Yes Hot Tuna does taste good... (Great American Music Hall Concert Review: 05-15-08)
Hot Tuna is a rock band formed by Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen the Legendary song writers of Jefferson Airplane. These two have been making music together for 50 years and their stage chemistry definitely reflects that. There music is a mix of folk, rock, psychedelic rock and bluegrass. Hot Tuna is unique because they switch between electric and acoustic sets giving audiences a variety of sounds in one show.
Their Thursday show at the Great American Music Hall was 2 hours of pure bliss. The attending crowd was on the older side, I think that I was probably the youngest in line at 23, but jamband kids of all ages would have been mesmerized. They started the show off with "Serpent of Dreams", a nice mellow to hard rock version, bleeding it into "Trial by Fire". They rocked out some classics like "Rock Me Baby" and even found room for the Grateful Dead cover "I know you rider" (one of the best covers I have heard, with the exception of String Cheese Incident's version).
The musical communication between all the players of Hot Tuna was extraordinary. Their jam sections were spontaneous and lively creating space for all members to shine. One can tell this group feeds off the energy of the crowd and responds with only the best jam music. The only criticism I have is that I wish Casady would have done a little more solo bass playing.
After Jamming out 15 songs Hot Tuna was cheered back on stage to give a spectacular encore playing the song "Come Back Baby"— This was the icing on the cake. The heavy rock tune sealed the deal for a fantastic show. Their performance was powerful and jammy everything Hot Tuna fans want it to be. After 50 years these two can still lay it down.
Their Thursday show at the Great American Music Hall was 2 hours of pure bliss. The attending crowd was on the older side, I think that I was probably the youngest in line at 23, but jamband kids of all ages would have been mesmerized. They started the show off with "Serpent of Dreams", a nice mellow to hard rock version, bleeding it into "Trial by Fire". They rocked out some classics like "Rock Me Baby" and even found room for the Grateful Dead cover "I know you rider" (one of the best covers I have heard, with the exception of String Cheese Incident's version).
The musical communication between all the players of Hot Tuna was extraordinary. Their jam sections were spontaneous and lively creating space for all members to shine. One can tell this group feeds off the energy of the crowd and responds with only the best jam music. The only criticism I have is that I wish Casady would have done a little more solo bass playing.
After Jamming out 15 songs Hot Tuna was cheered back on stage to give a spectacular encore playing the song "Come Back Baby"— This was the icing on the cake. The heavy rock tune sealed the deal for a fantastic show. Their performance was powerful and jammy everything Hot Tuna fans want it to be. After 50 years these two can still lay it down.
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