The Chad Mitchell Trio and Friends: The Farewell Concert, Bethesda Blues & Jazz Club, 11/15/2014

The Chad Mitchell Trio was one of the better-known groups of the late-fifties-early-sixties folk music revival, although they never achieved the crossover success that was enjoyed by The Kingston Trio or Peter, Paul and Mary. (They actually recorded “Blowing In The Wind” before PP&M did, but their record company didn’t want to release it, and the rest is history.) The current incarnation includes original members Chad Mitchell and Mike Kobluk, who alternated on lead vocals, along with Ron Greenstein. There’s a lot of biographical material on their web site, and a nice third-party take on their career by MTV.

The show was, in a word, wonderful. They did a nice mix of material, and the voices of Chad and Mike are amazing for anyone, much less for a couple of guys born in the 1930s. The set list, which I believe I have correct, is below. After they finally left the stage, the organizers ran some video highlights of their career, after which all of the evening’s musicians came back on stage to send everyone home with “Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream”.

Note that this was actually only their penultimate performance; they will be doing their “Farewell At Sea” on a Traveling Troubadour cruise in March. 

Chad Mitchell Trio set list:

1. Mighty Day
2. My Name Is Morgan
3. Alma Mater
4. Four Strong Winds
5. Blowing In The Wind
6. The Tarriers Song
7. The Whistling Gypsy
8. The Sinking Of The Reuben James
9. What Did You Learn In School Today
10. Business Goes On As Usual / Johnnie (my personal favorite)
11. Vaichazkem
12. Unfortunate Man
13. Tell Old Bill
14. James James Morrison Morrison
15. Lizzie Borden
16. The Marvelous Toy 

Three acts opened the evening. CMT contemporaries The Gaslight Singers started things off with two songs, followed by local duo Side by Side, who did a well-received seven-song set, highlighted by a couple numbers I hadn’t heard them do before (Donovan’s “Catch The Wind” and Del Shannon’s “Runaway”). Tom Paxton then wowed most of the crowd with a ten-song performance including the classics “The Last Thing On My Mind” and “Ramblin’ Boy”.

This was our first trip to the Bethesda Blues and Jazz Club, which is the latest reincarnation of the old Bethesda Theater. There is still some theater-style seating in the rear, along with a bar, although the front two-thirds or so is filled with tables, most of which seemed to accommodate four people. You can take the “filled” literally, as the tables were placed so close together that getting in and out was quite a challenge. Fortunately the sound was good, as was the food (we tried the seared grouper and stuffed chicken breast), although at $24-26 the entrees were more expensive than at other venues we’ve visited recently.