Concert Review

On Saturday night, September 12, 2009, I went to go see Mike Gordon at the State Theater in Falls Church, Virginia. Mike Gordon is a bassist and vocalist who is most noted for his work with the renowned rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, pianist, guitarist, percussionist and blues harpist. He has also had award winning success in documentary filmmaking. Though Mike Gordon is an efficient and talented pianist, he strictly played bass, guitar and lead vocals. The rest of his band consisted of guitarist, Scott Murawski, percussionist, Craig Myers, keyboardist, Tom Cleary and drummer, Todd Isler.
For the most part, Mike Gordon’s music is a psychedelic rock pop with shades of bluegrass and folk. The keyboardist, Tom Cleary, played mostly accompaniment for the whole show by playing behind the melodies of the guitar and bass. There were a couple of songs where the keyboards were prominent. For instance, they did a cover of “Aint Wastin Time No More” by the Allman Brothers which Cleary had a dominant role in. However, Cleary’s main role in the band was to play psychedelic tones to give the music the full acid rock effect. His psychedelic tones also gave full effect to the light show which was a pleasant addition to the music being played. During one of the songs in the middle of the set, Cleary had a keyboard solo which went on for about 2 or 3 minutes. At some point in the middle of the solo, Cleary stood up out of his chair and started to play more aggressively while building up the tempo. The music was at its height and so was the lighting effects and then finally, after a heavy dosage of keyboards, the band breaks back into the chorus and the crowd, as one would imagine, applauded enthusiastically.
The show went on for about 2 and half hours including 2 encore songs. Overall, I enjoyed myself while listening to Mike Gordon and his band mates, including Tom Cleary. What made this experience different was that I was strictly listening and watching the keyboardist which would be the first time I have ever done so at a rock concert. Usually, I just watch and listen to the guitarist so that I can pick up some things to play for myself. Focusing my attention more on the keyboardist has probably made me a better keyboardist or at least more knowledgeable about the instrument itself.