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J.G.B. (Jerry Garcia Band)

California Folk-Rock

Technical Stuff

It's been a long time since a band showed up with this much equipment. The stage was absolutely filled with people, keyboards, racks, and instruments. The J.G.B. consists of members of the band that actually played with Jerry Garcia. Jerry Garcia did not appear on stage (he's passed away, but you KNEW that). They managed to find a singer whose style is similar to Jerry's, and a guitar player who plays in a similar manner to Jerry.

The drummer (Donny Baldwin) played a huge Pearl drum kit with 5 toms, and also provided some backing vocals. The bass player (forgot his name) brought his rack of equipment, the guitarist (Chris) brought amps and speakers, and Melvin brought his Hammond B-3 and Yamaha keyboards, along with a rack of gear and 2 (count 'em 2) Leslie cabinets. Vocals were provided by Armin Winter, who also played sax. Backing vocals were provided by Jackie LaBranch (who also played keyboard), and Gloria Jones. It took several hours for the band's sound guy and me to get all the equipment in place, hooked up, and miked. There was no real organized sound check, just a bunch of musicians testing their stuff individually, and occasionally a couple would play together.

Review

Well, I hate to admit this in print, but I was never a real fan of Jerry Garcia when he was alive. His music (and the whole concert thing) never really had an appeal for me. So, I was all set to grudgingly put up with this music for 2 shows.

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. I really liked JGB. They were very good musicians, and the way they performed the music was (for lack of a better word) infectious. You couldn't help but like the show. I still couldn't relate to all the dancing and bobbing that the audience seemed to be doing, but in spite of myself, I liked the show.

There is definitely something about the songs they did that got everybody moving. I was informed by a true Jerry fan that they did all the songs that Jerry used to do. The audience really got into it, completely enjoyed the show, gave a standing ovation at the end, and left totally satisfied.

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