face and the biggest one of all was on the face of Nick.

Comfortable continued the show which ended up being the only "newer" song played of the evening. Not too much to say beyond it was well played and nice to see Nick seemed pretty Comfortable on it (see what i did there?). The highlight of the night came next in the form of All In. Again the band got through the composed section with minimal flubbing, and then the jam came and reared its monstrous head. The slow funk section got a healthy dose of Red's organ which then transitioned into the tempo being sped up and Red moving over to a clean piano sound. The band locked in together as the familiar untz beat filled the air and Brian's solo began. Brian pushed his solo deep into the stratosphere and the tempo never lost its edge as it came crashing into the ending segment. Beautiful stuff!

The bouncing rhythm of Mind's Unchained continued the show which is one that I really wanted to see Nick on! Really loved the jam of this one. Super spacey psychedelic Red keyboard lines filled the air as everyone kept a slow but steady pace underneath until the build into Brian's solo. Really good contrast jam from the untzed out All In from the song before. The Postman showed a little bit of rust on Ole St. Nick, through the composed section he had a little bit of trouble but more than made up for it in the jam. Red laid a great foundation down after his solo using some wild sounds from his Virus keyboard that Brian was able to weave his way through for the opening section of his solo. An epic peak finished the jam off as the final section of The Postman arrived. Jordan and Nick traded a little solo section back and forward before Brian delivered the final piece of mail.

Leave The Light On concluded the historic set in style. The opening jam was anchored by an epic Brian solo, but the madness came in the second jam. Shortly into the second jam Red walks off stage for a few moments before returning with none other than Joel Cummins from Umphrey's McGee. Joel took his solo which Nick used to push the tempo back into the untz beat before the band switched into Brian's solo. Clocking in at the 23 minute mark the band left it all out on the stage as they sang the ending Leave The Light On's and the crowd roared with excitement.

There really wasn't a better choice for an encore than a stand alone Weasel. The Untz Factor Nick gives to the band had returned and they solidified it with a short but strong Weasel. I had a lot of emotions going into this show but I left with a feeling of excitement. Whether you agree with the band's choice or not, I strongly urge you to go see a show and find out yourself. Above all else all the members of the band seemed very happy and that is what is most important. Welcome back Nick! Let's do it again real soon

Setlist, Attendance, and Recordings for: 2018-07-29 - Element Music Festival - British Columbia, CA

After the late night madness, Spafford moved from the barn to the main stage which has a beautiful background of mountains, a lake, and trees as far as the eye can see. Set time was 5:15pm and the weather gods provided cloud cover for the opening of the set. This allowed for maximum daytime dancing! The crowd was once again very intimate as this was the Sunday of the festival and many guests had left earlier in the day (still was basically under 100 people). As we approached the stage we noticed two extra microphones in the back left corner. Natalie Cressman and Jennifer Hartswick from Trey Anastasio Band were artists at large and immediately the wheels started turning in my head on what song would they bring out horns for? I was freaking STOKED!

I've read a lot of times on the forums and Facebook that a lot of people like Spafford because of their ability to open a set stronger than most bands we see, and man if you're one of those people wait till you listen to this. Lonely began the set in an un-freaking-believable 30 min performance that is Certified "Do not drive while listening to this song." Mr. Cameron Laforest puts on an absolute clinic laying down fantastic grooves that the band could create jams on top of. First time I can remember looking at my phone was around the 20 min mark in the midst of Red and Brian trading big sections of the jam and thinking to myself, "Are we still in Lonely?" Spafford continued on to the final peak and as Jordan sang the final verse I checked the clock and was amazed we were at the 30 min mark.

My Road (My Road) finally showed its head as the second song of the set. After the opening section by Red, the jam took a strong opening form grooving nicely along but sort of got jammed into the noodle infinity for a little bit before nicely switching gears and ending in a strong peak by Brian. The rocking opening of Ain't That Wrong continued the set. In the middle of ATW a bunch of kids and adults wearing costumes walked through the crowd and some of them were on stilts (the festival is very family friendly there was a whole kids area with bubbles and different activities to do). Ain't That Wrong's jam kept the foot on the gas pedal and featured a strong solo by Mr. Moss.

In an interesting decision a stand alone Reprise came next which i hoped meant it was going to get the royal jam treatment but just had a small jam section attached to it before going into the ending guitar rift (to complete the America from last night, I suppose). In the biggest "bust out" of the weekend Legend served as the lovely cooldown song after the 4-song smack down (clocking in about 1 hour and 10mins). Legend was last time played at Ullrs Tavern Winter Park, CO on March 17th. The crowd pleasing Leave the Light On came over the speakers next and the long jam theme continued. Jam one took on a couple different themes and we all floated along soaking in the sun that had come out of the clouds and cheers rang out as the band entered the middle vocal section. Spafford then plunged into the dark second jam and the daytime dance moves came out in full force and Jen and Natalie could be seen coming onto the back of the stage getting their instruments warmed up.

