Best posts made by crappygeorge

Setlist, Recordings, and Attendance for: 2017-10-05 - Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton, MA

I headed to Northampton after work on Thursday afternoon with a raging headache and killer hangover from the Outer Space show the night before. I checked into my room downtown and headed to the Tunnel Bar/Platform for the meetup. I had two high school buddies in tow, both with no prior experience with Spafford. (They loved them BTW.) I was most happy to see @Kyle-Burbank and @uconnwes again- we had such a blast raging together the night before. We kicked it outside in the fairly warm October air for a bit, blazed up, and talked about what we hoped to hear that night while the band milled around their bus smoking butts and mingling with us.

The *Iron Horse is an older, smaller venue with a real old-school living room feel—kind of like your grandma's house that hasn’t been updated since 1976. An older beatnik crowd took up the tables and chairs that lined the walls. The small balcony was kept roped off. The stage was small, without a lot of room for the band to move, and there was no real lighting rig so the venue kept the house lights on... for the whole show! There were two cans with a green and red light that stayed dimly lit as well, but otherwise effects were as minimal as possible.

Windmill got us off to a solid start, never really straying from its structure but delivering just the same. A quick romp through the bluegrass jaunt of Hollywood lent an easy-breezy feeling to the set. My friend leaned over and said something about how any song with a whistling section is awesome. The band then switched it up into a bouncy shuffle jam with all four members totally locking in. Brian brought the energy way up with a searing bluesy solo while Cam killed a funky ride bell pattern.

Out of this jam, Red began some beautiful melodies as they landed on their first cover of the evening, Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand. It's the kind of song that everyone knows, they just don't know they know it. The looks of surprise were everywhere as people began to figure it out and nod in approval. Brian crushed the ending solo as it turned into a dark and heavy jam. The setlist labeled it Space Jam and the band certainly did their best to make us feel like we had just landed on the freaking moon. Red’s opening notes of The Remedy snapped us all back to reality as we gathered our brains just in time to have our faces melted by a Brian-heavy version of the tune.

The rocking Dream Jam that followed gave way to the super-funky, Red-sung, JJ-Call-favorite After Midnight. (I incorrectly thought it was going to be Midnight Rider... It had the same bouncy/funky intro... It fooled me bad). Midnight kept it upbeat and funky until the last few minutes where they slowed it down to a real bluesy rock jam to finish up the set.

Set break involved more weed, more hugs, and excited talk about Friday's coming show in Boston.

A rocking Seven opened up the second set, followed by the improv standout of the evening, In The Eyes of Thieves, where the jam included several movements and peaks. A standard America followed with The Reprise right behind, which seemed to have a little bit of extra sauce at the end. Mind's Unchained closed out the set with as loose of a feeling as the show began, and with a powerful solo from Brian who let rip with clear, clean tone.

The band left the stage for only a moment before returning for Into the Mystic, which had everyone swaying and singing along joyfully, feeling the vibes as Red poured it all out on stage.

Outside the air had cooled as friends parted ways and we headed off for a slice at Mimmos before they closed up for the night. Sleep was a must... The Sinclair was up next!

Thanks @uconnwes for some of the pics!

Setlist, Attendance, and Recordings for: 2018-01-24 - Wonderbar - Asbury Park, NJ

@uconnwes, @603Brett , and I rolled into Asbury Park by 1pm after raging away the night before in Pawtucket, RI when the messages started coming in. The band had forgotten their merch in RI the night before, but we got the message too late to help. We checked-in to our boutique hotel right next to the venue and got settled.

A pre-show meet-up was planned before the show, and we arrived at the Ale House about an hour before the band went on. Nerds were met, food and drinks consumed, and then we headed across the street to Wonderbar.

Showtime found our group on the righthand side rail between Brian and Cam. The band opened with People, containing tight blissful vamping that turned into a frenetic peak featuring some extra flair from Cam.

Backdoor Funk followed, with Red getting extra funky on the clav while Moss patiently built the jam that would eventually explode into the second giant peak in as many tunes.

Firing up America next really got the crowd engaged as the place really began to fill in and get pretty tight. Red got super weird on the virus synth before bringing it way down to Moss to start chugging away at yet another glorious buildup.

