As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)

Friday, September 30, 2022

James Hunter Six – Rams Head On Stage, 9/28/2022

Table 102, Seat 3 – directly facing the alto sax player, and close enough to easily touch the stage. (The other three seats at the table were unoccupied; I hope those who purchased them had some compelling reason for missing the show.) I had to look somewhat upward to see the top half of the performers’ bodies, but my head was about on the same level as Hunter’s frequently-tapping feet.

 

All of the 9+ Hunter shows that I’ve attended have been top-notch, and this 85-minute set was certainly no exception. Hunter was the only remaining member of the Six from the most recent band show that I saw, but the 5 newcomers were excellent throughout. The set contained an almost-even mix of songs from 2020’s Nick of Time (10 of the album’s 13 tracks) and older Hunter material, with four covers thrown in along the way, including his inimitable take on The “5” Royales’ “Baby Don’t Do It”. Nick of Time highlights included “Brother or Other”, the upbeat title track, and “Ain't Goin' Up in One of Those Things”, a bluesy ode to aerophobia. A big crowd-pleaser relatively early in the show was the one-two punch of “No Smoke Without Fire” and “Don’t Do Me No Favours”, both of which featured extended solos from three of the band members. The main set ended with the lovely ballad “Something’s Calling” followed by the up-tempo “Believe Me Baby”. We actually got two encores:  with the obligatory audience-participation classic “Talking ‘Bout My Love” preceded by a duet with bassist Myles Weeks on “September in the Rain,” which they had been performing together during 2019’s “James Hunter Duo” tour.

 

Setlist

 

As a bonus 20-minute appetizer for the main meal, three members of Hunter’s band (saxman Freddy DeBoe, drummer Rudy Albin, and organist Adam Scone) came out shortly after the scheduled show time of 8:00 to perform an enjoyable set of jazzy instrumentals, mixing original material with a couple of covers.

 

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