As Leave the Light On finished I looked at the clock: there were only 10 minutes left before the end of the set. I was guessing some sort of cover as to what they would play with the TAB horns. Much to my excitement the sound of Galisteo Way filled the mountain air. Jen and Natalie didn't start playing until the quick shuffle part after the 2nd chorus. Natalie took the first solo on trombone and everyone in the band got a huge infectious smile on their face. You couldn't help but smile and dance. Jen on trumpet took the next solo as the band ran through the same quick shuffle before going into the chorus once again. The jam continued the horny madness and added in Brian as the three of them traded solos back and forth. Red couldn't contain himself... he was just laughing and smiling. The set ended with the crowd and the band singing together and clocked in at a 2-hour-and-5-min 7 song magical afternoon set. I can't wait to hear all your comments when the recording drops and as happy as the band was with the horns I don't think it's the last we will see of some Spafford Horn Funk.

Setlist, Attendance, and Recordings for: 2018-07-28 - Element Music Festival - British Columbia, CA

Let me try to set the scene as best I can. Element Music Festival is set on this amazing piece of property that has gorgeous mountains and hills all around it, there is a beautiful lake in the middle of it directly behind the main stage, the moon was huge all four nights because of the full moon on that Friday, and there were literally just 300 tickets sold to the event. Needless to say I knew it was one of the final times that I would see Spafford with such a small crowd. On this Saturday night Lotus had just delivered an epic set two and I was getting my ass handed to me by my extra curriculars that I had taken. I stumbled to late night which is legit straight-up in this barn at the top of a hill that makes you feel like it's a test just to get there. I ended up front and center early for the set with my "I'm Killing It" stickers ready. The time hit close to the set and there were only about 50ish people in the barn. My excitement was through the roof at the intimate show we were about to get!

I truly thought they would open with something heavy and rocking but the bouncing psychedelic sound of Mind's Unchained opened the night and an immediate smile came over my face. As we all floated along the opening section the crowd began to fill the front with us and the late night vibes began to truly sink in as Spafford took us into the first jam of the night. Brian and Red painted the psychedelic landscape in what I like to call the "fill the space" portion of the jam where no one is really taking a solo everyone is just grooving along feeding off the energy of the crowd and the room and filling the empty space in the sound. Brian then took us on his solo journey ending in an epic peak and the sound of the small but mighty crowd could be felt.

The always welcome People continued the set as Canada got it's first dose of Red's voice. I'm very interested to see the time stamp on this because the middle jam section felt like it was 10+ minutes. Red took a very extended solo that went from the funky quick chops of the piano to the dark and trippy sounds of the synth before heading into the guitar solo section. I was so excited I finally got the extended version of People I have wanted and am stoked to see where it goes in future sets.

Wasting no time at all the band brought out artist-at-large Jason Hann from String Cheese to play percussion on In the Eyes of Thieves. Jason did an excellent job during the composition section and added a fantastic dynamic to the dance friendly jam section. All band members could be seen looking back with big smiles on their face. I asked Red after the show how he felt Jason did and he said, "I think he did great, some percussionists we bring up get lost in the changes but he was always right there with it." The crowd began to migrate closer and closer during this jam as I looked back to see smiles on everyone's face.

Backdoor Funk was the highlight of the set for me, the tempo felt slowed down more than normal during the opening section. As the band progressed the jam broke down to a very bare bones groove before climbing into a crazy spacey sound section bending everyone's mind in the barn. Continuing into space Brian hit us with the nasty Backdoor solo before Jordan returned us back to earth with the final lyric section.

America came up next which featured a fun little lyric switch to "In the heart of Canada." Honestly, the jam wasn't all that and a bag of chips but it was still played nicely and featured a good solo from Brian. Continuing the rock vibe Lovesick Melody filled the barn and had heads rocking along before digging deep into the Jordan funk-filled Soil. Soil provided the dark mind-expanding groove that its getting a reputation for and saw some awesome rhythm work from Jordan and Cam. I'm sure I looked ridiculous as I just stared at Jordan for most of the jam but he was just so damned locked in!

Slip and Squander finished the set and was one of the few songs that got the Woos right as the song started from the Canadian crowd. The jam section of Slip felt like it was a little more played out than usual so I will again be interested to see the time on it once the recording (fingers crossed) gets released.

Spafford encored with Salamander Song which, much like the High Sierra set, was given a little extra love at the beginning seeing great guitar play from Brian. We were sent "Dancing the whole way home" eager to see what the band would bring the next day.

Setlist, Attendance, and Recordings for: 2018-06-01 - Spirit of Suwannee Music Park - Live Oak, FL

Ah summer festival season how I love you so! My summer continued at the Purple Hatters Ball down in Live Oak Florida which had our boys Spafford as a headliner Friday night. Purple Hatters was easily the smallest festival I think I've ever attended at Spirit of Suwanee Music Park (SOSMP for later). I'm gonna take a rough guess and say I don’t think it was over 3,000 people (and Hulaween was 20k for those who were there last year). Needless to say I was excited to get back to the intimate crowd setting after seeing them at Red Rocks the week before! I also had the fortune of running into the band right after an interview earlier in the day where the guys said the sound was sounding great during soundcheck which added to the hype even more! The band came on stage at about 11:40pm.