Hollywood was next, and maintained the core song's cut time through most of the jam, allowing Brian to really stretch out the chicken picken skills. When the change to straight 4/4 finally occurred, the band used it as its first segue of the night into Dis Go in 5?, one of my favorite tunes. After a quick take on the shortest tune of the set, the band rather clumsily faded into the evenings first cover, Breakdown, before ending the set and promising to return in a few minutes.

There were more drinks, a smoke break, an overzealous security guard who confiscated A LOT of joints, and I was back inside waiting in the ever growing line for the very small men's room. The Postman that opened the set seemed to belong to Red, as his synthy sounds laid the foundation down for Moss to let rip on a soaring peak that brought the entire place to its knees.

Next up was Plans, a song that I didnt appreciate as much when it was newer, but now it has grown on me for being such an awesome type 2 jam vehicle AND I get to yell like Speedy Gonzalez. Brian broke a string during the jam, and runs off to change guitars once the song ends. While he is off stage, Red takes lead and the band begins to jam an intro that will become an other worldly Weasel. Brian was not satisfied with his backup guitar and motions for Wes to come help change the string for him... But Wes has salted caramel all over his paws... And we've been drinking... So the intro rages on a little longer as Brian exits again to change the string himself. He emerges and the band finally kicks into the song... after a 7 minute intro the Weasel is on! Red took the jam to outer space and when they landed, they settled into a slowed down, rambling country groove that became a nasty Funkadelic. What a pairing! As the Weasel's UNTZ UNTZ worked its way back through, I knew we were in for a big finish. Red let out a Money for Nothing tease and Brian turned the Raven loose on the Weasel for its big finish.

A sweet organ tinged intro gave way to the snarl of the startup of Soul to Squeeze. It's always smoking hot with plenty of chicken picken that I just love, plus Jordan's raspy vocals are perfect for it.

The Reprise hit hard to end the set with a ton of energy.

The West LA Fadeaway encore was a seemingly mellow choice after such a heater to end the set but nobody was complaining as we got in our last call before stumbling down the block in search of more late night food and drinks.

Special thanks to @dontjudgedave for the photos!

Dilly dilly

Setlist, Attendance, and Recordings for: 2019-02-06 - Buffalo Iron Works - Buffalo, NY

I flew into Buffalo late Wednesday afternoon, leaving my wife and kids behind on a beach vacation in Florida. A nasty winter storm had just moved through the area and the city was covered in a half inch thick glazing of ice. My Uber dropped me off at the downtown Marriot shortly after 6 and by 630 I was scarfing wings and pizza with a tasty IPA at the bar with Brett and Wes who had driven up from New England together. After our meal we made the 5 minute walk over to the venue shortly after doors opened and were delighted to find the place fairly empty leaving us ample space to set up shop wherever we pleased for the night.

The Iron Works was deep and narrow with a long bar that stretched the length of the venue from front to back along the left hand wall as you entered. The beer selection was decent, and the crowd seemed to be fairly young and mostly local. There was a small upstairs area with a few tables but we never ventured up that way. I was on a mission to champion the rail and Brett was set up to tape for the evening. The opening act although polished, fell flat for me but they succeeded in warming up the crowd well enough and by the time Spaff took the stage, the place had filled in nicely and everyone was feeling comfortable. I loudly expressed my desire for something dark and dirty and settled in for the set, surrounded by Spaffamily.

The band had played the first 3 shows of the tour without any repeats and tonight would follow suit. Hot right out of the gate they dialed up Todd's Tots, one of my favorite composition pieces. Flawlessly executed with a monster peak, it was easy to see the band was feeling it already. Red started up the second song with some dark, haunting keys and I began to get excited.... Here was the darkness that I was craving.... They kicked into The Sneaker Pimps Six Underground. Jordan's raspy vocals fit SO well on this tune and the band was feeling it! What followed was a stellar 30 minute jam that moved through multiple sections and peaks, a true gem with both Brian and Red taking turns leading the band. A slick, slinky segue into Mind's Unchained brought us all back down to earth and before we knew what hit us, the 3 song first set was over and we were all regrouping by the bar for a refill.

