By: Andrea Myers
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Trampled by Turtles at The Cabooze - Photo by David de Young
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It's good I got to the Cabooze early, because by the time Trampled by Turtles took the stage there was barely room to breath, let alone move freely, in the bar. The spacious Cabooze was filled to near-capacity with a gathering of 888 hippies, freaks, and lovers, the biggest gathering of this sort of crowd I have seen since my last Phish concert.
Either their new manager Vicki Gilmer and booking agent Craig Grossman did hell of a job promoting this show, or the Turtles are the latest installment in a series of local jam bands (i.e. Big Wu, Wookiefoot) who are acquiring a massive, dedicated following of fans that follow them, pilgrim-like, from one show to the next.
Either way, the Duluth-based Turtles are moving on up in the music scene.
Before the main act, the crowd was treated to an excellent opening set by country western quartet Accident Clearinghouse. This was my first experience with AC and I immediately fell in love with the band. Lead vocalist Quillan Roe has a smooth, sweet voice glides over the tight backings of Mike Brady (guitar and banjo), Jeff Tranberry (upright-bass) and the charming Raenaldo Moon (washboard, back-up vocals). At times Roe handed off the vocals to Brady, whose softer voice also mixed well with the band's sound. Brady showed off his plucking skills on the banjo, as well as soloing on the electric guitar. And Moon proved the washboard is a legitimate instrument, demonstrating his skill at brushing the board with a pair of metal-tipped gloves, all the while grinning like he was having the time of his life.
Toward the end of their set AC invited the members of Trampled by Turtles to join them on stage, which turned out to be my favorite part of the evening. The first song they played was a cover of the Faces' "Ooh La La," in which Moon moved to back to play the drum set and sang the opening verse, showing his versatility and strong vocals. The members of both bands took turns singing the verses, and the whole crowd joined in as they sang, "I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger." (I found this mildly amusing, as most of the crowd were members of the under-25 club.)
The eight musicians closed out the first set with a cover of "Sundown," another crowd sing-along, and then cleared the stage to prepare for the main event.
I hung toward the sidelines for the first part of Trampled by Turtles, amazed by the energy pulsating through the room. The Turtles played two sets (which, according to the dread-locked guy next to me, is standard form at jam band-type shows because it gives everyone time for a "smoke break" at the mid-way point). The first set consisted of mostly original material and two Bob Dylan covers. I was delighted that they invited Martin Devaney on stage to play harmonica and sing, and Raenaldo Moon to play washboard for a great cover of "Don't Think Twice." At set break the bar cleared out significantly, giving me enough room to roam around and check out the NORML table set up at the back of the bar, and then grab a spot near the front for the second set.
Getting closer to the stage allowed for a better view of the band, and also threw me in to a tightly packed, squirming group of Turtles super-fans. The foursome, who play seated in a row of chairs, seem to take direction from the lead vocalist and guitar player Dave Simonett. The group kicked off the second set with a couple of originals from their newest album, Blue Sky and the Devil. The group showed that they are not an average, everyday blue-grass band when they turned it up a few notches and really wailed on their instruments. With mandolin player Erik Berry, banjo player Dave Carroll, and bass player Tim Saxhaug all playing as fast as they can, I was surprised by the almost heavy-metal effect they produced from their acoustic instruments. The crowd responded wildly, forming a sort of writhing mosh pit around me.
The Turtles closed out the night with a string of traditional tunes, a selection of songs that were primarily played by the Dead back in their heyday. This really pleased the crowd, and led to many a sing-along and dance-fest.
At one point in the second set a group of hippie girls had produced a big poster that read "Stop the War on Drugs," waving it around in the mosh pit and eventually propping it up onstage next to Tim Saxhaug. The band seemed mildly irritated by this, and I thought it detracted from the show and what was actually going on on stage. It seems there is a subculture of people that like to turn bands into symbols for legalizing pot or other drugs, which has the unfortunate result of causing other people to write the band off altogether. Bluegrass, for some reason, is becoming another type of "jam band" strain of music, and let's just hope, for the sake of Trampled by Turtles and music fans everywhere, that they stick to making great records and don't let the smoke get in their eyes.
Location Info:
Cabooze
Artist Info: Accident Clearinghouse, Trampled by Turtles
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