| The Blues Traveler family was present in full force at last night's
All-Star Jam in memory of Bobby Sheehan. The evening began with a slide
show of Bobby pictures, accompanied by a soundtrack of live music
featuring Bobby jamming with Blues Traveler and other bands. After an
introduction by Bobby's brother Jonny, John Popper gave a pre-recorded
greeting, followed by a video of John playing Sweet Pain back from his
John Popper Band tour, which was interspersed with video clips of Bob from
over the years. The music kicked off with a set by the Michael Parrish
Band, featuring Jonny on guitar and washboard. Chan, Tad and Brendan later
joined Jono Manson for several old Jono favorites. The three played "Big
Daddy Blues", "I've Been Down" and "Miss Fabulous" with Jono, Warren
Haynes and saxophonist Craig Dreyer before stripping down to a trio and
playing John-less versions of "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly", "Freedom"
and "Defense & Desire". Jono and Warren rejoined them for a lengthy,
jammed-out tribute to Bobby on "The Mountains Win Again". Chan and Tad
would later return to the stage for the encore of "Miss You". In all, the
evening featured a cavalcade of stars, including most of Gov't Mule
(Warren, Matt Abts and Andy Hess), Phish bassist Mike Gordon and former
Sheryl Crow percussionist Wally Ingram among others. The venue also
featured various photos of Bob as well as printed remembrances from fans,
and in his remarks, Jonny referred to the show as the "first annual"
All-Star jam, setting the stage for years to come.
In other news, the web site for moe. recently revealed that Blues
Traveler has been confirmed for an appearance at the band's "moe.down"
festival. The fifth-annual festival will be held over Labor Day weekend at
the Snow Ridge Ski Area in Turin, NY. Other artists also confirmed for the
fest - other than the three days and six sets of moe. that fans have come
to expect - include Leftover Salmon, Disco Biscuits, Al and the
Transamericans, John Brown's Body, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Leo Kottke and
Grand Theft Bus. The web site also notes that early bird tickets are
currently on sale now through moe.ticketing,
though the schedule for the full three days is yet to be announced. One
other recent addition to the Blues Traveler tour schedule is an August
21st appearance at Arnolds Park amusement park in northwestern Iowa.
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