The band returned after a short set break and launched right into When It Falls, a newer song that debuted less than a year ago and had only been placed in a second set once so far. It usually follows the same standard format, but this version went DEEP! Whether it was a happy accident or by design doesn't really matter, cuz the jam that ensued was incredible with Red largely leading the way with waves of synthy goodness. The transition into Red's Jam was amazing and they played a solid version of their instrumental standard, patiently crafting the jam and bringing us all on a journey. As they picked up the tempo, Brian stomped on the distortion pedal and the band vamped up and slammed into Weasel. Cam kept the band in high gear, driving them through a few sections before slowing the pace and landing on the beautiful Palisades. The slow, mellow vibe of the first part of the song permeated the room and we all swayed and smiled in bliss, thankful for a little bit of a breather. It wouldn't last... It was brought up to dazzling heights and Brian absolutely laid waste to our souls with a crushing solo before Cam settled back into the Weasel groove and got the dance party started up again. By the time they hit the final peak, we had seen a 5 song continuous set and the place was going nuts. The band exited and entered again for their encore, a cover of the Dead's Eyes of the World, with Red masterfully handling the vocal duties.

Without using hyperbole or trying to juice it up too much, I have to say this was my favorite Spafford show I have attended so far. The venue, the crowd, the vibe and, of course, the performance by the band all just felt perfect for the moment. It was a special evening for sure, and it would serve as the perfect appetizer for our 3 show run through Syracuse and Philly.

Killer job dude, glad to see it came to fruition for you. Sign me up!

@damian that was my fairly inebriated former bandmate lol. He was HILARIOUS all night long. Dryest humor ever.

Setlist, Attendance, and Recordings for: 2018-07-08 - Levitate Music Festival - Marshfield, MA

I hit Levitate late Sunday morning, my wife and kids in tow. We made it through traffic and into the lot behind the main stage with relative ease. I was anxious because Spafford's set was early @ 2:15 and we were still in traffic out front at 1.

By the time we met up with Ron and hit the front gates it was already 1:30. We came upon the Style Stage (middle sized of the 3 stages at Levitate) to find the band casually sound checking. We said our hellos and well wishes and retreated to set up by the left of the soundboard as they vamped on a funky jam.

My wife and kids could sense my relief at finally arriving with time to spare and we all relaxed a bit. They took off for slushes and face painting and Ron @Lauer-Nation and I got started with some brews, gave hugs and hellos to all the spaffamily along the rail, and dug in for the set!!

The America opener was hot out of the gate. (Yes, @603Brett, you immediately got credit from Ron for calling that one, well-played sir). The continued buzz around the band was felt as the crowd rapidly ballooned from less than 100 to what felt like thousands. The energy was high and the riffs were powerful, as the band drew their crowd closer.

Backdoor Funk came slinking up next for what would become the jam of the set. After a roaring peak, the band moved into a smooth jam while Cam set the table. The driving jam once again peaked at what we all thought would be the end of the song but they weren't finished as another layered jam emerged. By the time they were done, close to 30 minutes had passed and we were only two songs in.

The killer shuffle of Broken Wing started up next. This was my first live experience for this tune and it just seemed to fit the daytime festy slot so so so well. I couldn't help but remark how easy Cam made it look. He CRUSHED this song start to finish in so many subtle ways I couldn't begin to explain... The band was having SO much fun with this one building the crowd to a frenzy with Brian chicken pickin' like a lunatic, foot up on the monitor, and really giving it to the fans with a full sonic onslaught.

When Beautiful Day started up, my wife had returned with my 7-year old son who I placed on my shoulders and danced as best I could without falling over in the midday July heat. This was bliss. The crowd swayed and sang in the sweaty sunlight and I felt like the luckiest man alive to have my family there with me to feel that perfect moment.

Ron and I mused over what the next song would be as we approached their one-hour mark and, as he said it, they broke into The Reprise. The band takes such obvious delight in making this a slow burn and building that tension... With their joy apparent, they pulled and twisted this into a raging finale. The crowd was absolutely bonkers for them as Moss crashed down face-melting peaks just ruining everyone within earshot.

