About two weeks ago, well after most of the shows had gone on sale, Blue Note Napa announced that they were moving their Summer Sessions series of concerts from the Silverado Resort to the Meritage Resort. The Napa Valley Register reported that it was due to some permitting issues with Napa County, but regardless, if there’s a new venue out there in the world that’s hosting a show as promising as Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade and Fishbone, I was going to have to check it out.
There were some definite hiccups with the move as far as entry logistics were concerned. Doors were scheduled to open at 5:30 with Fishbone going on at 6:30, but doors didn’t appear to open until about 6:15. There was one giant line of people to be let in, but when the doors opened, there was no one managing the queues so people arriving later than the opening were just let in without being asked to go to the back of the line. The scanners didn’t work, so they had to look up everyone’s tickets by name (this takes longer), and there was absolutely no security check — everyone was just waived through. This is not great, but I’m going to give them some grace due to opening night jitters.
Once inside, though, I found a venue that in no way matches the map on the ticketing website. Rather than a tiny VIP tucked in the right front corner, I found a larger one, encompassing the left side of the house from about the soundboard forward. Rather than portapotties for everyone but the VIPs, we all got to use the nice permanent resort bathrooms. We were tucked into a hotel courtyard with guests on their balconies watching the show. The wine bars and gourmet grocery stayed open, giving a wide selection of available treats, and were accompanied by food and chocolate trucks as well as more traditional concert-style bars. It all had a very cozy, backyard feeling to it, and the frustration of getting inside washed away fairly quickly.
When I did get in, Fishbone had already started and played “Everyday Sunshine” as my walk-in music. Thanks, guys, that’s perfect. It’s been 32 years since I first saw Fishbone, and frankly, I don’t know how Angelo Moore still has the energy because I sure don’t. He still bounces around with saxophones of all sizes while leading the band through a series of classics like “Ma & Pa,” “Alcoholic” (dedicated to Napa wine country, of course), and a sped-up, we have to get out of here in 4 minutes version of “Party at Ground Zero.” I’m sad about the songs I missed. Hopefully, we’ll all get the chance to make it up to each other.
Next up was Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, on their first tour in about 10. Started as a lark during a Primus hiatus, this project now has a life of its own, as Les brings out a rotating group of musicians to play … well … whatever they like! And what they like this time out includes playing the Pink Floyd album Animals in full. To bring this to life, Les brought along Sean Lennon (yes, that Sean Lennon) on guitar and vocals, Harry Waters (yes, the son of that Waters) on keyboards, Mike Dillon on vibes and percussion, and Paolo Baldi (formerly of Cake) on drums. Skerik was announced to be in the band for this tour but was not at this performance, and it was uncommented on by anyone on stage.
Now, apart from the Animals album, which probably ranks 5th for me among Pink Floyd albums (The Wall, Wish You Were Here, Dark Side of the Moon, Meddle), the Primus song “Southbound Pachyderm” and the opening cover of King Crimson’s “Thela Hun Ginjeet,” I didn’t know any of these songs going in. Oh wait, that’s half the set. I guess I know this music pretty well! The setlist tells me that some of these songs were Frog Brigade originals, and others come from the Lennon/Claypool Delirium project. Here’s the thing, though, I thought every single moment of this show was incredible.
From the musicianship on display to the sense of fun to the weirdness of some of the tunes, every second just crackled with life. Angelo Moore came up on stage a few times to play a (much larger) saxophone and provide some scat singing, including declaring that, and I really hope I’m not paraphrasing, “Fearless Flying Brigade is the best in the whole flippity flop!” after earlier leading a cheer of “Ribbit Ribbit Yeah Yeah!” Angelo got the message: have fun, be weird.
The cover of Animals was striking. Just like Harry Waters does with his father’s live band (that’s Roger Waters, in case you haven’t figured it out), he provides the Gilmour vocals and totally nails them. Every keyboard solo is exactly like you remember. Sean Lennon manages to capture David Gilmour’s feel. The biggest change is that the Frog Brigade is mixed very bass-forward, so the bass lines have never sounded better. I really, truly hate “full album” shows, so liking this one was a total shocker to me. I was a little sad when “Pigs on the Wing, Part 2” was played, signifying it was over.
An extended blowout of “Southbound Pachyderm” from Tales From the Punchbowl ended the night, and we were off. This was basically a perfect concert, I thought, forgetting what had happened earlier. That’s the power of great music and an engaged, fun crowd. I can’t recommend the Frog Brigade enough — this will be an excellent evening of music for you anywhere on this tour.
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The Summer Sessions from Blue Note Napa will be at The Meritage Resort in Napa through October. A full schedule with ticketing info is available on their website.
