Unique Nature of V-Jam, Bands’ Energy Make for Awesome Performance
Posted by: Keefer in Local (Raleigh Durham), Music, Music Reviews, ReviewsAll I can say is wow! For the umpteenth time this summer, I’ve been blown away by a live performance. This time, it was the V-Jam, the benefit concert for the Jimmy V cancer foundation that featured Edwin McCain, Athanaeum, and members of Cravin’ Melon and Hootie and the Blowfish.
Three friends and I got to the Raleigh Convention Center early Friday night and stood in line, for what seemed like an eternity, but unlike the Charlotte Edwin McCain show, the doors here opened relatively on time. We rushed like a pack of hungry dogs for the inner sanctum of the Convention Center.
The four of us got up front. Let me tell you, being right there at the stage totally enhances the live concert atmosphere. Two huge black boxes separated us from the stage (well, those, and half a dozen security guards). As Athanaeum started its set, we soon found the two monstrosities in front of us were the woofers. Each kick-drum beat was heard and felt in our stomachs as well. I thought it was cool; a couple of the guys with me got stomach aches.
Athanaeum’s set was pretty cool, mixing upbeat tracks from its albums, along with a few slower-paced numbers. The lead singer and lead guitarist’s voices meshed well, and the dual guitars provided a good combination of distortion and clarity that made the set a decent opening.
But then the real band of the evening came on. I know I’m a little biased, because I’ve become a huge fan of Edwin McCain since I first saw them live at the Big Shindig at the beginning of the summer. But they basically played a full set, with big smiles and great riffs.
I was really impressed with guitarist Larry Chaney’s soloing on tracks such as “Take Me.” Instead of the standard two-second solo, he dove into a five-minute solo, tapping, mute-string scratching and just going all over the fretboard. It was amazing to hear and just about as amazing to watch.
It’s hard to pick a highlight from the group’s set, but it was really cool (though totally expected) that in the middle of “Solitude,” Hootie and the Blowfish’s Darius Rucker appeared from the right flank of the stage, though he had a little microphone difficulty at first. (The cord was stuck and was about 4 feet long at the most, but Larry Chaney took care of Rucker.) Rucker’s voice was a little sharper and
cleaner than the studio track on the Honor Among Theives CD. He also did some nice parrying with McCain.
After the McCain set was over, the musicians’ fun really began. Various members of Hootie and the Blowfish, Athanaeum, Cravin’ Melon and Edwin McCain dove into everything from Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” to a Toad the Wet Sprocket song. At any one time, there were 10 people on stage. Edwin McCain took a run at some percussion stuff, the organ and of course, his signature Chet Atkins electric acoustic.
I think the V-Jam was the best of the three Edwin sets I’d seen because they were all up there just having a good time and all seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. Another reason it was cool is that both guitarist Larry Chaney and bassist Scott Bannevich acknowledged stuff I said. Before their set, Chaney was onstage, helping set up his pedal effects. He walked across the stage in front of us, and I yelled, “Yeah, Larry!” He looked back at us with a big grin. Later, during the lull between songs, I yelled to him, and again, he acknowledged with a huge grin.
Later, when everyone was out on stage, Bannevich was hanging out at the left stairs to the stage. I motioned that he should get back up there and jam, he nodded and motioned that he would, but as it turned out, the song stopped soon after that and everyone filed off.
But through and through, the night was a blast. Aside from the ringing in my ears, I enjoyed being up close and personal to the bands and getting to see everything going on. We’ll definitely be at the benefit concert again next year.
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