2020/10/15 Mark Diomede, Dan Donovan, Billy Siegel & Skip Vangelas @ Donovan’s Reef
The Jersey Shore has a long love affair with the Grateful Dead. From the folks getting down and boogying hard alongside me to the dudes laying down the tunes, it’s one big extended family of awesomeness. I’ve said this in various ways in almost every review I’ve written since the first shows of the New Normal back in June, but 2020 is full of silver linings and my connection to these fine folks is among the brightest. If you’re reading this, chances are you were there Thursday night … I’m thankful for you.
Quick nod to the dank sunset I caught over the marina across the street on my way in. Def worth stopping to enjoy!
A local supergroup of sorts, Thursday’s lineup consisted of Mark Diomede of Juggling Suns (guitar), Skip Vangelas of Dark Star Orchestra (bass), and Billy Siegel and Dan Donovan of Cosmic (keys and drums). Just a bunch of local dudes and first class musicians having fun doing what they do, their friends dancing their asses off and enjoying themselves right along with them. This was one of those come up and bite ya in the ass type of nights, a let’s-see-who’s-available collection of talent throwing down hard, nothing more than a group of friends on stage with no other purpose than a good time. There were no expectations on either side, just a lot of love and mutual appreciation that turned an otherwise ordinary Thursday into a lot more than that. Perhaps everyone’s spirits were in overdrive thanks to the unseasonably warm weather that allowed us to spend a mid-October day on a beach deck in shorts, maybe just an extra shot of Vitamin D or the salty Atlantic breeze, but whatever it was the modest but appreciative crowd got their $10 worth and then some.
Though largely a Grateful Dead show, there were some heady adds to the setlist including nods to Neil Young, Hall and Oates, and early 70s pop, among others. A super groovy “Mississippi Half-Step” preceded an at first sultry then but then positively slamming “Sugaree” that let Diomede take flight for the first time. This guy was born to solo and the shred coming from his Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp (that’s my best guess based on the amateur Google search of someone without a musical bone in his body) positively vaporized the area in its line of fire. That being said, laying solos on top of Skip Vangelas’ bass lines has to be such a treat. Personally, I found Skip’s bass amp to be equally engaging and spent much of the night in the happy place between those two stage amps where one step to the left or right was a little too much of either.
Vocal duties were pretty much divided in thirds between everyone not playing drums and it was especially noticeable to see how often Billy Siegel had his number called. With lead vocals on The Beatles “Come Together”, Hoyt Axton’s “Never Been To Spain”, and Hall & Oates’ “Sara Smile” (all in the first set alone), there may not have been anyone having a better time than Siegel (present company excluded). Never apologize for Hall & Oates, Billy, everyone loves the cheese. A particularly rowdy “Shakedown Street” closed a stupid fun first set. I used setbreak to visit the ocean for the first time this October and it was simply resplendent in all its starlit glory.
“Hey Pocky Way” gave the second set a familiarly fast start and the “Scarlet Begonias” > “Fire On The Mountain” that followed set the place ablaze. Seriously, though, Jersey Deadheads ftw. A ridiculous “Dear Mr. Fantasy” > “Hey Jude” kept Billy’s star burning bright as the crowd literally went apeshit. My shirt was thoroughly saturated and the set had barely started. There may not be a better hippie dance anthem than the Soul Survivor’s “Expressway To Your Heart” that was popularized in these circles by Garcia and Saunders with Legion of Mary in the mid 70s. This one busted the night wide open and the ensuing “China Cat Sunflower” kept the energy peaking. Normally followed by an “I Know You Rider” that never came to be, I’ll swear that Skip was out in front of a “Rider” jam that finally materialized as “Ship Of Fools”. “Big Railroad Blues” was off the charts, The Band’s “The Shape I’m In” with Skip on vocals equally so. And the set-closing “Deal” was all you’d expect from that song in the set-closing slot.
19,350 of the most unexpected and sweat-soaked steps with the most awesome group of friends on a mid-October eve.
Setlist …
Set One: Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo, Sugaree, When Push Comes To Shove, Dupree’s Diamond Blues, Come Together, Box Of Rain, When the Hunter Gets Captured by the Game, Never Been To Spain, Helpless, Sara Smiles, Shakedown Street
Set Two: Hey Pocky Way, Obsession, Scarlet Begonias > Fire On the Mountain, Dear Mr. Fantasy > Hey Jude, Expressway To Your Heart, China Cat Sunflower > Ship of Fools, Big Railroad Blues, The Shape I’m In, Deal