Brian gave everyone a little nod as they decided they had enough time for one more. They ripped into a favorite and special request from Sharon Steinberg and the team sparkle crew, Space Gadget. The short and punchy tune ended the set with a bang and I'm sure more than a few people walked away whistling that catchy riff to themselves asking, what the hell happened to Inspector Gadget??

@damian I'm down, great work fellas

I wish I could write you a ticket for heying out of line

8/3/13 is pure fuego

OMG it was so glorious

I haven't been able to catch a living for the city yet... But I'm chasing it!! Nicely done sir.

My first Spaff show was earlier this year in Hamden CT, tiny hole in the wall full of locals who had no idea who they were there to see. Standout tunes from the night- Todd's tots, Sweet and Windmill. The plug was pulled on the bands performance at 1am sharp with many songs remaining on the setlist, which was given to me after the show.

You know I want in! Free nugs for me pleassseeee

Setlist, Attendance, and Recordings for: 2018-10-13 - Music Hall of Williamsburg, NY

I awoke Saturday morning in a strange bed in an unfamiliar room. The noise pollution outside was ugly, intrusive, and hurt my head. I began to put things together slowly.... Airbnb... NYC... Spafford with the homies... Oh yah, I remember now. It was almost noon, I stumbled out into the main living space where Uncle Ron (@Lauer-Nation ) and Brett (@603Brett ) had camped out on adjacent sofa beds. Wake up kids, let's go get lunch. We each ordered our own Roberta's pie, some cocktails and beers, and got our day started. (It didn't last long for me, as soon as we were back to the Airbnb I was napping until almost showtime.)

We got to the venue around 6:15-6:30ish and checked in for the VIP Q&A. The questions were fun and light, and the band answered them thoughtfully while still having a lot of fun with the whole thing. When that wrapped, the venue had the bar open for us (unlike the night before) and we got things rolling.

General doors opened at 7:30 and there was family everywhere you look in the venue from all over the country. So many hugs and handshakes and smiles and hugs. Drinks flowed, along with chatter about the previous night's show. The venue began to fill up for the sold out show as I took my spot on the rail while the rest of the crew scoped a spot on the balcony. Lights come down, band comes on, and we are off.

A standard romp through Simon and Lily got the night started off. They had asked for suggestions during the sound check the previous night and they had tuned up with this tune then. Next up came Backdoor Funk to bring the heat followed by a beautiful Slip and Squander that had the crowd eating out of Red's puddle palm. Another sound checked tune, In the Eyes of Thieves which had some extra flair from Brian came next and contained the first real raucous peak of the night. Shake You Loose brought it back down a little bit with that boogie woogie swing and it felt like the perfect slot for it. Ain't That Wrong kicked the party back up to 11 for a rocking dance party and suddenly it was setbreak and time for some air!

The talk during the break was allllll about the Electric Taco Stand that we could feel was coming and, oh boy, this one was smoking hot. Alternate Ending had been scratched from the setlist a few nights earlier and I had been holding out hope that I would be privy to my first rendition sometime this weekend.... Brian turned the peak from ETS on a dime and blissfully brought us to la-la-land. Cam's subtle snare march was so rock solid, driving and pushing the band through multiple soaring peaks that had me on Mars. Arms above my head, palms outstretched, surrendering to the bliss... And we are back into ETS. A few minutes back and Brian finds his machine gun riff and builds on it until the song rips to a close. How do they follow that? With a super upbeat bluegrass tinged Soul to Squeeze which seemed to have a little extra juice leftover from the last jam as Brian breaks out the machine gun and slays everyone with a brief but killer solo. Crazy is one of my favorite songs to re-listen to, and I've been fortunate to see it live previously and it felt like a perfect set closer for the night.

Beautiful Day encore was spine tingling... The crowd carried the last chorus run really well and the All In that closed the show was a BEAST.... They had saved the greatest and deepest jam for the end of the night and it had us all so amped as we burst out onto the street where the nitrous crews had already assembled to hawk their warm, sad, oxygenated N2O. We visited with friends, giving hugs and chatting on the street for 20 mins about our excitement for Sunday until Brett pulled us into the wrong Uber and another adventure began...

I am very excite.