I Shit Music

The last time I saw Hot Tuna was play was July 4, 1997, when they were part of the Further Festival and it came to Riverside Amusement Park in Agawam, Massachusetts. I don’t remember much from that day except that Ratdog kind of sucked, that The Black Crowes played the hugest “Remedy” of all time, and that I stood 5 feet from the stage for Hot Tuna’s set. I also recall them playing “I Know You Rider” which was preceded by Jorma saying that one of his friends told him he’d pay him 5 bucks if he mentioned Jerry Garcia‘s name before the song. Anyway, there aren’t too many bands I’ve ever taken a 16 break from in-between shows, but I just always seemed to be out of town every time they came to Vermont. So seeing them in a sold-out theater in Portland amid the strongest contingent of twilight hippies I’ve ever been immersed in, was really quite a beautiful experience. Here’s an excerpt from the review and read the whole thing over at State Of Mind.

…The sold-out crowd in Portland was mainly composed of folks who have most likely been seeing Jorma play in one manner or another since long before this writer was even born. The faded tie-dyes that were omnipresent throughout the room seemed to hold a metaphorical essence within them. Much like the ashen garb‚ the music represented the settling echoes of raucous times gone past. Like an acid trip of perfection‚ the psychedelic eruptions of Jefferson Airplane have peaked and settled into the soothing moments of delicate synergy that Kauokenen and Casady emit from the stage. Each song was prefaced by some fabled tale of enlightenment or moment of self-mockery‚ and it seemed clear that these guys have long existed on the true artistic mantra of taking your music seriously‚ but not taking yourself seriously at all…