*Photo credit Tanya Russi

Purple Hatters marked my 17th Spafford show and I literally always want John Hiatt's Memphis in the Meantime but had never gotten it, so when the very familiar shuffle beat from cam started my heart jumped out of my chest from excitement. Spafford traveled very well through the composition and got locked into a rocking opening jam but the special moments came after the first peak as they transitioned deep into the psychedelic realm but still kept the pace of the song going leaving jaws and faces on the floor right off the rip. Memphis in the Meantime ended at about the 21 min mark with a super clean transition straight into People. People clocked in around the normal 9ish min mark but still featured a strong solo by Brian.

Ain't That Wrong continued the show after the roar of the Florida crowd. This song proved to be an untz dance fest as the band locked into the first part of the jam led by an epic solo from Red and pumping bass drum from Cam. The dance beat continued as the solo spotlight turned to Brian and he took the song to its peak before plunging back into the chorus. Red's opening piano lines of Todd's Tots filled the air for the next song of the show. The 2nd jam off Todd's was really well played, even though it was a little short Brian was able to really put the energy of the crowd into a good spot. Todd's clocked in close to the 15 min mark. Lonely was next in line for Purple Hatters which has really become one of Cam's best songs. The jam goes through so many different sections that Cam always gets to show off some crazy stuff. Lonely started off fast and funky with quick fills from Cam, then digressed down to just bass drum and a block sound beat before coming back to a rocking peak full of cymbals and craziness... I loved it.

*Photo credit Tanya Russi

The always welcome opening keyboard sounds of The Remedy started the last portion of the set. The composition portion went well for Spafford, but the opening jam got to a little bit of a noodly section that felt like the band kinda jammed into the abyss but could be treated as a "breakdown" type jam as well. It was soon forgotten as Brian scooped us out of the abyss for an epic first peak followed by a good transition jam into America. America's first jam dove into a great trippy section led by Red's keyboards. As the jam progressed and Brian started to take over the song climbed from the deep trippy world into the rage heavy peak full of Ben Factor's red, white, and blue lights to end the epic set.

After an absolutely rocking from top to bottom show the band came out and encored with the soft sounds of Van Morrison's Into the Mystic which was sang beautifully by Red. Even though I knew The Reprise was coming I was super interested to see how the transition would feel from a song like Into the Mystic and I was pleasantly surprised. The Reprise ended us in style like it always does with wild fills and funky riffs from everyone and a special shout out from Brian talking about how it has been a year of Cam in the band! I hope all of you have fun at whatever festival you are seeing Spafford at this summer, I will see you guys at Element Festival in British Columbia next!

*Photo credit Tanya Russi

Big shout-out to Tanya Russi for the photographs!

Setlist, Attendance, and Recordings for: 2018-05-05 - Nola Republic, New Orleans, LA

After the madness of the first night (and day for the band) in New Orleans with missed flights, sit-ins, bust outs, and debuts, I arrived at Republic NOLA for Spafford's second late-night show with sort of blank expectations. I was happy to see both familiar faces from the night before and some new faces hanging out around the doors and more of the same as all of us were let in. The band came onto the stage at 2:15am.

Spafford continued the "Album Release" show theme and opened with When It Falls which started the night clean as no jam was attached to it this time. Todd's Tots got the jam juices flowing and the lyrics "I don’t like sleeping at night" had a little extra oomph behind them in a late-night setting. Tots was highlighted with an excellent solo from Brian.

The pleasing light and fluffy guitar opening of Simon and Lily was next which come to find out was the song with the biggest show gap of the night (Last played 2018-01-14). To put an emphasis on what comes next only about 20 mins had passed during these three opening songs.

The opening composition section of The Postman began to fill the air and gave us our last bit of fresh air before plunging deep into the psychedelic realm. Postman's jam got locked into a nasty funk rhythm that allowed Red to bust a solo out, Cam to get some E-drum work in, and had everyone including the band dancing and bobbing along. Brian then left faces on the floor with the guitar solo and as the song ended the full volume of the late-night crowd was felt.

Mind's Unchained followed and kept the vibes going as we soared through the clouds on the jam then pushed to space during the peak highlighted again by Brian's solo. All In came next and solid work on the composition half of the song set up for the jam of the night as Cam was absolutely killing it. Wild fills from Cam allowed for the rest of the band to just continually riff on top and had me going hard in the paint. JP and I looked at each other afterwards and just laughed.

America finished off the set which was the only song of the set not off the new album "For Amusement Only." After a quick encore break, Spafford came back on and busted out another new cover Van Morrison's Cleaning Windows which was sung by Red. Cleaning Windows transitioned straight into The Reprise providing New Orleans with their last bit of Spafford late-night Jazz Fest funk.

Those of you going to Summercamp have an awesome time! I'll see the rest of you at Red Rocks